Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Ernest Cline SERIES: Ready Player One #1 GENRE: Science Fiction, LitRPG PUBLICATION DATE: August 16, 2011. RATING: 4.5 stars. It's a rare occurrence in my life when I end up watching the movie without realising that it is a book adaptation. Now that I've read 'Ready Player One', I sure am glad that I watched the movie first! ( Be forewarned; the movie story is very different from that of the book. ) Imagine reading a book on baseball and you happen to be interested in sports but aren't an expert in baseball. You'll enjoy the book, no doubt. But there will be many terms that you can't understand and at the end, there will be a slight regret in your heart. You will start pondering, "if only I had some interest in baseball, I'd have enjoyed this book even more." That's me with 'Ready Player One'. 'Ready Player One' is a full paisa-vasool entertainer. The story is set in a dystopian 2045, where the world is in tumult aft...

AUTHOR: Neil D'Silva GENRE: Horror PUBLICATION DATE: October 11, 2019. RATING: 3.25 stars. My friends know that I'm not a horror reader. As such, I was totally unfamiliar with the name, Neil D'Silva, until I saw it on the cover of Route 13: Highway to Hell. He had written the foreword for this horror anthology and that write-up revealed his passion for writing and the horror genre. I never imagined then that I'd interact with Neil in another group. Curious cat that I am, I wanted to check out one of his books. That's how Yakshini landed in my reading list, in spite of its being a horror novel. The first thing that attracts you about Yakshini is its brilliant cover. The illustration is so striking that it creates a great impact on the reader's mind. The next intriguing part is the story. Reading the blurb tells you that this is a juxtaposition of mythology and horror, not a combination that you see often. Yakshini is the story of a young girl named Meenakshi who ...

AUTHOR: Alexander McCall Smith GENRE: Short Story Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: November 7, 2019. RATING: 3.75 stars. The idea of this book is quite innovative. Take a vintage photograph and write a story based on the person you see in the image. Quite obviously, this is not as easy as it sounds. But Alexander McCall Smith does a pretty commendable job indeed.  Of the fourteen short stories in the book, at least ten are immensely enjoyable. They reveal various aspects of human behaviour and contain a range of emotions. A couple of stories do seem forced and unduly stretched, but overall, it is not a bad bargain to read this book.  I must confess that I was on the verge of marking this book as a DNF because the very first story falls in this category. But a flip through some of the later stories made me rethink my opinion. And now I'm glad I didn't abandon it unread. There are some real gems hidden in here. Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon publishers for an ARC in exchange f...

AUTHOR: Tom Fletcher ILLUSTRATOR: Shane DeVries SERIES: The Christmasaurus, #2 GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: October 3, 2019. RATING: 5 stars! The second book in the Christmasaurus series, "The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch" is bound to warm the cockles of your heart with its intriguing plot and charming characters. The story continues from the first book and takes it much beyond anything I had imagined. Rarely does a children's book handle time travel in such a deft manner. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all.

AUTHOR: Jonathan Safran Foer GENRE: Contemporary Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: April 4, 2006. RATING: 4.5 stars. Oskar Schell is a 9 year old New Yorker. His self-made visiting card describes him as "an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies." Intelligent beyond his years and almost too smart for his own good, his world collapses suddenly when his father dies in the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of this tragedy, he happens to discover a key left by his father in a vase. Considering it one last treasure hunt to connect with his father, Oskar takes it on himself to locate the lock to which the key corresponds. On the way, he meets many New Yorkers, most of whom have something to teach him and something to learn from him. Oskar's search becomes yours, his joy becomes yours, his heartbre...

AUTHOR: Laila Ibrahim GENRE: Historical Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: October 30, 2018 RATING: 4.25 stars. The title was the first reason I was curious about this book. And now that I'm done with it, I don't regret this impulse read at all. Paper Wife tells about young Mei Ling, a poor Chinese girl whose marriage is arranged by a quirk of fate to a widower settled in America. The story is set around the early 1920s, so the first half of the book unveils the troubles she has with the American immigration procedures and the tricks the Chinese used to circumvent the rules. The latter part narrates her struggles to settle in America with that stranger who is her husband. There is also an orphan girl she met on the ship who plays an important role in the story. Paper Wife is a soothing book in spite of the troubles mentioned in it. If you're looking for a genuine historical fiction from a female point of view, pick up this book. There is nothing extraordinary about the writing, an...

AUTHOR: Etaf Rum GENRE: Middle-East Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 5, 2019 RATING: 3.5 stars. Some books aren't cushy reads. When you read through the story, you experience all the varying emotions from rage to helplessness to sadness to disgust. This is one such book. The book tells the story of three women of Palestinian descent: Deya, Isra, and Fareeda. Each of a different generation, each of a different ideology, each with a different personality. Their life in Brooklyn is neither smooth nor carefree and each battles a separate demon secretly. Thus their circumstances are similar to a great extent but how they react to it is very different. There are many scenes in this book that just caused me to boil in fury. Like I said, it isn't an easy book to read. You just feel like shaking some of the women characters in the hope of drilling some sense in their head. Many of the situations in the book hit too close to home, and you begin to wonder why such regressive beliefs abou...

AUTHOR: Peter den Hertog GENRE: Nonfiction. History. PUBLICATION DATE: October 14, 2020 RATING: 3.5 stars. I opted for this book because of the intriguing title. After all, whoever focuses on Hitler only talks about the what, never about the why. This book does help answer the query it raises: Why did Hitler kill the Jews? But the process of discovering this answer isn't easy. The book explains how Hitler had many of the symptoms of paranoia visible in his behaviour. In addition, it also covers the political and cultural atmosphere during Hitler's life that led to the genocide of millions of Jews. The chapters about Hitler's personal life and the actual genocide are very well written. It is in the rest of the content that the book somewhat loses its track. Sometimes the narrative switches between the two world wars and this needlessly adds to the complexity of the point being made. A linear narrative would have been better, especially as it is a historical topic. Additional...

AUTHORS: Rebel Girls GENRE: Inspirational Memoir for Children. PUBLICATION DATE: August 18, 2020. RATING: 4.5 stars. Such a brilliant little book! Alicia Alonso had a memorable mention in the first volume of "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls". This book is on similar lines but instead of a hurried one-page snippet, it depicts Alicia's dreams, her hard work, her struggles with her vision and her determination to overcome the problems. I admired how she wished to be seen as a dancer and not as a blind dancer. Her life is inspiring to every little girl out there who wishes to be in a career that is not considered "appropriate" by the family. Highly recommended, like every other book in the Rebel Girls series.

AUTHOR: Sarah McCoy GENRE: Historical Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: October 23, 2018 RATING: 4.25 stars. (#ContainsSpoilers from the Anne of Green Gables series) Anyone who has read Anne of Green Gables would undoubtedly have a special place in their heart for Anne and Gilbert. But other than them, two characters who really make a mark in the first book are Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. I was very upset that Matthew's character dies in the first book itself and Marilla's character gets relegated to the sidelines in the subsequent Anne books, even disappearing altogether in the later books of the series. If you felt a connection, a oneness, a "kindred spirit" with Matthew and Marilla, then here is a book you must go for. I have always avoided spin-off series, whether for books or TV shows, if I liked the original. Somehow, my instinct told me that I need to read this book as an exception to my rule, and I am so glad I did. Marilla of Green Gables attempts to reveal the pr...

AUTHOR: Delphine Minoui TRANSLATOR: Lara Vergnaud GENRE: Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: November 3, 2020. RATING: 4.5 stars. Life under a lockdown is never easy. To avoid going into depression, I've been reading a lot of books to show me that my life is still decent. This includes reading uplifting books or books that depict others' much-worse reality. The Book Collectors is in the second category. I opted for this ARC because of the title, the author and the subject. Written by Award-winning journalist Delphine Minoui, The Book Collectors recounts the true story from war-ravaged Syria. A group of young rebels, who haven't left their locked-down town of Daraya in 3-4 years, face unimaginable hardships on a daily basis: lack of food, no access to education or health facilities, poor net connectivity. ( Imagine living your life in this lockdown without the WiFi! ) The only thing almost guaranteed is hunger, a regular shower of bombs and sometimes even poison gas. To create a ha...