Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Guido Van Genechten GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: April 21, 2015 RATING: 3.25 stars. I had opted for this because of the cover and the book turned out to be almost as sweet as indicated, but not outstanding. Gilbert loves some aspects of being a ghost but he doesn’t like saying “Boo”, he doesn’t want to haunt anyone and wants to be polite. When the principal of his Ghost school sends him to the Abandoned Tower as a punishment, Gilbert comes into his own and makes the best of his situation. I liked the subtle message that comes out in the story about being yourself and making the best of your surroundings. But the content felt incomplete somehow. And it seemed like Gilbert’s punishment was permanent. His other ghost friends came to visit him at the Abandoned Tower after they finished their ghostly hauntings and at his place they behaved well. But Gilbert was never made part of the community again, and his parents don’t seem to be bothered. The ending was ...

AUTHOR: Ori Elon GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: February 24, 2022 RATING: 4 stars. This is a lovely little picture book that retells the Jewish fable of Yosef Moker Shabbos – Yosef who cherishes the Shabbat. (or, as we know it, the Sabbath. ) In the city of Zakrobat lives a miser named Balthosar. To make sure that his wealth stays his alone, he exchanged it all for a huge diamond. But circumstances work against him and ultimately, his wealth ends up with his neighbour Yosef, who is a poor cobbler but observant of the traditions and generous with his meagre riches. As I’m not Jewish, this story was just a regular fable to me with no religious significance as such. But it will be an interesting way for children to learn that stinginess doesn’t pay and generosity of spirit is much more important than worldly riches. ‘You get what you give’ – this is a moral that I diligently believe in, and it was nice to see the same moral arising from Yosef’s story. The illustratio...

AUTHOR: Emily Barth Isler GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 7, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars In a Nutshell: What a brilliant book this is! And yet, it leaves me with a niggling doubt about whether its content is suitable for children. Plot Preview: Twelve year old Lucy’s family is struggling with the death of her younger brother from a congenital heart defect. In an attempt to make a fresh start, the family shifts to a different town. But Lucy finds that her new classmates are dealing with a different tragedy of their own – they are the survivors from a school shooting that happened in their class 4 years back. The book depicts the impact of tragedy on these young lives, with Lucy struggling to fit in a class full of children dealing with PTSD in different ways, and her own tragedy making her a misfit in her new social circle. All Lucy has as a source of comfort is her love for math, which seems to be reliable and definite, unlike most other things in her life. Soon, Lu...

AUTHOR: Bella Osborne NARRATOR: Laura Brydon GENRE: Romantic Comedy RATING: 4.5 stars. I don’t even remember when I last rated a “chick-lit” this high! So today is indeed a rare day. This was an absolutely fabulous book to listen to and with some hilarious writing to boot! Story: Ruby, a florist in her day-time job, is a huge romantic who has not found anyone special yet. She dreams of the day when someone will swoop her off her feet with his grandiose romantic gestures. During one train ride to London, she discovers that the interesting stranger she was seated next to and who was going to propose to his girlfriend that day has left the engagement ring behind. Ruby takes it up as her personal agenda to return the ring. The problem? Another passenger on the train, a surly fellow named Curtis, doesn’t trust Ruby with it. So he creates his own personal agenda: accompany Ruby on her quest to ensure she completes it successfully. A secondary love story comes to us from Ruby’s boss, Kim, who...

Author: Amanda Skenandore Narrator: Nicole Poole Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 3 stars. So many books I’ve read lately have a novel concept but fall short in delivery (or maybe my expectations from such books need to come down.) This is one more to add to that list. The concept in this case: An inside look into the only lepers’ colony in the US. Story Synopsis: Mirielle West is a stereotypical movie-star wife, rich, spoilt, vain, and self-obsessed. Living with her silent-film superstar husband Charlie and 2 young daughters in 1920s Hollywood, thirty-two year old Mirielle seems to have it all. But when a small skin lesion on her hand gets diagnosed as leprosy, she is carted all the way to Louisiana to the only leper colony in the United States, a mission hospital named Carville. The story is not just about Mirielle’s separation from her family but more about how people were branded as outcasts and shunned just because of this disease. Where the book clicked for me: ✔ I must admit I ...

AUTHOR: Wren Morrison GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy. PUBLICATION DATE: September 19, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. A sci-fi fantasy written by a ten year old! What better way to support an upcoming young author than to read and review her work! Maggie is woken up one night by her dad, strapped to a rocket and shot into space after a quick goodbye and no reasons about what was happening. Finding herself disoriented for some time, she soon discovers that her trusted Bunny now has the ability to talk. What follows is an adventure through space and time, literally, with duplicators and rockets, talking animals and flaming dragons, the myriad planets and the emptiness of space. The ending sets up a nice foundation for a sequel. Maggie comes across as a typical girl: sweet, friendly and messy Bunny is not just adorably fluffy but remarkably organised, a quality that gets him big brownie points from me. There are many other memorable characters in the book that children will surely enjoy getting to ...

AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: September 29, 2013 RATING: 3.5 stars. A collection of 21 stories from fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and speculative fiction. The stories include some tales from Okorafor’s previously-published short work and a new novella co-written with New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster. There is a brief and interesting foreword by Whoopi Goldberg, and an author’s note at the end, explaining the origin and thought process behind each of the stories. All the tales are imaginative and bizarre and weird and mind-blowing ( in different ways .) Yup, the attributes are as eclectic and quirky as the stories themselves. Many of the stories were 4 or 5 star reads for me. A few could have reached the same level were it not for their endings which brought down their impact. But if you have rate the book on the sheer creativity of the human mind, it would get a full rating. The imagery will also blow your mind. Such lush descri...

AUTHOR: Jojo Moyes Part of Series: Me Before You, #3.5 GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2020 RATING: 4 stars. After the fiasco of the third book, this turned out to be a saving grace. Pretty nicely-written and with all the covid-related details in proper place. Plus with generous dollops of humour and sentiment. Finally this Louisa resembles the lovable character we had met in the first story. It provides a good conclusion to her story. Recommended to series fans. Available for free on the Penguin UK site here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/articles/lou-in-lockdown/ Here are the reviews for the other books of the series: #1: Me before You https://roshreviews.blogspot.com/2021/06/me-before-you-jojo-moyes.html #2: After You https://roshreviews.blogspot.com/2021/06/after-you-jojo-moyes.html #3: Still Me https://roshreviews.blogspot.com/2021/07/still-me-jojo-moyes.html

AUTHOR: Jojo Moyes SERIES: Me Before You, #3 GENRE: Contemporary Romance (or maybe I should say, 'Bollywood-ishtyle drama') PUBLICATION DATE: January 30, 2018 RATING: 2 stars. #ContainsLoadsOfSpoilersFromAllThreeBooks #YouveBeenWarned #IssuedInPublicInterest #HinglishReview There is only one possible reason in the world why you would want to read this book: You are a series junkie and want to complete a character's story arc. So let me help you out. Louisa Clark mumbles and stumbles and muddles and befuddles her way through the book until she finds her happy ending professionally and personally. That's all you need to know. Don't read this book. Don't buy this book. Stick to book one if you want. Try book two if you feel like. But stay away from book three! What??? You want more? How demanding can you guys be? Ok, here we go... #PoliteRantAlert ( Polite because it's raining outside and I just had coffee. I'm in Zen state. 🧘🏻‍♀️) ○ While the first two b...

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Dale ILLUSTRATOR: Liam Darcy GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 20, 2021 RATING: 4.75 stars. When you see a book with a cute cover and a cute name, you expect the content to match up. And it sure does in this sweet little book. As the title suggests, Dilly is a “delightfully different” penguin. Born with only one foot, she uses it to hop rather than waddle. While her young penguin friends find her antics funny and want to copy her distinctive style, the other adults find her a bad influence on their children. As creatures of habit, they appreciate the sameness and the continuation of established protocols. But time shows that being different doesn’t mean being dangerous and that change can be good too. The story is great for young kids. The moral is excellent. The illustrations are adorable! The vocabulary level is just at the right level for the target readers. Happily and wholeheartedly recommended. Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing G...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Steve Smallman GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: July 20, 2021 RATING: 4.75 stars. Kids today are really lucky to have so many delightful reading options available to them. This book is no exception. Moose joins a secret fairy club but discovers that the rest of the members are much smaller in size. Can he fit in, or will his size get in the way of being a true fairy? The story is absolutely heart-warming. Children will love how Moose does his best to fit in, but soon learns that he just needs to be himself. The other little animals will also provide a lesson on how to accept others for their nature than their appearance. The author himself is the illustrator of this book, and that seems to create a magical impact. Such beautiful illustrations! They are vibrant and charming and sometimes even quirky. This will serve wonderfully as a read-aloud to early readers as there are ample opportunities for parents/guardians to act out the story. On a...

AUTHOR: Rutger Bregman GENRE: Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 3, 2019 RATING: 4.5 stars. What’s your answer to this simple question? Humans are innately ______. A. selfish B. good Many of us will end up choosing option A as our answer. Rutger Bregman seeks to convince us that we have been brainwashed and it is, in fact, option B that is right. Humans are essentially good. ( Or so he says! ) And throughout this book, he provides an ample amount of evidence to support his claim. Whether it is from evolutionary history or research-based findings, hypothetical situations to actual incidents, historical to contemporary thinkers, he doesn’t leave any stone unturned in inducing you to change your viewpoint. Some of the researches he debunks are widely popular while others, you may not have heard of at all. But even single example he uses hits hard and shocks you at the extent of cultish brain-feeding resulting via the media and high-flying politicos. Bregman reiterates one straightfor...

AUTHOR: Roald Dahl GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 1953 RATING: 5 stars! When Harry Belafonte sang "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)", I'm sure he was only half-kidding. 😛 This is a story about one super-smart woman who gave it back to her cheating husband in a way that no one expected. You might have read Roald Dahl for his children's fiction. Now give this short story a try. It's much more satisfying to the senses, possibly more so if you are a woman. 😏 I enjoyed it thoroughly. This story is in the public domain and you can read it here: https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html

AUTHOR: Fredrik Backman TRANSLATOR: Vanja Vinter GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 2017 RATING: 4.5 stars. The word "troll" is synonymous with online bullying. God knows we have enough of trolls everywhere online. But here's a short story about a different kind of troll. And a little boy who considers himself broken. And how the troll helps him mend. This story is a beautiful allegorical narrative for the troubles we face on the inside. It's so easy for others to point fingers at a person but only that person knows what battles he/she is fighting with himself/herself. So do we listen to others, do we give up on ourselves, or do we try our best to face each day a step at a time? Go for this lovely and meaningful story. It's a quick read, hardly 5-10 minutes required. And it brings forth a good message. And it is adorned with beautiful imagery. Do I need to give you another reason to read it? It's by Fredrik Backman. One can never have too much Ba...

Author: Fredrik Backman Series: Beartown (#2) Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Drama. Rating: 4.5 stars. Sometimes good people do terrible things in the belief that they’re trying to protect what they love. If you haven’t yet read Beartown , stop right here. Read that book first! Not because there are any spoilers in this review, but because YOU NEED TO READ THAT BOOK ASAP! Then come back to continue with this review. Beartown leaves you on a bittersweet note. There are so many characters who entrench themselves in your heart, there are so many events that leave you baffled-cum-captivated, there are so many plot tracks that you want to know more about. Imagine the pressure created on Backman to write a quality sequel for this stupendous story. Does he deliver up to expectations? A resounding yes! Us Against You (UAY) is a sequel in the true sense of the word. There are so many authors who write sequels to capitalise on the success of their earlier novels, but in many cases, the se...