Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Clive Gifford ILLUSTRATOR: Teo Georgiev GENRE: Children's Nonfiction RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Fascinating and comprehensive! Honestly, the only reason I went for this book is the author. The title didn’t hold much appeal to me. I was almost like, ‘How can there be an entire 100-page book about time? How much can one talk about time?’ But I had read Clive Gifford’s A Quick History of Money, A Quick History of Maths, and Powered by Plants, and other than being informative, the one thing all these books had in common was their mesmerising scope. I should have known Gifford wouldn’t disappoint even this time. Think of everything you can that’s connected to time. When I asked myself the same question, I couldn’t go much beyond the basics: time divisions (hours, minutes, days, months, years, dates), clocks, time zones, daylight savings time, and other such fundamental points. The book goes so much beyond this tiny list, expounding on topics right from cosmic time to n...

AUTHOR: Aqil GENRE: Short Story RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A decent short story about lost and rediscovered love. An interesting start and end but goes farfetched in between. Would have worked better with more development. Story Synopsis: Seventy-three-year-old Sebastian and his sixty-eight-year-old wife Jaya have just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. However, on what should have been a day of joy and celebration, Sebastian discovers that the Jaya he loved no longer exists and that their marriage is more like a steady habit than a love story anymore. When this realisation hits him, he inadvertently sets off a chain of events that might end up putting his marriage in trouble. The story comes to us through the limited third-person perspective of Sebastian. On the pro side: ✔ A quick story at just 25 pages. The start was especially interesting, and one part of the end was sweet. ✔ Unusual lead characters – it’s nice to see love explored from the geriatric perspective. ...

AUTHOR: Jamila Ahmed NARRATOR: Sulin Hasso GENRE: Retelling, Historical Fiction. RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: Not a retelling of the original Arabian classic but a spinoff with Shaherazade at the helm. Mixed feelings. The storytelling elements retain the same spirit and appeal as in the original, but Shaherazade’s personal story is somewhat YA-ish in writing approach (though not so in content.) Story Synopsis: 1191 ADE. Persia. When nineteen-year-old Shaherazade discovers that Malik Shahriyar’s wife Fataneh is cheating on him, she let’s Shahriyar know about his wife’s infidelity through an anonymous poem. Shahriyar is devastated at the actions of the wife he treasured so much that he has her beheaded. He doesn’t stop at this, but marries three more virgins and has them beheaded after the wedding night. To stop the townspeople from rebelling and also put an end to the Malik’s murderous plans, Shaherazade volunteers to be Shahriyar’s next bride, much against the wishes of her fath...

AUTHOR: Ali Almossawi ILLUSTRATOR: Alejandro Giraldo GENRE: Nonfiction, Picture Book for Adults. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Helps you understand what comprises bad arguments. Not a bad book, but my expectations were different. Digital edition available for free. When I taught critical reasoning, one entire section of the topic was devoted to logical fallacies. Simply put, these are the flaws that people make while arguing. For instance, “I can’t understand how you hated this book. I loved it!”, or “You are an adult so why are you reading children’s books?”, or “You have no right to complain about the Jewish rep in the book if you aren’t Jewish”, or “Audiobooks aren’t read, so you cannot count them as books”, or “This novel made me lose my respect for Indian society.” (A ny of these sound familiar, fellow reviewers? 😉 FWIW, the last one was actually made in a review by an ex-GR friend; she became an ex-friend immediately after I read her “review”. ) If you can see the flaws i...

AUTHOR: Rajani LaRocca GENRE: MG Fantasy, Retelling RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Loads of fun, though I don’t know if youngsters will appreciate the adapted elements. Don’t read this book when hungry! Story Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Mimi is the youngest in her family, and according to her, the least talented. Her father is an accomplished food writer, her mother a successful entrepreneur, and her three elder siblings also shine at whatever they do, be it dance or drama or sports or playing an instrument. The only thing that Mimi can do decently is bake. Her dream is to become a celebrity chef like her idol, Puffy Fay, who is from the same town. When a local café announces a baking contest, with the grand prize being an internship with Fay himself, Mimi knows that she has to do her best to win it. But her dad has suddenly lost his gastronomic abilities after a recent trip and her siblings are acting fun...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Anna McGregor GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Animals. RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A fun + informative book about deep sea creatures. Loved the fiction plus nonfiction combo, as well as the writing approach. The first ever picture book that startled me into stunned silence on one page! If you read this book, you’ll know what page I am talking about. 😄 Fergus lives way down in the ocean depths, where it is so dark that we can’t see a thing. Worse, he is absolutely afraid of the light as “real monsters hide in the light.” When we meet Fergus, we cant see him at all, and using the little clue he provides, we try to create his picture in our mind. During the course of this interaction, we also meet a few, somewhat weird-looking deep-sea creatures. This could have been a typical fictional story, using a deep-sea fish to help us learn about the environment we know so little about. This could also have been a typical nonfiction picture book, using illus...

EDITOR: Jonathan Strahan GENRE: Anthology, Fantasy. RATING: 2.45 stars. In a Nutshell: The best thing about this book is the cover. The second best thing is the intent. Hardly any story left any long-term impact on me. This is a collection of twenty-nine stories, focussed on witches. The stories are quite diverse in terms of format (prose as well as poems), genres (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary), cultures (having several BIPOC authors gives it a brilliant diversity), and even the types of witches focussed upon (there is one story with a techno-witch!) The book starts with a brilliant editor’s note, highlighting what makes a witch, and talking about the approach to building this inclusive collection. It also stresses on how the witches in this stories aren’t the ones from Western tradition with witches in pointy black hats. (Query to the people involved: Why that cover then?) I must say, the note made my expectations go sky-high. Sadly, the stories didn’t live up to the promis...

AUTHOR: Callie Langridge GENRE: Time Travel., Historical Romance. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A decent story but somehow, it didn’t live up to the promise. Outlier opinion coming up. Story Synopsis: 2013. Louisa has always loved the neighbouring Hill House. Currently dilapidated, it was once house to the wealthy Mandeville family, who were beset by a series of tragedies resulting in their ruin. When Louisa faces a personal tragedy of her own, she runs to Hill House for comfort. To her surprise, the house transforms and she finds herself a hundred years in the past. Even more shocking is the fact that the Mandeville family is expecting her as they have been informed of her arrival through some distant relative. As Louisa finds herself caught in ballrooms and tea parties, she also gets to know the Mandeville family. The more she learns about them, the more determined she is to save them from their fate. The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Louisa from the two ti...

AUTHOR: R.G. Fraser-Green GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy. RATING: 4.5 stars In a Nutshell: An amazing middle-grade dark fantasy novella based on Greek lore. Perfect for its age group, and even for those adults who forgot to grow up. Story Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Fotinoula has just received a weird warning from her grandfather: never trust a Kallikantzaros, and take care that it never catches hold of Mirtoula, Fotinoula’s four-year-old sister. Has her grandfather lost his mind? After all, Kallikantzarai are just mythical creatures. Why would they enter a busy place like Athens and want to grab her sister? However, soon Fotinoula realises that some myths do have a base in reality. With her father away at sea and her mother not willing to believe in such ‘superstitions’, it is up to Fotinoula to save her sister, with just her grandfather’s old journal for help. The story comes to us in the first person pov of Fotinoula. Bookish Yays: 😍 The story is just perfect for its young readers. As i...

AUTHOR: Daniel T. Dodaro GENRE: Fantasy RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A commendable debut fantasy combining folklore and myth in a fantastical setting. Enjoyed the story but the writing style, not so much. Might work better for YA lovers. Story Synopsis: You might know Death by many names, but in this book, he's a debonair gardener named Mot. Every person and creature has a rose in Death's garden, and when he snips a rose off, it ends that being's life. When Cloth (there's a reason why she's named thus) wakes up in Death's abode, she learns that she's the first ever person not to pass on even after her rose has been snipped. But the cutting has resulted in her losing all her memories. Mot offers her relief, promising her that he'll help her move on, but only if she helps him by hunting and killing three thieves who've stolen their life roses from his garden. Can Cloth trust Death? Will she be able to kill just to be set free? Why is she the onl...

AUTHOR: Melani Sie GENRE: Graphic Novel Comic RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: Adorable, especially for fans of these characters, though it has universal appeal. I had seen these two bears many times in GIFs, but because of my not being an avid webtoons reader, I never knew that they are quite popular characters named Milk and Mocha from the webcomic @milkmochabear by Indonesian comic creator Melani Sie. When I saw this title on NetGalley, I requested it only because I loved the GIFs. Knowing them through this work has been fun! This is a collection of some cute little comics and mini-stories featuring Mocha – a brown bear who is somewhat introverted and reserved, Milk – a white bear who is hyperactive and bubbly all the time, and their pet dino Matcha, who has a strong personality that is inversely proportional to his size. Milk and Mocha are opposite in nature, though they share a love for the movies, food and sleep. Milk is akin to a loveable puppy, while Mocha is more like a silen...

AUTHOR: Andy Shepherd ILLUSTRATOR: Sara Ogilvie SERIES: The Boy Who Grew Dragons, #1 GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Even dragons couldn’t save this for me. It has a few merits but becomes boring after a few chapters. Story Synopsis: When Tomas discovers a strange tree in a corner of his grandfather’s garden, he doesn’t realise that its odd egg-shaped fruit will soon hatch and produce a baby dragon. Tomas names his new pet Flicker and does his best to keep him fed and out of sight. However, having a pet dragon is not easy, especially when Tomas doesn’t know how to control it and can’t even ask anyone for help. When Tomas realises that having Flicker around is as much dangerous as it is fun, he needs to learn more about dragons, asap! The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Tomas. I can’t believe that a book with dragons could bore me so much. The story started off wonderfully. Tomas’s discovery of the pitaya tree (commonly known as the d...

AUTHOR: Carsten Henn GENRE: Drama RATING: 3.75 stars In a Nutshell: A sweet story about an old bookseller and a little girl who changes his life. Loved all the bookish references. The final quarter went over the top, but overall, it was a good enough read, albeit clichéd. Story Synopsis: Seventy-two-year-old Carl Kollhoff works at a bookstore handling a distinctive role. His job is to deliver books to special customers after closing hours. Carl knows these customers and their reading tastes well and respects their needs and desires. When “nearly ten”-year-old Schascha bumps into Carl one day during his rounds and insists on accompanying him on his rounds, Carl is flustered. He has no experience with kids and doesn’t know how to handle this impetuous child. But soon, he realises that Schascha has her own wisdom to offer about his books and his routes, even when he hasn’t asked her for her advice. When Carl’s job is in danger, he needs to rethink what to do with his life, because he has ...

AUTHOR: Charles Dickens NARRATOR: Martin Jarvis GENRE: Coming-of-Age, Classic. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Still remains my favourite Dickens work, though middle-aged-me found more flaws in it than teen-me did. If you are a classics lover, this ought to be on your read list at least for its impeccable character development. In many ways, this was a reread for me, but strictly speaking, this is my first read of the complete and unabridged work. During my childhood years, the classics were an inevitable part of my life, primarily because of my school who added a variety of classics to our agenda. No full-length tomes were forced upon us. Rather, we were given abridged versions of works by classic giants ranging from Mark Twain to Anthony Hope, George Eliot (whom I had assumed to be a man!!) to Johann David Wyss. Because of these relatively thinner, illustrated volumes, I never felt overwhelmed by the writing style and enjoyed the large-than-life stories. A few years ago, I decide...

AUTHOR: Viola Ardone TRANSLATOR: Clarissa Botsford GENRE: Coming-of-Age Historical Fiction. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Only if you have an unbreakable heart will you stay untouched by this beautifully written coming-of-age novel based on a true story and set in 1960s Sicily. Strongly recommended. Story Synopsis: 1960. Fifteen year old Oliva Denaro tries to live life on her own terms, running freely and helping her father out hunting snails and frogs. However, she is a girl, and as such, she is governed by the ‘rules’ dictated to her by her traditional-minded mother. Oliva doesn’t want to grow up or be visited by the ‘red baron’ as she knows it will make her a woman overnight and her life will change forever. However, when the rich baker’s son decides that he likes Oliva, her life changes anyway, bringing with it an unwanted attention that leads to much worse. Oliva is now forced into some tough decisions. Will she be able to stand up for herself, or succumb to societal demands? ...