Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Aman J. Bedi SERIES: Ghosts of Ethuran, #2 GENRE: Epic Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: March 13, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A dark fantasy set in a fictional South-Asian setting. The second book of the Ghosts of Ethuran series, and needs to be read in series order. Continues the story well, revealing more shades to the protagonist and the world. Excellent action sequences. The gore and the cuss words were still not to my liking, but I enjoyed the rest, maybe even more than the first book as I was better prepared for the graphic content. This was a “paisa vasool” experience. Plot Preview: (Contains mild spoilers from the first book.) After the victory against the Kraelish, Kavi is now the unofficial leader of the Taemu, who are finally getting a bit more respect in Raayan. But when a hooligan forcibly takes control of the Imperial Rickshaw Company and forces Kavi to work with his gang as an enforcer, threatening her with dire consequences against the Taemu if she refuses or...

AUTHOR: Kanza Javed GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: September 23, 2025 RATING: 4.4 stars. In a Nutshell: An exceptional OwnVoices short story collection covering contemporary experiences of Pakistanis in their country and of the diaspora in the USA. Brilliant writing and memorable characters. A haunting kind of melancholic tone to every story. I don’t remember the last time I was so enraptured by a story collection. Much, much recommended! This collection of eight stories is an OwnVoices work by Pakistani-American author Kanza Javed. The stories are set either in Pakistan or in the USA, and represent contemporary experiences of the citizens and/or the diaspora. There is no introductory note specifying the unifying theme across these stories. But the blurb indicates that the stories focus on “fiercely resilient characters who desire more than what their circumstances can offer them—and what these desires ultimately cost them.” I cannot put it better! ( For once, the blur...

AUTHOR: Ruby Jones GENRE: Self-Help Affirmations. PUBLICATION DATE: March 16, 2021 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of affirmations presented through some powerful illustrations. Not exactly my type of book, but a great option for those who enjoy self-help and inspirational works. As the tagline suggests, this promises to be a little book of kindness. Of comfort. Of strengthening and inspiring advice one needs to hear while battling life’s lows. ( Or while listening to the news these days. ) As a compilation of some impactful and thought-provoking affirmations, this book does all this and more. The author's little note at the start explains how the book came into being. The rest of the book is a mix of affirmations and illustrations.  The book seems hefty at 128 pages, but the affirmations are probably on just a third of those pages. The rest are just positive, mood-boosting, heart-touching illustrations. As such, it is a very quick read for those who wish to go cover ...

AUTHOR: Oscar Wilde ILLUSTRATOR: Lauren O’Hara GENRE: Children's Fiction, Classic. PUBLICATION DATE: January 13, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of six stories written by Oscar Wilde. Originally written as bedtime stories, but I doubt if these would work in their unabridged form for today’s children. But if parents could help with simplifying the language, the book might still click well. It’s Oscar Wilde, after all! The illustrations in this edition are a bonus. Oscar Wilde is one of my favourite short story authors. I think I have written almost every work of his. Some of his stories are such absolute favourites of mine that I can gladly reread them. Two of them are a part of this book. This new collection contains six stories that were originally penned by Wilde as ‘fairy stories’ i.e. stories written for children. Of the six tales, five have been taken from the collection ‘The Happy Prince and Other Stories’ (1888), while the sixth is from ‘A House of Pomegra...

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins NARRATOR: Santino Fontana SERIES: The Hunger Games, #0 GENRE: YA Dystopian Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: May 19, 2020 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A prequel to the acclaimed Hunger Games trilogy. Villain-origin story of Coriolanus Snow. Excellent continuity from here to the main book series. Works well in its purpose but boring at times, especially in the second half where the “romance” seems to dominate the action. A good option if you want a psychological study of the future President Snow and expect a character-driven storyline than an action-driven one. Plot Preview: It’s a big day in the Capitol: the day of the Reaping that will start off the 10th Hunger Games. Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus is determined to excel in his role as the student-mentor to one of the tributes. If he wins the accolades, he can probably restore some name and money to the once-powerful house of Snow, which has fallen on hard times. The odds aren’t in Coriolanus’s favour. He is assign...

AUTHOR: Ben Mantle GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 14, 2025 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A cute little picture book from a younger brother’s perspective about his “bestest” big brother. Quite a sweet story and cute illustrations. Loved the message about giving space. Recommended. Plot Preview: Nano loves his elder brother Felix and considers him the bestest big brother in the whole world. So much so that he loves doing EVERYTHING together with his brother. As you might guess, Felix isn't too happy about this. One day, Nano finds a new sign taped on the door of Felix’s tree house: “No nanos Allowed!” Hmmph! Nano will just build his own tree house. It can’t be too difficult, right? The story is written in Nano’s first-person perspective. Where there are siblings, there are sibling squabbles. This picture book covers one such tiff, where an elder brother goes from being the “bestest big brother” to the “worst big brother ever!” within a few hours. I’...

AUTHOR: Collins Kids GENRE: Nonfiction, Trivia PUBLICATION DATE: September 11, 2025. RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: As the title indicates, a collection of “curious facts” on a multitude of topics. Great for trivia lovers. The title tell you that the book contains “Curious Facts About Everything”. The tagline informs you that this book contains 1500 interesting facts to amaze you. The GR page indicates that the book is just 160 pages long. All this together tells you one key feature of the book: it’s a bit crowded. The book does contain 1500 facts. ( They are numbered, so we don’t need to actually count them to verify the claim. ) However, as the thin size of the book indicates, the facts are in a numbered list. Each page contains anywhere between 6 to 15 pieces of trivia. I am not sure if all the entries can be called “curious” in the sense of “strange” or “unusual”, but the compilation is interesting and meticulous. The content is listed topic-wise, taken from seventy-six points...

AUTHOR: Sue Heath GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 1, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction implementing the found family trope in a library setting. Nice range of characters in terms of age and personality. A plot that befits the genre. Story-within-a-story, though the sub-story didn’t work well for me. Overall, good for fans of feel-good fiction. Plot Preview: When there’s an inter-library writing competition announced, Hattie, a widow and a regular patron of the library these days, is immediately interested. Contest rules specify that there needs to be a group of four members penning a novella-length work. Librarian Will, newly back in town for a family matter, isn't given a choice; Hattie forces him to join in. Avril, who has some struggles at home and is worried about her future, and Stuart, newly retired and wondering what to do with his time, form the rest of Hattie’s team. Each of them is a relative stranger to each other, and ha...

AUTHOR: Devoney Looser GENRE: Literature, Biography PUBLICATION DATE: September 2, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A nonfiction investigation of the ‘wildness’ contained in Austen’s writing, her life, and in the extraneous ventures capitalising on her name. Thus divided into three sections, the first section was easily my favourite. The second was a bit boring and the third went the mixed way. Might work for some Austen fans, though this Austenite was only partly impressed. Given that 2025 has the 250th birth anniversary of the evergreen Jane Austen, there are plenty of books coming out this year celebrating Austen and her timeless works. As a huge fan of all of Austen’s writing, I feel like I have a bonanza of Austen nonfiction to choose from. I have read three such titles so far. I loved ‘ Jane Austen’s Bookshelf ’ and found ‘ The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen ’ decent enough. This book, however, wasn't that easy to rate. I absolutely loved some chapters and was thoroughly bore...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: SERIES: Madeline Finn, #1 GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2016 RATING: 5 stars! In a Nutshell: A gorgeous picture book about a little girl who struggles with reading and finds some unexpected help. Amazing story, amazing illustrations, amazing motivational lesson, and one cute surprise at the end that made me go “Whoa!” Much recommended! Can’t wait to try the rest of the series. Plot Preview: Madeline Fin is a little girl who doesn’t like to read, especially to read out loud. Her teacher and her mother both encourage her to keep trying, but Madeline is frustrated at her lack of progress. She yearns for a star sticker but how can she get it if she doesn’t want to read anymore? One Saturday, her mother takes her to the library, where the librarian, who knows that Madeline hates reading, asks her, “Do you want to read to a dog?” Hesitantly, Madeline goes to beautiful white dog named Bonnie and tries to read to her. Do you think Bo...

AUTHOR TEAM: Archie Superstars GENRE: Comic. PUBLICATION DATE: February 21, 2023 RATING: 1 star! In a Nutshell: Super cringe-y! My younger daughter warned me against reading this book, saying she found it utterly boring. But my curiosity got the better of me. It's the Archies, after all! The staple comic of my youth, despite its obvious red flags. I used to love the characters, and assumed that seeing them in India would work as a pleasant combination of nostalgia and curiosity. Remind me never to question my daughter's tastes again. Not many outside India might know that there was a special Bollywood adaptation of ‘The Archies’ released in 2023 by a top production studio. Don’t bother looking it up. The movie was awful! But on that momentous occasion, the producers and the Archies team teamed up to release this special comics collection. Turns out, this collection is even more awful than the movie. This book includes every story where Archie and his friends have travelled to I...

AUTHOR: Barbara O'Connor NARRATOR: Suzy Jackson GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 26, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A companion novel to this author’s popular middle-grade novel ‘Wish’. Set in the same world, but can be read as a standalone. The main character is more appealing this time around, and the plot is also slightly more complex. Some nice country music lyrics. The cover is slightly misleading; no dog has an active role in the story. I liked this better than ‘Wish’. Plot Preview: Colby, North Carolina. Idalee Lovett comes from a long line of country musicians. Not that they were famous, but they all had talent, some local success. Her Mama is fulfilling her dream at present, touring with her group for the summer in bars across the state. As the Lovett family has a huge house with rooms to rent, Idalee has to stay back in the house, with the other tenants as her main companions. When the local radio competition announces a songwriting contest wi...

AUTHOR: Namrata Agarwal ILLUSTRATOR: Parvati Pillai GENRE: Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book focussed on a little girl who takes the philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ too seriously. I liked the story and the illustrations, but didn’t love them. There was room for improvement in both. Still, recommended to those who wish to read about this traditional Indian approach towards welcoming guests. Plot Preview: Ria is very excited to see her paternal grandparents who are coming for a visit after two years all the way from India. She wants to have the perfect chai party to celebrate. Baba and Dadi arrive, as expected, with plenty of gifts for Ria, including a mithai (sweets) box. Ria is very excited! Soon, the other guests start arriving for the chai party. Ria’s grandparents have taught her the traditional Indian philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (We welcome our guests like they are gods), so Ria is determined to become the b...