Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Hayley Gelfuso GENRE: Speculative Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 26, 2025 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical speculative fiction that explores complex moral themes and the impact of censorship. Brilliant storyline, intriguing flawed characters, excellent use of the post-war and Soviet-era timelines. The time-space continuum adds the perfect dash of fantasy and mystery. Somewhat slow in pace and a bit farfetched at times, but overall, a dazzling debut. Don’t overthink, and you will enjoy it better. Plot Preview: 1938. Nuremberg, Germany. Eleven-year-old Lisavet is trapped in the mysterious library-like time space when her father, a watchmaker, pushes her in for her safety against the pogrom. When he fails to return, Lisavet grows up amid the books, which contain memories from across countries and eras, and spectres who wander the alleys of time. But soon, she sees some humans also enter the time space, where they seem to be destroying books for some nef...

AUTHOR: Terri Tatchell ILLUSTRATOR: Ivan Sulima SERIES: Endangered and Misunderstood, #6 GENRE:Children's Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 8, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book focussing on the adorable axolotl. Cute story and illustrations. Rhythmic prose. The latest volume of the amazing ‘Endangered and Misunderstood’ series, and just as charming. Plot Preview: A young axolotl wonders how the world would be beyond his dark lake. When he sees a beautiful hummingbird flying above the surface of the lake, he gathers all his courage and asks her about the land that is unknown to him. The hummingbird decides that he can be trusted, and takes him around. However, as we all know, some of the creatures on land, especially the biggest two-legged ones, cannot be trusted. Will the hummingbird be able to keep her new friend safe? The ‘Endangered and Misunderstood’ picture book series always highlights at least one endangered animal that children might not know much about. T...

AUTHOR: Edward Brooke-Hitching ILLUSTRATOR: Oksana Drachkovska GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 9, 2025 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of 365 trivia from assorted subject areas. As mindboggling and amazing as the title suggests. Some of the inclusions sounds too wild to be true, but they are. Much recommended! The title clearly indicates what this book is, but it also constrains the actual scope of the book. 365 – that’s the official count of entries in the book. But there’s a surprise at the end. Amazing – Well, the content is amazing, but it is too prosaic a word for such a fabulous collection. True Things – accurate enough. Every entry is true, even if it seems wildly wild! To read in bed – Again, valid. But such a limiter! The book can be read anywhere and anytime! Of course, the introductory note by the author does mention that while you can read the book anywhere, the best place to open it would be your bed. He justifies this though...

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer SERIES: Timeless, #6 GENRE: Historical Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: November 4, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical fiction with elements of romance, time travel, familial rivalry, royal intrigue, and Christian faith. Outstanding in plotting, historical research, and character development. The sixth book of the fabulous Timeless series. Works as a standalone, but better not read in isolation. Much recommended! Plot Preview: 1883, Virginia. Twenty-four-year-old Charles has been struggling to take care of his mother and widowed sister as his horse farm has been facing losses ever since the death of his father a few years ago. His 1563 life in England, though more opulent, comes with its own share of struggles. (Yes, Charles lives two lives simultaneously. Read the earlier Timeless books to know how this works.) His main concern there is his stepsister Cecily, who has no one except him. Cecily works in the court of Queen Elizabeth, but if Charles ha...

AUTHOR: Deborah Hext GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: July 28, 2025 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy about the magic of storytelling. Had excellent potential, but the execution needs much more finetuning. The story-within-a-story part is somewhat decent, but the plot development, the writing style and the fantastical content could have worked far better for me. Plot Preview. Cornwall. Present day ( I think... There’s mention of social media. ) Thanks to her late Storyteller father, eleven-year-old Tamsyn has always known the power of stories. Living with a foster mom and her other wards isn't the same as being with her own parents, but they are all still a close-knit and loving group. Tamsyn uses her storytelling skills to enthral her foster siblings. When a stranger arrives at their doorstep claiming that the magic of the world is being destroyed and Tamsyn is the only one who can save them, the young girl learns for the first time that stories co...

AUTHOR: Eliot Stein GENRE: Nonfiction, Travel, Sociology. PUBLICATION DATE: December 10, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An astounding nonfiction work chronicling the endeavours of some “custodians of wonder”, people who are among the last few practitioners of their craft. Covers a variety of rare skills/jobs from ten countries, including one from India. Informative, insightful, dismaying, heartwarming. A beautiful book for those who still believe in the importance of traditions and want a ray of genuine hope in this fake/filtered world. Globalisation and modernisation have brought many benefits to humankind, no doubt. Unfortunately, a globalised world also ends up diminishing and even destroying localism. In this age of digitization and outsourcing, there are so many skills that are either considered obsolete or abandoned for easier, machine-made options. Even for something as basic as cooking, every subsequent generation is opting for simpler recipes and faster cooking method...

AUTHOR: Charlie Creed GENRE: Fairytale Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: October 23, 2025. RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An illustrated collection of feline fairytales and folktales from all over the world. Great organisation and brilliant introductions to each segment. A fabulous option for cat lovers, as long as they remember that fairytales and folktales haven’t necessarily aged well. Quite a few folktales and fairytales include animals as characters. And one of the most common creatures to be found in these is the cat. This book collects forty such stories from twenty-eight countries/cultures. Almost all regions of the world are represented. The earliest stories in this compilation, taken from traditional oral lore, are thousands of years old. The most recent one is from the nineteenth century. The introductory note, brilliantly penned, highlights the role of cats in fairytales and folklore. It then explains the basis of organisation for this book. The forty stories have been di...

AUTHOR: Lauren Fischer GENRE: Teen Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: November 12, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary upper-middle-grade mystery about a group of orphans and a bunch of secrets. Nice characters but not all sound their age. A good small-town setting but it could have been used better. Interesting themes but too many of them clutter the plot. Inclusive but preachy. Basically, a mixed experience for me, but I admire the heart behind this debut attempt. Plot Preview: 2019. Ohio, USA. Eleven-year-old Willa has been a resident of the Southern Ohio Children’s Home for four years, ever since her mom died from a drug overdose. Opioid abuse is a common problem in the community, and the Home is a haven for several “drug orphans” as well as other children in need. Willa hopes to always be at the Home, even though she gets in trouble at times. She loves the place, her teacher, her companions, and most of all, Mercy (the director of the Home). The newest resident of the H...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Paul Castle SERIES: Pringle & Finn, #2 GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 2023 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: The “Pengroom” Penguins return in another adorable picture book. Sweet story, gorgeous illustrations. Somewhat similar to the first book in vibe, which is fine because the first book also was lovely. Much recommended. Plot Preview: Pringle and Finn still love making cakes, but they have now moved on the birthday cakes. For each of their animals friends, they make memorable birthday cakes that reflect their taste. Each cake contains a special ingredient. Then comes a very special day, and a very special delivery, requiring a very special “birth”-day cake. After enjoying ‘The Pengrooms’ , I just had to jump to the next book in the series. The main characters in this book are the same, but the story works well as a standalone, so you needn’t read the series in order. The story is somewhat similar to that of the first boo...

AUTHOR: Mike Rampton ILLUSTRATOR: Guilherme Karsten GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 14, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A Q&A-styled nonfiction for middle-graders. Contains some interesting questions and some equally interesting answers. Given the title, I expected the questions to be more whimsical and wacky, but these are far and few between. Informative. A good gift option if you are looking for a different kind of encyclopaedic book covering multiple subjects. Author Mike Rampton’s daughter once asked him a question he couldn’t answer. This simple incident led to a wonderful and worthy revelation – there are no silly questions. Thus began the ideation of this book, wherein the author noted more than 200 “silly” questions and the answers for each. I love that the book begins with two “silly questions” right on the title page, questions of which most book-loving readers would surely enjoy the answers. Questions are unfortunately not given enough...

AUTHOR: Lily King GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction focussing on a young woman, the men in her life and how they affected her path. Begins shaky (probably because the key characters are young adults and didn’t resonate with me), but gets a bit steadier as it progresses. Not as whimsical as the cover suggests, but the title is the good fit for the plot. Thought-provoking, but also dragged, pretentious and unnecessarily depressing. Those who have read ‘Writers and Lovers’ might enjoy the secret connection this book has to its plot, but this is written as and works as a standalone. Recommended, but not to all. Plot Preview: In the senior year of college, our unnamed first-person narrator meets two students in her Literature class: Sam and Yash. The trio become good friends, and engage regularly in battles of the intellect through banter, discussions, and card games. The boys nickname the narrator “Jordan”, an...

AUTHOR: Trung Le Nguyen GENRE: YA Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA graphic novel focussing on stress, grief, burnout, and “love”. The themes, the cover and inside art, and a couple of the characters were praiseworthy. But the rest of the execution didn’t work for me. This is a slightly outlier opinion. Plot Preview: A year ago, over-active Angelica, aka Jelly, faced a mighty burnout and withdrew from all extracurricular activities. Now seventeen, she is ready to get back on track, and decides to begin one step at a time. When the reputed local theatre selects her as one of the interns for an upcoming production of a fairytale retelling, Jelly is thrilled. Not because she has a job to focus on, but because she can finally meet Per the Bear, the mascot of the theatre whom Jelly has been secretly DMing since a year and finding comfort in their supportive responses. Who is the stranger behind the bear costume? Was their connection just...