Beyond Books

I am no writer, and have no intention of becoming a published author. But sometimes, I do feel like penning my thoughts on all things bookish. Here are a few of my thoughts and writings.
(As is evident, this page is a work-in-progress. I have written a lot more than these few articles. Stay tuned. 😃)

Author Specials:


Bookish Write-ups:



✤ Five Types of Non-fiction that Even Fiction Lovers Will Enjoy! - Guest Article for Blogchatter's BeStorified series. - March 2025.





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A Little Christmas Magic - Suzanne Rogerson - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR:  Suzanne Rogerson NARRATOR:  Colette Davies-Kerwin GENRE: Contemporary Christmas Short Stories PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2025 RATING: 3.8 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet collection of holiday short stories. Covering varied characters and emotions. Utterly feel-good and perfect for the festive season.  This collection contains eight short stories. As the title promises, each of them contains “a little Christmas magic”. The word ‘magic’ is used in both its interpretations: figurative and actual. Goodreads shows this book to be a part of the Winter Warmers series, but the series comprises short story collections that are independent of each other and hence can be read in any order.  As feel-good stories set during the Christmas season, the tales are obviously heartwarming. You might even assume that these are predictable, and many of them are. BUT this genre is anyway not meant to be twisty. AND there are a few stories that offer unexpected surprises, so...
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The Thin Blue-Yellow Line Between Love and Hate - Anton Eine

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AUTHOR: Anton Eine GENRE: Memoir RATING: A must-read, but I can't quantify it. In a Nutshell: A horrifying exposé about the life of ordinary Ukrainians after Russia invaded their nation on Feb 24th 2022. Written in the form of a journal and covers the first hundred days of the war. I knew this book would break me; I still read it for the author and for the people of Ukraine; I am now torn apart, much more than what I thought was possible. Anton Eine might be a new name to many of you. As an indie author who primarily writes in Russian and has his works translated to English, his works are virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. I too hadn’t heard of him until the day I stumbled upon one of his short stories on a website. Since then, I have read a few more of his short fiction and even his full-length sci-fi novel. Fiction is his forte. (He is fabulous at sci-fi.) Whatever I have read of his works, I have enjoyed. Until this book. The word “enjoy” simply can’t be applied ...
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Twice - Mitch Albom - ★★.½

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AUTHOR & NARRATOR: Mitch Albom GENRE: Magical Realism PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A magical realism novel about a man who gets two chances at everything in his life. Intriguing storyline, decent exploration of human psychology. Flawed lead character, too many plot holes. Needs much suspension of disbelief. Not sure if I can recommend this with gusto, though it will certainly work for many readers. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: When senior citizen Alfie Logan is apprehended in the Bahamas for allegedly cheating at a casino and winning a huge amount, Casino Detective Vincent LaPorta isn't prepared for Alfie’s explanation that he gets a second chance at everything in life. The detective obviously doesn’t buy such a nonsensical explanation, but Alfie is determined to prove his claim, handing the detective a composition book that tells the story of his life, and of how he simply needs to think of a past time and say the word “Twice...
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Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] - Jesse Q. Sutanto - ★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Jesse Q. Sutanto NARRATOR: Eunice Wong SERIES: Vera Wong, #2 GENRE: Cosy Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: Officially a mystery, but practically, more of a comic drama with some dark content. Interesting but also infuriating geriatric lead. Relatively thin plot. Influencer trope, which is never my favourite. Recommended as long as you are looking for a mindless entertainer and not a mystery. The second novel of the Vera Wong series. Can work as a standalone, but better read in series order. This was decent enough, but I liked the first book more. Go in blind. Plot Preview: A year after the events of Book One. Vera is still running her tea shop and still competing with Winifred and her bakery. But with no dead bodies around, Vera is bored. So when she bumps into a girl looking for her missing friend, Vera is delighted to have a new mystery to poke her nose into. Even better when she discovers, thanks to snooping where she shouldn’t, that ...
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Winter Stories - Ingvild H. Rishøi - ★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Ingvild H. Rishøi TRANSLATOR: Diane Oatley GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: December 2, 2025 RATING: 3.2 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of three stories set in the Scandinavian winter. Compelling but also frustrating. I liked the character-oriented writing, but the frequent flashbacks and overload of introspection affected my enjoyment. More suited to literary fiction readers. This collection was first published in Norway under the title "Vinternoveller" in 2014. It was translated from Norwegian to English in 2019 by Diane Oatley. The same translation is now available under a new publisher in December 2025. I had first experienced Norwegian author’s Ingvild H. Rishøi’s writing in the novella ‘Brightly Shining’ , the first of her books to be translated to English. While the ending left me a bit befuddled, I had fond memories of the rest of the work. This is why I decided to give this collection a go. A foolhardy decision, considering how short storie...
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