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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Ready Player One - Ernest Cline - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Ernest Cline SERIES: Ready Player One #1 GENRE: Science Fiction, LitRPG PUBLICATION DATE: August 16, 2011. RATING: 4.5 stars. It's a rare occurrence in my life when I end up watching the movie without realising that it is a book adaptation. Now that I've read 'Ready Player One', I sure am glad that I watched the movie first! ( Be forewarned; the movie story is very different from that of the book. ) Imagine reading a book on baseball and you happen to be interested in sports but aren't an expert in baseball. You'll enjoy the book, no doubt. But there will be many terms that you can't understand and at the end, there will be a slight regret in your heart. You will start pondering, "if only I had some interest in baseball, I'd have enjoyed this book even more." That's me with 'Ready Player One'. 'Ready Player One' is a full paisa-vasool entertainer. The story is set in a dystopian 2045, where the world is in tumult aft...
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The Pink Umbrella - Amélie Callot - ★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Amélie Callot ILLUSTRATOR: Geneviève Godbout GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: January 2, 2018 RATING: 2.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book that probably holds more meaning to romance-loving adults. Cute story but too rambling in the first half. Fabulous illustrations. It is officially aimed at kids, but I don’t think children will like this one. 🤔 Plot Preview: Adele runs a little café, offering it as a happy place not just for food but also for local small businesses to set up stalls. But she absolutely hates rain, so whenever it rains, she closes the café and stays inside under her covers feeling sad. Because she is such a good friend to everyone, someone decides to offer her kindness. One by one, they leave three items that will help Adele deal with the rain. All three objects are perfect for Adele in colour, style, and fit. But who is this mysterious friend trying to make sure that Adele enjoys a rainy day just as much as she loves the sunny ones?...
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The News from Dublin: Stories - Colm Tóibín - ★★

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AUTHOR: Colm Tóibín GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: March 31, 2026 RATING: 2.1 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary short-story collection by the acclaimed Irish writer. Interesting variety of characters and situations. A bit haphazard in plot development. Flat in character development. Bleak. Feels very lengthy because of the slow pacing and meandering structure. Disappointing endings at times. Didn’t work much for me. This collection comprises nine stories, a few of which have been published before in other publications. The stories are set across multiple countries, Ireland included. I had grabbed this collection mainly for two reasons. One, I have enjoyed a majority of the literary works written by contemporary Irish writers and want to explore more Irish fiction. Two, I liked one short story written by this author for Amazon Original Stories. ( ‘The Shortest Day’ ) However, this collection just wasn’t for me. For one, the 300 pages seem endless as each story is terribl...
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Doubles - Nora Gold - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Nora Gold GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 1, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction novella about a young math-obsessed girl caught in an institution. Creative in concept, clever in execution. Dark and disturbing content. A few inclusions made me uncomfortable, though these might not affect all readers. Definitely recommended. Not for children despite the young protagonist. Plot Preview: 1968. A twelve-year-old girl is angry at being kept in a state-run children’s home. Every day, she waits for someone to come and take her back home. But why is she there? Why is she angry? The story is told to us in the unnamed narrator’s first-person point-of-view over a period of six months. I had encountered Nora Gold’s writing through the brilliant flip-book with two literary novellas, “In Sickness and In Health / Yom Kippur in a Gym” . I was impressed enough to know that I would read more of her works. This second encounter of her writing has mostly justified...
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I Didn't Ask For This - Jennie Wood - ★★.½

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AUTHOR: Jennie Wood GENRE: YA Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: April 28, 2026 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA graphic novel dealing with an important topic – the online exploitation of children by influencer parents. The intent is fabulous but the execution needs finetuning. Uni-dimensional characters. Too cluttered with subplots, too aggressive about certain themes, too deliberate about inclusive representation. Decent illustrations. This has all the negatives of typical YA writing, but I guess I can’t hold this against the book as it is meant to be YA. I still appreciate the purpose behind the storyline but I wish it had stuck to the central theme instead of spreading itself thin. Might work better for YA readers. Plot Preview: Daisy is tired of her mom sharing every single detail of her life on her mom blog, even when Daisy refuses. So when she gets invited to an online group called “Not Your Baby Anymore”, she hesitates only a little before joining. This group comprises some ...
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