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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The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou - Eleni Kyriacou - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Eleni Kyriacou GENRE: Historical Mystery-Drama RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical crime-drama with some amazingly complicated characters. Covers quite a few intense themes. Has minor flaws, but the overall impact is so good that I am willing to overlook the shortcomings. Strongly recommended! Story Synopsis: 1954. London. Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot woman in her mid-fifties, has been accused of murdering her daughter-in-law brutally. Zina can’t understand much English, so while she is in the custody of the police, she can only take wild guesses at what’s unfolding around her. Eva Georgiou works as a freelance Greek interpreter for the Metropolitan police. As an immigrant herself, she understands how lost Zina might be feeling. The common language makes their bond grow, and Eva is determined to save Zina, even though she has her suspicions about the truth. The story comes to us in the limited third-person perspectives of Zina and Eva, in multiple timelines that include f...
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A Price to Love - Smita Das Jain - ★★.½

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AUTHOR: Smita Das Jain GENRE: Contemporary Romantic Drama. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A brave choice of protagonist for this genre, as the leading lady pretty much drives the show in a ruthless and selfish way. The writing style, however, wasn’t a match to my reading preferences, and the somewhat clichéd approach in certain plot elements also reduced my enjoyment. A decent book, but I wanted more. Story Synopsis: 2018. Gurugram, India. Sonia seems to have everything going right for her. A management grad from India’s best institution, twenty-seven year old Sonia works in a job she is passionate about, and married to her classmate from IIM-A. Her reporting heads idolise her, and her assistants are also in awe of her. The glitch in this perfect world is that her husband Sameep isn’t happy with the way Sonia seems to be working 24x7, even at the cost of their personal time together. Sonia’s decisions are dominated not just by her ambitions but also by her past. How long can Sonia...
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The Language of Love and Other Stories - Nancy Christie - ★★★★

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  AUTHOR:  Nancy Christie GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: February 4, 2025 RATING: 3.9 stars. In a Nutshell: A delightful short story collection focussing on all aspects of love. Yes, “love”, not “romance”! Interesting plots, multiple emotions, steady paced, beautiful endings ranging from sweet to bittersweet. Not corny or mushy as you might assume. Much recommended! I had misjudged this short story collection on initial glance, dismissing it as being cheesy romance tales. ( Very hasty and judgemental of me, I admit. No offence intended to readers of the genre. It is just that I no longer enjoy such stories .) As the cover gave me romance vibes, I almost decided that this is not for me. But then, the title made me pause, bringing to my mind the fabulous "The Five Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell – probably the only self-help/inspirational book I've read that I found authentic and practical. I wondered if the "language...
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Photographs of Emily and other stories - Annalisa Crawford - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Annalisa Crawford GENRE: Story Collection, Dark Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 24, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars In a Nutshell: An indie collection comprising one novella and three short stories. Excellent atmosphere and lyrical writing. Dark and haunting. Much recommended. I've been a fan of this author ever since I read her story collection titled "The Clock in My Mother's House and Other Stories."  Since then, I've read three more of her works and enjoyed all of them. Safe to say that I now pick up an Annalisa Crawford work without even reading the blurb. A risky strategy, but with the right author, the reward is almost always assured. This latest book justifies my faith in her writing. The collection comprises one novella and three short stories. The novella takes up about 65% of the book. The mood in all four entries is somewhat similar: melancholic and haunting. The stories circulate around the same core topics of personal loss, grief, mental hea...
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Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales - Lari Don - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Lari Don ILLUSTRATOR: Elise Carmichael GENRE: Folktale Collection PUBLICATION DATE: June 16, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of ten magical Celtic stories . Simply awesome tales! Only the illustrations didn't work too well for me. A great book for children (and adults) who love fairy tales. This book contains magical stories from the Celtic isles. There is a wonderful map of the isles right at the start. I have long known the word “Celtic” but only when I saw this map did I realise how the Celtic Isles are places. The introductory note offers a little insight into Celtic geography and its significance. The collection has ten stories, which is a bit disappointing to be honest. Each story was so delightful in its tone and content that I couldn’t help long for more. The stories come from varied Celtic Isles: : Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. Each location contributes one-two stories. The text retains the original Celtic s...
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