Elephants in the Room by Suraj Laxminarayanan
Published by The Write Place on 08/2018
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 600
Format: ARC
Goodreads

What is a better crime fiction novel where a crime revolves around not the detective who tries to fit pieces in a puzzle? A book that focuses on the crime, it’s after effects and the turmoil every individual involved goes through. Such is a book written by Suraj Laxminarayanan called Elephants in the Room.  

Set in Chennai this book is the debut of Suraj Laxminarayanan in the world of crime fiction. The plot revolves around a bank heist that leads to the story of three gangs coming face to face as the events in this book unfold. A group of friends plans a bank robbery which they think to be foolproof. They get into every detail and leave nothing out of their blueprint. It is kind of an Oceans’ 11 but here only 5 members are the mastermind behind it. They try to start their careers as robbers by mugging pedestrians to get hands-on experience. 

Things get interesting when another gang of robbers who have already established roots in the crime decides to rob the same bank on the same day with heavy weaponry. Bonds are developed among criminals but as they say, there is no honor among thieves, things get ugly.  

The storyline is a long one, written in more 590 pages, it intelligently unfolds every event and the reason behind the action taken which helps a reader like me to develop perspective. This also keeps it interesting until the end. The theme does not only revolves around the crime that is committed but every emotion exposure each character go through which leads to a thrilling drama that is lightened by occasional comic moments. 

I never expected this novel to be a thrilling one. The plot did sound interesting at the start and looking at the length of the book, I did wonder how the author will reach the conclusion of this tale which is full of twists and turns. He is imagination and construction of plot did exceed my expectations and so did his writing style. Written from a third person’s narrative there is not a single element I could find the can be said as a dragging one. He even provides insight into Chennai’s culture and its geography which I am nothing but unfamiliar. The characterization could have been better but I do not solely blame the author since there is a huge cast to manage.  

This book is an attraction for crime readers as it does not follow a traditional path of the subgenre but tries to redefine the perspective both of the reader and the writer because of its highly appreciable and well-organized plot.  

4 out of 5! 

The post BOOK REVIEW: Elephants in the Room by Suraj Laxminarayanan appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

One of the hardest thing about blogging is consistently writing and publish blog posts and for that, you have to keep coming up with the ideas. Often times, I find myself blank when thinking or writing a blog post that is not a book review. I haven’t posted a non-book in a while.

So I thought, I’d try to help others who might find themselves in the same situation as of me. Below in this post, I compile a list of 10 (ten) ideas for possible blog posts for a book blogger. It follows a pattern of ten days in which you have to consistently write. Does not matter that you post them one after the other, I do not want to interrupt your blogging schedule.

To complete this challenge all you have to do is for next at least draft these topics I mentioning. I do hope after going through the list, you will become a blog post idea generating machine.

Day One: [Book Haul/Currently Reading/Recently Read/Weekend Reading/Bookstagram #xxx]

Post pictures of your shelves, books, kindles or the one you are recently bought and cannot wait to read.

Day Two: Discuss a character

I love writing in-depth posts. I also love reading in-depth posts about characters. A character can be good or bad, twisted or naive and you can tell this reader by spotlighting one.

In past, I have written a few posts like this. One is an essay I wrote a few years back on one of my favorite Scottish detective John Rebus.

Day Three: Tell The Story Of How You Loved Reading Books

Everyone has a story about how they fell in love with reading books and I (as your audience) am waiting to hear about yours.

See my post on the same topic!

Day Four: Book Cover Likes and Dislikes

I wanted to do this for a long time. Book covers can be a great asset to lure readers. But I have seen covers that have put me off even though that book is worth reading.

Day Five: Writing About Film/TV adaption of your favorite book

Or the one you have read. If you start writing this post, it will never be focused on or about only one book. You can build up a series of posts.

Day Six: Book Lists that are tied to a seasons and Holidays

This type of post is read by everyone. We all need books to add to our TBR or read it on an upcoming weekend/holiday.

Day Seven: Analyze Your Reading Year

Even though it been only nine months this year, you can write a post about analyzing how your reading year is going through. If you are on Goodreads, you can do it easily. Go to ‘My Books’ and then in the left corner there click ‘Reading Stats’ under the section ‘Your Reading Activity’.

• My Goodreads year 2017
• My Reader Profile Analysis which I recently posted with the help of BookSirens.com (for free)

Day Eight: Write about at least one blogging lesson

Share your experiences about blogging. What are you doing to keep your audience interested? What has changed or you put a lot of effort into learning from the point you started blogging up to now. Inspire others and give suggestions or advice. I often find Book Bloggers creative in this area.

Day Nine: Post an Author Interview/Book Blogger Interview

If you haven’t posted yet, this is the time. To complete this challenge, you will have to interview in whatever way you find suitable and post it.

Day Ten: What Genres You Do Not Like To Read?

In my opinion, this particular post will be great for your audience to read. You pick some genres that you do not read and tell them why.

Do you think you can complete this challenge?

These are the ten ideas I have come up initially but feel free to add or replace a post idea or two while doing the challenge.

Here is some swag for you to post/re-suse or spread the word about this challenge.

The Complete 10 Day Checklist

Download as pdf: 10-day-book-blogging-challenge

WINNER BADGES

WHEN You have completed the challenge successfully you can even brag about it by displaying the following badge in the colour of your choice:

Three more colours. All badges – Download

NOTE If you decide to the challenge, please post the link of your posts or the complete challenge below in comments and I will compile those links and spread the word for you. Inspire others!

You got inspired by this post and now you want to start a book blog? Let me help you. You can check out my ebook on Book Blogging which has tons of insights on how to get started and continuing building your book blog. A Blogger’s Manifesto is available on Amazon IN and US.

The post Ten Day Book Blog Posts Challenge #1 appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

If you want to submit a book for a review please shoot me an email at amandeepmittal@live.com.

• If you just want to send me your book/ebook, you can. Hereby, I do not guarantee to offer book review or offer my opinion on it. This is free.
• If you want me to formally review your book, please note that I offer it as chargeable service.

Other services I provide on my book blog:

• Author Interview
• Book Spotlights
• Blog Tours
• Side-banner/Post-banner advertisement
• Social Media Post

Additionally if you are wondering about a book and would like my opinion just ask in the comment or again, shoot me an email! I’m happy to make recommendations. I’ve read a tons of books from a variety of genres.

If you want to get guaranteed multiple reviews/book promotions, Check out the Patreon page of this blog

Confessions of a Readaholic is live now for five years and I want it to continue this journey. I want to help more authors who are indie or new to the world of books by providing them services through this book blog. In five years, there have been many authors and teams who have become my clients and friends. Thus, to maintain this relationship and the transparency between us, I have decided to provide these services through a platform called Patreon.

You can support this blog by becoming different type of supporter and in return you get access to different services.

Please Note that Becoming a patreon does not guarantee positive book reviews by me. I will continue to review books with the same integrity and honesty as I always do.

WAIT!

This week on Saturday (Sep 22) I am coming up with a new challenge for Book Bloggers. It is called 10 Day Book Blog Post Challenge. Stay tuned for more information on this!

The post Need a book review + Patreon Page? appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Do you want to become a better blogger? Or you struggling to even start one?

Being a blogger means more than just putting words into post. Everything matters when it comes to run a blog consistently. Things like a blog’s design, managing social media profiles, saving countless drafts and then scheduling them in manner as they fit your theme of the month or something like that. Lastly, do not forget about networking with authors and fellow bloggers.

It sounds overwhelming. It is OVERWHELMING

I am here to help. I have been writing this blog for about 5 years now and have monthly subscribers of more than 7.5k. I am currently writing for three blogs other than this and various different publications on Medium.com and I how hard it can be to find your audience. I have been managing countless social media accounts, and have gone through every phase in terms of blogging that you are going through. This is how I want to help you.

Below is a list of variety of posts that I have written over years and I continue to write that are going to help you not only kickstart in the world of blogging or your niche book blogging, but you will be a PRO in no time. You will be spending more time creating content for your own blog rather than breaking your head over things that are only worth one at a time. After reading them, you will have a workflow (probably custom) and you will utilise your time gracefully and productively.

Check out my latest post #bookblogging.
Click To Tweet

So let’s begin…

Browse By Topic:

Book Blogging

• 5 Books you should read as a Book Blogger
• The Secret Life of a Book Blogger
• Social Media for Book Bloggers

Blogging

• How to be a Productive Blogger: Getting Things Done
• How To Hack Your Mornings So You Get Most Of Your Time
• Boost Your Blogging Confidence and Write That Post
• Things I have learned about Blogging

To read in depth of making of a book blogger and all general how-to’s you should check out my Ebook on Blogging: A Blogger’s Manifesto.

It is available on Amazon IN | Amazon US only for $ 0.99.

Stay tuned for Freebies coming for book bloggers next month  To get an update subscribe this blog in the right side bar.

The post Tips on #BookBlogging appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Instagram runs on Hashtags. Without ‘#…’  it would not exist. It is a relevant and a useful way to find things that interests you as a user. If you are blogger/book blogger/ bookworm and like to click or share what you are reading with the world, you probably are familiar with the power of Instagram. If not, I am going to share with you 10 hashtags that can help you get started in a quickly fashion on Instagram.

I started my Instagram account two months back. So far the response I have got is good. Though I still struggle to post frequently there, I do have observed a set of popular hashtags. I love photos of books there. Readers share what they are reading and some of those pics are highly exquisite

P.S. You can find me on Instagram too.

#Bookstagram

#Bookshelfporn

#BookNerd

#BookHaul

#Shelfie

#Bookworm

#BooksofInstagram

#Bookstagram

#Bookstack

#CurrentlyReading

Are you on Instagram? You can find me on Instagram. Share your Bookish pics with me and I will follow you. 

This post took a cup of coffee. To write more posts, I need your help. You can by me a coffee

The post 10 Bookish Hashtags to Follow on Instagram appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Having a to-do list is no harm done. It is actually good, a productive step to increase your own productivity. It is a methodology that tends to change the way you work. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and stressed, one can perform their tasks in an organized manner.

Having a to-do list helps to bring a structure to your routine. As a blogger, I do get overwhelmed by the amount of research I have to do in order to complete the task of writing an article. It took me a lot of time to get into the habit of having and maintaining a list. At times, I still struggle to maintain one and achieve the targets I set in a day.

I believe in getting the habit of maintaining a system for oneself. Keeping up with a list and to have all checks at the end of the day is not possible every day. However, it does help me de-clutter my mind. I do not have to spend every moment for getting a task done if I write it down in the list. Not only, I get most things done on most days, the sense of excitement for all things I do is a bliss.

The key concepts I have found that works for me in developing and maintaining this habit are listed below.

Having a List

Write it down in a notebook. Write it in a smartphone application. Or in your email, Whatever works for you. Do make sure, that the material or the application you use must be accessible to you almost all times.

Adding the tasks

All tasks whether, personal or professional, big or small, projects, must dos could be the items on your list. Have a system around them, a concrete format. Such that you do not have to think about changing and modifying the system every day. Add those tasks to your list that capture your attention.

Organization

It can get a bit overwhelming if you add all your tasks without an identifier, whether personal or professional. Divide your tasks appropriately such that you can focus on them and have a clear idea of what you should do next and what can be done later. Do not get into the habit of multitasking, you are only going to exhaust yourself.

Reflect

Take time in a day or twice, to reflect how far you have come and how far you have to go. If your list is organized, you won’t be spending much time reflecting. The frequent reassessment will help you prioritizing your tasks and avoiding the dead end.

Do It

Do it. Write that post. Devoting a fixed amount of time to do the research. In that time, try avoiding getting distracted by new tweets or Facebook notifications. The system does not work in your favor if you do not work on the task you are required to.

By keeping up with your system, you will feel accomplishment and that is a good feeling. You have to feel worthwhile every day to continue putting the hard work. Try this method for few days and if it is not working, reflect and modify it to your needs. Remember. Reflect, and repeat. If you’d like to get in-depth into your working habits and how to maintain them, I recommend a copy of David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist.

Read my review on Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist | Five Things I Learnt from Steal Like an Artist

~ Find me on ~

GOODREADS |  TWITTER | FACEBOOK | MEDIUM

The post How to be a Productive Blogger: Getting Things Done appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

The year 2018: Will write an Ebook

This year, one of my goals is to write and publish an ebook.I am using my laptop to write one currently. I brainstormed for months last year to write about what?

Brainstorming the idea behind

Until I got this email in the month of December 2017 asking me about how to get started with blogging, more importantly, book blogging. I am unable to find that specific email otherwise I would have posted the proof-of-question. Nonetheless, I decided to write a short ebook on the matter. Many times in the last year itself, I was being asked to how to get started with blogging. I am going to compile some of the blog posts and my essays and thoughts on the subject matter for all the bloggers who are wondering how to get started.

What’s and Won’t ‘s

If you have running a blog, I do offer advice and tips from my own experience of running this blog for 5 years and writing elsewhere (and getting paid) and learning through the steep curve of blogging. Currently, this blog has 7000 monthly subscribers and the majority of them joined in last 12 months.

Out of few things, I would not be discussing mechanics of setting up a blog since technical aspects keep changing slightly and I worry it will make my ebook obsolete. Also, there are many tuts and walkthroughs that covers the same.

I will also be covering specific topics essential for a #bookblogger. I can talk on that niche because I write here about that all the time. I am already done with 5000 words!

Please Subscribe to get Updates

If you are interested in reading or want more updates about it, please let me know by subscribing the mailing list here

The post I am writing an Ebook for Bloggers appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. (Marcus Aurelius)

About six months before, I was not a morning person at all. I chose not give mornings the importance they deserve and failed to realise that I was missing out on different things but more importantly, being productive.

Being productive for any one of us means different. For me it means, writing posts for my blog, become conscious or mindful of the day ahead and try to maintain that state. For you it may be some thing else. However, the process is same for each one us. This process includes to go for the thing you think and you know will make you a productive being. For some its about getting a task done. Think about the psychological boost you will get by getting things done at the start of the day.

I have tried different things in previous, and I can’t say every one of them works for me, but they have made an impact on me and now I am finding some time to dedicate an amount of time to tasks I want to achieve before getting indulged in rest of the day.

Here are few things that have worked for me, and hopefully they will work for you. I’d like to share them with you.

Reading

Reading an amount of pages from your favorite book does help you sleep better. Or if you are an explorer and want to read more, try reading different books. I have been reading almost all my life and I found in these years, specifically, reading fiction is better for mind and its scions at night, before the sleep.

Go To Bed Earlier

I am actually enjoying going to be early more than I enjoy sleeping late. That refresh feeling you get after waking up after a night’s sleep is what makes it worth. Having a comfortable sleep is very important for the sake of body as well as the mind. Both need rests from that constant stream of thoughts.

Avoid Drinking Caffeine Too Late

Consuming caffeine in day time might help you up in achieving your task with pumping your heart faster. But drinking it at night or late in the evening will have the same effect. My advice, avoid it. You need a relaxed sleep at night, you are not in a hurry.

Get Moving

After waking up and laying in bed doesn’t works for me. I am back to sleep in seconds. Neither the sitting part encourages my eyes to be open wide. I have to move my body. I walk to kitchen, drink a glass of water, or make a cup of coffee then roam around there for sometime until coffee is ready. This helps in getting both my body and mind in a sync mode.

Cold Shower

I read about this technique in Tim Ferriss’ book, Tools of Titans, the chapter in which he interviews Tony Robbins. At first I thought it’s hard to achieve, and how would it be bearable? Later, after trying it myself, it is actually beneficial for me to be aware. Cold ‘chilly’ shower at a bearable amount and without giving up on your breath will actually make you feel energised and ready for the day ahead. Hot showers might sound relaxing, and they are, but it is not a relaxation you need as the very first thing in the morning. You need to boost yourself up. Apparently, cold shower does this and is good for hair too.

Morning without you is a dwindled dawn. (Emily Dickinson)

~ Find me on ~

BLOG |  GOODREADS |  TWITTER | FACEBOOK

email: amandeepmittal@live.com

The post How to Hack Your Mornings So You Get Most of Your Time appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Lack of confidence is one of the reason why bloggers don’t publish their posts. Especially, in this age of information overload, we tend to gather much information without much effort about the needed topic or content interesting to us but due to lack of confidence your best post has never been published yet. We all struggle with the confidence at times when it comes to hitting the publish button. I have been blogging for more than four years and I battle the same force of struggle as you do, to feel confident. I have my doubt and worries similar to yours.

It’s a disease that wants you to stop writing. It wants you to stop researching, and gaining and sharing the knowledge with your readers. That is the definition of the “lack of confidence” in my mind.

However, you cannot lose in this battle of constant struggle. If you lose, means your blog is dead. Whether you are starting afresh, or blogging for a while, I’d advice you to continue on your journey. To win this battle is publish your next blog post out there and to do so you can begin by increasing your self-confidence now.

Take Action

Don’t just sit there thinking. Write that post. Write as many drafts as you can. Edit as many times you have to. Write it. Something that appears in your mind is same as being in the void. To make it an existing entity, in other words, to give it a life, you have to write that damn post!

Try something out of your comfort zone

Write or post about something that is non-related to or isn’t a part of your niche. Be creative. This will boost your confidence level and will amuse your audience. You might end getting learning something new and getting intrigue by the topic that it becomes a regular breakthrough in the queue of posts. Another advantage here is that it will give you time to prepare for your niche content.

Thinking You’re Ugly is Bad For You

Just as Meaghan Ramsay confronted a TED talk on the above headline about the body image that includes how we, as human beings, perceive our body image in our real lives, I want you to stop and notice your flow of thoughts whenever you are inspired by an idea or a topic or an experimentation you want to do on your blog. Don’t give too much attention to them. In fact, start to ignore them completely ASAP.

Focus on you what you are doing. You don’t what will happen in the future. You don’t how much feedback you are going t receive on your next blog post. To know all that, you have to give it a life of its own. Self-positive talk is the best piece of advice you or anyone can give to yourself. Train your mind to achieve the self-worthy belief and see the results.

For a reference you can Meaghan Ramsay’s TED talk here.

READ!

Reading is important for any writer or blogger. Read as much as you can. Feed your mind with the content that helps you raise your confidence level. It works. In the form of a book, I highly recommend “Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill”.

Also, take a look at these two bloggers:

• Darius Foroux
• Benjamin Hardy

They are great motivational writers and by sharing their own life experiences along with the intriguing tips on overcoming inner blocks and lack of confidence.

I highly recommend you start this article: How to train your brain to get what you really want

Keep Blogging!

~ Find me on ~

BLOG |  GOODREADS |  TWITTER | FACEBOOK

email: amandeepmittal@live.com

The post Boost Your Blogging Confidence and Write that Post appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

When it comes to promoting my blog, I find social media platforms beneficial. Though, there are so many social media platforms that it becomes overwhelming for me at times. I lose my focus, and a few times it had led to blogging slump.

I advise you to not to lose your focus and introduce yourself into a slump. For a start, concentrate on a number of sites that you think will be beneficial for your blog promotion and long term networking. This way you can focus on growing your network of followers on those particular platforms. Of course, you don’y have to pick handful of social media sites. If you love social media, and want to use all of them, go ahead and do that! Personally, for me, I feel that it’s easier and more beneficial to start with a small number.

Do make sure you do not spend too much of your time on social media. Social media has purpose and is useful but not as much worth of your time as to create content for your blog. You must attain a balance between the two.

I personally am focusing on Twitter, Goodreads and Facebook. Pick your own social media sites that you enjoy using.

Twitter

I love Twitter. I am consistently active and have a growing network of fellow bloggers and tech enthusiasts. It is my number one social media site. I find the ease of communication as platform Twitter provides, very useful. I have contacted a number of authors for interview. I use Twitter not only for this blog but for other publications and community blogs I write such as Hackernoon.com & RisingStack Community.

Twitter is not much time consuming. You can schedule tweets, and promote your blog posts. Availability of adding graphics when promoting posts is what I find handy.

Goodreads

As a book lover and blogger, I admire Goodreads. It’s the part and parcel of both the worlds. I use Goodreads to track my books, review books, follow authors, and find new books to read.

Goodreads is helpful as a tool if you review books. A way to promote your blog is that you can include the link of the review that you posted on your blog when reviewing the same book on Goodreads. This will direct readers to your site.

If you are getting started on Goodreads, make sure to include a link to your blog in your Goodreads profile.

Facebook

Only a few months back I created a Facebook Page for my blog. The reason I created it is for the readers and users who are active on my blog can stay connected with my blog’s regular updates.

Facebook offers various ways to promote your blog including scheduling posts and promoting a blog post or your blog’s facebook page as a whole to a large number of audience.

Reddit

If you are a fan of writing Book Lists on various topics related to books, you must use Reddit. I have recently started using it’s subreddit /r/booklists. Reddit offers two ways to share a post either in the form a text or a link. To share your blog posts, you will use link option.

Not only have I shared my book lists, I have found some interesting lists and titles to add to my TBR there.

What social media sites do you use for your blog? Do you stick to a smaller number, or try to do them all? What social media is your favorite, and which is the one that brings most people to your blog?

Thanks for reading!

ME On SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFOMRS: Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

The post Social Media for Book Bloggers appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.