A Place Called Schugara by Joe English
on 20/03/2017
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 554
Format: eBook
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Sometimes, when reading a book I often feel the characters it consists are the backbone. I do not know if you have encountered this feeling but I have. The storyline can be flawless but there is a lot that depends on the characters. These characters do not just fill up the pages but they tend to create their own illustration in our minds. For this kind of book, I do believe a writer needs to have a seamless ability to develop such characters and give them air to breathe in between the pages. A Place called Schugara by Joe English is one of that type of book.

The storyline is intriguing as it is based in Caribbean islands. It consists of three main characters: a factory owner from Ohio, an insurance investigator from New York and a bookseller from Chicago. Their fate is tied up together on a little island in the Caribbean. Each of them, offering a variety of background and have their own justification for reaching out on the island. One is after the materialistic missing treasure and another arrives to search for a missing person. Each of them discovers a different experience that is rightly justified by the overall novel. The plot covers all these different characters with a gap in between the timeline of their arrival. The main highlight of the plot is that each character brings on a subplot that adds to the major picture and from time it is unpredictable which is how a reader like is motivated to keep reading it.

The characterisation apart from the main cast is well organized and developed. Every character has its own role to play. The author uses dialogue formation well to switch between the different acts but also uses first-person narrative voice with Chicago bookseller. On reading it, I could say there are different styles of narration mixed to enhance the distinct voices of different characters. This is intriguing. The pace of the novel is steady and helps in moving with the plot. The book is 550 pages long so it also gives a lot of time for the main cast to develop to its fullest and at the same time for the reader to cope with them.

Apart from that, there are different themes that the author tries to address in this book. Themes such as drug wars and the scandal related to a Church clergy are the two highlights. The climax of the novel unfolds in more of a classic Russian literature style. Yes, I am referring to the likes of Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. The book is the result of a highly creative energy put in as the effort. I took my time to read it but I can say it was worth it.

5 out of 5! Recommended.

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Work That Matters by Maia Duerr
Published by Parallax Press on 26/12/2017
Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Entrepreneurship
Format: eBook
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Maia Duerr’s new book is all you want to read before this year ends. Why? Because her book holds that element of getting you enthusiastic to start the New Year with an authentic perspective of how to keep living and do what you want to do.

After having multiple jobs in her life and feeling trapped by her intuition of what she wants to do and struggling in the wage slave economy, in this book, Maia advices on how stop living a meaningless life. She defines that a career for an individual is an expression of one’s life and its core intention, we must take necessary steps that are practical enough with vivid reality we are all part of. Work That Matters: Create a Livelihood that Reflects Your Intention is all about that. Author starts from some pragmatic tips like being self-aware with some well known mindfullness practices, shares her own vision and experience with them and concludes in first few chapters how highly beneficial they are when adapted as a habit.

Work is one of the primary vehicles for expressing our deepest selves.

When I picked her book, I wasn’t so sure that it will have such a deep influence over me. Well there I said it. Her words are soothing, pragmatic and visionary in terms of creating livelihood and fill all the gaps by doing what you want to do for living rather than what you do not. In this book, she has covered anecdotes from own life and few others like her and do provide tools to create a joyful work that embodies love and compassion for self. In the book, she examines emotional, psychological and cultural barriers to create work as the driving force of one’s life, after wandering through a dozen jobs in a period of a decade. She does provide few steps that I would not call it a roadmap, but it does make sense and entitled under “Liberation-Based Livelihood”.

The writing style is smooth, with steady in pace and I’d recommend the only way to get something out of this book is to read and be self-aware about what you are reading. Some of the pragmatic tips she provides are really helpful if one decides to constantly mingle with them. This is one of the greatest wisdom holding book I have read this year. The perfect audience for this book are freelancers, digital nomads and the person who want to pursue a career opportuinty on their own terms.

5 out of 5!

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Pages: 295, Kindle Edition

The Tao of Fully Feeling is the best companion I have found to read in the Dark Times.

I got this book as a recommendation from another blogger who convinced me that Pete Walker’s writing is extraordinary. On reading the book, not only I found his vocabulary pleasing but as well as his writing style and the message he wants to convey through his written words.

The subject matter of this book is all about acknowledging one’s emotional intelligence. If you remember Daniel Goleman’s bestseller and and one of the first books on Emotional Intelligence or why EQ matters more than IQ, this book is written for modern times and is a step ahead. While Daniel talks about the science of brain and the origin of Emotions or the process of emoting, Walker in his book speaks for all of us. He share his own stories for in the form of anecdotes on how repaired his own emotional nature with enough pragmatic advices and scenarios for us to read.

The author tackles a difficult subject matter and then breaks it down into digestible chunks. Each section is a kernel of wisdom to be taken in and then revisited as needed. It’s well-written and highly relatable covering topics such as forgiveness, fake forgiveness, importance of grieving, feeling og ambivalence and self-compassion in much detail.

Another appreciable topic that author discusses the dysfunctional families and the abuse a child suffer that has lasting effect on their mental health. His focus for the reader to follow along is to safely acknowledge on emotional healing of the lost childhood. The concept he builds is a step by step process but not that long and is easy to follow. The importance of unviolently grieving, taking out all the anger and sadness in form of unharming actions and cleaning out one’s thought process for the subject matter. His emphasis on thoughts and how they drive most of our life is enough and pragmatic. He states that: Repressing our emotions creates anxiety and stress, and stress, like most of our emotions is often treated like some unwanted waste that must be removed. Until all of the emotions are accepted indiscriminately (and acceptance does not imply license to dump emotions irresponsibly or abusively), there can be no wholeness, no real sense of well being, and no solid sense of self esteem.

The writing style is good with an extraordinary vocabulary and is easy to follow. His manner is calm, like meditating and does not force any type of philosophy upon its reader. I urge you to take a look at this book and learn the modern (I like to call it modern, because traditional therapists do not appreciate or give the similar advice Pete provides in his writing,  at least not where I live and I think these are more efficient) ways of appreciating your emotions and feelings caused by them. I loved this book, and reading it is like taking a step towards a healthier self.

5 out of 5!

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Pages: 110, Paperback

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Pages: 304
Published: July 2017 by Fingerprint! Publishing
Cover Rating: 5/5

Sometimes as a reader you know that you are going to like a book even when you are judging this statement just by looking at the cover and reading the blurb. My story with Despite Stolen Dreams written by Anita Krishan is similar. I loved the cover and tiny fantasies started appearing in my head as if to predict what was written inside these 300 pages.

The plot begins in the troubled valley of Kashmir at the house of Wali Khan captured by a handful of terrorists. Wali Khan and his family manage to escape this house arrest with help of his clever servant Abdul and comes to Delhi to live with his son. There in the neighbourhood trying to fight nostalgia he befriends Kashmira Singh who faced and fought his own battles in past and is a victim of similar circumstances. Together these two friends change the attire of their surroundings until the destiny takes another turning point.

The storyline as described will really hook a reader as it did to me. From the starting chapter I could not let the book go out of my hands. The book does show how one struggles with his loses, acceptance regardless of their race and religion through empathy, few determinants can change the way a society behaves and redemption. The plot showcase themes that are norms of modern Indian society that is making it hollow.

I loved how the characters are developing (or evolving) throughout the book. A reader can clearly observe the changes they go through for a better understanding of their surroundings. Especially as they created in a simple effortless manner yet they are a piece of imagination that will stay with a reader for long period time. The writing style is simple, yet emphatic with a third person narrative voice that is smooth and helps to turn pages. It possesses quality with the tempo of of the book getting variant at times and that is a great way to create thrill and chilling moments for a reader to enjoy. Overall the book is a great read and any reader will be hooked towards it.

5 out of 5!

Note: I received this book from the publisher but that doesn’t mean my review is breaking any reviewing rules and I thank them for their effort with all my heart.

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Pages: 240 Pages, Paperback

Published: 2017

Cover Rating: 5/5

Plot is highly intriguing, one of the best I have read this year.

Rinita Bose Lost her father at an early age and her mother after few years. Being an ordinary middle class girl, she witnessed harsh realities and darkness of life in a drunkard father, a lecherous boss, a scheming producer and a friend. Men who eye women to satisfy their desire of lust. In a twist of fate, she picks up enmity with a powerful man and flees the city. She switches careers and hides her identity behind the grab of Rose to make a place in Bollywood. She earns money, fame, adulation and success. But love eludes her. Will Rinita be able to find the love she craves for? The question this book tries to solve.

The storyline is sectioned in three parts that elaborates three phases of life of our protagonist, Rinita Bose. They describe these harsh realities, the changes Rinita come across to achieve success but also those challenges that mould her into someone she could never think of. The plot is highly likeable and extremely well organised. The book uses adult or erotic element to describe some of its content but this element is not the genesis.

The plot is fast paced, smooth and at the same time helps the protagonist to develop maturely in a reader’s mind. The struggle of this woman along with all the evilness, the storyline evaluates on a moral background and Karma values. If there’s an element of bad humanity out there, there are good people too, to balance out.

The third person narration copes very well with the pace of the plot and makes it more gripping than before. It touches a readers heart, as it did mine, through a sensitive theme that is unfortunately a reality and author has done a great job in capturing the snapshots of just that through his imagination and then with his words.

If you are looking to engage with a book that showcase a moral characteristic of our own society, this one is definitely to go.

5 out of 5. Recommended!

Note: I received this book from the author but that doesn’t mean my review is breaking any reviewing rules.

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Published in April, 2017

Published in India: May, 2017

Pages 400, Paperback

Judging this book by its cover 4/5

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Sequel to last year’s “first class thriller” Maestra which sold in more than 43 countries and soon to be turned into a movie is finally out. Written by Lisa Hilton, charmingly, both of her books, Maestra and Domina are in regard of a competitor to Fifty Shades of Grey, another bestseller, but after reading, I think there’s more than Fifty Shades in her books. Her plot creation is full of thrilling effects, and a piece of her imagination equals more than just Fifty Shades.

Set in Europe, mostly Venice, Judith Rashleigh, alias Elisabeth Teerlinc, previously an auction house assistant, now has an art gallery of her own. She’s got the paycheck, lifestyle, and obsessive wardrobe that she can recount neatly in any situation, not to mention the interest of a Russian billionaire. But when a chance encounter in Ibiza leads to a corpse that is, for once, not her own doing, she finds her life is back on the line—and she’s more alone than ever. It seems Judith’s become involved with more than just one stolen painting, and there is someone else willing to kill for what’s theirs.

The plot is intense, full of shocking turns, it did amaze me in the aspect of a character who is sexually confident and reflects a mixture of both moral values and sprinkles of violence, by having protagonist like Judith. It had me from the prologue till the last page. A real page turner. If that is not enough to grab your attention, I think the genesis of the plot will. Full of art history, coming from the background of historian (the author), this element blended with murder is the pivot of the novel and brings much complexity which I enjoyed.

The character of Judith might seem an anti-hero but the morals bring her down to being a protagonist and to keep things interesting. This character is well-develop, mature and aware of her inner conscience. There is an emotional element indulged by the author through flashbacks of a younger Judith.

Lastly, the book is left on a cliffhanger that is supposed to come to a conclusion in the next and last edition of this trilogy.

This book worked for me for reasons I describe above and being a page turner it will make you want more. Lately, there have been some comparison with Fifty Shades. This book is a lot different than that. It is not biased towards half of the species for a start. I think with unique theme it posses a better comparison for this book would be Patricia Highsmith’s Talented Mr. Ripley and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, both because of its plot formation and stock of history.

I recommend it if you are looking for a light, page turning, perfect for travelling or over a weekend reading.

5 out of 5!

Author’s Bio:

Lisa Hilton is a well-known and widely published British author, journalist, biographer and art critic. Since Maestra’s publication last year, Lisa has been named Glamour Magazine’s ‘Writer of the Year’ and as one of PORTER magazine’s #IncredibleWomen of 2016. Sony Pictures have acquired Maestra’s film rights: Amy Pascal (Ghostbusters) is scheduled to produce the film with the screenplay written by Erin Cressida Wilson (The Girl on the Train, Secretary). Maestra was the Sunday Times number 1 bestseller and a New York Times bestseller.

Lisa is also an opera librettist – she wrote Love Hurts, with music by Nicola Moro in late 2016 and the opera received its first performance in Milano at the Piccolo Teatro on 25 June 2016, conducted by James Ross. The US premiere followed in New York City, at Symphony Space, on 28 October 2016. She also just curated the recent (controversial) Caravaggio show with Dr James Bradburne, the Anglo-Canadian director of the Pinacoteca di Brera gallery. Lisa has lived in Key West, New York, Paris and Milan, and is presently based in London.

Note: I received this book from the publisher but that doesn’t mean my review is breaking any reviewing rules.

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Published: February, 2017

Pages: 330

Are you looking for a good read with chills and full of surprises? In fact, we all are looking for something that can give us an adrenaline rush just by turning pages. Demons in My Mind by Aashish Gupta is the one that will give you a boost this weekend.

An old man in a village in Nepal is suffering from cancer and wishes to be released from the pain that comes with the disease. He requests his fellow villagers to take him to the three monks. Everyone in the village has heard about them. Everyone in this village is fascinated by the legend of these three monks through their stories of miraculous healing.

Knowing that the sick man’s death is imminent, the villagers leave him alone near the Pashupatinath temple, Kathmandu hoping that the three monks, if they exist, would embrace him on the holy land. The old man wakes up to the sight of the three monks, but only to come across the real truth behind these monks as a series of surprises set off from there.

It consists all elements that most of us readers seek in a book. Surprise, thrill, emotional touches, and a kick to our minds in the end. This book is full of them. From early chapters till last page, this book continued to amaze me. Overall, the storyline of the book is the real source of amazement. Just when you think that the plot will go this way or that, just when your brain think it knows and conclude the possibilities that lay ahead, Aashish Gupta, will illuminate a whole new direction with his words.

The characters, the old man and three monks, resemble something strong and deep more than their the name they have been given, just like the skin we all wear every day. Their resemblance is of the elements of life: illusion, death, art and failure. If you take a closer look, and give a hard thought at what I said you will agree with me. Life is a constitution of these elements, after all. I won’t say there’s only one protagonist on reading this book. My outcome is there are four, the old man and the three monks. However, on reading this book, every reader has a choice to decide that and some of you then, may not agree with me. The writing worthy of appraisal. I haven’t read any other book in a long time of which the imagination of a writer is expressed in words so flamboyantly.

The narrative voice is fast paced that goes along extremely well with the writing style. It’s appreciable. Heck, this book is a complete package and is indeed the best I have read this year, so far. I didn’t find any element that would slightly disappoint me. I read it one go, and could not keep it down. This is an outstanding debut of the author, I cannot wait to look forward of what more can he weave with his words in the future.

5 out of 5! Worth every penny. Highly Recommended! 

Disclaimer: I received a reading copy but that doesn’t have any impression on this review.

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My Rating: 5/5

Words mean things, and when certain words are repeated in certain type of situations they change behaviour and can change the course of how we live. In the book Ego is the Enemy, when Ryan holiday speaks about ‘Ego’, he does not mean the Freudian definition. He is talking about ego in an informal way, the way we used it in our casual conversations. The ego he refers are the unhealthy belief in our own importance, our arrogance, and our self-centred ambition. That desire for recognition, and those excuses we make to ourselves. This is a crucial concept to understand if you are planning to read this book.

This book draws on versatile stories and examples of how to realise that our worst enemy lives inside our own head. Holiday refers to a situation from his life and various other references that he took from literature, philosophy and history. All these references have one thing in common, that to reach higher levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Holiday, through these examples, showcase various tactics and strategies to defeat our abominable enemy.

We might think that other people keep us from progressing. However, Holiday exemplifies this thought by how great thinkers progressed the most in enfeebling situations, for example, Victor Frankl who expressed his ideas that developed during the starvation and torturing period of time he spent in a Nazi concentration camp. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning is a collection of those ideas.

When our ego becomes inflated, our perception gets clouded. We intend to overextend ourselves by desiring to gain recognition without working for a deed. Drawing rein in your ego is equivalent to remind yourself that there’s always more to learn. A healthy ego is what helps us getting the success we want, the tasks we want to achieve and recognising what did not work for us and how to do better. An ego is a part of our personality. To recognise the difference between the culprit part and the healthy part of our own ego, this book provide powerful insights. On reading this book you will be able to differentiate better between the two.

This is an extremely important book that I believe I read at the right time. If you want to understand the concept of ego, or you are already familiar with it but want to start battling your situation for a better output, this book is a perfect start.

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Hola! Welcome back to “Read in 2016” series of posts. I am glad you read the first post in the series in which I suggest you Top Non-Fiction Books I read this year, irrespective of their publication date. As, in the previous post, I discussed by motive to come out with these book lists is that to make your TBR list for next year, a bit heavy. So, I hope you are ready for some more titles. If you haven’t read the post go and read it here.

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Reading this book will definitely increase one’s awareness as he will become more conscious to what and how is it going around. Some of the laws will inspire you as it did to me, towards empowerment of your own and some will help how not to lose that conscious mind in somebody else’s hand. Greene encourages an individual to be fluid in his plans and actions as actions are what matters and not the words.

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca

Selected from the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, these letters illustrate the upright ideals admired by the Stoics and extol the good way of life as seen from their standpoint. They also reveal how far in advance of his time were many of Seneca’s ideas – his disgust at the shows in the arena or his criticism of the harsh treatment of slaves.

Seneca believes that a trained man can transcend the whims of fate and find a greater happiness from within.

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

I’d title this book as Post-Modern Stoic philosophy work. The Ego is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures like Howard Hughes, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, all of whom reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite.

Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield

The follow-up to the War of Art in which Pressfield identifies the enemy to living an authentic life – resistance. In Turning Pro, Pressfield teaches you how to drive your mental energy towards being less distracted and working your way like a professional. This book is short but some good points to think, and a great addition if you read it after Carl Newport’s Deep Work.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

This book is a great introduction to start on the matter of educating yourself in terms of “money”. This is the message Robert Kiyosaki wants to convey in this 200 pages long book. This book isn’t about money, it is about how we think and are taught to think from an early age about money and not in terms of money. Some might wonder why Kiyosaki isn’t the richest man on this planet in terms of wealth, and this question might want you not to read this book. I would suggest, put that thought on hold while you read this book and try to see and learn what Kiyosaki is teaching in this mere 200 pages.

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