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Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde

~ Doctor. Author. Mahabharata fanatic. Yoga enthusiast. Sanskrit learner. Chiku's (my doggie) adopted hooman. Love to unfurl with pencil sketching, Kishore Kumar & black coffee laced with Hazelnut syrup. Curious about the Mystique.

Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde

Category Archives: Constructive Criticism: Book reviews

Book Reviews – Anybody can criticize; but Constructive criticism is an arrow well-targeted at bettering the author.

Book Review. A Purveyor of Odd Things

30 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Debutante Authors

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

anagrams, book review, doppelganger, mystery, supernatural, thriller

‘It is a daunting task to take a three dimensional world, cram it onto a two dimensional surface, and reverse it in the hope that someone will see the message: see oneself as others do.’ – Author, Ernesto San Giacomo

19 pages. Chills, thrills, alter egoes and mirrors that reflect inwards as much as outward.

ernesto

Branson, the skeptical cop is sent on a mysterious ‘dual identity’ case. In the process, he transforms into and discovers Renner – in more ways than one.

As all good short stories, this too ends on a tantalizing edge laced with questions.

That ‘Aha!’ moment when Renner addresses Timmerman as Timmy – it almost hoodwinks the reader. The very next ‘mirror’ scene turns the whole story on its head.

Did they or didn’t they? Who spirited into whom? Who lies beneath the freshly dug graves? When lovely Hannah took time to ‘change’ before getting into Branson’s car – what exactly did she convey?

I wish Renner’s mirror reflection spelled out the color of his eyes – was it dull brown or shark black? The answer would have eased me plenty.

There are plenty of subtle hints – the kind that make you flip back and re-read the story and re-think the obvious.

This short story is part of ‘Ragged Souls’ collection: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J6NGWVS and Goodreads

Genre: Horror/ Supernatural/ Thriller

Edition: Kindle version

Ernesto can be also found on his personal blog: http://ernsangia.wordpre

Book review. Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Debutante Authors

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

author, book review, journey, jyoti arora, rape, self discovery

Stars and reviewers: The only reason I took away one star is because 5 star reviews are viewed with suspicion.

Vested interests / Fellow author/ Free reviewer copy/ Friend disguised as reviewer?

I confess to ALL of the above. However, my admiration is genuine.

When I find protagonists I root for, begin to feel concerned for, when they pull me into their world, when they transcend from mere alphabets into characters and when they linger in mind long after the last page ends – I declare it an author’s success.

Premise: A carefree girl’s journey from a horrendous experience to self loathing to self realization and liberty.  Lemon Girl: Digital Ebook

Nirvi – joyous, fresh and citrusy as her namesake – transforms by a numbing personal tragedy. Her quest for ‘acceptance’ Continue reading →

Book Review : 13 Steps to bloody good luck. Ashwin Sanghi

04 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Constructive Criticism: Book reviews

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Ashwin Sanghi, book review, confidence, criticism, fear, inspiring, luck, motivation, opportunity, risk

Good luck and 13 ?

Triskaideaphobia – the fear of number 13, is rampant in hotel rooms, in aeroplane flight seatings, in the quest for ‘auspicious days’ and in Friday the 13th.

Ashwin Sanghi deliberately flaunts ‘13 rules’ as a thumbs down for superstition. He re-defines luck from ‘chance’ to ‘choice’ and  from ‘destiny’ to ‘definitely achievable’, from ‘trial and error’ to ‘trainable’ and from ‘probable’ to ‘practical’.

Genre: Non-Fiction. 13 stepsto bloody good luck

Pros: Sanghi quotes ,’Easy reading is damn hard writing.’

Well, he makes this an easy reading, replete with Continue reading →

Krishn, the Rorschach test.

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Mythology, Random Musings, Spirituality, World of Books & I

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

atom bomb, bhagvada Gita, Bhagwad Gita, choice, festivals, gandhiji, interpretation, kansa, Krishn, Krishna, kurukshetra, non-violence, oppenheimer, perspective, war & philosophy

Bhagwad Gita inspired Robert Oppenheimer for Hiroshima-Nagasaki’s ‘Liitle Boy & Fat Man’  atom bombs.

Bhagwad Gita inspired M.K. Gandhi’s Ahimsa (Non-violence movement) as a strategy for India’s freedom struggle.

One source. Polar interpretations. 

Bhagwad Gita is a Rorschach test. So is its orator, Krishn.

On the eve of Janmashthami (Krishn’s birthday), let us try to explore the Krishn Rorschach. 

He plunged through the entire gamut Continue reading →

Book Review : Shikhandi & other tales; Devdutt Pattanaik.

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Arjun Related posts, Constructive Criticism: Book reviews, Mahabharata, Mythology

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

alternate sex, arjun, arjuna, bheem, ghatotkacha, indra, Krishn, Mahabharata, mythology, shikhandi, shiva, transgender

Oven–fresh offering by mythologist Devdutt (which means God-gift; and  ironically, is a namesake for Arjun’s conch in Mahabharata)

Devdutt takes up the unexplored theme of ‘queerness’ or alternative gender in Mythology. In Part I, he tracks the universal existence of ‘queerness’ across Indian, Persian, Aztec, Viking, Japanese, Mesopotamian and Greek mythology.

Part II is a carefully chosen plethora of ‘queer’ tales. I could discern an interwoven pattern Continue reading →

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