• Blog Topics
    • Spirituality: Journey within
    • Book reviews: Constructive Criticism
    • My Pencil-sketches
    • Mahabharata nuggets
    • Books & I – eternal love affair
    • Author tips
    • I wonder, I pontificate, I wish
    • Social Causes
    • Blogging ‘Eureka’ tips & ideas
    • Blog Milestones
    • Haiku
  • My novel – Arjun: Without A Doubt
    • Download Free Excerpt (pdf)
    • Arjun : Journey of my Novel
    • Book reviews for Arjun: Without a Doubt
    • Quotes from Arjun:Without a Doubt
    • Arjun Anecdotes
    • Arjun – Anecdotes, free excerpt, quotes, reviews, journey memories
      • About Author
  • My novel: Rage of Maggots

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

Tag Archives: book review

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 →

Colors in the Spectrum (Book Review): Jayant Swamy

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Constructive Criticism: Book reviews, Debutante Authors

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

bangalore, book review, synaethesia

colors in the spectrumSetting: Los Angeles to Bangalore; and back.

Cast: the Famous Five – K, A, A, D and I.

Story & plot: Author’s main protagonist is K, who is gifted with Synaesthesia- the ability to visualize human beings and emotions in colors.The proverbial ‘poor little rich boy’, whose paternal and maternal origins are murky, but is amply compensated by wealth, academic success, raging testosterones and … Continue reading →

Devil’s Gate (Book Review): Deepak Kripal

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Constructive Criticism: Book reviews, Debutante Authors

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

animals, book review, children, demons, fiction, island, thriller

 

Taskforce: A cat, a dog, an owl, a baby skeleton and a 5000 year old rat (Reminded me of the mix-match and mismatched cast of Wizard of Oz).

Task: To free a deadly island from a battalion of demons, monsters and witches.

Underlying message: Inner demons (Fear/Prejudice/Hesitation) are worse than fictional demons. Humans are more destructive than demons. Humans, stop encroaching upon the animal world.

devil's gateTarget audience: Children, I guess. In spite of the demons and devils all over, there is nothing macabre enough. Also, in true Enid Blyton style, *SPOILER none of our five-member team dies. *

Pluses: a} Some deep thoughts:

1. Not showing quietness is difficult. You are required to talk a lot to do that.

2. Love at first sight is an invention of poets. They don’t have the patience for the second sight.

3. You have to lose an emotion to get a perspective.

b} Cute characterizations, albeit a tad clichéd: Cat with attitude, dog with ‘hang-dog’ attitude, wise owl, cute skeleton. Although the Rat may not be what he seems!

c} Bursts of humor– 1. Dog says,’Tell the world I killed 99 demons.’

Cat says, ‘Why 99?’ Dog says modestly, ‘Well, I just don’t want to exaggerate.’

2. Hey, Son of  a Bitch, says cat to dog.

3. Witch says,’God has a special affection for owls. He made me serve owls for breakfast.’

Owl goes, ‘I cannot even say “Oh My God now!”.

Need improvement: a} Grammar– There were errors like ‘He clinched his teeth’, he was prepared to die thinking of her beloved’, he was tore into 2 halves like paper, no existence worst than being blanked.’

b} Punctuation marks– Some affirmative statements ended in a question mark, while questions ended in a full stop.

c} Unnecessary tendency to explain sentences, resulting in repetition: For example- ‘Can you please utter it in a language that I find easy to comprehend?’ Dug pleaded Katy to make herself available for easy interpretation.

Overall: Definite seeds of a fertile imagination exist here. The climax hints at a sequel. Need better grammar and sharper editing next time. Good Luck.

Note: I received a print-copy for review by the author. Free of cost.

← Older posts
Newer posts →
Follow Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 650 other subscribers
Click on book image. Discover Arjun beyond the warrior extraordinaire

Click on image below to buy ‘Rage of Maggots’

Psychological Thriller/Short stories

3 lives. 3 moods. 3 novellas. Psycho Thriller/Medical drama

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Goodreads

Click for Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/sweetyshinde111/

Blog Stats

  • 70,590 hits

I belong to IndiBlogger !


IndiBlogger - The Largest Indian Blogger Community

BlogAdda

Visit blogadda.com to discover Indian blogs
  • About Author
  • Arjun – My published novel
  • Arjun : Journey of my Novel
  • Arjun Related posts
  • Biography/Autobiography
  • blog contents
  • Blog Eureka moments
  • Blog Milestones
  • Book reviews for Arjun: Without a Doubt
  • Book writing tips
  • Books-Movies
  • Classics
  • Constructive Criticism: Book reviews
  • Debutante Authors
  • Download Free Excerpt (pdf)
  • Haiku
  • Mahabharata
  • My cars- my chariots
  • My Pencil-sketches
  • My Pets
  • Mythology
  • Quotes from Arjun:Without a Doubt
  • Random Musings
  • Reblogged posts
  • short stories
  • Social Causes
  • soul-soothers
  • Spirituality
  • This month That year
  • Uncategorized
  • World of Books & I

Need a specific word?

Upcoming Events

Archives

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde
    • Join 464 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...