noorthebookworm

#bookreview “poetry is a dying art, they say..but with A RUSTIC MIND I hope to keep it alive”…says the author.

Title: A Rustic Mind
Author: Manali Desai

Publisher: Story Mirror

Format: ebook, available on @amazonkindle for Rs.51/-
Pages: 40

Published on: 15.01.2018
Genre: Poetry.

Key words: collection of poems, NOT Self Published.
Crux:
it is a short read, a bouquet of poems written in a very simple style by the author, wriggling the mind to awaken & think at the same time.. The topics chosen by Manali Ma’am are related mainly to the thought process, the happenings with a woman.. She touches other gamut of topics relevant in the current scenario too like being “gay”..,
for a child “the father is the king”..etc etc

it revolves around a girl’s being, her thinking, her feelings, society, politics.. in other words “a woman” is at the epicenter & her feelings, thoughts, her actions, their repercussions, society, its impact on her, politics, religion…are discussed.

A light, quick, effortless read.
I feel such work is for everyone and should be read at regular intervals to refresh the mind boggled down by the mundaneness of life.

The gamut of topics touched in the poems are:
Destiny,
Couple goals,
True love,
Belief,
Religion,
Politics,
Narrow minded people,
Rape,
Life,
Travel,
Self care,
School, friendships,
Nature,
Man’s search for happiness,
Gratitude,
Ingredients to happiness,
Chocolate,
Gay,
Foodie,
HR,
Relationships,
Society,
Social acceptance,
Single woman.

Manali Ma’am has also contributed to “ten tales: short stories from across the world. She is a marketing executive & English teacher turned writer.

Some questions, spring up in my mind and are left unanswered:
Is poetry as a form dying?
Do we as readers want to read poem & poetry?
This is my second ebook on prose & poetry..
Does limited demand for such books diminish and demoralise the morale of talented authors?
Why do authors need to go to the extent of self publishing their work..? I wish there was more support for brilliant talent in our country.

#bookreview
#shadowinthemirror
#tagline a thrilling quest for redemption

Author: Deepti Menon

Publisher: Readomania- an initiative that nurtures emerging stars of the literary world
Year of publishing: 2016

Genre: fiction, psychological thriller
Cover design Geetali Baruah
The cover is very intriguing & a bit spooky, perfect for the book.

No. of pages: 206

The author’s credentials are so rich that I am at a loss of words, need a separate post for that! “Shadow in the mirror” is her 2nd novel & it took 12 years in the writing.

Have you heard the popular adjective, “Moti pirona”..? meaning weaving a beautiful necklace of pearls.. the same holds true for this piece of art where each and every word in the book is so so unique, beautiful & perfect.

It definitely reiterates the fact that this book, in the author’s words, is a piece of her heart.

The acknowledgements, book dedication.. everything is in detail & worth treasuring & so perfect.

USP: the author’s descriptive, catchy writing style with care given to minute detail & of course the plot & the story.

The story does not give away the interest  of the reader or the plot, till the very end.

There is no table of contents in the book & each chapter title is descriptive of the season with an adjective of the nature of happenings in the particular chapter, along with the year in focus( since the story go forward & backward many times). The crux:
the story has a beautiful girl Nita, who is pregnant, dying in the beginning itself, the death being termed as suicide..the people related to her..her heartbroken husband Krish, her father money bags madhav who’s world has shattered down..& a journalist Vinny who pursues the case convinced it’s not a suicide.

The various characters who come forth in supporting roles, are described beautifully & in detail & each of them has an important role to play.. Somewhere in the story you feel lost as to where is the story going, what is the connection..but not to worry, the dots are all well connected & the whole picture becomes clear near the end.

It’s a beautifully weaved, explicitly explained, wonderfully crafted story & the climax is the most exciting part.

My take:  I feel desires dictate our life. It has too perspectives: a pragmatic person may feel he’s the master of his desire and an emotional person, who follows his heart may feel his desires dictate his life..but I feel eventually, no matter how practical we are, our lives meander according to our desires which turn to wishes and then wants finally. For eg..I desire to buy that thing, so obviously I will work towards earning enough..I want to get fame, I wil work towards that..I desire to win this book, so I am investing my time in it..we cannot tell ourselves no noor, u cannot desire that, that’s not good for u, desire this. Then that can never be a desire, never. It would be an adjustment. Desires do not come with a balance sheet of profit and loss to calculate beforehand! That’s how I feel.

Do you feel PR activities are essential too for a book?

Mention a book which you feel could have done better or would have been even a bestseller or the author could have been a well known bestselling author, had the book been marketed well…had the author done more marketing activities for himself or herself? Had been more open, more interactive with the readers?

Being a marketing student myself, I believe promotion is an essential part of the deal and then comes the content.
If the book or the author is not able to reach its target audience, how will they read the work and then decide it’s fate.

I feel many new talented authors may feel  demotivated after their hardwork, I cannot even imagine how much effort goes into writing a book and even more in editing & publishing it, goes unnoticed or not well appreciated or even more not even read by the masses, more so because they are not even aware it exists or maybe they are not given any reason to read it.

I think the author, esp new authors should come forth and talk abt themselves, their work, how the book happened, what all should we look forward to in the book etc etc

I have seen book trailers by famous authors, how involved and easily reachable certain authors are , how prompt and super fast some publication houses are and vice versa too.
I know I have ranted a lot but pls bear with me there was more but I kept it for some other day!

Pls answer the qotd. Would mean a lot to me.

God bless!!