I’m still chuckling as I think about Twelve Minutes to Midnight. It’s been a while since my mind was so absorbed in a book that I kept waiting to get back to it. I even took it with me to the Writers’ Club at St. Mary’s School and pored over it. I felt a little […]
Waterslain Angels
When I was about ten, I read British Folk-Tales (not linking this to a place where you can buy it because Amazon is selling it at an incredible price of 11,000 rupees) by Kevin Crossley-Holland and enjoyed it. I had my favourite stories in the collection and I read them over and over again.A few […]
Publicity and Me
Somehow, it seems as if I never do enough to publicize myself as an author. I sent links to my latest story, “Sacrifice” to friends and colleagues, and I put it up on Facebook and on my blog. I got responses, and a little feedback. ‘I REALLY liked the story!! 🙂 Looking forward to reading […]
Ace
I always link my book reviews to amazon.in for people to buy the book there, but when I searched for Dick King-Smith’s Ace, the first thing I found was a hardcover priced at â‚ą12,527.41 + â‚ą99 delivery charge! I did find a copy that’s cheaper, though, and that’s a mercy; however much I enjoyed the […]
Fantastic Mr Dahl
Yes, Mr Dahl is fantastic. What I find interesting about Fantastic Mr Dahl, though, is the way in which Michael Rosen examines what makes him fantastic. Is it the fact that he used a special yellow pencil and special yellow paper (because his favourite colour was yellow)? Or because he loathed Christmas and loved Easter? […]
Royalty for The Story-Catcher
Royalty makes you feel good, even if it doesn’t make you feel royal! For the financial year 2012-2013 – that counts as roughly eight months considering the date of publication – 119 copies of The Story-Catcher were sold! (I don’t count the author copies, of course.) It’s not much, but I’m feeling pretty grand about it being my […]
Avameru
Since I know that this author will barely publicize his book, if at all … This is what I’m reading. There’s nothing like reading something (published) that is written by a real and very dear friend. Buy it now on Amazon!
In the display window of ‘Chapter and Verse’
Private Peaceful
Charlie … Charlie … Charlie …I want to meet you, get to know you, look up and admire you. I wanted to sob my heart out when I finished reading Private Peaceful.I wish I hadn’t read it. It was so painful, so filled with a sense of injustice, so cruel.I feel privileged to have read […]
The Butterfly Lion
This morning, I was reading Private Peaceful before I left for school. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. I read about Big Joe singing Oranges and Lemons in his attempt to pray for Molly. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. And one more. And one more. I just about […]
The Illustrator of The Story-Catcher
I did not put up pictures from The Story-Catcher because the copyright isn’t mine, but I found this on Rishi Bhardwaj’s site and could not help sharing it.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Hermione Granger translates so well! I love her translations from the original runes. And of course, Albus Dumbledore’s notes reveal his genius and insight, providing valuable information about interpretations of beloved fairy tales. J.K. Rowling, though, talks down to us Muggle readers, underestimating our knowledge of the magical world.
Now
As usual, I judged a book by its cover and picked it up. An orange book, with two silhouetted figures – an old man and a child gazing at flames in the distance. Now promised to be more powerful than it was, or perhaps it just did not happen to me at the right time. […]
What I’ve been reading …
Yes, it’s been a long time since I wrote about books, so there are three books that I’ve read in the time that has passed. I remember when I started reading Dick Francis. I was amazed that a single writer could have written so many books about horses and the racing world. Longshot is one […]
Oxford Bookstore 2002
We know we belong to the previous generation when we complain about the way children waste time. “How much we used to play!” A friend and I lamented about how students at school spend more time at their laptops than at anything else. They are a generation growing up with email and Facebook; they’re attached […]
I love book-sales!
I never buy books. Never. I have too many books at home that I have not read. But what can I do when I find 70% (yes, SEVENTY PER CENT) off on a Michael Morpurgo collection? The Landmark sale is here!
The Goldsmith’s Daughter
Yes, The Goldsmith’s Daughter is the story of a girl restricted by her gender in a barbaric civilisation that is in conflict with another world with different beliefs. It is set in a moment in history when the Aztec civilisation must deal with Spanish invaders. The Aztecs need to accept that their emperor is, apparently, […]
War Horse
There’s something about Michael Morpurgo that haunts me. I remember being blown away by Kensuke’s Kingdom. I’ve read and reread so many of his books. Running Wild, The White Horse of Zennor, Adolphus Tips, and of course War Horse. They come to mind immediately. This was not the first time I read War Horse.I was […]
5 Writers of Fiction Who Have Hugely Influenced Me
Today, in a class about the role of literature in society, I began to think. Of course I love reading. Naturally a lot of my favourite writers have influenced my writing. I know I consciously started using adverbs more after reading Georgette Heyer. But then, I also began to wonder, which writers made me who […]
A Doll’s House
I love how time changes the way I read a play. I read A Doll’s House. Again. I imagined how it would be on stage. I cringed, yes. I closed my eyes, yes. But I enjoyed it. I read it cover to cover without needing a break. I did not worry about how good or bad […]