I’ve been waiting for something momentous before writing my blog – what could be more momentous than a review of The Story-Catcher by a nine-year-old? Arushi Upadhyaya had to design a book-jacket for a school competition. The entry she submitted is with the school, but she sent me the rough plan she made. At the back, she informs me, […]
Books for Rainy Days
It’s been a while since I wrote, mainly because I’ve been reading. Here’s a look at some of what I’ve read recently. As a child, I enjoyed reading and collecting the entire Animal Ark series. As I grew older, I learned that Lucy Daniels, the author of the series, did not exist. Just like Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon. […]
Empty Quarter (Girl on the Run Book 2)
I sat at Coimbatore train station, book in hand. “What happened?” asked my sister, looking at my face. I grinned. “I’m inside this book.” I added, quickly, “Will you keep a lookout for the train? I may not notice when it pulls in.” That’s how Empty Quarter was. As with Cat’s Cradle, I jumped straight […]
Cauldron Spells
What happens when a foolish dragon falls into a cauldron and makes it too misshapen for it to function normally? What happens when the bottle of frogspell that you thought you were carrying turns out to be blueberries mixed with porridge? What happens when a young girl sets out to become a squire? Cauldron Spells was delightful, full of […]
The Indian in the Cupboard
I picked up The Indian in the Cupboard full of apprehension. For a long time, I have intended to read this book. Yet, I have realised of late that I have read so much modern writing that older writing seems dry and slow. 1980 is rather a long time ago, and I was not sure how much […]
Sea of Tears
The cover illustration of Sea of Tears was just lovely. The wake of a boat curving into a big ‘S’, a little girl looking out at the sea … It was a cover I could keep looking at. The book could have been better, though. I enjoyed much of it, but there were parts that left […]
Berlin Olympics
I picked up Berlin Olympics assuming it was about a real person. Sure, I expected historical fiction, but my knowledge of Olympic swimmers is not good enough to have known that Eleanor Rhys Davies is not a real person. In the beginning, I was disappointed. I don’t know why; I don’t know what I expected. Yet, as I […]
Cat’s Cradle
Sometimes, especially when you read a lot of different kinds of books that you’ve picked up based solely on the cover, one book jumps out and takes you by surprise. It makes you read on and on, and it makes you chuckle even when you are in a public place and ought to be behaving […]
Pippi in the South Seas
No, I have not yet Pippi Longstocking. Maybe I should apologise. In my defence, I have wanted to read it for very long. When I read Pippi in the South Seas, I realised why it’s so famous and why so many people love it so much. Pippi is a classic in a world of her own. She […]
Billy the Bird
Dick King-Smith is an author I love. Whenever I pick up a book by him, I do so with complete faith in the story. As usual, I was not disappointed. Billy the Bird is the story of a little child who becomes weightless when the moon is full, but can remember nothing of his nightly flights […]
Sovay
A book that promised to be exciting, I think the best thing I can say about Sovay is that the story made me curious enough to keep reading until I finished the book. As I turned page after page, though, I found myself skipping large sections of the book because I wanted to know how it would […]
The Truth about Leo
It’s unfair to compare any book with any other book, I know that. Yet, I could not resist comparing The Truth about Leo with Moon-Pie. The subject was similar – a dead mother and a drunk father. But Moon-Pie moved me in a way that The Truth about Leo did not. Leo spends each day covering up for his father Dr Rake. […]
Spellbound
Too much telling and too little showing. Never mind. I’ll read some more. This is strange and unbelievable. Never mind. I’ll read some more. That is exactly how I ventured into Spellbound. And before I knew it, I had finished reading it. Athene and Zach are opposites in every possible way. They just happen to be brother […]
Too Small to Fail
I read Now a while ago and I was not impressed. When Too Small to Fail caught my eye, I realised that it was by the same author, Morris Gleitzman, so I put the book away again. When I visited the library, it caught my eye again. And again. It was time to read it. Too Small to Fail was […]
Madame Pamplemousse and the Time-Travelling Café
What takes you back to old remembered places and half-forgotten memories? What makes you revisit forgotten parts of your life? Madame Pamplemousse and the Time-Travelling Café explores the idea that taste can make you go back in time and visit parts of history. A contraption that looks like a coffee-machine, fed with the right ingredients, can recreate in […]
Being Billy
When I started reading Being Billy, I felt uncomfortable, but I did not know why. I just could not lay my finger on what made me draw into myself and step back from the book. After a few pages, I realised I was supposed to feel uncomfortable. The book wanted to reach within me and squeeze something that […]
Clover Twig and the Incredible Flying Cottage
Clover Twig is a very tidy girl with very neat hair. She is very particular about things being clean and proper. She won’t do anything she is told not to do. In other words, she has a little bit of an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. When Clover begins to work for the witch Mrs Eckles, she welcomes […]
Witch Fire
I always judge a book by its cover, and this one said: Ancient witchcraft. Modern world. And then the title Witch Fire. It intrigued me immediately, and it did not let me down. I did not do any research before I started reading. I did not find out whether Witch Fire was part of a series. As I read […]
Apache
It’s been a while since I wrote about what I was reading for some reason. I did read quite a bit, though. Some of the books were worth sharing, but I was too lazy to talk about them. Some were important for me to read – like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The Perks of Being a […]
Jatayu Moksham
The Kalakshetra troupe performed in Pune for the first time last evening. Finally. When I watch them dance, I understand. I understand why Kalakshetra is such a reputed name in the dance world. I am awed by the vision of Rukmini Devi, and her incredible imagination. I see dance as architecture, performance and storytelling. I am moved to laughter […]