Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

I didn’t finish this book. Now I know a lot of people loved this book and I know I’m not in the popular opinion side of this book but bear with me. It’s not that this book was bad. I have read BAD books, books that make me want to fling the book at a wall. This is not that type of book. It’s bad in the sense that it never made me care about it that much. You know how some books are so interesting that you are hooked and don’t even eat while reading t because you need to read the book and don’t care about anything else. This was not that kind of book either. It started that way, with so much intrigue as to who the dragon is and stuff but it became boring soon. Now, let me start the beginning. the outline. The book is set in a village that’s somewhere in Russia or around that region, where there is a magical forest with a mind of its own. There is a Dragon that protects the village the from the forest and for that he takes a girl from the village every ten years. After ten years, the girl is sent back with loads of money and they go on to be great women in the kingdom. Not exactly my definition a dragon kidnapping a girl. I don’t understand why the protagonist even compared it to dragon kidnapping a girl, there’s no kidnapping going on. The guy just shows up at the festival and village just gives the girl to work for him for ten years. I expected a dragon sweeping down and taking a girl in it’s clutches but he just like teleported there. What part of this made her think this was kidnapping. There’s just a lot of bad press for the dragon I think. And don’t get me started on the the main character Agnieska. She’s so clumsy that she keeps falling down at places and gets into trouble which angers the dragon even more. I don’t understand what the dragon is so angry about. He just teleported a girl and left her alone with no instructions what did he expect her to do, read his mind? He should have made something like a manual and just given it to her. She could have read that and understood what to do. Also, just randomly telling her spells and expecting her to understand magic makes no sense. If he wants to teach her magic tell her the rules and stuff from the beginning. As someone who has taught a lot of girls he should have perfected his teaching style by now. Not everyone has the same intelligence level, give her a chance, man. Ok so, that was bg rant but I had to get that out.

Now on to what things I liked about the book, the writing style and the atmosphere was beautiful. I loved the beautiful setting and how the author wrote the mystery but I would have liked it better if the story plot was good as well.

The story lagged at where the protagonist was being too clumsy. So I stopped reading. Maybe I missed some points by doing so, but felt it was better to read something else. I’ve heard others say that her other books are great and I’ll have to give those a go. I liked her writing so maybe I’ll try her other books.

Book Rating: 3/5

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Book Review: Collector Bro by Prasanth Nair

I came across this book in the newspaper and as someone who had followed the administrative reforms and initiatives by Prasanth Nair during his posting as District Collector of Kozhikode, I immediately got the book. The books outlines the different initiatives he had taken and how they came about to be. I hadn’t expected there to be this many illustrations in the book, but they all seemed so beautiful. The book explained how different initiatives under Compassionate Kozhikode came to be and how different ideas were implemented. There were a lot of obstacles as is expected in a public setting and it was interesting to see how these were overcome. Although the title talks of the ‘thallals’ (Boasting) of a civil servant, this book was by no means boasting, but rather gave credit to everyone involved in all of these projects. It was truly a great read with great humour and writing style.

Book Review: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harrari.

 

This was one of the books I wanted to read for a long time. It’s a Non-Fiction book which speaks about the History of Humankind. If you are someone who doesn’t read a lot of Non-Fiction, you will still enjoy this book. If you are a Non-Fiction lover like me, you’ll fall in love with this book. This November was Non-Fiction November and I decided to pick this up and read it. Although I had expected amazing things from this book after reading a lot of reviews, I did not expect this book to be this great.

Sapiens goes through the history of humankind, by taking us through Four Revolutions: The Cognitive Revolution, The Agricultural Revolution, The Unification of Humankind, and The Scientific Revolution. It goes from why Homo sapiens were the ones who evolved instead of Neanderthals, to why agriculture played a significant rule in this evolution, from how imperialism and capitalism shaped the world, to how science has improved our lives. This book is an amazing journey and although not all the sights along the way are picturesque, we realise that all of that is what shaped the world. The way the author took seemingly unrelated topics and shaped them into a different view of the world was beautiful.  One such topic is how Capitalism and Communism are both religions. The idea seems absurd at first, but the author convinces us by pointing out how both are based on the beliefs of the people who practise it and it is that belief that holds the system in place. Another idea was how scientific enquiry helped the world change. He writes about how before the scientific revolution, we used think that the past times were the times of glory and it was by doing what was done before that we could perhaps have another period of glory. It assumed that we knew everything about the world and there was nothing more to discover. It was only with the advent of the scientific revolution that we finally admitted to our ignorance. It was this realization that made us try to discover the world, and consequently, the industrial revolution happened.

The book is filled with such amazing ideas and the author does an amazing job of writing these convincing arguments. The writing style made it feel like this was a thrilling novel than a non-fiction book. Each topic eases beautifully into the next and you are left with a sense of wonder. This is a book you shouldn’t miss.

Rating: 5/5

DNFing and why I think it’s okay

In case you don’t know (like I didn’t some months before), DNF stands for Did Not Finish. It mostly stands for just finding out that the book is not for you and stopping reading. I’ve felt that a lot of times people in the book community see DNFing as a bad thing. I had grown up feeling that a book should be finished even if it is bad. As though DNFing a book was lazy, or unprofessional or made you a bad reader. But as I grew up I felt the viewpoint to be a bit stupid. I mean why is DNFing a bad thing? Is it because people think that you can’t judge a book without reading it completely? It is a feeling the ending would somehow redeem the book and if you haven’t read the ending your opinions on the books doesn’t matter? Or does DNFing seem like giving up and our vanity is keeping us from admitting that sometimes giving up is okay? I feel like it’s a bit of both. If it is because we can’t judge a book without reading it completely, I think it is wrong. A writer should have the ability to keep a reader hooked to the book, otherwise what’s the point. Storytelling is an art, it should be well crafted that the reader feels themselves a part of the story. This doesn’t apply just to fiction. Even non-fiction requires the ability to keep the readers interested. There are many non-fiction books that I have felt to be more engrossing than fiction. So, if the book you are reading is so boring that you are considering DNFing, I think you have the right to give judgement on it. However, I feel that there is one exception. If you are reading a genre that you are not normally interested in, I feel that judging the book or the genre is not nice. Because there is a chance that it’s the genre and not the book you don’t like. Not everyone likes everything. For example, I hate Horror, Dystopian and Gothic novels. So, if I’m reading a book in those and I feel like I hate that, there is a high chance it’s just the genre I hate.

Now on to the second reason why people think DNFing is not nice. The ending is probably redeeming. I understand this argument. But most often I have found that this is just wishful thinking. I mean I want to like the book, so I keep reading hoping it would end nicely. But in most cases, it doesn’t. Besides, what fun is reading a series of books in hopes that there is a small chance the ending might be good. So, I just haven’t felt it necessary to go through a boring book for a nice ending.

Is it just vanity holding us on to this boring book? Yes, there is a chance. A lot of times, I have just read the book because I felt that DNFing meant defeat and I didn’t want to be defeated by a book. But then I realised, sometimes, the fight is not worth it. There are so many great books in the world. I don’t want to spend my time reading a book I don’t like when I could have a great book to read. Why waste time on stuff you don’t like. Give the book to someone who you think would love it. Every book deserves love, and if it isn’t you who going to love the book, give it to someone who would.

I think DNFing doesn’t make you a bad reader, it just makes you a reader who knows what they want and tries to not waste time on books you don’t like. It’s a personal thing though. Some people just need to know what happens in the end, if you are one them, read on, friend. But if you want to DNF but other people judging is stopping you, just DNF the book. You have more interesting books to read.

What do you think? Do you DNF books?

Book Blitz: Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow 

Azaria M.J. Durant

(Darkened Destiny Saga #1)
Publication date: July 29th
2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

An ancient power long kept dormant stirs in the shadows once more as one boy embarks on a quest to
earn his freedom and the freedom of his world!

Magic has turned to myth, the Vaelhyreans of old to legend, and the power wielded
by the ancients has long been forgotten. However, with Ealdred, a mere half-breed
slave boy, myth becomes real, the forgotten remembered, and the power of legend is
reborn within him.

Ealdred is merged into a world of mystery, brimming with deceit, where the
remaining Vaelhyreans are in a desperate fight for their very survival. When Ealdred is kidnapped by the power-mongering dark lord Zeldek himself, he must make a choice; to commit his newfound magic to Zeldek’s service or die. But when he meets Bellator, clever yet treacherous servant of Zeldek, an alternative is presented to him: to escape from Zeldek’s stronghold and embark on a quest to find a cursed arrow and free the Vaelhyreans from the spell that keeps their powers at bay.

Yet how can he survive in a world where magic is illegal, half-breeds are hated, and
the four countries are on the brink of war?

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FAQ with Azaria M.J. Durant, Author of Broken Arrow

 

Hello! My name is Azaria and I am the author of Broken Arrow (Book 1 in the Darkened
Destiny saga). I am twenty years old, an artist as well as a writer, and I write fantasy, sci-
fi, historical fiction, and some fanfiction (so far). I started writing my debut novel Broken
Arrow when I was fourteen, and six years, two editors, and many, many cups of tea later,
it is finally published!
I just want to share some things about my book with you, as well as answer some
questions you might have about the cast, the writing, and the world of Broken Arrow.

What is the genre and age range?

The genre is young adult fantasy, and the age range is 13+ for some violence. Even though it is classified as young adult, I find that a good portion of my audience tends to be adults as well, so it’s hard to narrow down to a specific age range.

What is Broken Arrow about?

In the land of Theara, half-breeds are the most despised race, second only to magic users, who are rounded up and executed. Luckily for Ealdred, he’s just a half-breed. That is, until an unexplained event has him pegged as a sorcerer, and he is forced to flee for his life. Suddenly, he has the attention of the mysterious and devious sorcerer Zeldek, who demands one thing of him in exchange for the world: his undying allegiance. Ealdred must choose between his freedom and a life of acclaimed luxury. When he meets Bellator, Zeldek’s clever yet treacherous right hand, a new choice is presented to him: to escape and free a golden arrow from an ancient curse, and claim the power it wields. But exactly how far is Ealdred willing to go for his freedom? And is there more going on than he realizes?

Who is the main character?

There is actually a lot of confusion about this, because I talk about Bellator all the time, as she is the most interesting character (in my not-so-humble opinion). The real main character of the story is Ealdred. It’s told from his point of view. He’s the one that suffers and bleeds for the story to happen, and he definitely doesn’t get close to the recognition that he deserves. He’s a very sweet child, fierce in his own way, and empathetic who just needs to be protected.

What is my favourite scene?

My favourite scene in Broken Arrow is the entire flying sequence with Bellator and her dragon, and introducing the layout of Gaiztoak. It is all very breathtaking, and I loved writing it!

What is my least favourite scene?

There aren’t any scenes that I don’t like, but there were some that were more difficult to write than others. The one that comes to mind is the section after the fight in Bynvantalyn, when Ealdred is remembering the death of his half-breed friend. The emotion in that scene was more difficult to capture, and the entire memory was disturbing to me.

Who are my five favourite characters?
1. Bellator (for being so epic)

2. Ealdred (he’s such a sweet, precious little bean)
3. Zeldek (because he’s a good villain)
4. Hamish (my tortured child 😥 )
5. Either Uri or Marianna (I can’t decide… they’re both cool in their own completely
opposite ways)
Who is my least favourite character?

I would say Queen Algitha wins top least favourite, though it’s a close tie with Ralcher. They’re both just terrible people (though are still great characters in their awfulness).
Out of all five countries of Theara, which one is my favourite? It’s difficult to say, because the answer keeps changing. Though Valamette is the country the story is set in, I love the simplicity and beauty of Lavylli, the corruption of Zandelba, the strength of Avia, and the mystery of the ruined Sylvaria. I’ll pick Lavylli, though, because that’s what I’m focusing on right now as I go into writing the third book.
How important is the lore and mythology to the story?

The lore and mythology is as important to understanding the cultures and people as the happenings of the story are. Not only was it fun to write, but it is extremely relevant, which adds a feel of realism to the world. It feels like an echo from the ages that only grows louder and more prevalent over time.
Are there any hidden messages or themes worked into the story?

When I started writing this version of the book (there were many, many drafts) I had started to notice a lot of things in books and movies that I had issue with. Bellator especially is an embodiment of my rebellion against these things. Fantasy as a genre tends to depict women a certain way, and that way is not usually very good. Women warriors are highly sexualized instead of showing real strength, and other women in fantasy are abused, made submissive to the culture and to men, and really just depicted as love interests or weak damsels that need saving (if there are women in the story at all). Men, on the flip side, are depicted as cruel, tough, and unloving, hardened, and (in the case of the main character) there to win the story goal and gain the love interest as a prize in the end. My goal while writing Broken Arrow is to show women as truly strong in their own rites, not sexualized, taking shit from no one, with flaws and weaknesses without being made pathetic and useless. You know, like real people. I do this not only with Bellator, but also with my other female characters (and there are many). In contrast, I want to show men with weaknesses, empathy, and a respect for other human beings, seeing women as equal and valuable, not just as prizes to be won. Yes, sexism is an ugly thing in Theara as it is in all flawed worlds, but I hope the way I address it is a refreshing breeze in a world so often torn apart by gender inequality. It certainly is for me.

Are there any pronunciation issues with the names in the story?

While most of the names are self-explanatory, there are two which are pronounced differently than you would expect. Hamish is pronounced Haw-meesh instead of Hay-mish (in my preference; honestly, you can pronounce it however you want), and Lavylli is pronounced La-vil-lee.

Are there more books?

If so, how many? Broken Arrow is the first in a series of six books, so there’s a lot more epic story to come. I plan to release the second book around this time next year.
If you have any comments or further questions about the book, or if you just want to chat with me, please feel free to visit my website (https://ofswordsandquills.wordpress.com ), twitter ( https://twitter.com/HerMajestyMJ ), or the Broken Arrow FB page ( https://www.facebook.com/azariamjdurant/ ). I would love to chat with you!
Paperbacks coming soon!

 

Author Bio:

Azaria M. J. Durant is a young, passionate writer of fantasy with plans to branch out
into sci-fi and dystopian. She enjoys writing stories with action, adventure, unexpected plot twists, and fleshed out characters that challenge gender roles and
expectations.

Azaria lives in Atlantic Canada with her family, cats, and dogs, and her big dreams
to travel the world. In the moments when she isn’t writing, she is sketching concept art for her stories, participating in community theatre, or curled up with a good book and a bag of mint chocolates.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY!

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My Favourite Booktubers (+Promo code for bookish goodies)

So, I thought I’d write about my favourite Booktubers. In case you don’t know, Booktube is a community within Youtube where people talk about books and stuff. It’s really fun. You get to see so many new books. I keep myself updated on the new releases by watching Booktube. There are videos where you can watch people read (no, it’s not creepy or anything.), recommend new books, or see what new books have been published. In just going to be talking about my favourite booktubers, not youtubers. So, I won’t be talking about those other non-book related youtubers that I like. I sure have a lot of those as favourite too.

1. Little Book Owl

Little Book Owl is a youtube channel by Catriona. Her videos are really fun. She follows a lot of readathons, so, I love learning about new readathons. She also does a lot of bookish subscription box unboxings. Even though getting a bookish subscription box in India is tough, I like watching other people unbox bookish goodies. She also does a lot of Readthon Vlogs where you get to see her reading books and it kind of inspires me to start reading too. A lot of her book recommendations have turned into my favourite books.

2. PeruseProject

 

PeruseProject is a channel by Reagen. The two things I love about her videos most is , one, she posts videos about her favourites of that month. And this has her clothing favourites, music favourites, other stuff like scents favourites, and her tv show favourites. It’s such a refreshing change from other booktube channels that are just about books. The second favourite thing is that she does a lot of reading vlogs. I love reading vlogs. They’re so much fun to watch. She reads a lot of middle school and high fantasy books so it’s great to get recommendations from her.

3. Ariel Bissett

Ariel Bissett has a lot of really original videos. I mean in most of booktube we have videos like Book Haul, Recommendations, Wrap Ups and all. But her channel is really unique. It has a lot of amazing stuff. You won’t find a lot of the above-mentioned topics in her channel. But she talks about whether reading has become competitive, about books that you don’t usually see in booktube, about books that don’t have that much hype but are still awesome. I think the moment that I subscribed to her was when I discovered she loved George Orwell. He’s one of my favourite authors as well, so I immediately felt a kinship. How can you not relate to someone who loves Animal Farm. That book is amazing!

4. Book Roast

 

Book Roast is a channel by Gintare. I love her channel mainly because she is a Harry Potter fan. She posts a lot of such unboxings and they are so fun to watch. She has this beautiful Lithuanian accent that I can listen to for hours. Her videos are mostly unboxings, reading vlogs, and such. She hosts the Magical Readthons which I am becoming a fan of. Definitely recommend.

5. Readbyzoe

Readbyzoe is a channel by Zoe. She posts amazing videos about books and reading. She’s really funny, especially in her vlogs. I really love watching her videos. She hasn’t posted in sometime because she’s in London for summer. So you might not see many videos for a bit, but definitely follow for her awesome videos.

Those are my favourite Booktubers. I really like these channel and I immediately watch their videos. Especially if they have unboxings and stuff. Who doesn’t like bookish goodies? On that note, I’d like to talk about a website called Literary Book Gifts. This is a website with a lot of Bookish products T-shirts, backpacks, bags and they give these in a variety of designs, especially, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Vernes and so much more. They have kindly offered a 20% discount on their products with the code below. You can use it with no minimum and for any number of products!

Website: Literary Book Gifts

Code: LAUGHANDBEMERI20

So what are you waiting for? Get some awesome bookish gifts!

Thanks for reading this post! Tell me who your favourite booktubers are!

 

My Top 5 tips to Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single reader, in possession of books, must be in want of tips to read. (Okay, this applies to all readers not just single readers, but it felt good when writing.) I mean, we all want to read more, but we don’t know how to do it. Here are a few tips to get more reading time.

1. Read everyday

Habit is key to achieving anything. Make reading a habit. Read everyday, even if it’s just for five minutes. I just recently realised that if you read just 10 pages everyday you can finish a 150 page book in 15 days. I mean, who would have thought math worked that way. All those math questions finally make sense. (If they taught math like this to me, I would have been way more interested.)

2. Invent a time machine

Yes, how to get more out of your 24 hours? Invent a time machine and have more hours to read. Or better, get some of those time turners from your Ministry of Magic. I’m sure they’ll let you borrow one if they know its for scholarly purposes.

Seriously though, you can always get more time if you think about it. Have chores to do? listen to an audiobook. Got a big commute to work? Read on the bus. Take 30 minutes to bath? Take a 10 minute bath and read for 20 minutes (We all know reading is more important than bathing.)

3. Find a good reading time

Dedicate a certain time of the day for reading. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time. But whatever it is, only read during that time. Put your phone on silent, turn off your computer. I know it’s going to be tough, but imagine that finished Goodreads goal or imagine yourself bragging about the number of books. (Clearly, that’s why we read.)

4. Just do it

You want to read, you have the book, but you just don’t start. That’s one of the most common problems we readers have. The main problem is just starting to read. So, just pick up the book and start reading.

5. Participate in readathons.

I recently discovered the magic of readathons. I mean I knew they were there, but I just recently participated in one. That was when I read a lot. The idea of having a lot of people read with you is a great initiator for reading. There are lots of readathons going on throughout the year. In August there is a Magical Readthon hosted by Book Roast. You can read books and complete your N.E.W.Ts and be a wizard (and maybe get some time turners.) Readathons are wonderful and something everyone should try!

I think those are enough points. Just try them out (if you get a time turner, get me one too, okay?) Hope you get enough time to read!

Happy Reading!

The Harry Potter – You’re Not Good Enough ~Book Tag~

So, I was looking for a book tag to do. I had searched quite sometime and found no good tags that I liked. That was when Audra from Audra’s Book Blabbing gave me a tag to do this. I was so glad and immediately did it. Here is the tag.

Rules:

• Write 30 character names on pieces of paper.
• Put them in a jar/mug/cup.
• Randomly choose two pieces of paper for every question. In each of the 15 questions, you have to decide which of the two characters fits the question and which one is not good enough.

1. You only have one more spot on your Spelling Bee team. Who do you pick to complete your team?

Picked: Harry Potter and Godric Gryffindor

Ok, this is tough. I don’t know about either person’s spelling ability. I guess I would go with Harry because being from current times he would know the spelling of newer words. I think? I mean it would be wise to choose the chosen one, right?

2. Both characters want to kill you. Which one would you kill first so you have a better chance of surviving?

Picked: Narcissa Malfoy and Fleur Delacour

Ok, these are both badass ladies and would be hard to fight. But considering that Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort and therefore is very powerful, I would take her down first. Hopefully, I have good fighting skills.

3. You’re on the bachelor/bachelorette and you’re down to these two characters. Which one are you going to give your rose to?

Picked: Cho Chang and Salazar Slytherin

Well, this is awkward….I mean Slytherin’s an old guy and Cho Chang’s a girl. I guess if I DO have to choose Cho Chang would be better than an old guy? I would just disapparate from the competition, to be honest.

4. You’ve been chosen for the Hunger Games. Who would most likely volunteer in your place?

 

Picked: Rowena Ravenclaw and Minerva McGonagall

Wow, I don’t know who to choose. I’m guessing Minerva McGonagall would do it because she is awesome. If she enter’s the Hunger Games she would win.

5. You’re the next DC/Marvel superhero (with your own T.V. show, of course). Who is your sidekick?

Picked:  James Potter and Arthur Weasley

Hmm… I guess Arthur Weasley cause he would be so fascinated by the Marvel universe and their powers. So he would love that.

6. You’re a manager of an avocado-admiring company. Who would you fire for lack of communication skills?

 

Picked: Molly Weasley and Hermione Granger

I just don’t understand what on earth a avocado-admiring company is. Do people just sit and admire avocados? Anyway, regarding communication skills, I think Molly Weasley is the best. Besides, I wouldn’t dare fire Molly Weasley. So I’m sorry Hermione, but you’re going to have to go. I think your job at the ministry is better.

7. You’ve just finished a book in which your favorite character dies. Which character is most likely to comfort you?

Picked: Hagrid and Draco Malfoy

This is going to be Hagrid. If Malfoy comforts me I would be too confused to even comprehend what is going on because he clearly is not the comforting person. Hagrid I be would probably make some soup and comfort.

8. Ugh, it’s high school. Who would most likely be part of the popular clique?

Picked: Ginny Weasley and Helga Hufflepuff

That would be Ginny Weasley. She was popular at Hogwarts so there’s no doubt. I think Helga Hufflepuff would have been that really kind person who makes cookies for everyone randomly.

9. The day has arrived – you’re finally a year older! Who would have the nerve to forget your birthday?

Picked: Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood

I think it would be Ron. He would probably forget and then give a present a few days later. But we all will forgive him because he really didn’t mean to forget. Luna is too sweet to forget anyone’s birthday.

10. You’ve just found an upcoming booktube star! Who would it most likely be?

 

Picked: Bill Weasley and Prof. Flitwick

I think it would be Flitwick. He’s a Ravenclaw so he’d love books. But I doubt he’d be able to work Booktube at his old age. Maybe you’ll see him standing on a bunch of books happily explaining why it’s good.

11. Sleepover time! Unfortunately, you can only invite one person. Who would you invite?

Picked: Dolores Umbridge and Voldemort

Um…..Wow. This is really awkward. Imagine a sleepover with Voldemort…we’d talk about Harry Potter and braid each other’s hair, except voldemort has no hair. I guess i’ll have to pick Umbridge. But that would be the weirdest one. Especially since I can’t have parties if she’s not invited.

 

12. You’ve just written a super important text. Who would see it, but not reply?

Picked: Lily Potter and Lucius Malfoy

I think that would be Lucius Malfoy. He would probably just ignore my texts.

 

13. It’s Valentine’s Day, and you’ve received a box of chocolates. Which of your secret admirers sent it?

Picked: Snape and Pomona Sprout

Ok, I know it’s not Snape cause he loved Lily. But I’m guessing Sprout sent the chocolate cause she thought I liked them and felt like I would enjoy some. Really, Hufflepuffs are the kindest people ever!

14. You’re heading on a two-week road trip, and you have to take someone with you. Who would it be?

Picked: Dumbledore and Neville Longbottom

I think Neville would be the best person. He would love to go travelling and I think we could be friends that could go on trips. Dumbledore would be cool, but I doubt going on a road trip with him could be nice, as he probably has better things to do.

14. The Avengers are recruiting and asking you to make the final choice. Which person would you choose?

Picked: Newt Scamander and Gilderoy Lockhart

I would choose Newt cause he’s so awesome with creatures and would probably be a great addition. I mean Lockhart may help with memory charms but really I would choose Newt. He is so cool.

So these are my answers. I modified a bit. If you want the full questions you can visit Audra’s blog.

I am tagging the following bloggers:

Shruti from This is Lit

Maria from Contemplateandintimate

C G Drews from  Paper Fury

Anyone else who’s interested.

Do the tag only if you want to. There are different editions of this tag. You can do something other than Harry Potter one.

Have a nice day!!!

Movie Time with Austen: Northanger Abbey

So, the previous week, I had not posted a Movie Time with Austen post because I had to post about the readathon and I couldn’t wait till Thursday. Now, we are back to the Movie Time series. In case, anyone has wondered why I haven’t posted one about sense and sensibility yet, it is because when I took the list of movie to book adaptations for sense and sensibility, I realised that there were many movies I haven’t seen yet. So, I had to see them before I posted. And until I do so, you’re stuck with reading about the other books.

This week, we have Northanger Abbey, the Jane Austen book that always seems out of place for me. I mean, other Jane Austen books have a strong heroine. We have Elizabeth (Pride and Prejudice)who is one of the best females protagonists in literature, Elinor (Sense and Sensibility) who is a strong woman who stands for herself, Emma(Emma) who is stubborn but still, you feel the strength of her character, Fanny (Mansfield Park) who may not stand up for herself much but it is because she thinks herself not worthy, but still even she has her own humbly strong ways, Anne (Persuasion) who had made mistakes but she has it in her to learn from them, she finally stand up for herself and then there’s Catherine (Northanger Abbey) who is so naive. So naive, that she doesn’t feel like a Jane Austen character. Every other character had intelligence in their own ways, you could see the intelligence shine through from the character. They all act in a pragmatic way. (Ok, Emma was not that pragmatic, but it was not due to lack of intelligence but perhaps due to her stubbornness in seeing her views wrong.). But Catherine is so innocent, that I don’t know whether to like her for being so innocent in this crazy world or to be frustrated with her for being so stupid at times. She just reads stuff from gothic novels and imagines the world to be just like that. In a way it’s cute, but you also feel irritated at her for it.  Anyway, I guess I should talk about the movie. Yes, movie. Singular because there is only one movie. Noone else thought of adapting this book. I don’t know why noone thought so, because this would a hilarious modern day comedy. Imagine a girl who goes to stay at her friend’s huge house and from reading so many YA novels she imagines stuff like her friend’s father is a vampire or werewolf and then confronting her friend about it. It would be hilarious. But I digress, Let’s get back to the movie.

Northanger Abbey (2007)

 

This movie is exactly what a Jane Austen lover would like in a movie. It depicts the story exactly and with little edits. The acting is great. Felicity Jones portrays Catherine the best. In the book, I really was not that fond of Catherine. But Felicity’s acting made me like her.JJ Field is Henry right out of the book, patient with Catherine’s imagination, and kind. The rest of the actors are awesome as well. I really enjoyed the movie. There are these scenes which show us Catherine’s imagination when she’s reading or dreaming of crazy stuff. I really found it funny and interesting. It’s definitely worth a watch.

So, that’s all for today’s Movie Time! Hope you enjoyed it.

Other Movie Time posts:

Movie Time with Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Movie Time with Austen: Emma

 

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I would also like to say the book Manual for a Murder by Gonçalo JN Dias will be available for free download from 26th to 28th July 2018 in the author’s official blog, in any digital form.

 

 

Synopsis: Marina, a 38-year-old accountant in a crumbling relationship, falls in love with a charming colleague who is married with a son. The two begin a torrid relationship. One commits a murder.

Oscar, a homicide detective, is assigned to the case. He is a man dedicated to his work and to his family, and he likes to joke about and mock the typical American police series.

 

Author’s official blog: Here!

Amazon: Here

Goodreads: Here

Book Review: When Dimple met Rishi

I had heard a lot about this book. With so many people in Booktube talking about how nice this book is, and it being about Indians I was intrigued by the book. However, as I was not a great fan of contemporaries I didn’t immediately pick it up. It was only when I saw the Indian Lit Readathon that I realised that it was time to read the book.

 

Let me start by saying that this was a good book. Maybe not great, but it was somewhat okay. There were cuteness, jokes, I kind of liked Dimple……until the second half of the book. No, nothing bad happens in the second half, in fact, it was opposite that was the problem-NOTHING HAPPENS. The plot seemed to have finished in the first half and the second half just seemed like an unnecessary extension. But I digress, let me start the review where I should start it- the characters.

Dimple: I liked Dimple at first, she seemed someone who stood for herself, smart and not caring about material stuff. Being an Indian myself, I have seen a lot of girls struggling to be career oriented in the midst of their parents trying to marry them. In the Indian society, in most cases, a woman is measured first by who her husband and only second by her job. I’m not saying it’s always the case, but I have seen it happen a lot of times. When I saw Dimple stand up for herself, I was glad to see a strong girl. If the author had stopped at that, I would have liked Dimple more. But no, as the story progresses, Dimple goes from a strong-minded girl to a girl who shames other women. I’ll get to that in a minute, but now let’s look at where my problem with Dimple really started. Dimple goes to this coding camp without knowing her parents had arranged for a boy, Rishi, to meet her. Rishi, thinking she knew who he was, comes and talks to her in a way that makes her think he’s a stalker. He clarifies and tells her about how he was sent by her parents. And she just lashes out on him. Okay, I get it, she doesn’t want to get married now, but she doesn’t have to get angry at him for that. She continues to be rude at him after that, despite him being nice to her. That is not woman empowerment or whatever, that is just plain mean.

Okay, now back to the point of her shaming other girls. We meet only two other girls her age, her friend at the camp, Celia, and a girl from another group, Isabelle. Celia is shown as someone with poor judgement. Dimple immediately judges Isabelle because she’s with rich kids. She even goes on to think that Isabelle is someone who would “eat carbs for attention”. Seriously? That is a mean thing to think about someone no matter how bad they have treated you. And Isabelle seriously wasn’t mean to Dimple. I have a feeling both Celia and Isabelle are meant to exist just to make Dimple seem better. Because Dimple is so much better than them. You read that every five seconds. She is so different than any other girl on the planet. “She was in Computer at school, while other girls were into arts and literature”, she doesn’t wear makeup (she says that every five pages). I think this book would have done better if it wasn’t trying this hard to make her a shiny unicorn. Also, Girl power is not by shaming other girls to make one character seem better.

Rishi: He was a likeable character and actually one of the only redeeming points of this book. He is a kind caring person and a bit more thoughtful than Dimple.

Plot:

There was a plot at the beginning of the story. But somewhere in the middle, it just wasn’t there. At first, it started out being about how she would win the coding contest at the end of the camp. But they show little of the coding that you just start to not care about it much. If this book was to focus on their coding I think it should have had less of Dimple and Rishi going around the city and more of them actually sitting down and coding. I’m no expert at coding, but doesn’t it take time and effort to code your own app? Especially if it has a lot of graphics? Anyway, the plot was not so great.

Redeeming points:

Like I said this book was good in some ways. The first half was nice, had some plots. The book was hilarious too. I did laugh at all the jokes in the book. Rishi was a good character. Also, I liked it, that the story seemed to have a sort of ‘destiny brings people together’ factor. The fact that it was about Indian people was something that appealed to me a lot. You don’t see many Indian books these days.

Overall:

I would say depending upon your preferences, you may either love it or hate it. To me, it was a mixed feeling book. Which I enjoyed some things, I hated some other. Overall, I would say, this book was okay.

Rating: 3/5