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Book Review: The Blogchatter Book of Friendship

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Book Name: The Blogchatter Book of Friendship Author: Multiple Authors Publication: Notion Press Genre: Fiction The Blogchatter Book of Friendship is a collection of 18 short stories with a core theme of friendship, written by 18 community writers from one of India’s largest blogging communities, Blogchatter . Each story in itself is different but follows the same theme, so readers will meet relatable characters and explore themes like longing, betrayal, grief, jealousy, insecurity, and more. What makes this book a good read is that it is written from the perspectives of eighteen writers whose stories do not coincide, yet they all feel like something you might have read somewhere or something you might have witnessed in real life. That’s the beauty of anthologies, where multiple writers come together to write on similar themes with their own versions, making it a wholesome reading experience. As the book is written by eighteen different writers, the character development in each st...
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Book Review: Almost... Not Quite

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Book Name: Almost… Not Quite Author: Sonali Bhattacharya Publication: Rupa Publications Genre: Fiction/Short Stories “I don’t know how to be the one who needs help.” Sometimes, I feel “Na Pawa” for some people is something that they get that they did not expect. Almost… Not Quite by Sonali Bhattacharya is a collection of short stories exploring the simple emotion “Na Pawa,” meaning unobtained, not getting, or the state of not receiving or achieving something. The book is divided into three sections: The Echoes: The seven stories in this section are the echoes of the past from the characters’ lives that were left somewhere hidden, only to resurface and catch up with them in the future. Each story is rich in emotions and explores themes like longing, happiness, dreams, revisiting the people left behind, and so on. In this section, Na Pawa is about what was wanted. To summarise this section: “Indeed, some people, places, memories, and surroundings trigger old pain points. Some make ...
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Books That Feel Like A Warm Conversation

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“Books are the best friends,” they say. Indeed, they are, and what better than reading books that feel like a warm conversation. In this blog, I am going to talk about three books that will make you feel a little more and allow you to feel free to talk about things you might not talk about with someone else. Isn’t it true that many times you have a monologue going on, and even after trying to brush it off, it keeps circling back, and you wish someone would have been there to listen to you at that time? At that time, often you don’t find anyone, and you suppress your emotions and feelings. But what if I tell you books are always listening, and they talk to you through words, prose, stories, and the feelings that you did not acknowledge existed? Here are the books: 1. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff It is a memoir written in the form of a collection of letters exchanged between Helene and the staff of Marks & Co, a bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Road. It is a heartfelt memoir wh...
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Book Review: For Everything Left Unsaid

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Book Name: For Everything Left Unsaid Author: Uma Shukla Publication: Rupa Genre: Poetry “I am always the echo, Never the sound that makes people turn.” For Everything Left Unsaid by Uma Shukla is a heartfelt collection of poems that will make readers question their choices, existence, and being. It is a collection divided into five themes: Intake, Irregularities, Corroboration, Unfiled Material, and Verdict (Undelivered). Each theme in itself delivers a deep meaning, and so do the well-written poems in each of them. Each section starts with context-setting that describes what the poems in that section are about. The poems differ in length, but what makes them similar is their depth and relatability for the readers. The writing style of the author is thought-provoking, evocative, and heartwarming. Some poems may make readers smile and find themselves in them, while some might feel heart-wrenching. From raw emotions to deep philosophical understanding, every reader will find someth...
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Book Review: Peace Pretty Please

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Book Name: Peace Pretty Please Author: Saniya Inamdar Publication: Evincepub Genre: Fiction Peace Pretty Please by Saniya Inamdar is a tale of two countries driven by war against each other, which leads to chaos and eventually peace. “Whenever any person from the two countries even thinks about war, or talks about it, let that person become lonely. Let the person’s children die, and if he has no children, let him die so that no other innocent person is served my untimely fate, and no parent has to become lonely like my parents.” - A wish that sets the story's premise and leads to the events that unfold in the book. The story starts with a kid on his deathbed, who tried enough to make a dead angel free him from death and let him live, but ended up making one last wish, which made people wonder what made a kid make such a wish. After his death, when his parents returned, they were doomed in their loss, and the news channels started flashing news of kids dying with similar fates,...
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