Book Review: Shiva Trilogy

The Shiva Trilogy by Amish for me will always represent that whiff of freshness that stormed the Indian literary scene that was nearly choking with louveeee in 2010! (not that the scene is any different now [after 3 years] but the winds are definitely changing). The mythological – historical – adventure – fiction series is all but immortalized as one of the trend changers amongst Indian books and Indian publishing

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What Is Important In Fiction Is That It Has Internal Logic: Amandeep Sandhu

Roll of Honour is without doubt one of the best books read and reviewed on The Tales Pensieve so far and a journey into the mind of the wordsmith behind the book was yet another wonderful experience. In again one of the best interviews here, Amandeep Sandhu gets inKonversation about capturing the stories in our lives, peeling yourself to write and some

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Book Review: Roll of Honour

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads This review is honoured to be on the author’s website. I had earlier interviewed Amandeep and his answers were the major push behind me wanting to read the book. I was born at the end of 1983 in Bhopal. Two major events happened in Bhopal around my formative, childhood years

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inKonversation: WordMaverick of the Month – March 2013

IT guy turned into a love story writer. Heard that so often, no? IT guy turns into a fantasy fiction writer!! that’s a new one, right? Meet Sarang Mahajan – our very own WordMaverick of March 2013 on The Tales Pensieve. First he wrote Visual Basic and Java codes, then all those ish-wish web designing codes and now fantasy fiction

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Book Review: Tantra

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Title: Tantra Author: Adi Publisher: Apeejay Stya Publishing ISBN: 978-81-908636-2-9 Pages: 335 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.5 of 5 Reviewed for: Blogadda.com I am going to let you on a secret. Many may tsk tsk me after they read this especially the ones amongst you who are

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inKonversation: P G Bhaskar – WordMaverick February 2013

He is the proverbial banker-cum-writer, a breed so up and kicking in the Indian writing scenario today; but thankfully he doesn’t write books that look like bollywood films on pulp! inKonversation with the WordMaverick of February 2013 we meet the man behind the funny yet sensible Jack Patel – P. G. Bhaskar. The Dubai based private banker talks about Indian

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Book Review: Luwan of Brida

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Title: Luwan of Brida Authors: Sarang Mahajan Publisher: Periwinkle (Imprint of Popular Prakashan) ISBN: 978-817991-671-1 Pages: 272 Genre: Fantasy Fiction Rating: 4.5 of 5 Reviewed for: Author A Debut book. An Indian. A fantasy fiction series! I have always been a lover of a bit of

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Book Review: A Splash of Love

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Title: A Splash of Love Author: Rajeev Ranjan Publisher: Diamond India ISBN: 978-81-288-3278-9 Pages: 212 Genre: Fiction Rating: 1 of 5 Reviewed for: Author Ever confused infatuation with love? I have; for a very long time. Tell me about that realization moment. Answers

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Meet the amalgamators of Photos & Fiction: WordMaverick of January 2013

The Stopover has been one of the most exciting debut books I happen to read in the past six months. It not only introduces a talented photographer and two exciting story writers but also a genre itelf – Photofiction. The art of story telling through pictures was somewhere lost to children books; we adults after a certain age think it

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Book Review: Cold Feet

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013 Title: Cold Feet Author: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan Publisher: Penguin Books India ISBN: 978-0-143-41720-0 Pages: 234 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.5 of 5 Reviewed for: Mysmartprice.com Chick Lit – Yes, that very insulting word for literature by any woman writer who dares write a story on fellow gender friends. Yes Cold Feet is a book by

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Book Review: Blood Red Sari

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013 Title: Blood Red Sari Author: Ashok Banker Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers ISBN: 978-93-5029-321-8 Pages: 283 Genre: Fiction Rating: 4 of 5 Reviewed for: Mysmartprice.com Ashok Banker is a name I have always associated with mythological re-tellings having read his Slayer of Kamsa, The Forest of Stories and The Seeds of War, finding a women centered thriller

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Book Review: When The Snow Melts

Part of Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Title: When The Snow Melts Author: Vinod Joseph Publisher: Amaryllis ISBN: 978-93-81506-11-0 Pages: 202 Genre: Fiction Rating: 2.75 of 5 Reviewed for: Author Afghanistan is on the creative radar for a horde of Indian writers and it is a pleasure to read different angles to a definite chapter in modern history. After Red Jihad,

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Fiction Is The Only Truth That Makes Sense: Aarzoo Shrarma

Start of this week we get inKonversation with a writer from the heart of India. Aarzoo Sharma, lives in a small village Chahlan in distt. Ludhiana, Punjab and writes about life in english novels and in punjabi poems. Read the reclusive young author talk about how writing as the safest mode of unleashing his wrath for certain things in life and

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Like Guitarists, Painters And Sculptors, You Have To Practice The Craft (of Writing): Rohit Gore

He is the classic Engineer-MBA in the IT industry; But he is also the writer who writes on humane emotions and accomplishes a book a year. After a debut in commercial, easy read fiction, he has moved on the darker human emotions and is dabbling in them well. inKonversation with Rohit Gore who believes nothing can stop your passion, not

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Book Review: The Stopover

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Title: The Stopover Author: Ram Prakash & Deepa Pinto Publisher: Krab Media ISBN: 978-8-1908421-6-7 Pages: 198 Genre: Photo Fiction Rating: 3.75 of 5 Reviewed for: Authors An exotic travel with four places on the itinerary into the exotica synonym – India – and a foray into four

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Book Review: Return of a King

Part of 2013 Reading Challenge: First Reads Title: Return of a King Author: William Dalrymple Publisher: Bloomsburry Publishing Plc ISBN: 978-1-4088-1830-5 Pages: 487 Genre: Non-Fiction Rating: 4.5 of 5 Reviewed for: MySmartPrice The line between fiction and real blurs as one digs more into the real. History exploring is one such real digging and unbelievable are the treasures that pop

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Truly, Madly, Deeply Is part of a New Emerging Segment – Semi Literary Reads: Faraaz Kazi

We celebrate love at The Tales Pensieve as we bid adieu to 2012; in out final post of the year we get inKonversation with an author who is not just an author! He is a certified soft-skills trainer, a three-time post graduate, runs his own academy in Mumbai and is the Founder/CEO of Digi Imprint Solutions, India’s first exclusive promotional

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Book Review: Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge and South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Once Upon The Tracks of Mumbai Author: Rishi Vohra Publisher: Jaico Publishing House ISBN: 978-81-8495-305-3 Pages: 266 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.75 of 5 Reviewed for: Author Some books are like A.R. Rahman’s music, first you are struck and then you are awestruck; they just build on you as you go forward.

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Book Review: My Magical Palace

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge and South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: My Magical Palace Author: Kunal Mukherjee Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers ISBN: 978-93-5029-119-1 Pages: 372 Genre: Fiction Rating: 4.75 of 5 Reviewed for: HarperCollins Publishers A nizam’s palace in Hyderabad, the exotic Bengali culture and the pangs of first love – that is where Kunal Mukherjee’s debut saga takes us.

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Incentivised Conversion Is Still Forced Conversion : Oswald Pereria

The man who scintillated  us with his sensational debut on blurring lines in news reporting in The Newsroom Mafia is back this year end with yet another shocker. This christmas Oswald Pereira takes us, wrapped in fiction, to a less talked about truth concerning Christianity in India. We get inKonversation with the multi-talented wordsmith who seems to be on a mission

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My Strange Craziness For Spain Lead To Te Amo: Rohit Sharma

An engineer turned writer, debuting with a love story? Sounds similar? Tad too much but Rohit Sharma‘s Te Amo….I Love You have been garnering some rave reviews since it hit the literary scene a few days back. In yet another enticing tale of how an artist discovered the storyteller in him; we get inKonversation with the latest debutant about dancing to

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Life Is Too Short To Not Follow Your Heart: Preeti Shenoy

She took to writing through her blog, justamotheroftwo.blogspot.com, to cope with the pain of losing her father and there has been no looking back. A best selling debut with non-fiction 34 Bubblegums & Candies followed by fiction National bestsellers – Life is What You Make of It and Tea for Two & A Piece of Cake. Preeti Shenoy – the Bangalore based poet, artist and

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Book Review: The Edge of the Machete

Part of  South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: The Edge of the Machete Author: Abhisar Sharma Publisher: Westland Publications ISBN: 978-93-81626-67-2 Pages: 333 Genre: Fiction/ Thriller Rating: 3 of 5 Reviewed for: Blogadda.com Islamic mendicants centric novels seem to be on the rise with The Edge of the Machete by Abhisar Sharma being the third one, after Red Jihad and Zombiestan,

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I Had My Own Share of Adventure With a Literary Agent: Anees Salim

Fairy tales – Believe in them? Aren’t they are stuff little girls with frilly dresses believe in?  A college dropout who went on to become the creative head of a high-profile advertising agency and when he decides to write novels top-of-the-game publishers line-up to publish not one but four of his works. And to top that his debit title is attracting

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Alice In My Story Was Perhaps Subconsciously Modeled On David Headley : Prem Rao

As we remember 26/11 on its fourth anniversary today, at The Tales Pensieve we get inKonversation with an author who brings us a thriller built around the terrorist carnage in Mumbai and a lot of other thrills. Bangalore based Blogger, Corporate Executive, Entrepreneur, Executive Coach and Thriller Writer Prem Rao after a psychological thrilling ride in It Can’t Be you

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Legends of Norse Mythology and A Teen Indian: inKonversation Anusha Subramanian

She is all of 12, loves books, opines with her author father on his book covers and is India’s youngest published author. Anusha Subramanian not just loves reading those books but is also the proud creator of the Catriona series – a four book teenage fantasy packed with action and adventure. As she gets ready for the official launch of

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Book Review: Toke

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2012 and South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Toke Author: Jugal Mody Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India ISBN: 978-93-5029-340-9 Pages: 214 Genre: Fiction Rating: 4 of 5 Reviewed for: INDIAreads.com This review is honoured to be on the author’s website. Three facts I bet you did not know about marijuana and getting stonned: 1. We know

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Terrorism & Naxalism Are Already Together In The Red Corridor : Sami Ahmad Khan

Terrorists create mayhem, Naxals create mayhem and if they come together it is mayhem raised to the power of two! Sami Ahmad Khan is a young debut writer but has decided to flow against the tide and write something that isn’t what sells. He decides to write a political thriller and thus was born Red Jihad -The terrifying thought-in-action of coming

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Book Review: Zombiestan

Part of South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Zombiestan Author: Mainak Dhar Publisher: Duckbill Publications ISBN: – 978-93-81626-92-4 Pages: 248 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.75 of 5 Reviewed for: Blogadda.com This review is honored to be on Duckbill Publication’s Official Page and the official page of the book. I confess, while agreeing to review this one I had never been this wary

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Book Review: Red Jihad

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge and South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Red Jihad Author: Sami Ahmad Khan | inKonversation Publisher: Rupa Publications ISBN: – 978-81-291-1987-2 Pages: 263 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.75 of 5 Reviewed for: Blogadda.com This review is honored to be on Rupa Publication’s official page and the official page of the book. Lives have been held to ransom

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inKonversation: Piyush Jha

Ad maker turned Film director Piyush Jha of Chalo America, King of Bollywood and Sikandar fame has added a new feather in his already overflowing kitty of creative pursuits. He turns fiction writer with his debut book – Mumbaistan. A collection of three novellas, the book defines crime-fiction complete with hardboiled heroes and femme fatales desperately trying to find justice

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Gods and Mankind’s Godly Wrestle: inKonversation with Author Ajay Kansal

Dr. Ajay Kansal is a professor and consultant in clinical pathology. During his medical practice, he encountered many suffering patients, which drilled a hole in his faith in gods. Gradually, he realized that gods and religions were doing nothing to resuscitate the sufferings of humanity, in-fact fake promises of priests were only making the sufferers complacent; they were only worshiping

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Book Review: Poor Little Rich Slum

Part of South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Poor Little Rich Slum Authors: Rashmi Bansal, Deepak Gandhi, Dee Gandhi (Photographer) Publisher: Westland ISBN: 978-93-8162-618-4 Genre: Non-Fiction Pages: 187 Rating: 4.5 of 5 The book cover with blue colored low roofed, sandwiched shacks sprawled all over its front and back, against a background of white with a blue airplane taking off over

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Book Review: The Krishna Key

Two huge blue colored doors, possibly wooden, vedic flower designs splattered over them in a matrix pattern, bells hanging from each of those flowers, golden pegs, an ornate lead lock that brings them together with a single beam of light between them hinting at the other side and golden words underneath the huge lock proclaiming The Krishna Key. The cover

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Book Review: The Forest of Stories

Each day of my childhood had begun listening to my father read out of his Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagvatam. Each day had begun with pulling the pillows over the ears to block out the words, that debuted sounding as gibberish but eventually with passing years started making sense, atleast to the story lover in me. Amidst the magic, myths and magnanimity,

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Book Review: The Evolution of Gods

Did gods create mankind, or did mankind create gods? The back cover screams this question at the reader with the preamble concluding that this book by Ajay Kansal deals with establishing the fact that anthropologies and histories lead to one conclusion – mankind created gods! The writer starts off with a very arresting question in the preface – Why are

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