The Tales Pensieve

Hello Book Bloggers!

We are a week into the Debut Indian Writers Month 2013 and I think it is about time to give way to a mystery that the Best Review Contest (part of  Debut Indian Writers Month 2013) has been shrouded in. Remember what the challenge page says: We have on-board 3 avid book lovers and pro reviewers who constitute our judging panel for the Best Review of this challenge. 

So, time to meet the three?

Ladies and Gentlemen the 3 pro book bloggers and avid readers I admire personally and who very kindly consented to be part of this initiative in the capacity of judges:

Anuradha Goyal:

Prolific book blogger at anureviews.com with more than 300 book reviews since 2004.  She says she has been reading ever since she can remember and reviewing them for last 8 years. In her own words:

“I read books across many genres in both fiction and non-fiction. I love reading biographies, specially autobiographies and sometimes business biographies are interesting too. Management books let me test the theories they propose through my practical experience of working in and with the corporate world. Travel books give me various angles from which I can see the same place, and tell me new ways to explore the world. Self help books sometimes hold me through a low and give me hope to come out of my dark hours. Psychology helps me understand myself and hence others. Philosophy is always a good mental exercise, a argument that you enjoy in your head and sometimes it has the power to change your worldview. Books about environment and ecology make me a more conscious human being. History makes an attempt to connect me with my roots, it tells me the journey my species has covered to reach today. Art history tells me the evolution of art as a part of human evolution and how life and art are inter-twined with each other. Fiction takes me to an factitious world where I can feel the flight of author’s imagination, and at times it educates me about people and cultures from far and near.”

I look up to her reviews when I am confused about a book and mam 300+ book reviews!! Couldn’t have had a better judge to DIWM 2013.

Sudha G.

An armchair and actual traveller, an editor, a communications consultant, a click-happy photographer, a Classical music (Indian, Western and Arabic) lover, a mythology enthusiast, a closet graphic designer, a foodie and above all one of the founders of The Sunday Book Club on . She blogs at My Favourite Things about all her favourite things and books are right at the  top there. When talk borders around books, she says:

“Books have been my friends, advisors, stress busters and friends in unfamiliar places. I can read anywhere—standing in a crowded train, in a rattly, wheezy bus, in the midst of a wedding… anywhere, except in a library.  I love books in all its shapes and sizes, though not necessarily all genres. I stay away from self-help books, totally dig fiction, crime and suspense, insightful essays, history, humour, travel writing, comics, mythology, culture… For me, a good book has to be one that is well-written, narrates a great story, is logical (for me at least),  and preferably error-free. And most of all, it needs to have something that I can take away from it in terms of knowledge or insights.”

Somebody who can talk about books all the time and from whom I have many a time taken recommendations about which books to read, especially the mythological ones. A super-bookish mind to have on the panel.

Shinjini Mehrotra

She calls herself the modern gypsy and is an editor by day, an artist at heart, a traveler along the path of life. She enjoys visual arts — photography, creating altered books and designing graphics — traveling and reading. She has been book blogging since 2009 at Modern Gypsy about all things she loves  and books quite obviously have a bookshelf dedicated to them on her blog.

She says, her love affair with books and reading started at a rather tender age. Since then, she hasn’t been able to step into a bookstore without walking out with at least one book! (we all can associate with that, right?)

An editor, a book lover and a book blogger – can we have a better combination on the panel? I took away her wish to be a participant in the contest to put her on the other side and thank you mam, you obliged whole heartedly.

There you go fellow and participating book bloggers of DIWM 2013 the judges of your reviews for the Best Review prize.

A huge round of applause and whistles for the wonderful ladies!  

A recap of the guidelines for the best review:

Participating Book Bloggers – For you exclusively Read, Review and Rock. We have on-board 3 avid book lovers and pro reviewers who constitute our judging panel for the *Best Review of this challenge. Out of all the reviews submitted on this page for this challenge, I will pick 10 best reviews and the 3 judges will pick the best review off the 10. And our ever gracious sponsors will make it all the more special for the winner reviewer by sending over something special (surprise!)

And a public demand prize! Of all the participating reviews, the review with the highest Facebook Likes on the review page will win Age of Hiblisk by Sumukh Naik. 

All the very best everyone. Read. Read Indian. Read Indian Debuts.

* Most of the content about the judges are courtesy their respective blogs.