Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: OCDaniel

OCDaniel is a book about a lanky 13 year old boy named Daniel who likes to write, hates football, likes to make up stories with his little sister and has OCD, (which he doesn’t know about.) He can’t help but keep on flipping a light switch on and off and keeps trying to avoid writing the number four. He spends a lot of time hiding these ‘strange habits’ which he calls Zaps, because he doesnt want anyone thinking he’s crazy. Until, he receives a note saying: I need your help; signed by a ‘fellow star child’ and his life gets even weirder.

It was absolutely fun to join Daniel as he joins a girl nicknamed PshycoSara on a murder investigation, follow him as he flails at football games, and getting to know about his struggle with his OCD.

Daniel’s voice is very authentic and relatable, and I found myself cracking up, feeling sad, and grinning the whole time I was reading the book.

When I read it for the first time, (yes, I’ve gone back to the book and re-read it at least four more times) and I was nearing the end of the book, I was just praying and begging for it to not end. I loved the characters so much, I wanted to know more and more about them, their stories. But yeah, it ended. (But guess what? There’s a prequel for OCDaniel in the voice of Sara now! It’s called ‘Sara And The Search For Normal!’ I’m so excited to read it!)

This book is about friendship, family, and neurodiversity. It’s about feeling different and finding people who understand you. I totally recommend it.

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That feeling of getting a new book.

I just love getting good new books, you know? It’s so fun, I just get so hyped up while looking for the next few books that I want to order to read, surfing on the net, reading book reviews, and then ordering them. And then the wait starts; days stretch ahead… but then this message pings on the phone: your order will be delivered today.

And I sit there in anticipation and excitement, waiting for it to arrive. Then the doorbell rings and I run to open the door and to me at that moment, the mailman seems just like a celestial messenger bearing precious gifts in his hand.

I always try to hold my excitement in, but I end up grinning so hard, my cheeks hurt. As soon as I sign and stuff, and the door closes behind me, I let out a squeal of joy and go and hug my parents and thank them for ordering the books, then rip the packaging apart and turn the book around in my hands, smell it, run to my bookshelves, put the book up in my bookshelf (colour coded+mood coded) admire it, run back to my family, tell them I’m reading it so they’d better not disturb me, find a corner in the house, fill it with pillows and then sink in to read the book.

That is, if my mom doesn’t take the book away and tell me to finish all my tasks first, because she knows that I wont do anything if I start reading, and that usually ends up in me begging and wheedling her to give me the book. She sometimes gives in and sometimes doesn’t. I just have to hope she does.

I’ll need to write a seperate blog about the actual reading of the book, and one about finishing a good book and one about people interrupting me when I read, that’s just so ugh! Well anyway, stay tuned for that!

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Book Review: The Remarkable Journey Of Coyote Sunrise

Whenever I sit down to make a big art piece, I always like having to listen to audio books, as it makes it even more fun. So, when I sat down to work on a big drawing, and was surfing through Scribd, looking for an audio book, I saw The Remarkable Journey Of Coyote Sunrise, written by Dan Gemeinhart. They say, don’t judge book by its cover. But when I see a funky and/or beautiful book cover, I gravitate towards it, ignoring the others. Which I shouldn’t, but I do. So, when I saw a girl with sunglasses sitting on top of a school bus with a kitten, I just had to listen to it. So, I plopped on my earphones, got my pencil, and hit play.

Coyote Sunrise has been living with her dad on a school bus for 5 years, driving around the United States, ever since her mom and sisters died in a car accident; never going back to their home. never looking back.

Until, Coyote finds out that a park in her neighborhood was getting grazed down. She had buried a memory box there along with her mom and sisters and she just had to get it back before it got lost forever. The only problem was that she had to make her dad drive all the way across the country to the park without him knowing it. As she hatches plans and goes on this one heck of a journey, she is joined by an array of quirky yet amazing strangers, all going through something in their lives.

I was so invested in that story; I loved every single character in it. Coyote. Rodeo. Salvador. Lester. Val. Ivan.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. I was rooting for them and smiling and chuckling and tearing up and sighing throughout the whole audio-book. You should definitely read/listen to it.

Written from Coyote’s point of view, this book discusses everything from slushies, kittens and good books to friendship, love and kindness.

Some quotes from the book:

“Losing something can sure make you realize how much you loved it, even if you knew you loved it all along”

“Maybe we’re all a little broken. Maybe we’re all a little fragile. Maybe that’s why we need each other so much.”

“I just wanted everyone to be happy. It’s hard, though, when everyone carries around a heart inside them that is so loud and so strong and so easily broken.”

“Sometimes trusting someone is about the scariest thing you can do. But you know what? It’s a lot less scary than being all alone.”

“And every book ever written is about love, really, whether it knows it or not. So, yeah, I know a thing or two about love.”

There were way too many beautiful lines in this book, which I’m probably going to do note down and put up here someday, when I get a hard copy of this book.

This is the kind of book that makes you happy and sad at the same time, you know, and obviously it made me laugh out way more times than I can count. So yeah, if you are into contemporary fiction, you should DEFINITELY read this book. Its brilliant.

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15 Book I LOVE! (updated version)

So… I was reading my blog ‘20 Books I LOVE!’ and I was like, “my list of favorite books has changed so much, I need to do a new one!” So, here’s an updated version of 15 books I LOVE!

I like reading preteen/teen realistic fiction, the kind of ones where the recommended age is 11-14, you know?

  • Just Like Jackie
  • OCDaniel
  • When friendship followed me home
  • Touching Spirit Bear
  • Inside Out And Back Again

These ones right here ☝ are my absolute faves. They are my TOP 5 picks for my favorite books, and tying very closely with them are these ones right here 👇

  • The Night Diary
  • When You Reach Me
  • Moon Over Manifest
  • The Ghost Of Spirit Bear
  • What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible
  • Ms. Bixby’s Last Day
  • Sadie (this ones a full on YA!)

And these right here 👇 are the books that I’m including from my last list because they are still in my favorites:

  • Wonder (I’ve read it at least 20 times!)
  • Books by Dr. Suess
  • The One & The Only Ivan

Also, I felt like including some books in here because I enjoyed them and didn’t want them to feel left out, so here you go: The list of books that I like:

  • Framed, Vanished, Trapped
  • Summerlost
  • The Zain & Ana series
  • Your Turn Now & YTN 2
  • Soar
  • Ruskin Bond’s Children’s Omnibus
  • Let’s go time travelling
  • The Railway Children and Five Children & It
  • Auggie and me

These ones are great for fun, light reading, and I like taking them along with me on a train rides and stuff like that.

If you’re like me and like reading preteen realistic fiction, then do give these a try and let me know your thoughts about them in the comment section below.

These were all the books I love, I’m going to write separate reviews for them, (the post would be too long otherwise) so stay tuned for that!

 

 

 

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20 BOOKS I LOVE!

Here are some books that I love the most. I have written about them in a random order. I couldn’t judge which one was my most favorite. (Does that even make sense?)

Well, here are my 20 top favorite books:

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate is one of my top favorite books.

It is about Jackson and his imaginary friend, Crenshaw. Jackson’s family is getting poor and there’s not much food in the fridge, and Jackson is worried they’ll have to move out of their home.

Crenshaw is here to help Jackson, but, is an imaginary friend enough to save the family from losing everything?

Read this amazing book to find out.I really like the way this book is written and the storyline is great.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio is a great book in my opinion.

It is about August, a normal kid with a not so normal face. August faces a lot of difficulties in his life because of his face and also got bullied in school, but he moves on.

This book has a great message. How you shouldn’t judge someone by their face. I absolutely loved reading it and surely recommend this book to kids and adults as well.

 

One And The Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate is about a gorilla named Ivan.

Ivan is an easy-going gorilla who is used to humans watching his every move through the glass of his cage. He can hardly remember his life in the jungle or what happened to his family.

That is, until a baby elephant called Ruby arrived. Suddenly he sees home through new eyes and knows he must do something to make sure Ruby doesn’t end up like him. I love to read this heartwarming tale again and again and this will be one of my most favorite books for a long time.

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At LEast A Fish, Ghosts Don’t Eat and Just Like A Bug are three books in the Zain and Ana series written by Anushka Ravishankar.

 

They are about Zain and Ana, two best friends and all the experiments and adventures they have. I really like the humorous writing and storyline of these books. Out of these three books, ‘Ghosts don’t eat’ is probably my favorite but I really like the other two as well.

Here are some books by E. Nesbit which will always be on my favorite list.

The language and the writing of these books are a bit old fashioned as they were written a century ago, in the early 1900s. These books are about children having fun at the railway station, going to places on their magic carpet, having their wishes granted by a sand fairy, or being invisible. These books have a really great narrative and dialogues and the kids in these books are so natural, having fights and arguments with their siblings and then making up. I wish I could have adventures with them.

 

Here are some more books I like:

 

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess are written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The novels are really descriptive and the narration is so good you see it all happening in front of your eyes.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is narrated by Black Beauty, a horse and all that happens in his life.

It is a wonderful, heart- touching story.It’s a classic that you must read.

  

The first books I read after learning to read were books by Dr. Seuss. I still read them sometimes. These books have wonderful rhyming and are easy to read. I still put books by Dr. Seuss on my top list.

 

Matilda and Charlie’s Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl are fantastic, full of quirkiness and fun. Every child must read these books.

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Grandma’s Bag Of Stories and The Magic Of The Lost Temple are the books by Sudha Murty that I like.

  

Let’s Go Time Travelling by Subhadra Sen Gupta is a book about life in India through the ages. It is full of amusing illustrations and fun.

    

Ruskin Bond’s Children’s Omnibus is a collection of Ruskin Bond’s stories for children including some great stories like the blue umbrella and cricket for a crocodile.

    

So these are my top 20 favorite books. Comment down below about your favorite books and your thoughts.

Happy reading!

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Book review: Ambushed

Ten-year-old gadget geek, Tara is happy sitting and playing angry birds on her Ipad, but her father has other plans for her and her family. An ardent lover of nature, he wants to picture tigers and takes unwilling Tara with him to Ranibagh forest where Tara thinks nothing happens at all. She finds herself mistaken when she stumbles upon a tiger poachers cave hideout. It was then that Tara finds out about the tigers and their plight, and meets Satya, a wily teen, and an ex-poacher. He wants to lead a better life and wants to do some good for his family who has no other job but tiger poaching.
Together the duo, with the help of Mr. Rathore, will they be able to save the tigers? Dive deep into Ranibagh forest, in the world of tigers, and go on to a crazy adventure with Tara and Satya.

Written by Nayanika Mahtani, this book has a wonderful narrative and is targeted at ten-year-olds and above. Published by Penguin Books, it is priced Rs. 199. Grab this copy now and go on for a crazy ride!

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Book Review: Your Turn Now 2

Book Review: YOUR TURN NOW 2

Your Turn Now 2 was recently launched on 27th Feb 2016.

As you see, the book is as interesting as its name. ‘Your Turn Now 2’ has heartwarming stories of random acts of kindness that are really true, inspired by the little blue card.

Just as a stone causes the whole puddle to ripple, this concept of the little blue card has touched thousands of hearts. I love the book from deep down my heart.

Some of my favorite stories are ‘Ssmall Actions-Huge Consequences’ ‘Little People, Big Hearts’ & ‘I Felt Great’. With the blue cards in their hands anyone can do anything for kindness. You can be a kindness patron too; you just need a kind heart.

This book is a must read book for all ages, specially kids because we, kids, have to take forward the kindness for better future.

The concept is by Rushabh Turakhia and is published by ‘FunOkPlease’.  It has beautiful illustrations by ‘Happy Fish’ and is written by Lubaina Bandukwala. Its price is Rs. 250.

So just grab the book now and let the blue magic reveal itself.

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Book Review: YOUR TURN NOW!

book4Friends I want to tell you about a beautiful book published by Fun Ok Please:  ‘Your Turn Now’.

‘Your Turn Now’ is a book with small little blue cards which keep tugging onto your hearts till you pass the kindness around. This book has beautiful illustrations and stories of daily acts of kindness. Some of my favorite stories are the YTN merry go round, Small change Big change and Atithi devo bhava.

The message of the book is: Spread the kindness.
The kindness kit helps me a lot and I love the cards too.  I take the cards along with me wherever I go, hoping to pass the kindness around.

your turn 2This book inspires thousands of hearts to be super heroes of kindness. But is it a bit small compared to the population of the world? Oh yes, it is. The future of our world lies in our hands; we need to spread the kindness around to make our world a peaceful one and take the responsibilities and make it even better for the world, us and our future generations.

We all know, helping others and the poor and needy, means serving god himself.

This concept is by Rushab Turakhia, written by Lubania Bandukwala, illustrated and designed by Shraddha Pimputkar and edited by Sakura Kagwade. Its price is Rs.199 and is worth all the kindness. It is published by Fun Ok Please. And is a must read for all , not only for kids.

I must say it is my favorite book. It is more than a book.

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Book Review: Brown like Dosas, Samosas & Sticky Chikki.

 Book Review: Brown like dosas, samosas & sticky chikki.

Hello friends, there is a good book in the world of books “Brown like dosas, samosas & sticky chikki”. This book is published by Funokplease. The book has wonderful illustrations done by Heetal Dattani & the author is Rebecca Manari.

It is an interesting book, about a little girl named Samaira who has an encounter with a- violet lady & has strange adventures with all the colors around her. The book tells us it is OK to be brown.

brownMy mom also told me the same thing. I tell you one incident, one day I went to my mom & said mamma my color is not fair; my mom hugged me and explained,”My dear child you have golden skin & a golden heart. Tell me will it matter if your skin color is white? Their are so many dark colored talented people. Skin color doesn’t matter at all, important is what you are as a person”,  from than onward I never felt ‘less’ for my complexion.

After reading this book I am feeling proud of my ‘golden’ color. I found this book very good, and a must read for all kids. So go grab your copy now, you can order it online. Wishing all my little friends ” Happy reading, Happy growing”.

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Book Review: Grandma’s Bag Of Stories By Sudha Murty.

Grandma’s bag of stories

grandmas

Friends, I love reading books. Do you read? & who is your favourite author?

My favourite author is Sudha Murty & she has written many books, among them grandma’s bag of stories is my favourite.

Four children are having fun when the fun doubles they were going to shiggaon to their grandparents place where they would find many friends & stories too!

This book is filled with funny characters and magical stories it is a must read for all kids. It has 23 stories in it. It is like a novel. My favorite story is of a lazy man who never trimmed his beard, I also liked the story, the island of statues! Sudha Murty has written many books for children and women. I am very excited to read her next book.

This book is published by Penguin books. Its price is rs. 199 , so go grab your book now!

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