Amazing. Mind-blowing. Highly recommended!!!

I haven’t read too many science fiction books but this one tops the charts for me. There is nothing in this book which I disliked and even after several days of finishing it, the story is still living with me in my mind and heart.

Dark Matter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Author: Blake Crouch
Publisher: Penguin Random House

Blake’s writing is beyond impressive to express such a philosophical and technical story at the same time with such great emotions. The concept isn’t something which I heard for the first time but the story woven around it is beyond explicable.

How many times do we think about a different choice we could have made? This book presents the different choices which exist in a different world and lets us experience them.

This page-turner is an awesome choice for an action-packed thriller. I was completely engrossed until the end and didn’t want it to finish. Completely unpredictable, this book offers thrills, love, emotions, science and mystery.

I cannot wait to read more of Blake’s work.

I have been wanting to read this book for a while and decided that it is the right time to devour it before the movie comes out next month.

The Woman In The Window  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Author: A.J. Finn
Publisher: Harper Collins

I loved the concept of the book. Housebound, Anna Fox, who is suffering from Agoraphobia hasn’t stepped out of the house for a year. She gazes out of her window at her neighbour’s house and sees something which changes her life.

The main character is alcoholic and under anxiety who is taking pills which cause hallucinations is so unreliable and it is so hard to believe in her narration which keeps the flow of the story interesting. Her habit of binge-watching classic thriller movies also contributes to the fact what she believes happening around must have happened in the movies she watches.

The best thing about this book is the plot. I loved how the backstory is revealed at the right time without spoiling the flow of the story. The chapters are short which make it a fast-pacing book. This page-turner will keep you guessing the happenings if they are even real. It gets creepy at times but it is all part of the suspense the book is throwing at you.

I’d recommend this psychological thriller to everyone. Irrespective of all the controversies surrounding the author and his lies, this book does complete justice to a thriller fan.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” - George Orwell, Animal Farm.

The much-hyped novella by George Orwell, Animal Farm is a brilliant piece of allegory which is timeless and it still stands true to its word and hype. Orwell, satirically, condemns the oppressed society’s blind faith in totalitarianism.

Animal Farm  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Classics, Fiction, Dystopia, Politics
Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Penguin Random House

The book reveals the story of a farm where oppressed and mistreated animals take over their master Jones. They want equality, justice and progress. Believing in their new self-claimed leader, Napoleon (a boar), they do what is being asked without raising their voices against inequality as Napoleon has his own ways of tackling their protests. All the animals find themselves in a terrible state of totalitarianism after the revolution against the master.

Animal Farm was written when Russian was under Stalin’s rule. Orwell, being a socialist writer, expressed his displeasure towards the political manipulations of the society under the dictatorship. The characteristics of plotting, dishonesty, manipulating minors are prevalent in human behaviour not only on the political grounds but everywhere and Orwell used several characters of Animal Farm to depict this. In his prose in Animal Farm, Orwell portrayed how easy it is to manipulate someone using language through different characters.

If you haven’t read Animal Farm, please read it. It is a timeless classic with caution and the beauty of this outstanding novel doesn’t fade. A genius stroke!

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture to provide me with a free advanced copy in exchange of an honest review. This is my first book by Daniela Sacerdoti.

There are many books written on holocaust and WWII. The Italian Villa offers a story which is touching and emotional. The story is about 21 year-old Callie who learns about her real parents being the adoptive ones and is searching truth about her real biological mother. Her search lands her up in the town of Montevino, Italy. The revelation of her real mother not only offers her family home but her future as well.

The Italian Villa  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance
Author: Daniela Sacerdoti
Publisher: Bookouture

I absolutely adored this book and was able to finish it in just one sitting, simply unputdownable. It is not a huge book, just under 300 pages but don’t let the size of the book fool you, it is absolutely spellbinding and leaves the reader with the thought of finding light in the darkest of the situations.

Daniela described the beauty of Italian villa, towns, city centres, woods and cuisines immaculately without overdoing it. I actually felt like roaming in the city of Montevino and eating pasta. The two timelines are blended nicely and answer the reader’s questions progressively.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, look no further than “The Italian Villa. Highly recommended.

How often you stumbled upon a book at a book sale that you wanted to read so badly? The Art Of Racing In The Rain is one such book for me and I was so glad to have found it.

The Art Of Racing In The Rain ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Fiction
Author: Garth Stein
Publisher: Harper Collins

This book is narrated by a dog, Enzo. Enzo is a philosopher with a nearly human soul. He loves his master, Denny who is an up-and-coming race car driver. Enzo has educated himself by watching television and listening carefully to Denny. Enzo reflects his learning about human condition and life which is like racing and is much more than just going fast.

First and foremost, the narration by a dog is completely spellbinding. It is so interesting to know what goes in our dog’s mind when we, humans, go through different emotions. The parallel concept of competitive racing and life makes the creative storyline very interesting and thought provoking.

I am always on the verge of reading books on animals(dogs) because something bad will happen to the animal in the book and I’ll be an emotional mess after reading it. I, somehow, chose this book and it is such a beautiful story full of laughter, love, devotion, and tear-jerking moments written in a joyful language. I bet you won’t be able to look at your dog the same way after reading this book, you’ll love your dog much more.

I watched a lot of Grand Prix and Formula One car racing while growing up and reading about those races and drivers was nostalgic. If you have no interest in racing cars, this book still keeps you turning pages.

If you love dogs and racing cars or if you don’t love dogs and racing cars, you should still read this book!!!

My first buddy read and my first book by Andy Weir. It is one of the highly recommended science fiction books. One of the rare books which I’ve read after watching the movie based on it.

“The Martian” is about Mark Watney, a NASA scientist who gets stranded on Mars alone and he has next to none chance of survival there. Mark is extremely smart, trained to survive in adverse conditions and extremely funny. I really loved his character who proves that you can have a great sense of humour even when you have zero chance of survival. I never felt any character so alive and real as Andy.

Andy Weir’s choice of narrating from Mark’s perspective is commendable which I found different and better than the movie. The shift in the narration gives the reader a 360 degree view of the situation from NASA’s office and Mars. Having minimum planetary knowledge and various chemical reactions, this book was able to keep me on the edge and I kept turning pages to know more about Mark’s rescue plan.

The language of the book is very clean and witty. I did find some technical details in the middle of the book a little overwhelming and I tried to skim it but it was hard not to read them.

If you like reading science fiction, this is a MUST read. Also, if you have already seen the movie, the book is a MUST read because you’ll find a lot of dissimilarities between the book and the movie.

Thank you Netgalley and the tagged publisher to provide me with a free advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

I haven’t read romance in a while and it was an easy pick for me after reading thrillers and crime stories. The blurb of the book sounded interesting and I couldn’t wait to start reading it.

Rena is opening her own new salon after working hard at a bar. She is a die hard romantic and has been eyeing Axel Heller for a while at her bar who is six feet six and gives her tall-dark and handsome vibes. On the other hand, Axel also wants to express what he feels for Rena but he does not know how. Finally, he asks her to play a game to see if he can win her over.

This book has everything which a steamy romantic book can hold. It also adds the diversity element and also addressing the racism in a subtle and sensitive manner as not to overwhelm the romanticism of the story. A few bouts of humour also make the book interesting and the steamy level of that book is more than moderate.

The only thing I found it hard to connect are the secondary characters. Sometimes, I lost track of them and forgot who’s who. The main characters are well developed and it is impossible to not fall in love with them.

If you are looking for a steamy romantic read, grab this one!

Thank you Karin Springer for sending me this beautifully illustrated novel in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I read my last graphic novel and “Esemtu” is like a breath of fresh air. It is a story of three university students Dave, Isabelle and Ethan. Their friend, Ahmed, is murdered in suspicious circumstances and they try to investigate the murder even when the police rules it out as a natural death by heart attack. The story gets really interesting when the supernatural powers are found to be involved in the Ahmed’s murder.

My presumption about graphic novels was the plots being lost in the busy illustrations but Esemtu proved me wrong. The illustrations are beautiful and they so much in sync with the story. The script is also spell binding and Sumerian mythology is an interesting and enjoyable factor in the story. Never read about it before so I really enjoyed reading about Sumerian Gods. An interesting page-turner which is not complex at all and anyone can enjoy reading it.

The end of the book leaves us in the cliffhanger so I’m definitely looking forward to read Volume 2 of this book when it comes out.

If you like reading fast-paced graphic novels with beautiful illustrations and characters with mythological contexts, grab this book!!!

I started this year with a resolution in my mind that I must read one Stephen King each month. What could be a better start of this resolution with his classic and perhaps the most loved “Carrie”. I admit that I chose this because of its comparatively thinner size than his other books but don’t let the size of this book fool you, Carrie is as terrifying as his other books could be.

“Carrie” is a teenager who wants an ordinary life but she never gets it. She has telekinetic powers but the biggest hurdle of her becoming normal like her school mates is her mother who is a religious maniac and define rules for Carrie. Consequently, Carrie is edgy and is bullied at school. Carrie is able to cause a lot of destruction when agitated to the edge.

What I like about the book is the way story flows in the form of interviews, back story, reports and references about a telekinetic catastrophe in Maine around May, 1975. The story flows fluently and yet you never miss the plot. The suspense and horror scenes are so intricately described. The superpower of Stephen King, the characterization, is brilliant even in this classic when it was his one of the earlier works.

Those who haven’t read Stephen King yet do know Stephen King as a master of horror literature are missing a lot. He not only writes horror and suspense but also about humanity and its values. His novels are mostly about bullied people who are mistreated and caused destruction in the pretext of revenge.

Carrie is not, particularly, a horror book for me but it definitely left me emotionally drained. What could have been done differently by us as a society so that people like Carrie (with Telekinesis) don’t end up using their powers to destruct the society.

Grab “Carrie” if you want to verge into Stephen King’s territory of horror and suspense.