Tag: artofwriters

Bookworm Joys – 2021

In the year of the pandemic, reading has helped me stay focused, and most importantly stay home. Reading and creative writing as hobbies have given me much succor and the required mental boost. I have provided guidance to a few new authors, who reached out to me and at each step, it has been a learning experience and a cherished fellowship.

Reedsy Discovery Book Reviewer Leaderboard

One of the best things that happened to me as a reader was when I started writing book reviews for Reedsy Discovery. I have read so many amazing new authors and indie writers in different genres, learned so much, and contributed in my way to spread the word about some brilliant self-publications. I have been on a reading spree in 2021 and am often featured as the Reedsy Discovery top reviewer. Read this blog post on how my Reedsy journey began in April 2021.

In the year of the pandemic, reading has helped me stay focused, and most importantly, stay home. Reading and creative writing as hobbies have given me much succor, and the required mental boost. I have provided guidance to a few new authors, who reached out to me and at each step, it has been a learning experience and a cherished fellowship.

By the end of the year, I will have read 30 books on the UK-based Reedsy Discovery platform. Apart from this I have also read and reviewed complimentary copies from the Himalayan Book Club for Indian writers. These badges from Reedsy Discovery Leaderboard inspire me. You can read the book reviews here: https://reedsy.com/discovery/user/aneeshashewani/reviews

Book Review: The Fabric Over The Moon

Book: The Fabric Over The Moon

Author: Ferran Plana

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories

Review Copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon.in

Recommended: Must Read

Does a mysterious place with strange customs lift the weight of life and its worries off your shoulders? Do questions of the past become heavier with time? Do dreams spill over into the waking world? Are imaginary creatures more than real? Read a delightful collection by writer Ferran Plana that covers mystical and magical happenings in the lives of common people and uncommon creatures. 

Simple stories, written with flair, offer some fodder for thought. The stories are brief. Not all of them are open-ended, but carry messages that will make you ponder. Stories like Lone or Hero will pull you back as you try to derive the background. Winter will keep you guessing and give you the shivers. The eclectic, the elusive, the unexplained, and even the apocalyptic fill pages of an exciting book. Suspense, humor, fear, sadness, loneliness – a gamut of emotions rush through the pages.

Plana has developed the characters with care and finesse. The stories play out in varied locations, from fantasy lands to a Brazilian parade. On this brilliant canvas, the writer’s imagination sketches wondrous tales. A couple of stories are a spin-off on popular fairytales. I liked the one about flying pigs, but the one with hunters did not appease me much.

The writing is rhythmic and even lyrical at places, akin to poetry. Sample this: “How deep do the teeth of human lust and greed bite that they can lose everything they have in the blink of an eye?” This book is a perfect collection for a quick weekend read or to have scary stories in your quiver to entertain around a bonfire. I always recommend quaint and quirky books like The Fabric Over the Moon. This one is a delight.

Book Review: Midnight Tales

Book: Midnight Tales

Author: Raven Kamali

Genre: Mythology, Horror, Fiction, Short Stories

Available at: Amazon.in

Recommended: Loved It!

As a writer and reader, I often wonder if all the stories in the world have already been told. Then, I come across books like Midnight Tales by Raven Kamali and realize it is a storyteller that breathes life in a story. A story can be retold a million times if the storyteller offers it with elan and flair, and with a unique take. In one story, the character says, “ There are things in life that neither philosophy nor science can explain.” This is what Kamali attempts to bring to us in the Midnight Tales.

Raven has done a fantastic job of bringing to life ten stories, each with different flavors. She has used some old and new themes and opened portals to mythological worlds and spun unique tales around them. My favorite is The Butterfly Lane, but I also loved what she has done in the last story by telling a tale in verse. Don’t Scream has a neat little ending, and it almost seems like you are watching a movie or the beginning of a web series. Not all stories are scary; some are fantasy and mythology-based. Stories built around Atlantis and the Amazon women are lengthier than the others and build on her imagination.

This slim book is an enjoyable weekend read, especially on cold winter evenings when you want to be scared, a teeny-weeny bit. Written fluently, the stories spark interest and linger with you long after you have read them. I found some noteworthy lines, like, ” We never walk towards death, death walks towards us.” The book cover is interesting as it displays a raven and an open book. I think it references the author and her book of creepy stories. I would have liked all stories to be of similar length. However, I found Midnight Tales to be a satisfying reading with good writing and creativity.

Winter

What had happened was
Giggles over a picnic spread
Thick layers of marmalade
Stacks of thin crepes
Trickles of blueberry
Glasses of lemonade
Under the mulberry tree
Just dreams of summer
Stained with myriad colors
As in the winter sun I lay
Thinking of you and all
That you just left behind!

Sunday

On a Sunday morning
A summer-perfumed breeze
Rocks the hammock
A book cover gazes
Vacantly at azure skies
A fly lazily sits on the rim
Of an empty flute of nectar
Thoughts doze off embracing
An idyllic disregard
For chores and such
Until a mundane morrow