Ajaya: Roll of the Dice (Epic of the Kaurava clan, #1) by Anand Neelakantan

Foreword:

Like various other books from Leadstart Corps, this book is also sent by Parag Mayekar.

You can find the other books from Leadstart Corps here: BR with Leadstart...

It was quite a hype when Asura, the other book from the same author, had topped the best selling list of almost all prominent online book-selling portals for several weeks. It had re-written the entire status of the Leadstart Publishers.

Well, it deserved it. Just read the plot and the mere uniqueness of it will tempt to read it. If I hadn't had so long a list of tbr books, I would have definitely given that book a try.

The plot of this book is very similar to the author other book - Asura. I wonder, whether it is me or are the plots so similar. However it is quite innovative to even get the thought of narrating a story from the other side, the losing side, the - oft negatively portrayed - negative side.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Reloaded by Poulomi Mukherjee, Amit Tayal (Illustrator)

Foreword:

I have encountered this book on a blog-post where it is listed as one of the most famous Indian Grpahic Novel.

I have developed this new fascination for Graphic Novels - Indian Graphic Novels, in particular.

My first Indian Graphic Novel is Kari.

For more Graphic Novels, click here...

For more Indian Graphic Novels, click here...

I have always wondered why Graphic Novel? Well, I can't answer. Perhaps, no one can. It is just the feel of it that is most interesting about it.

Unlike the other graphic novels I had read, which were rather sequential arts than graphic novels, this one is more kinda cartoon. Cartoon Strip, perhaps. A comic, maybe. While the other graphic novels I read were more art, this was more like a cartoon. It was like watching a cartoon movie on mute with subtitles.

A Cupful of Aha by Anandaa

Foreword:

One fine day, I was contacted by BecomeShakespeare.com people for reviewing their books.

It was the first time we have heard of these publishers. Actually, it is a self-publishing firm. A self-publishing consultancy.

The first thing I did after receiving their mail is to check their catalog. It was primarily divided in two - fiction and non-fiction. Non-fiction was not type, so I directed checked into fiction shelf. It had 2 to 4 books. So I had little choice. I selected two books and this one is one of them.

When I opened the package in which both the books came, I was surprised to find the whole package weighed as if only one book. Inside, this book was any heavy. This is small in every aspect. In tiny and only 54 pages thick.

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre

Foreword:

Another book of Srinivas's - the other blogger of the blog - taste.

Though I am the one who reads varied range of books and genre, Srinivas is the one who reads more serious stuff. Our tastes rarely overlap, so that is one reason we don't many books in common that we have read. However, a spade is a spade, so some books unmistakably win both of us - for instance, take Fahrenheit 451.

I didn't start reading this book on his recommendation. He rated this book five-stars and I was not surprised. If the book is famous I could predict he would like it. But on GoodReads, this book seems to be the most read book under Philosophy.

Firstly, let me make it clear that I am no philosophical person. Yeah, I like some well grammared quotes by some philosophers, but that was that. My territory in philosophy is very limited and constrained.

And with this book, I think it would take ages for me to regain courage to try and explore the genre again...

The Prophecy of Trivine by Tnahsin Garg, Srivatsan Sridharan, Pulkit Gupta

Foreword:

One of the authors, Tnahsin, have contacted us to review the book.

This is first time a book by three authors are sent to us for reviewing - and I've ever read. Of course, there were anthologies but dozens of authors. But a single story by a triplet is a first I have come across.

Why am I stressing so much on that aspect of the book - the three authors? Well, it is a feat to write a book with three active brains, which in almost every instance have colliding thoughts and the result would be nothing better than a probably debate.

That is why I think it is quite a feat to write a book and publish it in the first place. And to top it all, it being good.

Actually, there are very few Indian authors who write Sci-Fi. Also, Fantasy and this book turned out to be both. Being the one who is always out on the lookout for new experiences, I was game for this book. I started reading this book pretty hesitantly, not knowing what to expect from it...