The Speaking Stone

Book name:- The Speaking Stone
Author:- Ratnadip Acharya


As the name suggests "The Speaking Stone" , it speaks and unfolds an untold history preserved in the hills of Tripura. The story starts with Saikat's (who lives in Mumbai) sudden encounter with a piece of mysterious stone . The crave for knowing more about the stone led Saikat to Tripura where he met Suvashini(from Kolkata) who too had visited Tripura to research about the history of Tripura . Both of their interest in the untold history of Tripura led them work together for discovering the thrilling history behind the mysterious stone.  In this book the author put two stories parallelly , one the discovery of history behind the stone by Saikat and Suvashini and other one back to 19th century to the Manikya dynasty in Tripura. 


I enjoyed the suspense in the book which made me glued to it till I reach the ending. The epilogue of this books seems that  an another  sequel to this book might be on its way . The writting style was appealing. Not many books are written depicting the history of Tripura (though fictional). As being a Northeastern I enjoy when any book is written highlighting the facts or places about Northeast India . I think this is the first full length national book that is based on a state in northeast . The author himself  hails from Tripura . So I  guess  he gave his full heart while writing  about his native place . This book will definitely be one of my favourites of 2019 . 

The Caged Tigress

Book name:- The Caged Tigress 
Author:- Dr. Arundhati Hinge
#Rate :- 4/5
Getting married,  having a caring husband and understanding in-laws is every girls dream . But not all dreams and wishes are meant to be true . Some dreams shattered to the extent of showing us the cruelty of human mindset .

Here is a story written by author Dr. Arundhati about two strong women ,whose life was eventually changed after marriage.  The author narrates two stories side by side. One about Rani Laxmibai and other one about a girl name Aaadya .

1) Rani Laxmibai (before marriage Manikarnika) was an exceptionally strong , fearless and daring women from her childhood.  She never accepted society set barriers for women.  She was independent in her thoughts and as follows her fight against Britishers . She vowed to protect her motherland and give it its  independence . But life always doesn't remain the same . It changes with time. As it was with Laxmi bai (Manikarnika). Laxmibai's  life started to change after marriage . But her love for her motherland doesn't cage her there within the palace walls . She made herself free from those barriers and made herself an inspiration to thousands of women's.
2) The second story that follows is about Aaadya . She is a dentist and lone daughter to her parents  . As every parents dream , Aaadya's  parents too dreamt about her daughter's wedding.  Aaadya who found her happiness in her parents satisfaction so she  agreed to the marriage proposal put  by her parents .  As the story continues Aaadya feel in love with her to-be-husband , who also seems to be very loving and caring.  But after marriage her life completely turned upside down . The person whom she married is now a different person.  Every day she have to face emotional assault from her in-laws and husband.  At last she decided to divorce her husband,  which many Indian women do not opt in fear of society.  Now the battle starts for Aaadya when she has to convince her parents for her step . How Aaadya manages to remain strong and fight back all her hurdles ? The answer to this is in the next book that will be the sequel of The Caged Tigress.

The author through her book tries to highlight the emotional and mental abuse faced  by  bunch of women's across the globe.  Many fear to come forward  and take a stand because  they fear the slamming by society .But there are also such women's  who fearlessly stood against  the society  and wrote their  brave stories .

The writing style of this book is very very simple. If you want to read a story of inspiration yet in a simple way , this book will be able to match  your taste.

Dreams don't die...Do They

Book name:- Dreams don't die...Do They
Author:-  R Sivaraman

Rajan a simple boy who came to from Andaman to Bhopal for higher studies faces strange situations on his freshers day . But this strange incident in his life gifted him his love of his life , Naina . Naina an ordinary girl from Bhopal meets Rajan on her very first day of college and this leads to the start of their interesting story .  With growing time Naina and Rajan became best friends and at the same time  unconsciously in love with each other .The college campus at the starting was a boon for them . Naina , Rajan and their peer group had made many beautiful memories .  They participated in different competitions and registered prizes in their name.  But destiny had planned something different for them . An incident that took place completely changed the relation between  Naina and Rajan .  Two best friends have become  strangers now.  Their life took two different paths . Both away from each other physically but mentally none could forget each other.  
Years after destiny bought them together in three different situations . Their first encounter was in airport,  second in Mumbai terror attack and third Naina's deliberate will to meet Rajan .
As both faces their own tragedies and struggles of their own , will  their feelings for each other still survive.  Or will their dreams to be with each other die with the  passage of time ..

The book overall was very emotional.  It keeps the readers emotionally attached to the book from starting to ending . While I was  going through the prologue  unknowingly tears dripped from my eyes ,especially  at the last paragraph of the prologue. Not only the prologue but this whole  story  of  Naian and  Rajan will for sure melt  your heart . And also the ending, ..it was so beautiful I just can't stop myself from re-reading it again and again.  Overall  I absolutely enjoyed reading this awesome book . 

The author of the book R Sivaraman is a retired army officer.  In his twenty years of professional career,  he has served across the length and  breadth of India.  The experience of seeing various facets of the country through close quaters is reflected in his writings.  This is his maiden attempt at writing a full fledged fictional novel.  

Rate :- 5/5

Circus Folks & Village Freaks

Book name:- Circus Folks & Village Freaks 
Author:- Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal


*Poetry is my favourite genre.  Reading good poems is like a  meditation for me . Circus Folks & Village Freaks  is among those most interesting poetry book i have ever read . While I was reading the book I couldn't stop myself from grinning and smiling. 
* This book contains 18 poems . Each poems in this book is a story told in a poetic manner.  Every poems in this book have surprising twist in it . The  author of the book left a message for her audience in its each poems . For example , there's  a poem name "Jeeva , The Elephant Man" (Poem 14) , that talks about the power of loving yourself.  Jeeva was laughed and mocked by the people because of his strange appearance but Jeeva when realised his unique body featues of looking like an Elephant Man he instead of getting sad started to love himself. After that even if someone mocked or laughed at him , he never cared because Jeeva started to love and appreciate himself. There are other such interesting poems which have interesting and twisted tales within it . 
*The most beautiful and enjoyable part was that all the poems are written in perfect rhyme . While going through each poem their was a constant smile on my face , even though some poems were sad but the writting style makes you feel complete the opposite.  
* The author of  the  book  Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal is a recipient of the 14th  Beullah Rose Poetry Prize by Smartish Pace . She was shortlisted for the Third Coast Fiction Prize,  2018 . She is featured on the Masthead of the Songs of  Eretz Poetry Review as a Frequent Contributor.  A popular Spoken Word Poet , she performs at events across venues in India.  
* Overall the book awesome in my opinion.  If have to rate it , I will give it  5/5 stars . 

Legend Of Laxmi Prasad

Book name:-  Legend Of Laxmi Prasad
Author :- Twinkle Khanna 


"Women have been looking for a cape and have been handed an apron for centuries.
But here was a man who wanted to help women swing their apron around, let it flutter down their backs and watch them soar through the clear blue skies" -  Legend of Lakshmi Prasad .. **
This book  consists of four short stories basically  based on feminism ; there are stories in this book  that will inspires you ; stories that will ask you to look at the society in a different perspective & stories that will not  limits anyone's outlook towards  the society . The  author has very beautifully portrayed  different  characters  of  human life  . Every story in this book has a lesson to teach us . 
Overall  the book was good and the written style was indeed better . 
Rate :- 4.5 /5 

A Stranger in the Mirror

Book name:- A Stranger In The Mirror .
Author:- Sidney Sheldon .
This book actually gave me goosebumps 😖 . It has mainly highlighted the dark side of the Hollywood and people associated  with the industry . It portraits the real lives of the renowned stars and what were the challenges they had to face in their journey to fame . The "so-called" overnight stars also have years of struggles which gets overshadowed by their success.  We all talk about how shinning and glamorous celebrities are but in reality how dark is their real world is . .
*
.Main Characters :- *
Toby Temple:- A superstar,  a comedian and an actor.  He gets any women he wants.  But underneath the callous super stud image is a lonely man , desperate for attention,  greedy for love . He absconded from his home at an young age to achieve the dream that his mother predicted for him . And after years of struggle and hard work he becomes the King  of Hollywood. . *
Jill Castle:- Beautiful,  sensuous starlet.  She has a dark and mysterious past and an ambition even greater then Toby's.  Her struggles to get at least an apperance in a movie was much more torturous . She had to face casting couch not once or twice but several times . Her tough situations made her even more and ambitious and rebellious. . *
Later Jill Castle became Jill Temple (married to Toby Temple) . Together they could have lived happily ever after . But when revenge and jealousy occupies your mind you forget everything that matters. *
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What happens after Jill marries Toby ? How does she become Mrs . Temple and became the queen of Hollywood? What is her mysterious past ? ............
To know the answer to this mysterious,  dark , sorrowful  novel by Sidney Sheldon  you have to go through this book 😌
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