The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth: Review

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I guess I am a little late in reading the series (though the 3rd and final book came out only recently), but yes, after kind of enjoying the dystopian world, I did get to read the much talked about and much hyped dystopian series Divergent.

Written by author Veronica Roth, the series is a trilogy and features 3 books - Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

The entire book tube community has been raving about this book (in case you don't know, book tube is the hugely strong book network on the video sharing community YouTube...they are a category in themselves!). I heard about this book from almost ALL booktubers whose channels I am subscribed to. The book is a YA and is set in a dystopian world. If you have read The Hunger Games, then the plot line of the book is loosely similar, but that is where the comparisons end. For one, this book is no where as gross or violent as The Hunger Games series. Of course it has the survival issues at play.

*I am reviewing the entire series here book by book and will not share separate reviews

Since there is much chance of spoilers if I discuss too much about the storyline, I won't be doing it here, so if you want to know more about the story, you can check some other places online :-)

New Genres That Are Coming Up

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Of late I have been reading a lot of YA books. If you don't know what YA means, it is an abbreviation for the term Young Adult. This is a genre which is basically geared towards the college kids and well, youngsters who are now adults.

Earlier, I would always give these books a miss, as I felt being in my early 30s doesn't really make me 'young' enough to read YA any more. I was so wrong.

With some of the YA books that I read, I was absolutely hooked on. I gulped down the pages and waited excitedly for the next in the series. This is another typical YA book phenomenon, where books aren't just books, but are part of a 'series.' But no complaints. I absolutely loved them.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: First Page Mondays

THERE IS ONE mirror on my house It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.

 I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.

 When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can't say the same of myself.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth: Sneaky Peeky Sunday

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I just finished reading Divergent, the first book in the trilogy, and am now reading the second book that's Insurgent by Veronica Roth.

Here's the page I am on right now.....

'.......what they were planning - was he lying?

He must have been. I press the heel of my hand to my forehead. My brother chose faction over blood. There has to be a reason. She must have threatened him. Or coerced him in some way.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: On The Cover

 I just started reading the first book in the Divergent Trilogy by author Veronica Roth. The first book is called Divergent, and here's what's on the cover.

 SHE TURNS
TO FACE
THE FUTURE
IN A
WORLD
THAT'S
FALLING
APART

THREE
FLYING
BIRDS.....
ONE FOR EACH
MEMBER OF THE
FAMILY
I LEFT BEHIND.

The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna: Review

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*Bloomsbury India sent me a copy of The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna to read and write about.

The first thing that struck me about the book was the gorgeous cover. It is a beautifully illustrated cover, very old stylish and simplistic, yet artistic and just plain gorgeous! I loved the detailing and the mix of colours. Very pretty cover.

The details about the book:
Title: The Hired Man
Author: Aminatta Forna
No. of Pages: 304

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year Published: 2013

About the story:

The novel is set around the year 2007, with memories that take the reader back in time.

The Hired Man is essentially a story of memories, of new relationships being formed, and the aftermath of war on those who are left behind. The story is set in the quiet Croatian town of Gost, a beautiful place that is surrounded by nature. In this quiet town arrives a stranger with her two teenaged kids. Next to her home, lives a man with his two hunting dogs, who are all the company he needs.

Picture Stories: Books and Bookshelves

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Again....old leather bound books.....


- Debolina Raja Gupta

Crossword Book Gifts: Books I Received From CrossWord

The Crossword Book Awards 2013 was announced recently and there were some really great books that were battling it out for the title.

I browsed through the titles and there were some that I knew could absolutely not be missed out. So, when I told this to Crossword, they promptly sent me the books that I had top-listed :-)

The complimentary books I received from Crossword are:

A Life in Words by Ismat Chughtai (translated by M. Asaduddin) - I just finished reading this and the review is coming up soon

Harlequin India Passion 2013: Aspiring Authors Auditions 2013 On Till 25th Jan 2014

About Passion 2013:

So the most awaited writing audition is back! With 9 stories already published, Harlequin brings back Passion Aspiring Authors Audition Season 4, to give another chance to all those aspiring authors who couldn't make it earlier and want to give it a shot this time!

This year, the categories have been made open for the following genres:

1. Romance
2. General Fiction - which can include drama, thriller, comedy

The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna: On The Cover

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From the Orange Prize-shortlisted author of The Memory of Love

‘Forna is a writer of great talent’ Monica Ali

Gost is a small town surrounded by mountains and fields of wild flowers. The summer sun burns. The Croatian winter brings freezing winds. Beyond its boundaries an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life. One of the windows, glass darkened with dirt, today stands open, and the lively chatter of English voices carries across the fallow fields. Laura and her teenage children have arrived.

A short distance away lies the hut of Duro Kolak who lives alone with his two hunting dogs. As he helps Laura with repairs to the old house, they uncover a mosaic beneath ruined plaster and, in the rising heat of the summer, painstakingly restore it. But Gost is not all it seems, and in the silence something stirs: memories of conflicts long past stull suppurate beneath the scars.

 



- Debolina Raja Gupta

My Daughter and Her World of Books

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My 06-year old princess is forever reading (and I am sure the just-turned 05-month old is going to follow the 2 book worms in the family - obviously!) ;-)

While I am constantly wondering where I will stack up my books in the near future, I am crazily running out of space, and even after giving away more than 50% of my books recently (sad sad), I have some 300+ books that shall always remain, and add more to the family.

So, it's not a surprise that my elder one has a penchant for books. She has already finished reading various Enid Blyton series, the Amelia Janes, Horrid Henry's, Enid Blyton story book collections, Noddy was done ages ago, Roald Dahl she loves and so many more authors that she is regularly discovering and loving and adding to her collection.

I absolutely love this being a book lover myself. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Review

Since I am obsessed with reading book, of course there are tons of books I come across that make a special impact on me, and earn a special place in my heart forever. And because I am obsessed with books, I am also always on the lookout for some amazing book recommendations.

One book that I recently picked up based on a recommendation was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. And it is also the first book I finished reading in the year 2014.

The first thing I will say about this book is that it will leave a big impact on you. The book is categorised under the young-adult novel section and is a big book. It is nearly 600 pages long and is filled with layers and layers of thoughts, understanding, feelings and story-telling genius that will come undone depending at what age you are reading it. So if you are reading it in your late teens you may peel off some layers, while you will read through some more layers when you read it as a young adult or around your mid-20s. If you read it even later, as I did, you will really really enjoy the book in more dimensions than you could before. There is just so much to take in that I can’t say it’s fair to categorise this as a young adult novel. The ‘tag’ may put off some more mature readers, thinking it to be kiddish, but that is truly not so!

Picture Stories: Books and Bookshelves

 Old books.....I can never love them enough...

image courtesy Pinterest

- Debolina Raja Gupta

The First Book I Read in 2014: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

What a great way to begin reading in the year! The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is clearly one of the best books I've ever read. So brilliantly written, so thought provoking, heart wrenching and heart warming, and amazingly witty and sarcastic and witty - all at the same time....

I am so glad I decided to pick this one up....shall remain one of my top favourite books ever!

Do tell me which book you read the first this year :-)

- Debolina Raja Gupta