The Paperback Badshah by Abhay Nagarajan

When you read, “The comical Journey”, you expect humor and objects to laugh, I was expecting moments of fun. The book did have some fun elements however not as much as I expected or anyone else would expect after reading the tagline on the book. Not talking in general, it didn’t work out very well for me as a reader. It may work for some, not making a generic comment here!

It was not a boring read; I was entertained at some parts. The book can be read to kill some leisure time.

A guy who is sick and tired of his job, he is from an upper middle class family and can afford to take a break to write his manuscript. The book written was “The Paperback Badshah”. People made fun of him, his friends laughed when they came to know that he is writing a love story as he had never been in love. And it finally happened!

One think I don’t like with some of the books is about authors mixing language, with this book I found usage of a lot of Hindi words. Either you write in Hindi or English or some other language, why to mix and make a mixed language soup which not everyone is able to digest?

I think the publisher was well aware in advance about the quality of content in this book and that is why they didn't invest much in designing the cover or in giving a better quality print.

I don’t want to be too harsh here however being a reviewer I have to be! The book was not a humor book for me as most of the jokes failed to make me laugh. Now days publishing business is getting a professional structure however with this book I don’t know why Shrishti wanted to take a chance. I don’t know if this is what the author can write as I have not read any of his other books however what went wrong with this book is beyond what I can think of. If it was just a marketing strategy, it failed!

The book lost track at so many places and lacked proper editing. To be honest, I kept the book down so many times and always picked it again with a hope of getting something in coming pages, disappointed.

I repeat it was not a boring read; I was entertained at some parts. The book can be read to kill some leisure time. And to add, to kill leisure time only!

Complete/Convenient by Ketan Bhagat

A famous writer’s younger sibling getting into the same profession, ‘nothing to be shocked about’, was my first expression. The famous author getting published by Rupa and the sibling from Shrisht …. I better stop here and speak about the book! (Is it not natural to think this way? It will happen for sure as people will compare in their sub conscious mind at least)

I read the book and I went slowly, I was delighted to see that Ketan did a good job indeed. The book has a plot, characters and narrative is also satisfying. Writing style is also good however lacked innovation, there are emotions, family drama, description etc. but still it went good. At times, going overboard with emotions grabs your head and you started to feel that the spice of emotional flavours are added considering Indian readers.

People might be entertained but at certain points I clear felt it was too much. Too much detailing at places and I think editors of the books were overruled with this aspect at least.

The title of the book didn't quite match with the story. The quality of the print was very nice however design of the cover is not attractive.

I liked the simple writing style; it is easy to connect with the plot. The story is good and looked like an autobiography however flows like a typical Karan Johar movie.

Author indeed left an impression and it will a good read for people who like emotions in detail. 

English Bites! by Manish Gupta

This book is not a novel and it was very clear when I held the complementary copy of the book in my hands for the first time.

This book is about Manish’s journey in mastering the English language. Readers should not take this book something to replace the requirement of the basics of English knowledge; you need to have Basic English knowledge to understand and making use of the tips shared in the book. I think it is the first book written where someone has shared his journey of understanding and mastering a language.

I don’t know how easy it was for the author to sell this idea to the publisher as looking at the way publishing industry is going, most of them are manipulated and governed by some of the so called editors who run the show with some agents. Whatever the case is, I am glad this book is published. It is worth a read!

The book is filled with details and appealing flow about topics and narrations and all are about improving the vocabulary. This is a very effective and non-traditional way to learn the language. Initially I found it boring and wasn't able to understand to what is happening but soon I started realizing that this book is written differently for people like me who can try to master the language and can also realize at the same time – there is more to learn every day.

The book covers topics, words and also tips/tricks to help us understand the words and their meanings. Go slow, is the mantra to read this book which I soon realized and with that started enjoying the read. The details given in the book are mind boggling and will help anyone for sure who are willing to give a conscious effort to improve their skills and get better in the language. What I really liked about the book is the way it progresses; the transition is smooth and makes it a pleasure to read this book.

The cover page of the book gives an insight of the book and it grabs immediate attention.

I would like to congratulate and thank the author for writing this book, an honest effort!