Pillow-Man: A Hero Awakens: Blake Hoena, Nate Burns, Andrew Kaiko - Book Review

 

                    November has been a prolonged month and I have been in a major reading slump. I wanted a slight distraction from serious reading which led me to read this book, that I had got for my daughter. Plus the name also made me pick this up. At times, when the reading reaches a bland point, it is always nice to kindle the young reader that was in you.

                    Sam DeVance is a part of the Emerson Eagles baseball team. One evening, after a friendly match with an opponent team. After the match, Sam sets out for his home on his bicycle. He takes a detour through the forest but ends up in a ditch. He was thrown off the road by the school bully. He encounters a stranger who grants him a single wish - conjuring pillows. A small mix-up leads him to come up with one of the strangest superpowers ever. He and his friend set out to test the same. Is this odd superpower really useful? Will he be able to put it to good use?

                    This was an interesting and quick read. The start was a little jittery but then once 5 pages down, the read was a breeze. It was the same with my daughter as well. The language is quite simple enough for kids and there is a subtle humour present throughout the book. The few main characters mentioned in the story did have a good character arc that can be developed in future stories. It was interesting to follow the bully character towards the end where he ends up in a similar spot as the hero. There could have been illustrations in the book which could have made the reading more fun for kids. This being the first book, there is not much of a superhero adventure; rather it is mostly about how the power was acquired and developed. I guess the upcoming books will be exciting and fun to read for the kids.

                        In short, this is a great and fun read for kids who like fantasy, quirkiness and superheroes. I hope the authors will be able to develop more parts of this budding superhero story. 

It was All A Dream 2: An Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right - Brandon Applegate: Book Review

 

                    I have always been fascinated by horror short stories and have wondered how the authors can conjure up fear in people's minds within a few pages, unlike full-length novels. Authors like Shirley Jackson and Stephen King have proved their mettle in both the forms - novels and short stories. I recently came across this book and felt that I needed to read it because of the different horror tropes I might get to check out.

                  This book is an anthology of horror short stories where different writers have worked on the numerous popular tropes that you would encounter in the horror genre. You may encounter a magical book where words can come alive, a serial killer who never dies, or travel outside to find birds who might strike you with lightning. There are clowns out there to get you but one of them has a different mission. Killers need not be well-built and come in ages. They might not go after people but make sure people fall for them like a flytrap. There are tropes of vampires, zombies, bloody mary, dreams, and epidemics but most of them with a twist of their own.

                    The read gave me mixed feelings. There were stories which I enjoyed very much but also stories which did not go well for me. The start was good with the first story setting in the right environment for a good read but then the couple of stories that followed did not work well with me. Four or five stories down the lane I started enjoying the stories with occasional ones that did not work for me. It was an undulating read which did seem to deter the flow. Since I have been going through a period of reading slump, this drastically hampered my reading experience. This does not mean that the writing was bad. It's just that I did not enjoy those stories. On the positive side, I got to read a whole variety of tropes within the genre. Most of the authors have given their own twists and tweakings to those tropes making the reading enjoyable. Some of the stories that I enjoyed were "We Are Words", "The Wind Through Chimneys", "Emily's Teeth", "Three Sisters Stars" and, "This is Your Wake-Up Call". There were these story notes at the end, where the writers give us a small insight into how they selected the particular trope and how they gave it a twist of their own. It was insightful to see how the thought process works. There were illustrations at the start of every story which I liked.

                In short, this anthology is a mixed bag of horror short stories and for me, it is a decent one-time read. People who love to explore various tropes in the genre can give this book a try. 

   

The Candid Odyssey: Exploring India and the Philosophy of Life - B. Johny - Book Review

 

                    Many people around the world love travelling. They do it to seek pleasure, adventure, learning, self-realization or just for the fun of it. I am not that much of a keen travel enthusiast. But, I do enjoy my solo trips or trips with very select people. While most people look for adventure and exploring nature, my travels are majorly restricted to visiting historical sites, walking down unknown roads and checking out libraries and bookshops. I chanced upon this book recently and decided to check what this was all about.

                  This book is a journal of Johny who went on an All-India solo trip for 8 weeks. He explores the landscapes and cultures traversing across different states in buses and trains staying in dormitaries and hostels. More than being a journal, he talks about self-discovery and life philosophies thereby exploring his inner self. 

                   First of all, do not expect a travelogue or travel guide while reading this book. This is more of a journal by the author about the experiences he had. I am not a big fan of books that are too preachy when it comes to philosophy. But in this book, the author does not delve into that. He talks about life lessons based on experiences in a crisp way rather than lingering around to elaborate on them. The messages provided were clear and concise and the book was written in an enjoyable way. The language is simple and the read was fairly quick. I liked the way the philosophies were incorporated in the chapters. The author mentions taking us along for the journey at the start and addresses the full book as "We". I found it very irksome. This was sort of weird and confusing which could have been avoided. Also, the book cover does not look that appealing. I am a big fan of interesting book covers and the plain cover was not enticing for me.

                    In short, this is a quick one-time read. Those interested in travelling and reading about travel experiences will enjoy this short and sweet travel journal. 

பந்தயப் பாவை - பட்டுக்கோட்டை பிரபாகர் - புத்தக விமர்சனம்

 

                    சென்னையில் வேலை பார்க்கிற காலத்தில் புறநகர் ரயில் பயணங்கள் வாழ்வின் ஒரு முக்கியமான பாகமாக இருந்தது. புத்தகங்களின் தோழமை என் பயணங்களை சிறப்பாக்கியது. ரயில் நிலைய புத்தகக் கடைகளிலிருந்து அதிகமாக வாங்கி படித்தது பட்டுக்கோட்டை பிரபாகரின் புத்தகங்கள் தான். இப்போது சில வருடங்கள் கழித்து மீண்டும் ஒரு பட்டுக்கோட்டை புத்தகம்.

                    இந்த புத்தகம் இரண்டு மர்ம கதைகள் கொண்டது. முதல் கதை ஒரு ஓட்ட பந்தய வீராங்கனையைச் சார்ந்தது. ஒரு பிரபலமான விளையாட்டுப் போட்டியில் கலந்து கொள்ள வாய்ப்பு கிடைக்கும் கிரிஜா, மேற்கொண்டு பயிற்சிகளில் ஈடுபடுகிறார். இந்த நிலையில் போட்டிகளிலிருந்து விலகச் சொல்லி மர்மமான எச்சரிக்கையும் கொலை மிரட்டலும் வர காவல்துறை மற்றும் பரத்-சுசீலா-வின் உதவியை நாட, மேற்கொண்டு என்ன நடக்கிறது என்பது 'பந்தய பாவை'. பெங்களூரூவில் உலா தனது நண்பனின் வீட்டில் ரகசிய ஆராய்ச்சி மேற்கொள்ளும் தீபக் வெண்குஷ்டத்துக்கு மருந்து கண்டு பிடித்திருக்கிறார். அதை அரசாங்கத்திடம் ஒப்படைக்க தீபக் முடிவு செய்ய, நண்பன் கௌதம் அதைக் கைப்பற்ற அவனைக் கொல்ல நினைக்கிறார். இதை அறிந்த தீபக் பார்முலாவோட சென்னை தப்பிச் செல்ல அங்குக் கொலை செய்யப்படுகிறான். பார்முலாவை தேட கௌதம் ஒரு பக்கத்தில் முயற்சி எடுக்க தீபக்கின் காதலி வினிதா பரத்தின் உதவி நாடுகிறார். யார் கையில் அந்த பார்முலா அகப்படும், தீபக் யாரால் கொல்லப்பட்டார் என்று அறிவதே 'உன் கதை முற்றம்'.

                    இரண்டுமே பரத்-சுசீலா கதைகள் தான். இரண்டுமே விறுவிறுப்பான கதைக்களம் கொண்டது. முதல் கதையிலோ பக்கத்துக்குப் பக்கம் பரபரப்பு என்பது போல் பரத்துக்குப் போட்டியாகத் தனது தந்திரங்களை வகுக்கும் அந்த மர்ம ஆசாமி வேகமான பரபரப்பான வாசிப்பு அனுபவத்தைத் தருகிறார். எதிர் பாராத திருப்பு முனைகள் கொண்டது முதல் கதை. இரண்டாவது கதையில் கொலைகாரனை ஏவிவிட்டது யார் என்று தெரிந்தும் எப்படிக் கதை நகரும் என்று நினைத்தேன். என்றாலும் மிக மிகச் சுவாரஸ்யமாக எழுத்தாளர் கதையைக் கொண்டுசெல்கிறார். கதைக்குத் தேவையான பாத்திரங்கள் மட்டும் கொண்டது தான் இந்த இரண்டு கதைகளும். அதிலும் இரண்டிலுமே பரத்துக்குச் சரியான சவாலாக அமையும் பாத்திரங்களைத் துல்லியமாக எழுதியுள்ளார் பட்டுக்கோட்டை  பிரபாகர்.சில இடங்களில் லாஜிக் அடிபட்டாலும் தங்குதடையின்றி அமையும் வாசிப்பு அந்த தப்பை மறக்க வைக்கிறது. பரத்தின் இரட்டை அர்த்த நகைச்சுவைகள் தவிர்த்திருக்கலாம். சற்று முகம் சுளிக்க வைக்கிறது.

                    மொத்தத்தில், ஒரு வாட்டி வாசிக்கத் தகுந்த ஒன்று இந்த புத்தகம். விறுவிறுப்பான வேகமான வாசிப்பை எதிர்பார்ப்பார் கண்டிப்பாக வாசிக்கலாம்.

The Last Word - Taylor Adams - Book Review

 

                    When I browse unknown books and authors at the library or book fairs, I look for interesting covers with the one-liners on them When I am impressed by a cover, it feels like the book has chosen me. And believe me, most of the ones selected through book covers worked well for me. This was one such book that gave me the same vibe during my recent visit to the library. A simple book cover but I was genuinely interested enough to choose the one for reading. Plus I was smitten by the blurb as well.

                    Emma Carpenter is house-sitting in one of the private beachfront houses along the Strand Beach area with her dog, Laika. The only other contacts are the house owner Jules via phone and her neighbour Deek living half a mile away through telescopes in their houses. Emma has isolated herself due to something bad that happened in her life. She spends her days binge-reading on ebooks from Kindle Unlimited. One day, Deek recommends a book that she dislikes so much that she gives a one-star review on Amazon. Soon, the author contacts her over mail to take down the review which she does not. He warns her that this is not the end and soon after she starts realizing that someone is stalking the house. Does she survive? Is it the deranged writer or is it another of the serial killers targeting people in near-isolated areas? forms the remaining plot. 

                    To start with, a highly engaging read. A great and interesting premise. I have always considered the scenario in this novel each time I write a book review.  The novel gives us the vibe of a home invasion movie. I liked the way the author succeeds in getting us invested in the story. The writer has done a good job of maintaining the tempo of the story as well. Things are happening every few pages. Just when we think that the story is going to end or proceed one way, it goes the other way completely taking us by surprise. In some books, we get a feeling that things are happening in a forced way. The narration does feel like that towards the end but the way it is written does not give us time to mull over it. That's what made the read exciting enough for me. The language and style are simple enough to keep us reading. The few characters were nicely written and their emotions were well etched and the author succeeds in passing them over to the readers. Being a work of fiction, there are logical lapses that can be overlooked. Like I said earlier, there are moments where we feel that the story is getting dragged voluntarily. Even though we may overlook that in the flow of the story, the thought lingers once we complete the book.

                    In short, a very engaging book that keeps us rooted till the end. The book promises an exciting read that we can binge upon. I would like to see this being adapted into a movie in the future.