Sunday, 11 December 2016
Kalamos Literary Services - Mega Giveaway
Hello everyone,
Kalamos Literary Services is proud to announce its first ever Mega Giveaway.
We invite all book lovers out there to participate in this giveaway and make this event a success.
Rules:
1. The participant must be a resident of India.
2. The participant must have an Amazon account.
3. The participant can enter in maximum of 3 books giveaway, not more than that.
4. The participant will have to comment in the comment box of�Colors of Life blog. In the comment plz mention name and author od the book, and note that includes your views and expectaions from the book.
5. Multiple entries are not allowed.
6. The winners will be selected by the authors themselves.
Below are the books you can win-
Saturday, 10 December 2016
Book Review : The American Indian Dream by Pranay Sahu
Book- The American Indian Dream
Author- Pranay Sahu
Genre- Fiction
Publisher- Half Baked Beans
Blurb-
His life was his dream. From being a Wall Street Investment Banker to being a jobless put under spiritual arrest, to being hopelessly in love with a hippie ten years elder to becoming an entrepreneur , he lived his dreams throughout his life. Cut to 2012, destiny's favourite child is now controversy's favourite child. Come success, come controversy. Controversies are inevitable, one's reaction to them, is optional. Roshan should not have reacted. Four years since he lost his job, Roshan is now battling his life after multiple gun shots; defending his actions before a spiritual guru whom he does not like at all. But life is not always your choice. The difference between dreaming and making dreams come true is what life is all about.
Review-
Pranay Sahu’s book is different but not completely different. The book starts at a very great turn; someone’s life is completely shattered. The American Indian dream is a really nice take on the youth of India who are running here and there to find stability in their career.
The nice thing about the book is that it is divided year wise and thus there are no confusions at any point of time. The author divided every incident nicely and kept the leap intact with proper tags, making it easy to keep the track.
Book starting with problems become instantly hit. The whole episode of Roshan’s return and his further take on life is hilarious. It shows the perfect state of an adult who doesn’t have plans for unnecessary and unplanned changes in his/her life. What is more hilarious is a family who have different prospective towards these changes.
Indian families are weird and supportive, a deadly combo, and it was shown fully in the former part of the book.
The twist in the tale comes with Eternal Bliss. It was a perfect wrap up to the moving story. But what made this part equally graceful is the fact that the characters didn’t budge from what was expected them to do. We are shown what was shown from the start. Believers remained believers and vice-versa.
I was finding the after effects of the camp really suffocating because everything happened in a jiffy and things touch the sky in the blink of an eye. For me it was like a little away from reality and grounds, though I am not denying the existence of such stories. But it was not for this book from my point of view.
Summing up- The book has some great potential due to a well crafted downfall, some great incidents and bunch of people who meet suddenly to form a new life. The writing style was simple; vocabulary was not under or over the line. It was a good book.
Eye-catchers-
• “...one can be as open minded as the number of windows one lets open for her mind.”
• “...attention seeking is the beginning of the end of a relationship.”
• “...the worst, the most useless thing to do during bad times is to do nothing.”
Recommendation-
This book has different elements, like friendship, success, love, spirituality and the real face of life. I recommend this for light reading and some great one-liners.
About the author-
Pranay Sahu is the classic case of an engineer turned MBA turned banker turned novelist. He is also an avid marathon runner, a stand up-comedian and a lonely traveller. Having lived in places like Kota, Bhopal, Indore, and Bangalore, Pranay now lives in Vadodara and divides his time between three cities, other two being Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Connect with the author-
• www.facebook.com/sahunomics
• sahupranay@gmail.com
Buy the book-
• Amazon Link-
http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9384315397/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481393241&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=the+american+indian+dream
Author- Pranay Sahu
Genre- Fiction
Publisher- Half Baked Beans
Blurb-
His life was his dream. From being a Wall Street Investment Banker to being a jobless put under spiritual arrest, to being hopelessly in love with a hippie ten years elder to becoming an entrepreneur , he lived his dreams throughout his life. Cut to 2012, destiny's favourite child is now controversy's favourite child. Come success, come controversy. Controversies are inevitable, one's reaction to them, is optional. Roshan should not have reacted. Four years since he lost his job, Roshan is now battling his life after multiple gun shots; defending his actions before a spiritual guru whom he does not like at all. But life is not always your choice. The difference between dreaming and making dreams come true is what life is all about.
Review-
Pranay Sahu’s book is different but not completely different. The book starts at a very great turn; someone’s life is completely shattered. The American Indian dream is a really nice take on the youth of India who are running here and there to find stability in their career.
The nice thing about the book is that it is divided year wise and thus there are no confusions at any point of time. The author divided every incident nicely and kept the leap intact with proper tags, making it easy to keep the track.
Book starting with problems become instantly hit. The whole episode of Roshan’s return and his further take on life is hilarious. It shows the perfect state of an adult who doesn’t have plans for unnecessary and unplanned changes in his/her life. What is more hilarious is a family who have different prospective towards these changes.
Indian families are weird and supportive, a deadly combo, and it was shown fully in the former part of the book.
The twist in the tale comes with Eternal Bliss. It was a perfect wrap up to the moving story. But what made this part equally graceful is the fact that the characters didn’t budge from what was expected them to do. We are shown what was shown from the start. Believers remained believers and vice-versa.
I was finding the after effects of the camp really suffocating because everything happened in a jiffy and things touch the sky in the blink of an eye. For me it was like a little away from reality and grounds, though I am not denying the existence of such stories. But it was not for this book from my point of view.
Summing up- The book has some great potential due to a well crafted downfall, some great incidents and bunch of people who meet suddenly to form a new life. The writing style was simple; vocabulary was not under or over the line. It was a good book.
Eye-catchers-
• “...one can be as open minded as the number of windows one lets open for her mind.”
• “...attention seeking is the beginning of the end of a relationship.”
• “...the worst, the most useless thing to do during bad times is to do nothing.”
Recommendation-
This book has different elements, like friendship, success, love, spirituality and the real face of life. I recommend this for light reading and some great one-liners.
About the author-
Pranay Sahu is the classic case of an engineer turned MBA turned banker turned novelist. He is also an avid marathon runner, a stand up-comedian and a lonely traveller. Having lived in places like Kota, Bhopal, Indore, and Bangalore, Pranay now lives in Vadodara and divides his time between three cities, other two being Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Connect with the author-
• www.facebook.com/sahunomics
• sahupranay@gmail.com
Buy the book-
• Amazon Link-
http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9384315397/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481393241&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=the+american+indian+dream
Book Review : Colorful Notions - The Roadtrippers 1.0 by Mohit Goyal
Book: Colorful Notions- The Roadtrippers 1.0
Author: Mohit Goyal
Genre- Fiction
Publisher- Srishti Publishers
Pages- 194
Price- 175
Blurb-
Abhay is all set to start an adventure but before any other planning he need some partners for company. They finalise 25 exotic places around the country and decide to shoot a documentary.
Sasha is a foodie and Unnati is an Assistant RJ, the catch is they are in love.
What happens when the trio experience some spooky things and some thrilling threats? Will there be any problems due to the love birds in the movie making? How the end would look like?
Title and Cover-
I loved the cover. It tells the tale in a very nice way and same I can say about the title. Though the tale is slightly in contrast with the expected story but still the first impression is not at all bleak.
Review-
The book is basically a travelogue summed up with different emotions to make it more readable and also accessible in some terms. Author followed first person narration which I thought was limiting the whole experience to some extent. I was able to connect with only character largely due to this choice which the author made.
The concept of the book was amazing and I was high after reading the list of places where the trio was about to travel. Author did quite good homework in picking the most amazing sites which speak about India. I fell in love with the concept instantly.
Complete tale was weaved nicely around Ab, Sasha and Unnati, the roles assigned to them were crisp and the background which all three of them left behind were showing the face of India and the perks of living there.
What was highly disappointing was the fact that the author was more concerned about telling the readers about the outside story that happened while travelling. He was not much interested in telling about what happened when they actually saw the place at large. He was in hurry all the time to wrap things up and move to the next place.
The connectivity maintained to keep the flow of a fiction novel was nicely done but what was expected from the cover, title and the blurb of the book couldn’t be delivered by the author.
There was a lot of scope for the author in terms of introducing interesting characters, their stories and other stuff. Author managed to do that at some places, like in Hyderabad, in terms of Sandeep or the Lama and his great advice to the people. But that essence was not filled at every point of the journey.
I liked the part of Alwar, Sundarban and Gaya. They held the story to a really high extent because they had a variety of incidents and a lot to show. I didn’t like the part where Ab was experiencing weird emotions; also the book was losing its glow when the love story started ruling the pages.
Summing up- The book was a great attempt by author in terms of the content and concept. Every page had a different scent of India and the efforts done in order to compile this book are really commendable. But there was a wide gap in terms of great imageries which were missing and could have been totally added up without much efforts and a little research. But it was a nice break from normal love stories.
Eye-Catchers-
• “I wish I had a way to capture memories, emotions and feelings- only to replay them and feel them all over again.”
• “Nobody can go back and make a new beginning, but anyone can start now and make a new ending.”
• “That’s what life is all about. You may hate it one moment, but later on, that very moment may become your most cherished memory.”
Recommendation-
I completed the book in two days, so I can recommend this book to those who want a quick read, or want to know about different parts of India briefly but yes don’t expect a lot of information; it is basically a fictional tale.
Connect with the author-
• www.theroadtrippers.in
Buy the book-
• Amazon link-
http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9382665803/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481369506&sr=8-1π=SY200_QL40&keywords=colorful+notions+the+roadtrippers+1.0&dpPl=1&dpID=51ungQjA14L&ref=plSrch
Author: Mohit Goyal
Genre- Fiction
Publisher- Srishti Publishers
Pages- 194
Price- 175
Blurb-
Abhay is all set to start an adventure but before any other planning he need some partners for company. They finalise 25 exotic places around the country and decide to shoot a documentary.
Sasha is a foodie and Unnati is an Assistant RJ, the catch is they are in love.
What happens when the trio experience some spooky things and some thrilling threats? Will there be any problems due to the love birds in the movie making? How the end would look like?
Title and Cover-
I loved the cover. It tells the tale in a very nice way and same I can say about the title. Though the tale is slightly in contrast with the expected story but still the first impression is not at all bleak.
Review-
The book is basically a travelogue summed up with different emotions to make it more readable and also accessible in some terms. Author followed first person narration which I thought was limiting the whole experience to some extent. I was able to connect with only character largely due to this choice which the author made.
The concept of the book was amazing and I was high after reading the list of places where the trio was about to travel. Author did quite good homework in picking the most amazing sites which speak about India. I fell in love with the concept instantly.
Complete tale was weaved nicely around Ab, Sasha and Unnati, the roles assigned to them were crisp and the background which all three of them left behind were showing the face of India and the perks of living there.
What was highly disappointing was the fact that the author was more concerned about telling the readers about the outside story that happened while travelling. He was not much interested in telling about what happened when they actually saw the place at large. He was in hurry all the time to wrap things up and move to the next place.
The connectivity maintained to keep the flow of a fiction novel was nicely done but what was expected from the cover, title and the blurb of the book couldn’t be delivered by the author.
There was a lot of scope for the author in terms of introducing interesting characters, their stories and other stuff. Author managed to do that at some places, like in Hyderabad, in terms of Sandeep or the Lama and his great advice to the people. But that essence was not filled at every point of the journey.
I liked the part of Alwar, Sundarban and Gaya. They held the story to a really high extent because they had a variety of incidents and a lot to show. I didn’t like the part where Ab was experiencing weird emotions; also the book was losing its glow when the love story started ruling the pages.
Summing up- The book was a great attempt by author in terms of the content and concept. Every page had a different scent of India and the efforts done in order to compile this book are really commendable. But there was a wide gap in terms of great imageries which were missing and could have been totally added up without much efforts and a little research. But it was a nice break from normal love stories.
Eye-Catchers-
• “I wish I had a way to capture memories, emotions and feelings- only to replay them and feel them all over again.”
• “Nobody can go back and make a new beginning, but anyone can start now and make a new ending.”
• “That’s what life is all about. You may hate it one moment, but later on, that very moment may become your most cherished memory.”
Recommendation-
I completed the book in two days, so I can recommend this book to those who want a quick read, or want to know about different parts of India briefly but yes don’t expect a lot of information; it is basically a fictional tale.
Connect with the author-
• www.theroadtrippers.in
Buy the book-
• Amazon link-
http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9382665803/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481369506&sr=8-1π=SY200_QL40&keywords=colorful+notions+the+roadtrippers+1.0&dpPl=1&dpID=51ungQjA14L&ref=plSrch
Book Review : With You I Dance by Aarti V Raman
Book- With You I Dance
Author- Aarti V. Raman
Genre- Fiction (Romance)
Publisher- Fingerprint Publishing
Blurb-
Meera has left New York, her dancing and all the dreams behind because of some vicious incidents in her life. She has left so much that the emptiness crawls all over.
Abeer and Zoya try everything that is possible for them and tries to hold Meera in the toughest times of her life.
Will Meera live up to the expectations of herself and others? What will the Ballerina do to live her life again to the fullest?
Title and Cover-
The cover of the book is as radiant as the book itself. The elements added to narrate the story of the book in the cover itself is done remarkably. Also the fluidity maintained in the word “Dance” is really impressive, well thought of. With pleasant colours and great central images, the cover is a sure win-win.
And as far as the title is concerned, I don’t think that could have been the only option.
So, I liked the cover more I guess.
Characters-
Well well, the characters were limited but strong and that is really a plus point. I don’t want a book that is over-crowded and I forget about the characters with every change of phase in the story. With you I dance had mainly four to five characters which kept coming again and again.
I liked Meera but not too much. There were incidents in the story that told me that Meera’s traits were really conflicting and it is not at all good. I also didn’t like Abeer that much. But I loved Zoya and Bullet. They were really straight and rational from the very start. I simply loved them.
Review-
With You I Dance is a book that starts at the end. It was fascinating to take a glimpse at the life of a young girl who has ended a phase in her life and has stepped in the second one. The book is full of twists, turns and revelations. And what makes this book a little different is the essence of purity.
The book starts with grief and a great remark is left in the heart. It doesn’t take a lot of time to connect with the lead Meera whose life the author has shown at large. Meera’s character was elaborated a lot and thus I was not able to decide whether I should like her or not. Yes, I had confusion.
Meera is a strong woman, with everything in her life that she desired but the fate is not always in your court. A strong, independent girl suddenly becomes fearful of her dreams. The phase of transition from everything to nothing in hand is shown very nicely by Aarti. She has closely observed her character and perfection can be seen easily.
What fails to impress me is the extra sweetness of the characters. Let us see the male lead Abeer, he was the one on the lower end of the balancing equipment. I didn’t like the way he handled the situations. I found him extra participative. I would have loved to see Meera emerge out fully, as a folk who chased her dreams like anything.
Also when we talk about Abeer he was extra submissive too. It was nothing different from every love story that we see.
What was freshening up the tale was the mental state of Meera. It was worth noting. It was relatable to be frank. The madness, the freakiness and the never ending grief was on every page and in all the actions. The book became great from good because of great writing skills and very fluidic vocabulary. There were limited conversations and the narration was so peerless that nothing seemed to be missing.
Summing up- With you I dance is a well crafted book with equal amounts of everything, placed in right nooks and corners, for entertaining the readers. It was a simple, neat and very precise tale containing limited proportions of varied emotions.
Eye-catchers-
• “...her face squealed into his chest as if she wanted to find a way to crawl inside his skin and live there.”
Recommendation-
I can definitely recommend this sweet and simple tale to any reader who is into romantic reading. The book is short and will be entertaining without any doubts.
About the author-
Aarti graduated from Mumbai University, with a degree in Mass media focussed on journalism which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. She then went on to study Creative and professional writing at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Her first novel is “White Knight” published in 2012 and second novel “Kingdom Come” published in 2014.
Connect with the author-
• Twitter- @RT_writes
• kingdomcomethebook@gmail.com
• Facebook- Aarti V Raman-Author
Buy the book-
• Amazon Link- http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/8175993529/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481366703&sr=8-1π=AC_SX118_SY170_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=with+you+i+dance
Author- Aarti V. Raman
Genre- Fiction (Romance)
Publisher- Fingerprint Publishing
Blurb-
Meera has left New York, her dancing and all the dreams behind because of some vicious incidents in her life. She has left so much that the emptiness crawls all over.
Abeer and Zoya try everything that is possible for them and tries to hold Meera in the toughest times of her life.
Will Meera live up to the expectations of herself and others? What will the Ballerina do to live her life again to the fullest?
Title and Cover-
The cover of the book is as radiant as the book itself. The elements added to narrate the story of the book in the cover itself is done remarkably. Also the fluidity maintained in the word “Dance” is really impressive, well thought of. With pleasant colours and great central images, the cover is a sure win-win.
And as far as the title is concerned, I don’t think that could have been the only option.
So, I liked the cover more I guess.
Characters-
Well well, the characters were limited but strong and that is really a plus point. I don’t want a book that is over-crowded and I forget about the characters with every change of phase in the story. With you I dance had mainly four to five characters which kept coming again and again.
I liked Meera but not too much. There were incidents in the story that told me that Meera’s traits were really conflicting and it is not at all good. I also didn’t like Abeer that much. But I loved Zoya and Bullet. They were really straight and rational from the very start. I simply loved them.
Review-
With You I Dance is a book that starts at the end. It was fascinating to take a glimpse at the life of a young girl who has ended a phase in her life and has stepped in the second one. The book is full of twists, turns and revelations. And what makes this book a little different is the essence of purity.
The book starts with grief and a great remark is left in the heart. It doesn’t take a lot of time to connect with the lead Meera whose life the author has shown at large. Meera’s character was elaborated a lot and thus I was not able to decide whether I should like her or not. Yes, I had confusion.
Meera is a strong woman, with everything in her life that she desired but the fate is not always in your court. A strong, independent girl suddenly becomes fearful of her dreams. The phase of transition from everything to nothing in hand is shown very nicely by Aarti. She has closely observed her character and perfection can be seen easily.
What fails to impress me is the extra sweetness of the characters. Let us see the male lead Abeer, he was the one on the lower end of the balancing equipment. I didn’t like the way he handled the situations. I found him extra participative. I would have loved to see Meera emerge out fully, as a folk who chased her dreams like anything.
Also when we talk about Abeer he was extra submissive too. It was nothing different from every love story that we see.
What was freshening up the tale was the mental state of Meera. It was worth noting. It was relatable to be frank. The madness, the freakiness and the never ending grief was on every page and in all the actions. The book became great from good because of great writing skills and very fluidic vocabulary. There were limited conversations and the narration was so peerless that nothing seemed to be missing.
Summing up- With you I dance is a well crafted book with equal amounts of everything, placed in right nooks and corners, for entertaining the readers. It was a simple, neat and very precise tale containing limited proportions of varied emotions.
Eye-catchers-
• “...her face squealed into his chest as if she wanted to find a way to crawl inside his skin and live there.”
Recommendation-
I can definitely recommend this sweet and simple tale to any reader who is into romantic reading. The book is short and will be entertaining without any doubts.
About the author-
Aarti graduated from Mumbai University, with a degree in Mass media focussed on journalism which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. She then went on to study Creative and professional writing at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Her first novel is “White Knight” published in 2012 and second novel “Kingdom Come” published in 2014.
Connect with the author-
• Twitter- @RT_writes
• kingdomcomethebook@gmail.com
• Facebook- Aarti V Raman-Author
Buy the book-
• Amazon Link- http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/8175993529/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481366703&sr=8-1π=AC_SX118_SY170_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=with+you+i+dance
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