VOYAGES Volume I : A Collection of Poetry by Debjeet Mukherjee (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

I had never thought that my 50^th book of the year would be an e-book or a collection of poetries. And surprisingly, it was the combination of both written by Debjeet Mukherjee named “Voyages: Volume 1” with a tagline “A Collection of Poetry”. The cover page justifies the title of the book and looks excellent which makes you pick this book from your digital shelf out of all the books. This collection of poetry is of 91 pages with different poems which can be completed in a single sitting of 1 to 1.5 hours.

This book comprises of poet’s work from the year 2011 when he was just 14 years old to 2018 when he reached into his 21 years of age. The good thing is that author has started book from the poems he had written recently and ended up with what he wrote at the age of 14 and yet in my opinion, the quality of poems only kept getting better. The author talks about his emotions very vividly and beautifully in these small poems and ensure that you are able to live with them while reading the same. In such a small age, the way poet has been able to scribble such deep and emotional words is commendable.

The poet has touched the topics such as friendship, nature, experiences, drama of life, desires, lonely thoughts etc. One of the very different implementation by the poet is that after every poem, he has mentioned a quote which is in relation with the poem but in some cases, I liked the quote more than the respective poem. Overall, reading this book is like going on a voyage just like its title. I give this collection of poetry 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Fluid by Ashish Jaiswal (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

When I read about the book “Fluid” which has released in the Mid-October recently, I was very sceptic about what it is all about. The book has testimonials on its cover page from none other than personalities like Amish Tripathi and Sam Pitroda. The book is written by the author, Ashish Jaiswal, and now that I have completed reading the book, I can say that this is a very well researched and worked upon stuff. Author had certain perception in his mind about how people are blocked in thinking and doing stuffs related to their field and specialization only and they can perform brilliantly in other sectors too. Author has kept his agenda clear throughout the book to make his readers understand that despite what people tell you about what you are good in, you can always try in different areas and still excel in both the departments.

The book is very well-written in a simple English language whereas I had assumed that I will need dictionary in every paragraph judging the book from its cover page and title. This is the reason we are asked not to judge a book by its cover. The tag line of the book says, “Be more than what you are taught to be” and it clearly denotes this point in every chapter that it speaks with its audience. The book is divided in different sections such as Anti-fluid, the dangers of entering machine age with an Anti-fluid Mind. Specialization and the last section being, the bigger fluid questions. The title of the book was initially not clear to me about what it is about, but author has explained it well letting us know that it is kept so considering that our approach towards life should be fluid and we should not be adamant about sticking to one field and not exploring the other areas of this universe.

Author’s research and hard work behind this book is visible from the examples and case studies described under each section with perfect orientation of each of them. The examples based on the famous personalities are seriously a surprise for readers as we never knew about the other side of these legends and knowing about their extensive commitment and achievements even in those areas is an experience. Talking about the drawback of the book, there are various typos in the book. I observed that in whichever word, wherever “eh” and “ek” words came together, it got replaced with blank space. Also, I felt that the book is written in a very formal manner. It could have been little more interactive and fun. It also ends up explaining one concept for quite some time which becomes obvious and understandable in the mid-way and post that, it is just a drag to read and nothing else.

Otherwise, this is a book which speaks of this unique topic with great examples. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

F?@K Knows: Dead or Alive by Shailendra Singh (Book Review:- 4.75*/5) !!!

There are few books where the author chose to go the non-fiction way as they have many random things to talk about but they are unsure about how they are going to put all of them in the confinement of a book. Such books are like a personal diary stuff or a blog where the person talks about any random topic in each post but all of them contribute enough to make you know the person very well and also look at your life and think if whatever you have been doing till date is okay or do you need to make some steps to change yourself. It is very hard to make a reader think like this through a book which is written in such a manner that author is trying time and again that he is not a perfect person and should not be taken seriously. I have just ended up reading one of the best books I have ever read by Shailendra Singh named “F?@k Knows: Dead or Alive”.

This is the second book in the F?@k Knows series. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the first one but after reading this one, I am definitely going to have it soon to read it when I would be depressed sometime in future. After completing the book, I was confused as in which genre the book is in and I was confused between humor and self-help but betted on humor first but when I checked on the back-cover of the book, surprisingly, it is listed under self-help which I believe is correct. Because more than the laughs, giggles and smiles this book gives to the reader, it ensures that it gives lessons of life more than that to keep up the balance which ensures in the end that the reader has definitely received something very impacting which can change life along with light moments of laughter.

Author has opened his heart regarding many topics which are related to his personal life and the concepts that he believes in. The way he talks about his family; specifically, brother and mother are what many authors cannot dare to do in a book. The way he talks about his friends and how they faced ups and downs in their life which impacted even the author’s life tells about how transparent this person who is writing this post is. Similarly, the spiritual and concepts related to God, the way author has experienced himself is shared with us and I can tell you all those chapters are so apt that you will want to read them daily in the morning before starting your day.

Then author has talked on several topics on which he had his own opinion and made sure that he keeps it in front of all of us, either it is about demonetization, politics, country, sex, gender, social media, privacy, drugs, success, failure and what not. But rather than getting preachy about any of the topics, author choses to write it in a funny way which keeps on making you laugh and giggle and know about his perspectives too. None of the topic is just lightly handled but author has ensured that he gives some conclusive moral about each of them. His clarity in thoughts is evident in every sentence. And let me tell you, this is one of the most humorous books I have ever read. The funny chapters are all and out comedy and it can fail many popular stand-up comedians of India. And the way author ends the book with the chapters and basically the last chapter is how a book of this type should be ended. This book is an example on how the non-fiction books should be written. I give this book 4.75* out of 5. Recommended like f?@k as the book is f?@king hilarious.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!