Party to a Crime by Rohithari Rajan (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!

  

20^th Book of 2024

After reading couple of non-fictions, it was obvious that I will be picking up a fiction to enjoy a story. I got my hands upon a murder-mystery published by Rupa Publications and it didn’t take me twice to start reading it. I just completed reading Rohithari Rajan’s 285-pages novel named “Party to a Crime”. It’s a murder mystery based upon the death of a young entrepreneur and startup founder, Karan. The news has become the sensation and hence the investigation is paced upon to identify the murderer as soon as possible to provide the answer to the nation.

 

The book has been planned and drafted very well. I must say that the idea of telling the whole investigation set-up not from the Investigators’ angle but from the multiple suspects’ angle gave the book its high that it needed. It was fun reading how the four characters named in the synopsis of the book tells their version of their history with Karan, their involvement on the party night, what they did before and after the party etc. It is fun reading their versions as it seems we are reading short stories where the characters are interconnected with each other.

 

The book is narrated in a very friendly manner with short chapters which clearly makes it easy for readers to complete the whole book within one or two sittings despite it being of almost 300 pages. I still believe that author could have easily sliced the book by 50-pages. Few sections were definitely stretched and unwanted scenes are detailed which makes it boring to read the investigators’ expressions and thoughts between the interesting twists and turns being shared by the suspects. Similarly, the conversations with the characters sound very bland at times with no expressions whatsoever. Even when the death is revealed to them, their normal response irritates the excited reader within you who was expecting a reaction.

 

The way investigations take place where it’s being done on different days where each day opens a new layer of story keeps us hooked to the book. It helps keeping the book become a perfect page-turner. The story just doesn’t describe about the party scenes but about the human nature as well because the purpose why each of them could have been involved in this crime has a tendency and trait attached to their personality.

 

Author has described the whole party scene very descriptively which helps the readers visualize how the whole venue must be and even the party happenings as well. Rohithari never sounds like a new author at any junction of this book. His writing capabilities are amazing. In the pre-climax, the way he starts unfolding the whole thing amazes the readers by his presence of mind. His thoughtfulness in writing and crafting this story tells about his writing and imaginative skills.

 

I just felt that the climax could have been more happening. I felt that author tried writing this book as a script for an OTT series getting inspired by the new thrillers available on these video platforms. It felt like I am watching it as a series rather than a novel. It could have been better if there was a better conversation with the guilty at the end of the book. Similarly, I felt that the investigation part has no meaning in the story at all as the investigators just doesn’t do anything great to solve this mystery. It’s just the author’s narration that brings us to the answer of the whole puzzle. I wish author could have handled this part well.

 

Overall, this is definitely a great book to enjoy on a weekend at home. You will not miss going out at all. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

Become An Achiever Right Now by Aleph Book Company (Book Review: 4*/5)!!!

  

19^th Book of 2024

I like the concept of publishing the anthology which picks up the relevant chapters from the bestseller books of the popular authors. Aleph Publications regularly publishes such books where there’s a theme to the book which consists of the chapters from popular books which helps us get the gist of what the book tries to convey us. I have completed reading “Become An Achiever Right Now” which is a short anthology consisting of the non-fictional chapters from self-help and motivational books. The book is a part of the series called “A masterclass from the Supergurus”. It consists of the chapters written by the prominent authors like Dale Carnegie, James Allen, Kahlil Gibran, Napoleon Hill etc.

 

Achieving greatness is not just about talent or luck; it requires boldness, resilience, and an extraordinary work ethic. While many successful individuals share these foundational traits, what truly sets them apart is their ability to think strategically, adapt to challenges, and create a path unique to their vision. In Become an Achiever Right Now, renowned self-help experts, philosophers, poets, and writers—whose words have impacted millions—uncover the principles that drive extraordinary success. Through their insights, readers will learn practical methods for reaching their goals, even while navigating the everyday hurdles and setbacks that life inevitably presents. This guide is more than just inspiration; it's a toolkit for turning ambition into reality by embracing both the triumphs and trials along the way.

 

There are few chapters with which I was really able to resonate. I am mentioning few of them below:

• The Dale Carnegie's theory of remembering names is such a small advice but the impact it can make is beautifully explained.
• The chapter on enthusiasm is amazing where author tries to explain how it must be generated from within rather than people's reaction. He also signifies how convicted people might be quiet but they have ample amount of excitement within them.
• The James Allen chapter in the start of session two is such a good reminder dat we are the parents of our thoughts and how we only create states and conditions in our life as we attract what our thoughts are.
• Orison Swett Marden speaks of how just manifestations wont bring results but a perseverance to bring them into realities will eventually convert things for us.
• A chapter before, another author very intelligently depicts how sun puts d same amount of energy on everything or how every drop in ocean has the same power of chemistry in it. Similarly, we should have the same passion for evrything we do or desire.
• Dale Carnegie's another chapter on criticism comes like a fresh breeze and motivated me like no other chapter until then. I am in just awe of this writer who uses real life examples to prove his philosophies.
• William George Jordan explains how consecration, concentration, conquest and conscience can make a man experience the real happiness which no one can take away from him/her.
• Few poems in between keep the book interesting with short fillers.

 

From the drawback perspectives, I can only say that few of the chapters are written in a bit tough language which few young readers might find hard to understand and grasp. Rest, this is a great book to gift your young friends below 35. I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

You Can Get It Done by Liisa Kyle (Book Review: 4*/5) !!!

  

18th Book of 2024

I remember reading a book by Jan Yager named “How to finish everything you start” which obviously talked about how we can ensure that we just don’t end up starting a lot of things but not completing most of them. Thankfully, after couple of years, I got to read a book almost on the same topic named “You can get it done” written by Liisa Kyle who’s a PhD holder. This 136-pages book published by Aleph also has a tagline- “Choose what to do, plan, start, stay on track, overcome obstacles and finish”.

 

Liisa’s writing style is very friendly which makes this book readable for everyone right from school to senior citizens. She has divided the book in small chapters which makes it easy for the readers to read the whole book in a single sitting or continue reading a chapter every day and finish it gradually in 10 days. I read the hardcover version and it is very portable to carry while traveling. In the initial chapters, Liisa helps us understand how she has structured her book and it is something I have read for the first time. She mentions different stages where we are stuck in our journey of starting something to quitting it and helps us navigate directly to the chapter which shall provide resolution to our current problem in the process.

 

This makes this book of a great utility value. It’s not only about reading the theoretical knowledge but understanding the direct application of it. The book starts with the concept of a Plodder or Burster which helps us understand our approach towards a particular task. Author motivates us here telling that we can be both depending on various tasks hence even if we aren’t on track for few, we need not get disappointed. This tells about the empathy value that author has added in her writing.

 

Initially itself, at a segment, author asks us to leave the book and identify our issue with the task completion for a week and then come back to understand further. I liked reading this unique way of engaging readers with the book in a passive manner. Every chapter is full of activities which are real fun.

 

I enjoyed reading the section where author tries explaining how morning time has more energy as well as creativity due to the uniqueness of this phase where we have just got up experiencing dreams which gives wings to our imagination. This is a totally new concept about morning times and what a way to introduce it to us.

 

In the vision board chapter, author tries to help the reader group who have not even identified what tasks to get involved in. Author explains the process in stepwise manner which is so exciting to understand how a human being can identify the work of their interest and joy. Amazing!

 

As mentioned above, again at a middle junction in the book, author mentioned how we can get back to our project rather than continuing to read the book as the sole reason for picking it is to understand how to work on our project and finish it. Haha! At this point, she tells which chapters to target ahead in the book in terms of how we are doing with our tasks that we have started monitoring since we started reading this book.

 

In the last chapters, author describes different kinds of inner enemies sitting within us who gets activated at different trigger points. She also provides amazing solutions to help us kill those inner enemies and proceed ahead with our goals.

 

Talking about the drawbacks, I felt that the book is written getting inspired by the new Agile methodology under which corporate world has started working. It makes us start something, review it in between and accordingly quit few irrelevant tasks and ensure other important ones get finished by the end of the sprint cycle. I wished if author could have focused more upon the personal goals along with professional perspective as well. She tries to specify the personal elements as well but the solutions sound similar to the ones which are effective in the professional setup. Author also ends up repeating several concepts in different chapters which makes it boring at times to read the same thing twice or thrice.

 

Overall, this book is surely a good booster for us when we get stuck in a phase where we are unable to pursue whatever we started doing. I give this book 4 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA