My Twisted Love Story

Have you read fiction that is deemed more like self-help? My Twisted Love Story by Arun Singh is one such story.

The story begins with Analia Christopher advising Rohan to write his journey to inspire others. She offers him to help with marketing and publishing. The story discusses the protagonist- Rohan, who has lost interest in life because of a recent breakup. Lately, he lost his mother and the love of his life, which dragged him to take severe actions. Surprisingly, his old friend calls him and pursues him to change the course of his life.

Why did Analia offer to help? Why did he get a call from his friend out of the blue? Such questions have been dealt with by the end.

The motivational tone is evident throughout the story. This book imparts a lot of knowledge in a few pages. It is self-help illustrated as fiction. Though it is a fast-paced story, it is advised to not go through this within a day because the path can be too overwhelming. Though its literal significance lost its base in the first part, the title is justified metaphorically.

I really appreciate the concept of this story. However, the writing style didn’t flatter me. Nevertheless, it is beginner-friendly and recommended to those who find it arduous to read nonfiction. Maybe you like this and crave nonfiction.

The Longest Ride

Have you read any works of Nicholas Sparks before? I have been yearning for reading the book- The Longest Ride, and it was worth the wait. And this was really a long ride.

The story begins with Ira, who has met with an accident and hallucinating in the crashed car. The snowy weather dares his survival. All this while Ira reminisces about his time with his late wife, Ruth. Their story began long ago before world war two, and he tells how they embraced those post-war traumas together. Their story is about unconditional love and the world that failed to perceive that. The question is how did the world become acquainted with them?

Another story is about cooking alongside- Luke and Sophia. They meet at a club party where Sophia’s ex-boyfriend Brian tries to court her back but ends up hurting her. Luke gives him a hard time, and that’s how it begins. Sophia is a sorority girl, and Marcia is her best friend and roommate.

Sophia had a tough time growing up in a competitive environment and is on a scholarship at Wake University. Luke is a bull rider and owns a big ranch. Will Sophia be contented with his self-destructing career? And how will they balance their disparate interests?

This lucid plot is so well written that it keeps you engrossed till the end. The chapters here comprise two stories moving alongside; Ira, who is talking to his dead wife- reminiscing about their time together in that car, and Luke and Sophia getting to know each other. Most of the chapters end with cliffhangers.

The twists came in at the right time, and before you got your answers, you encountered another twist in the story moving alongside. Not only this story is titled precisely but also justified metaphorically. There is an adrenaline rush in the climax. Even though I expected it, reading it overwhelmed me. And the call-back in the ending made this a wholesome read.

The Girl In Red Lipstick

“Always call a prostitute a lady; you have no idea what she has been through.”

I read this statement on the page before the first chapter of the book- The Girl In The Red Lipstick by Ajay K Pandey. I realized this wasn’t going to be some random story.

The book begins with one of the protagonists- Arun Kumar, arriving at Kolkata for his book launch, where his fellow readers enquire that why hasn’t he written about a prostitute till now? This question makes him go numb twice, and he keeps on wondering the sign behind it. In one of his events, he falls down from stairs and has to request a massage at his hotel. Then he meets Lalita, who wasn’t a masseuse but a prostitute. Arun is too naive to apprehend this, but when he does, he craves her story. Did he really want to know her story, or was he ruminating about his next book?

Lalita is too young, and despite everything, she hasn’t lost her dignity as she never accepts sympathy. She has reasons to believe in a better future but will this ever come true? She is hesitant of dictating her story but when she does, it takes a toll on the readers. 

Arun plots her redemption, but is he too naive to rationalise the consequences? Does she want to leave this business? Will she trust a man again? What if her pimp files a false FIR? Even if he succeeds in moving her out of Kolkata, will she not return to this job? Data says that most of the sex workers, after leaving the rehabilitation centre, return to the same work profile. Also, many rehabilitation centres’ are the centre of such activities. Such questions fascinate the readers' curiosity.

This book starts a bit slow with Arun, but once Lalita enters the scene, the pace shifts. The story is intriguing, and the concept is plausible. The author has used the first person narration for this story. His writing style is easy to comprehend, and the setting is precise. The author discusses the details of her journey precisely. Suspense building is slow but introduced at the right time. Even the twist in the climax is intriguing. Overall, the story keeps you engrossed with the curiosity to know more.

How To Write, Publish and Sell Your Book Successfully

Aspiring writers look for inspiration wherever they go. They might be talking to you in a cafe but also looking around for a story. Sometimes aspiring writers give up on the way without scribbling their story on paper, but sometimes they continue to write their story, yet not publish it. The solution is known to them, but self-doubt takes over the situation. To tackle many such thoughts, Rakhi Kapoor wrote HowTo Write, Publish and Sell Your Book Successfully. This book is inspired by her own experiences as an author.

This book is divided into six sections which are the stepping stone to becoming an author. The author discusses the rudimentary skills like learning vocabulary, choice of words, use of correct grammar etc., and the technique to arrive at the idea, dealing with writers’ block, and the pathway to compile your book, including preface, acknowledgement, the book cover and the blurb etc. The author has discussed the steps involved in approaching the publishing house, the perks and cons of getting published under a big name or self-publishing, and the need to market your book. It includes the complete roadmap. Also, the author has specified examples for a few topics for a better understanding of the reader.

The book is nonfiction and written in a formal dialect. This book has been written in a way to inspire a fond writer to write a book. The details have been dealt with delicately and are beneficial in clarifying the doubts. However, it would have been great to find issues like getting copyrights discussed in detail. Also, sometimes, even traditional publishers steal the work and publish it under the name of the recognized writer, but this issue wasn’t discussed in this book. There was a repetition of a few statements and topics amidst different sections, but at times it was the need of the hour. Nevertheless, it will assist aspiring authors in overcoming the hurdles and progressing with better clarity.

Will You Be My Secret?

Why do you read budding authors so much?

 Well, no one is born legend.

I feel pity for those who feel guilty for picking those new works, and instead of assisting the author with their mistakes, they bash them for their amateur craft. Well, only practice makes a man perfect.

I read this book- Will You Be My Secret by Sanskriti Mishra and got something to look back on in October 2021. The author speaks of this story as the story of forbidden love, but why?

Aayna, 25 years old budding author and an entrepreneur, comes to Mumbai in search of a story. She can’t take much time off from her business, but she can’t write what she hadn’t felt yet. Will she be able to find her story in this limited period? She gets the first job she was looking for, and there she has an unexpected encounter with a guy.

Nikumbh has a terrible past but has kept himself stiff for his family. He lives with his mother and is a corporate employee. He is also a budding entrepreneur and hasn’t taken any break past two years. He had some terrible past, but what? Nikumbh meets a girl one day while running late for his job, and he desires to see her more often.

Yes, Nikumbh and Aayna get along and Aayna gets her story in Nikumbh. But what if she falls for him? What if he falls for her? What if he gets to know that he is a puppet for her new story? Will she be able to complete the story? Aayna is hideous about her past but reads Nikumbh as an open book. What is she hiding? What about Nikumbh, is he ready to get hurt again?

The book carries an informal tone and forms a connection with the readers. The writing style is easy to comprehend, and the story setting is subtle. The sub-plots with supporting characters enthrals the readers. In the end, out of the blue, unfathomable suspense shows its face. Even though we expect a miracle, the climax was believed to happen, but this enigmatic suspense on the last page leaves us in awe. What happens next is yet to be known. We do deserve the sequel, else Aayna succeeded in keeping her story hidden from us, too.

Inconspicuously Human

Have you ever wondered about the functioning of the human brain? Not about what we study in Biology but what we study in Psychology. It is an art, agreed; maybe that’s why they included it in the Arts Programme (I don't discredit its Science Programme). I came across this book, Inconspicuously Human by Uday Singh, which discusses the functioning of the human brain for laypeople. Nevertheless, the students pursuing psychology must read this book.

The book is divided into 10 chapters which comprise the secrets to our pursuits to better living. The book involves various experiments that have been conducted by psychologists to study human behaviour and the insights on their significance from the author’s free-form perspective.

The book carries a formal style, and concerning the interests of the readers in nonfiction, this book has a few pages. One can read it in a single sitting, but it is advisable not to do so, as to digest what you read. In one of the chapters, the author discusses the impact of the food we eat, and it brought me back to Ikigai. Even though the book has explained human behaviour notably, the elucidation of a few experiments would have led to better assimilation of the knowledge, but this could have also evolved confusion in those new to the subject. The author has requested the readers to be open-minded. To fathom out the results of the experiments, one must remember that those experiments were conducted in a controlled environment, i.e., other existing factors have been considered constant here (like we do in physics/chemistry).

This book is recommended to everyone, but the students pursuing psychology will find it more interesting.