It has been a mad week…

but I still managed to complete a book. The first week of school is always chaotic. Thanks to all the new students, the new rota, the missing teachers, the new teachers trying to find their way in the maze of stairs in our school, the lack of books, stationery, misplaced orders, confused timetables, … anything and everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Not just that, I have been shuttling between buildings (school has almost 5 different buildings). Among the chaos, my kindle was a constant companion trying to keep me sane in the insane world. I recently read a book which was on my to-read list for quite a while. The time was right and I finally finished it.

I started with The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter by Julia Drosten (Goodreads Author), Deborah Rachel Langton (Translator) because this is a culture I am slightly aware of. It is much closer to my home. The story is based in Sri Lanka and is about this girl who is the daughter of the Elephant Keeper and the story unfolds during the British invasion of Sri Lanka in the 1800’s. It was very well written and translated to bring the essence of the culture and the nativity to the reader’s mind. I enjoyed the story very much. It took a while to finish it due to the various day to day distractions but I took it slow and steady. Once I was done with the book, I decided that I will take up the one on my to-do list and finish that too.

The Lioness of Morocco by Julia Drosten (Goodreads Author), Christiane Galvani (Translator) was on my list for way too long now to ignore it. So I started on that next. Thanks to the Kindle Unlimited option, I was able to get my hands on this book. This book took me to another world which is totally alien to me. It is, as the book title describes, set in Morocco. I have no idea of the culture or the lifestyle of the people. In a way, this book transported me to a new place even without me making a trip. I love it when books can do that. It is almost 200 pages more than the first book I read by this author and so it took almost twice the time for me. But, I enjoyed it very much. I finished it just today on a much needed lazy Sunday.

I gave 5 stars for both these books which is a rare thing for me to do.

A Rising Man – * * * *

A Rising Man – Sam Wyndham Series by Abhir Mukherjee. Mr M read this some time ago and recently before our trip to India, he found out that the second book’s paperback edition was out so we went book hunting and he was lucky the second time. Foyles usually is our go-to bookstore. At least it is his. When he had finished almost 3/4th of the book, he turned to me and said that this series was TV series material and it would be good to see it in a TV series. I haven’t heard that from him for other books (maybe because most of them are non-fiction) so I told him that I will give it a try after we come back from our vacation to India.

I started the first book, A Rising Man on a Saturday and completed it by Tuesday. It was a detective series but set in a very different background. A background I have had the opportunity to read at length but from a different perspective and a different angle. The story is set in Kolkotta (earlier known as Calcutta) during the British regime. That in itself is a tricky thing because you don’t have a choice but to add the history that took place during that time and it involved a lot especially in a place like Kolkatta which was the hotspot at that time. The story ends when the Jalianwala Bagh incident happened in Amritsar. The turning point of Indian Independence history, as we have read about it.

A murder takes place and the victim is a British officer. The newly transferred Sam Wyndham is appointed to investigate. Surrender-not (actual name: Surendranath, but simplified for easy pronunciation) is the Watson to Sam’s Sherlock. To be honest, I kind of guessed who it might have been halfway through, but I couldn’t figure out the why or the how. It was just pure guesswork and I got lucky. Mr M was trying to put me off the scent but I knew it in my heart that I was kind of right in my guess (and maybe the small bits of information that weren’t there also helped)

There is no Sherlock-ism in here. Lot of legwork, travelling around gathering information battling against the humidity of the country and the city, not less the antagonism against the British empire. It is very interesting to read and brings forth a lot of the cultural elements of the City (and the Country). It was a good choice by Mr M to recommend it to me (and I wonder how he got to know of this in the first place). Thank you, Sir and I will definitely get on the second book shortly.

I would definitely give it 4 stars (as I did in my Goodreads) and it will be very very interesting to see if it was made into a TV Series. It is historical and so it would need a lot of work in the Arts department to recreate the atmosphere. Good luck, if anyone wants to try.

DI Nick Dixon – ****

Finally, I finished the last book (at least for now) of DI Nick Dixon’s series by Damien Boyd. Once I started the first book, I decided that I will finish the series. It was only 8 books. It wasn’t that difficult even though I had to slow down on School days. Each story was unique and different characters were involved in solving the crime and the team with Nick was very efficient. I also loved the small backstories that went into each of these novels. The subtle humour is amazing 😉

If you fancy murder and detective series situated in Somerset and Avon area, try Nick Dixon. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Detective series in two weeks

It’s been a while since I wrote about the books. Last week, I finished the 4 book detective series called Callahan & McLane Series by Kendra Elliot. The first book gets you hooked into the story line especially the main characters and from there on, you don’t have any other choice other than to go complete them.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I took the Kindle with me to the School and read them during the free hours and also in the Tube. Sometimes during the walk to the Tube too (only in those areas where there weren’t any traffic). Having said that, it was a pity that during the third book you tend to realise that there is a formula to those stories. A pattern to it. It is all based on psychopaths and they target one or the other protagonists. I am OK with patterns as long as the story is gripping and interesting. That is why I finished these so quickly.

After an exhausting week and a half of these books, now I am into some simple and light romance reads. Can’t give up my sleep every week, especially with all the hyperactive kids around me. I need energy to deal with them too 😉

Wordless Wednesday