Books N Unicorns

Preeti Shenoy's latest release is based in the small tourist town of Joshimath in the foothills of the Himalayas. The progatonist, Veda, a 20-year-old English Arts student has been raised in a house with a strict father, a meek mother and four siblings, Veda being the eldest of all. The story revolves around the dramatic lifestyle changes happening time to time in Veda's life once she moves to Pune post an expeditious wedding to live with her in-laws.   Veda has been an obedient, dutiful child of her parents quite in contrast to her immediately younger sister Vidya, the rebel of the house. Her parents were never interested in getting the women of the house educated and believed in preparing them for marriage as soon as the first proposal came towards their way. Shenoy's lead character gets married to an eight-year-older Bhuwan working in a multinational company. The plot moves forward with Veda's mother-in-law's torturous behaviour towards her, accompanied...

Rohan Monteiro's debut book is another young member of the 'Cool Non-fiction books Club' of recent times. Just like the title 'Keep Calm & Go Crazy: A Guide to Finding Your Inner Hero', every page offers something pretty catchy to the reader. The author's memoir on lifestyle differences while dating, post marriage and during and post childbirth is both fun and uplifting. Every chapter makes you feel happy since his lessons mentioned at the end of every chapter don't sound forced or too-philosophical-to-be-true type. After reading most of them, the reader feels like, 'Damn, this is so right! I must start following this immediately!' A few lessons from the book are as follows: The only way you can figure out what it is you are best cut out for is to experience it. Don't close yourself to the possibility that you might like something even if you don't know much about it. Cultivate friendship and relationships with people you can sh...

  Santhosh Sivaraj's debut novel The Blue Moon Day is a collection of five short stories of an equal number of men who discover the most beautiful and simple truths of their lives during their journey of life. The novel throws light on the difficulties faced by the five humans of vivid ages and how they discover the joys of living. The first story  The Pizza Engineer  belongs to an intelligent and desperately job-seeking  Abhinav, nicknamed Avi. The 29-year-old is looking for a high-paying job after completing his M.B.A and a Ph.D. during which he crosses path with Mr. Pillai. In the two days they spend together, Avi gets to learn the very basic facts of life in very simple ways, and at times the reader feels jealous why s/he doesn't get to spend time with Mr. Pillai.  The second story The Messenger  revolves around the life of a young and married man Deepak and his best friend Ajay. This story reflects the everyday problems of an MNC employee who is h...

  Rashmi Rathi's debut novel Life isn't Such a Bitch revolves around the laws of Karma and how it affects love and life. This is the story of a young entrepreneur who is blessed to have a supporting family, lovely wife and an acclaimed company he runs along with his college friends. Krishnakant Shukla, or what he prefers to be called, 'Krish' co-owns a startup with his IIM-friends which is about to seal a deal with a huge investing company when on the day of the final meeting, their office is raided by the Income Tax department under the notice of search and seizure. On finding out that he has been stabbed in the back by one of his most trustworthy friends, Krish undergoes a state of depression and cuts himself off from the world. Some time later, he starts his journey towards spirituality following a few startling events. He spends a few days at the beautiful hill station of Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India and observes the nature closely. His dreams are always oc...

  Emraan Hashmi's debut book The Kiss Of Life, co-authored by Bilal Siddiqi is the story of how Emraan's son Ayaan fought the battle of cancer despite all the tough times faced by his family and the four-year-old himself. The book revolves around two time phases: how Emraan Hashmi became the 'actor' Emraan Hashmi and the half-a-year-long cancer battle of Ayaan Hashmi. The Foreword by actor Akshay Kumar is pretty touching and inspiring.  The book begins with an utterly shocked father who ran with his son to a hospital after discovering something very unusual going on in his son's body. The quick happenings in the hospital take the reader to the hospital itself; doctors flashing from one room to other, nurses keeping things quick in the corridor, a stunned yet brave face mother accompanying her son to the operation theatre and a father trying very hard to hold his tears. The entire narration is so straight from the heart, the reader can find him/herself right in th...

Anupam Kher’s very first book The Best Thing About You Is You is the collection of wise words of an old-by-number-young-by-heart man who has travelled the world and has a lot to share. The unique design of the book itself speaks it’s not an ordinary book. It’s an extraordinary one, to be honest. Anupam Kher, who happens to be a world-renowned actor and has acted in more than 400 films, has penned down every single word of the world straight from his heart. He shares his life experiences, teachings and quotes of great people in the past, and suggests the easiest ways to make life much simpler and happier without putting a lot of effort. He stresses on the power of hope and love, and how having faith can bring happiness in our lives. He talks about being open to change, destroy egos and let go of fears in a very comfortable way. One of my most favorite parts of the book is where the writer mentions that as we grow old, we are expected to act more formal. Businessmen aren’t ex...