thebookishelf's Reviews (431)


Author Mithilesh Kumar shows Krishna's some of the unknown qualities, but he also shows Krishna as human. He's capable of love. He's deeply conflicted. He has a sense of humor and a gentle side. We see him growing from a privileged child to a sensitive teen to a young man struggling to balance his personal feelings with the expectations of an entire country.

Due to the curses of Durvasa and Gandhari, Yadavs of Dwarka are killing each other at Somnath. Krishna and Balram rush to contain them. But no use. Frustrated, Balram walks in the sea and takes jal samadhi. Krishna is devastated; he lies down in the nearby forest and remembers past events.

He finds Yuddhishthir extremely selfish, ambitious and egoist and laments being the latter’s pawn. For that reason, he did not find time even for family, and his son through Jambavati, Saamb got so spoiled as to rape one of his Assamese wives. Also, due to his prank of posing as a pregnant woman, Durvasa curses him that an iron bolt will come that will finish all Yadavs of Dwarka.

Yuddhishthir got Krishna so involved in his affairs that even after the great war, he had to stay back at Hastinapur, face Gandhari and get cursed.

Then his mind moves to some pleasant memories and when he is about to finish the eternal act with Radha, Jara’s arrow pierces his soul. Due to profuse bleeding and the poison of the arrow he dies at 2-27 PM on February 18, 3102 BC.


If you've read the Mahabharat, you know that the story will have a tragic end, but it's also strangely uplifting and hopeful. Reading Supercop of Aryavrat put a new light on this ancient story. It was like watching a really good interpretation of a Shakespeare play. You think you know the story, but you're surprised to find how many layers of new meaning can be brought out by a smart production.

Krishna's mission in Supercop of Aryavrat is to cut through the legend of the hero and show us the mortal side of god. He doesn't want the pompous metaphors and flowery hyperbole of a war epic to bury his other qualities -- his tenderness, his insecurity, his honesty and lack of guile.

This novel proves both pious and human. Turns out all that arbitrary God-logic can make for some delightfully absurd situations when forced into the modern world. And all the petty plotting fuels real human feeling when the author writes the manipulated mortals with skill and compassion. The plot, pacing, tension, and expansion of the world were all done really well. The climax was a lot better done than many similar genre books, but I'll let that slide. Highly recommended for sheer emotion and character development.

Dangling Gandhi by Jayanthi Sankar is a carefully crafted collection of short stories. But it's more than that; a number of these stories are poignant and touching. Author Jayanthi Sankar's protagonists often reveal themselves as innocents and earn our admiration and respect, and her perceptions of the world they inhabit are acute.

Pretty much every story in this collection, Dangling Gandhi by Jayanthi Sankar, has as its theme an individual’s relationship with the natural world. And the natural world is always called upon to act – because Author Jayanthi Sankar, you suspect, has a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe. Drifting dangerously close to sentimentality at times, or plummeting headlong into it, Jayanthi Sankar's writing is heart-touching.

I found the first story, "Did Churchill Know?" amazing about the many different ways we grieve. The title story, Dangling Gandhi, is one of the best in the collection. The short stories in Dangling Gandhi and Other Short Stories may not leave you feeling all shiny and happy inside, but you will find yourself marvelling at author's writing ability, and how she captivates and compels you in just a few short pages. These are stories that look at the bleaker side of life, love, and relationships, but many pack a serious punch.

The stories in this collection hooked me pretty quickly, and left me thinking about them even as I went on to the next one. And even now, a few days after I've finished the collection, some of the stories—particularly the ones I've named above—have me wondering what happened to the characters when the stories ended.

All the twelve stories were on about the same level – enjoyable, well-written, well-crafted. If you're a short story fan, pick up Dangling Gandhi and Other Short Stories. The stories themselves make you joyful, and author Jayanthi Sankar's writing certainly will make you elated. 

The stories in 'Stories of Us by Bobby Sachdeva' are twisted, sparse, clipped, dark, doomy, funny, dramatic, angry, death-haunted, maniacal, bizarre, possibly racist, apparently desperate, fatalistic, existential, dreary, frenzied, morbid, stern, prepossessing, unforgiving, unrelenting, anti-everything, aged, "retro", haunting, parabolic, anecdotal, moral, redemptive, sublime, reasoned, feverish, dreamlike, unsparing, sparse, seductive, craftsman like, worried, extremely well conceived, taut, brooding, polarizing, scary, and powerful.

Author Bobby Sachdeva has a way of connecting all his stories by setting them in a landscape that refuses to leave you. The stories and the unease stay with you as you finish each fantastic piece, building up layer upon layer of despair until you thirst for an almost religious release from it all.

Stories of Us by Bobby Sachdeva is peopled with the religious, the good and the moral -- grappling and trying to come to terms with an inhuman world and crueller selves -- the continuous tensions between religiousness, morality and reality is played out in small, significant dramas that affect everybody and everything, and continues to fray the fabric of the world.

And in the end, each mini-drama also raises many mega-questions — Have we become so class-conscious that we judge people only by their appearance? Are we aware of the change in our relationships with others constantly? How can people retain their identities yet be tolerant towards others in multicultural situations? Do humans obsess over the creator so much that they forget they're exploiting his creation? How much wealth does it take to be happy and content?

These are essentially weighty tales — mixing morality and religion without any restraints — where the characters face the ultimate questions of life and make the best choices they can, which are almost always reasonable in the eyes of the observer.

While the stories are deeply meaningful and derive their grotesqueness and tension from society, In each story, the reader will be exposed to the reality of the cold and essentially lonely society presented to the protagonists. The readers will instantly find themselves at home in this cruel, fantastically real world of Bobby Sachdeva. It is only the world outside your window, and inside yourself.

'Fait Accompli’ by Anubhav Shankar begins in Russia in 1941 on a late afternoon when the weather is heavy and everyone can feel that something is about to happen and it does, in the worse(!) way imaginable. Then it shifts to present day in Delhi, India. Where people who have been dead are returning from the dead and turned into mindless and soulless monsters because of an unknown pathogen. The government are not sure what to do. On the other side, Shanaya, a regular girl living in the city, has opposite effect of the pathogen. It turned her into a human weapon. She's confused and don't know what to do with this newfound superhuman powers. Then comes Niloufer Mirza, a woman no one knows about, who happens to know about the pathogen and its effects and she guides Shanaya.

I found myself really invested in the storylines and lives of the different subjects. The pacing was fast with quick which prevented some storylines from becoming lost in the background or boring. We follow a few separate people as they deal with deceased ones suddenly reanimating recently, As no one can figure out what caused awaken the dead.

I greatly appreciated how the author Anubhav Shankar gave us almost all the puzzle pieces to put together ourselves, but didn't over-explain, and certainly didn't waste valuable time laying out the fundamental rules of this fantastical situation. In fact, the impetus for the main conflict--the dead coming back to life--is completely mysterious, and even in the resolution of the plot remains completely obscure. Which is a good thing. The people author writes in this book are instantly recognizable and easy to sympathize with. They are normal, in all their normal, complex, disturbed, deeply flawed, beautiful, creative glory.

'Fait Accompli’ is a book that makes you think, what would you do? So much happens once the pathogen spreads over the city, the government find themselves making the wrong decisions, how do you handle people who are technically alive but not alive, do they have rights? Do they have a place in the world? Can they return to their families?

I found Fait Accompli to be a powerful read, so many questions are raised and so many social problems are brought forward, you will get very engrossed in this story, there is so much to this book that you will find enjoyable, enlightening, scary and most of all make you look at the world around you. A strong and remarkable beginning to the series and impatiently waiting for the next book.

There have already been accusations that the book is copied version of the game 'Prototype'. Though author has already mentioned this on the cover that the book is inspired from the game 'Prototype', the strong visual language of the novel would certainly make a quite gruesome and glorious experience to anyone. Highly recommended to science fiction fans.

Offsprings by Krishanu Banerjee was beautifully written and very descriptive poetry collection. I was amazed at how complex, deep, and emotional these poems got. Everyone is going to view poems differently because we have all been through different things in life but I think this book has something for everyone! Even the shorter ones with only a few words manage to show an intense amount of emotion.

You could taste the overflowing emotions, the pain, the happiness, the longing and love. The writing is simple yet raw and honest. It touches the heart and feeds the soul without having to use complicated and deep ways to make you feel something. Readers can easily connect with the words since what the poems convey is very relatable. Offsprings by Krishanu Banerjee is a feel-good book.

I could see an overarching story amidst the smaller stories in each poem. So many emotions were expressed. One of the things I love about poetry is that it portrays so many feelings, and they're not necessarily examples of how to. I love seeing and relating to other people's raw emotions. Krishanu Banerjee manages to treat love without becoming sappy about it. His poems, for the most part, are very short almost like song lyric clippings.

Just so that I can give a little glimpse into some of my favorite parts of this poetry book, I'd like to show you one of the very short poems that I liked:

Strings of My Guitar

Strings of my guitar
Is calling me,
Calling me to make tune again,
Again to create for self only
Only for my glory to regain.

It is telling me to forget the past.
Forgetting the past I should make,
I should make till the breath of my last,
My last great work sitting beside a lake.

Strings of my guitar
Is showing me the way,
Way to get the godly touch.
The touch can only give me away
The power of music, deeply to clutch.


Broadly speaking, the book’s appealing styles and alluring plotline bloomed an experience that was both enjoyable and intriguing to a reader like me. This factor dawned on me from the introduction of the book and was resonant until the end of the book. I don't know what I was expecting with this collection. The stories were snarky, tongue-in-cheek, sardonic, sarcastic, biting. Yup, I think that about sums it up.

Happimess by Biswajit Banerji begins on a strong note combining humor, wit, creativity, and intelligence, wrapped in symbolism which lays the foundation for the rest of the stories. Varying in length and composition style; each story has a strong individualistic first person narrative voice as author is able to distinguish each character and story but yet maintain a smooth and cohesive strand. Naturally, some stories are more appealing than others but overall, Happimess by Biswajit Banerji is inevitably strong.

Also striking is that each story is different; and yet Happimess by Biswajit Banerji is not disjointed. For those readers who enjoy a dose of surrealism in short stories, Author Biswajit delivers with whimsy but not to the point where the narrative feels ‘fake’ or unnatural. Each story retains believability and is accessible.

Biswajit Banerji is master at meshing laugh-out-loud moments with deeper philosophy. The stories make the reader think and contemplate layers of topics while also entertaining on the simplest level. Author Biswajit's text is rich, well-written, and best described as a creative voice. Happimess by Biswajit Banerji is a fresh and unique voice which is relatable and yet thought-provoking.

A frenzied feast for all true-crime fans!...

This is yet another great read this week that’s really hard to put down. It's a very insightful and detailed account of some of the most horrific serial killers. In fact, while reading this book I just had to keep turning the pages yet again. Not just because it's all that enjoyable in any way, shape or form, to delve a little too deeply into the malefic minds of such murderous men, but because I sincerely believe that most people are fascinated in one way or another by serial killers. Perhaps it’s the human morbid fascination with death. I’m not exactly sure. However, maybe it just astounds the average person as to how depraved other individuals can be.

These serial killers are not mythical beasts with horns and shaggy hair. They are people living among society, going about their day to day activities until nightfall. They are the fathers, husbands, church going members of the community.

This A-Z encyclopedia of 12 messengers of death is the scariest serial killer book you'll read. Included are the most famous true crime serial killers, like Raman Raghav, The Stoneman, and Professor Mohan Kumar, and not to mention the women who kill, such as Cyanide Mallika and Anjanabai Gavit.

Each of the serial killer chapter includes information on when and how they killed the victims, the background of each killer, their trials and punishments. For some there are chilling quotes by the killers themselves. The Deadly Dozen by Anirban Bhattacharya is an easy to follow collection of information on India's most heinous murderers.”

Even if you are a seasoned campaigner of true crime, The Deadly Dozen: India's Most Notorious Serial Killers by Anirban Bhattacharya will surely raise more than a few hairs on the back of your neck. It was a first-class read and the author gave a perspective to these horrific crimes that was both fascinating and intriguing. This was one of the better true crime books that I have read recently.

I would highly recommend this read to all fans of the true-crime genre. Well done again!


What to say about The Advisory Board by Hemant Joshi; a lovely read, a phenomenal book, exceptional and captivating. How I lingered over this book; read it slowly to truly savour and appreciate the story. The author doesn't try to impress you with pretentious words nor does she bamboozle you with a convoluted plot. It's an unembellished story. The 'hero' is not extraordinary with powers or rich; he's a simple man who embarks on the journey of a lifetime. I loved the absolute clarity of foresight into the mind and heart of a very ordinary man.

Shekhar Tripathi is an unobtrusive, tentative and unassuming person whose wife died a few months ago, his business is deteriorating and now his car gets slammed in parking by another SUV. He is filled with loneliness and sorrow; feels loss about situations he is no longer able to change. Next morning he takes taxi to work. Eventually driver starts conversation with him and Shekhar learns about him. Driver's story convinces Shekhar that he is not lost at life yet. After that day he decides to take taxi to work everyday. Each day Shekhar learns something new about life, work, love, loss from each driver he travels with. From that day, he embarks on a journey of self discovery.

Shekhar's finds and discussions with the drivers of taxi left him happier and more confident. He also was helping those drivers with what they were dealing with. Shekhar was an ​absolutely endearing, charming, sweet character. I really enjoyed his antics and his thinking​ and especially the adventures he took us on.​

The Advisory Board by Hemant Joshi is a very well written novel and the characters are wonderful. I found the story captivating and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to experience Shekhar's journey, a journey which brought him to the most unlikely situations with an assortment of equally fascinating characters and places. Shekhar's search for answers to his life and his quest for purpose in his life is helped by many other delightful characters in the book. I loved all of these characters in their own right.

The Advisory Board by Hemant Joshi is like a warm fuzzy hug that just wraps itself around you from the first page. It was enchanting, charming and humorous. At times, it jogged memories of the past or made me ponder and reflect on my own life experiences. At times it was emotional without being overly dramatic. It is a quirky story full of hope, with the message that life is for living and new experiences. It is a gem of a book that I really enjoyed. An excellent debut by author Hemant Joshi.

Nocturnal Hours is a collection of poems celebrating womanhood from Ruqayya Shaheed. The book has well-constructed layout, consisting different sections with a variety of poetic voices speaking about different times/events in a woman's life.

There are three section in the book, Each 'section' includes an introduction by her, and then a smattering of poems covering various topic. They are: Home, Dreams, Fear, Ignorance, Falling in Love; Self-deception, Ache, Courage, Work, Heart break, Karma, Liberation and many things of this world. It was a very good collection of poems. All were pleasing. This book is 'A Woman's Journey Through Poems' but that does not mean a man could not enjoy it, although it is geared towards women.

The apparitions that linger and hover,
In the nocturnal hours of the solemn night,
Don’t petrify her.
It’s the mortal beings with their
Deceiving eyes,
Fraudster minds,
And flattering words,
That frighten her the most.


Particularly appealing was the well-constructed lay-out, consisting of sections each containing a variety of poetic voices speaking about different times/events in a woman's life (love, marriage, death, grief and so on). So turbulent, so powerful and heartfelt the poetry collection is that you can really see and feel author's emotional turmoil.

In that fleeting inexorable moment,
She metamorphosed
Into a wingless butterfly,
That only took flight
In her banal dreams
So as to wander
In the nocturnal hours,
And narrate the sordid tales
Of the misfortunes destined upon her.

She was undeniably so desirable.
Yet,
So profoundly flawed.
That every glimpse upon her
Contained volumes of awe,
Blended with enormous pity.



I really enjoyed this collection. Author Ruqayya has a lot to say about her thoughts and feelings as they spread and evolved across the pages of this wonderful collection of poems. The range of the poems is incredible, and her style has a wonderful feeling of openness, actively avoiding too heavy of a 'high' or 'academic' tone, and attempting to seriously acknowledge and speak to a very grounded and real every day world. This world is sometimes unjust, violent, dangerous, or adverse, but in equal measures full of love, sublimity, hope, and possibility. It is a thought provoking, emotion stirring, and encouraging read. Overall, an enchanting collection, and one I would highly recommend.

I can't share all of my favorite poems from this wonderful collection, but here is one called 'Values' from the second section.

No right you hold over free will.
For you know the fear we can instill.

The reins of your life you control not.
Remember your teachings and what you were taught.

We will determine who you’ll love,
For God has sent us from above.

With others dare not to exchange furtive glances.
Don’t take the risk, nor the chances.

One day you’ll learn the immensity of our affection.
And in yourself, you’ll discover a tincture of our reflection.
Budge not. Move not. Breath not. Live not.
You’ll proceed upon our consent.

Feel free to despise us, adore us, denigrate us or extol us.
But try not to scour our deep-rooted values.
They were, are and will always be with us.


Richa and Kadhir have been friends since school. Kadhir is now a famous Cricketer and Richa is an air hostess in a well established airline company. Life is looking pretty good for Kadhir, he's happily married to Shenbaga for twelve years and a successful cricketer, and has moved on from his first love Richa long ago. Kadhir's all sweet memories of his time with Richa come alive when he received a text message from Richa.

This story is filled with engaging characters, loving family members and a couple of best friends learning to navigate life on their terms. It's about change and challenges and facing things that are outside current boundaries. The story is charming, sweet, and filled with hope and possibilities. It's a short read with no cliff-hangers and a guaranteed Happily-Ever-After that will leave you with a smile on your face and a flutter in your heart. It is written in first person POV which gives readers much more of the main character Kadhir's thoughts and feelings.

I loved the progression of their friendship, the ups and downs as well. This was a book that really warms your heart and is a perfect romantic book that includes everything from friendship to attraction to cozy heart-warming romance that slowly grows. There is friendship, passion, romance and lots of chemistry in this amazing book.

Author Rima Sen has a way of lifting people up...not just her characters but also her readers. The lady knows her way around a good story. Thank You Richa is well written story with a nice storyline and plot. I like that the characters and how they develop. It's a passionate and emotional read with little twists, yet it will definitely catch your attention till the end. Highly recommended to fans of romance genre.