Tag: book review program

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Zero day – Book review

BLURB

Mumbai is in a state of chaos. All traffic signals across the entire city have stopped working.

Shahwaz Ali Mirza, head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, receives an anonymous email claiming it to be a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. He quickly puts together a crack team that includes his protege, IG Cybercrime Vikrant Singh, and gets to work trawling the dark web for more information on this mystery attack. However, a move to bring forward the hacker backfires, leading to a second, deadlier attack on Mumbai’s lifeline, the railway system.

It is their first brush with cyberterrorism: a zero-day vulnerability in the Indian government’s system that could bring the country to its knees. Racing against time and investigating a case unlike any other, in Zero Day, Mirza and Vikrant face the most dangerous mission of their lives

REVIEW

I love reading crime novels. Especially the pace they pick up after a few chapters and the urge they give me to complete it sooner. The novel Zero-day by Hussain Zaidi gives you a lot of twists turns and edge-of-seat moments.


In a busy city like Mumbai, a cyber attack is getting the city to a standstill. What would be the problem? More than physical terror, this time everything goes digital. A hacking attempt into the city’s traffic system brings the city to chaos.

The ATS chief received an anonymous email on the threat and the subsequent actions were taken by his team with occurrences of politics, and a wee bit of romance making it an interesting read.


Trying to find the identity of the hacker, to handling a national emergency situation in a smart way the book has its own nuances by the author with which he keeps the reader engaged. The language is simple and also makes the situations nail-biting through the narration. Characters Mirza and Vikrant had great bonding that helped in cracking the mystery. A crisp power-packed story that definitely would keep mystery lovers engaged.

Buy the book here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.. Hussain Zaidi is one of the most prolific crime writers in India. The investigations into the Mumbai mafia that he has conducted in books such as Dongri to Dubai, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and My Name is Abu Salem are among the finest investigative reporting of all time.

As the Resident Editor of the newspaper The Asian Age, Zaidi began his career in journalism. He then worked for several other publications, including The Indian Express, Mid Day, and Mumbai Mirror. Authors like Misha Glenny in McMafia and Vikram Chandra in Sacred Games drew on his in-depth research into the Mumbai mafia for their works. Adrian Levy, the author of books like The Meadows on Kashmir terrorism and The Siege on 26/11 attacks, consults him on a variety of subjects.


His reporting on the Mumbai mafia has spanned decades. Black Friday, written in 2002, is a book about the 1993 Mumbai bombings, which had 13 explosions and caused 250 deaths. Two years later, in 2004, Anurag Kashyap adapted the book into a film also titled Black Friday. As a result of the controversy surrounding the film, the Indian Censor Board refused to allow its release in India for three years, and the Supreme Court of India eventually allowed its release after a unanimous judgment in the Bombay blasts case delivered by TADA court.

Zaidi conducted an interview with the suspected bombing mastermind Dawood Ibrahim for the book Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, a history of the Mumbai mafia involving the Mumbai mafia. In 2012, Sanjay Gupta adapted the book into the film Shootout at Wadala.


Phantom, the 2015 film starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, is based on Zaidi’s book Mumbai Avengers, and the screenplay for it was written with Zaidi’s assistance.



As an associate producer, he worked on the HBO documentary Terror in Mumbai, which tells the story of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

The book review is part of blogchatter’s book review program.

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Princess no knots -Book Review

Blurb

Princess No Knots LOVES her long golden hair as much as she LOVES her bath time, but she does NOT love having it brushed. When her flowing locks end up in knots, the King tells her they will have to be cut and takes away her crown. Enter a world of determination, sprinkled with a small dose of magic, to find out if the strong-willed Princess finds a way to get back her crown, keep her name and save the hair she so loves. A must read rhyming picture book for any parent who struggles with the dreaded ‘hair wash’ night!

Review

I think it’s a universal behavior that kids hate when their called for brushing their hair. The blurb got me hooked and so did my little bub who fell in love with the cover.

Who doesn’t like princess stories? Especially if it’s going to involve a sprinkle of magic and fairy appearances.

Princess no knots that’s how she loves to be called loves her long golden hair. You could even compare hers with Rapunzel for the length. As much as she loved her hair, she hated brushing it. And especially after bath time, it’s a chaos as she shouts to not have her hair brushed when it’s wet as it resulted in her hair looking like Spaghetti and peas.

The King being unhappy takes away her crown saying he would return when she turns true to her name Princess no knots. Dejected she stays up for long that night, a miracle happens.

Does she become princess no knots as she loves to be called? Does she get back the crown? What was magic that happened? Read the book go know more.

I loved the illustrations that supported the story and so did my daughter. The rhyming words made reading even more fun. While she has just started to read me reading it out go her through pretend play made story telling much more fun.

I’d definitely recommend to fellow parents who have kids between 4-7 ages.

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Review of Young blood

BLURB:


Bored roommates use a planchette to contact a legendary ghost that haunts Pune University. Will she answer?
Is the abandoned Khairatabad Science College in Hyderabad really haunted? A gang of students break inside to investigate.
Nirav and Pavi love each other . . . most of the time. Will exploring a forbidden place inside IIT Kharagpur bring them closer?
From strange sightings to urban legends, from haunted buildings to not-so-friendly ghosts, colleges in India have their fair share of spine-tingling tales, be it Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, St. Bede’s College in Shimla or Delhi University. Young Blood is a collection of ten tales that reimagine college urban legends and true first-person accounts, that promises to terrify even die-hard fans of horror.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chandrima Das has a B.Tech in Computer Science from NIT Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. After a decade-long career in management consulting, she followed her passion for writing. Her digital debut The Talking Dead was a bestseller in the horror category. She’s performed live at storytelling events with Tall Tales and Kommune, and was published in The Best Of Tall Tales. 

MY REVIEW:


I enjoy horror as a genre in both watching movies and reading books. Though many would disagree that horror books do not give you the same vibe when you read them as much as you watch movies in that genre. But individuals differ and its all in the reader’s mind I would say.


So, when I knew there was this chance to review the book, I knew I should definitely not miss the chance of reading book in my favourite genre. The blurb intrigued me further because not long enough my husband and I were discussing about planchette and was coincidentally mentioned in the blurb as well.
The book has ten stories from different institutions across the country and involves the various tales that haunt the campuses. The stories gave me chills at certain points. I wantedly chose to read them at nights so that it adds to the thrill and the author sure didn’t disappoint me.

Each story sets a different stage and addresses a social issue pertaining to the modern age. I loved the way how the author connected the tale and the social issues. The nature of how each story was narrated is one of the biggest pluses that does not let you keep the book down once you start reading.


The author through her writing makes you feel that you are in the tale experiencing the horrific events when you are just right there on your bed reading the book. That is a win-win for any author to make the reader transport to the bookish world.


The stories and the notes at the end made a well-connected read. I’d suggest not to read notes at last but as and when you finish a story for a much greater reading experience.

The book is a must read for those who love horror and who would want to try the genre too.

Buy the book here.

This book review is part of blogchatter’s bookchatter.

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Introspecting Excess baggage- a book by Richa S. mukherjee

A book that is going to take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions and also will make you run out of tears. Just kidding, I meant in the sense that it’s a laughter riot out there so get yourselves ready .

Mother-daughter duos are always fun and the relationship between them is truly incomparable. They could be friends, sisters, enemies and what not. But definitely one of the deadliest combination.

The title ‘excess baggage’ definitely rings a bell in your mind and the cover resonating your thought with two ladies running with their luggages. All you could relate is only the physical luggage which they carry that is evident from the cover. What we do come to know once after reading the book is the emotional baggage that each of them carry along.

Anviksha, the protagonist is a 30 year old who is signing off her second divorce. She is a person who had strong-headed attitude which lands her into trouble at workplace as well.

Her mother Smitha, on the other hand is an easy go typical mother you see all around. She is overbearing which is kind of suffocating for Anviksha to take it. Anviksha who is currently navigating in her own conundrum of relationship, things also not looking good at workplace she decided to go on a solo trip to clear her mind of.

But what she was unlikely to expect was her mother piggybacking go join her on the trip. It is this place where the book picks up pace where Anviksha’s dreamily planned solo trip gets shattered and she sets out to continue her journey taking her mother and their excess baggage along.

The two bizarre personalities who go on a tour, finally sort out their differences amidst a lot of interesting experiences. This is where I felt this could have been done at home and why go on a trip.

The author also brings about and touches social issue with ease which brought out a good feel. A soul searching experience becomes a life changing one for Anviksha and her mom.

I really liked the way how the author handled humour in the script. It truly makes you laugh your lungs out.

” I wasn’t diagnosed with bubonic plague, it’s just a divorce”, this actually shows how the author handles divorce and that is something commendable instead of making it a social Taboo.

It was as a fast-paced vocabulary course for me but at some places I felt it was out of force. The writing style and narration is subtle but powerful. The author takes your on a virtual trip to London with her picturesque description.

Though the novel screams humour majorly I’d also like to point that there are a lot of hidden life lessons to be taken.

Overall it’s a light hearted plot with no clichéd dialogue in the relationship and the adventures they set out to explore.

Grab this book here

This book review is part of Blogchatter’s book review program.

This post is part of the blog challenge ‘ BlogaberryDazzle ‘ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla and sponsored by Bugshield clothing- Enjoy outdoors more.

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Self-discovery through Jasmine builds on shifting sands

Fiction and self-help are two of my favourite genres of books. I really don’t know the time ticking when I settle down in my reading corner with books in any one of these genres.

What I look for in self-help books is strategies, lessons, case studies which tell you what to and what not to do.

When I came to know that this book has both self-help and fiction entwined I knew I definitely had to pick it up.

What I could also relate is that the book is set in modern period and so is something everyone of us millenials could resonate to.

It takes a lot of time for us to understand ourselves in a better way. The process of understanding oneself, about what we can and what we cannot, how we can and when we can is called self-discovery. Not everyone of us do this at the same time. Time plays an important role in making us realise this. This book embarks you on Jasmine’s journey of self-discovery.



The picturesque views of Himalayas while describing the journey to Kedarnath, would make you embark on a virtual journey. The pure relationship between the author and his spiritual teacher , their conversations mentioned provide a lot of learning.

Jasmine who was about to land into a professional career eventually landed into the world of modelling. So how does she handle it ? Does she succeed or fail ?

She had her parts of failures, jealousies, competition, wrong ways and finally rose above all of it. The author has a lot of learnings from life which he’s penned out beautifully through the story of Jasmine.

Everyone of us has a dream, a goal or an aim. We pursue our actions towards them . Did you know that the universe also has a major role in making our dreams come true?

A motivational book that helps you to stay focused and have a positive approach to rise above hurdles and accomplish the dream. The connection to the universe and it’s integral part in making our dreams come true also is a lesson to be learnt.

I love the writing style of the author which he serves to keep it lucid and brief. Overall a good guide for self-motivation and self-discovery.

The QR code scanning of certain chapters, through e-micro-learning is a completely different experience which is suggest all book lovers and people who are digital fan boys must check out.

Following our passion by overcoming hurdles should definitely be made a mandatory life skill to be possessed.

About the author

Sanjay is an entrepreneur and an ex-banker, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and a Chartered Accountant. During his successful career, Sanjay has been integrating the essence of a parallel spiritual journey with his material pursuits. He has now set out to share the ways and means of seamlessly traversing through the material and spiritual world. Thereby, enriching each journey.

Click on the book cover below to purchase this motivational guide .

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Book review of irrationally passionate by Jason Kothari

BLURB:

While a college student at Wharton, Jason Kothari scraped together money from family and friends to save his childhood favourite comic book company, Valiant Entertainment, from bankruptcy and bring it back to life. A few years later, he transformed Valiant into the third-largest superhero entertainment company in the world after Marvel and DC Comics and sold it for $100 million. Jason then became a professional turnaround leader and went on to transform distressed Indian Internet icons Housing.com, FreeCharge and Snapdeal, helping save billions of dollars in value, and advise giants like technology investor Softbank and real estate developer Emaar, who have invested billions of dollars in India. Irrationally Passionate reveals the inside story of how a rebel, train-wreck kid transformed himself into a successful young entrepreneur and business leader who became one of the top ten paid executives in India while only in his 30s. From getting his first job as an assistant to Jackie Chan in Hong Kong, to learning strategy from champion Muay Thai fighters in Thailand, to tackling huge personal setbacks, to becoming a CEO in 60 seconds, among many other stories – Jason’s inspiring journey across countries, industries and companies has something for everyone, right from students to entrepreneurs to corporate CEOs to even parents of students and entrepreneurs. Irrationally Passionate is a highly personal, authentic, open and complete account of a young entrepreneur’s life. Brimming with practical advice and philosophical insights, it will force readers to reflect on how they perceive life, work, family and spirituality by giving them a fresh perspective.

BOOK REVIEW :

Becoming an entrepreneur is almost a dream of every young individual. Being nyour own boss is nsomething what we all wish for at one point of time in life. This particular book talks about Jason Kothari’s journey as an entrepreneur in his very own narration. Becoming an entrepreneur or owning a startup or bringing a company to success from its failure is not an easy task. It all doesn’t happen over a single night. What happens in his journey is what the book is about. Also being an entrepreneur is not just about starting a company, what follows behind is a great deal. You will have to know how to run it and bring in success in each step.

All the ambition, hardwork , motivation also needs to continue if we have the urge to sustain the maintenance of the company to make notable profits. The book gives you a great deal of knowledge about how to succeed and how to stay in the race to make your venture the number one.

A book of 200+ pages that tells you about his struggles and how he handled them to reap success. His entrepreneural skill began when he bargained the chess board at a roadside shop. What was priced at 500 by the shopkeeper was well bargained eby Jason for 30 rupees. What actually surprised me was he stood by it backed by his father. That showed good negotiation skills at a very young age. He took up favourite animation company Valiant by raising funds and saving it from fallback.
He mastered the art of bringing to success Businesses which were sinking. To name a few were Housing.com , Snapdeal and freecharge. It wasn’t an easy path, he had to make tough calls of laying off and raising money to make profit.

Writing style
The author makes the narration very simple and easy to comprvarious events were he turns companies successfull are nowhere given way to lengthy to drag. No complex narrations, so makes it easy for younger minds to grasp what the author has to say.

What I liked

Describing the events were mind-blowing especially the Agra chessboard from roadside vendor wherehis journey began deserves a special mention. Loved the narration that was different for the initial life of author and how it changed for later parts. The book cannot be classified under one genre owing to the book mentioning about both his professional and personal life. Few of the one liners were great and can be taken for not only people who wish to be entrepreneur but also for our normal lives.

”Captain a rowboat before a ship; a ship before a fleet.’

What could have been better

The author could have gone much more in detail.about the tactics or the formulas he used to bring up the companies. Young aspiring minds would need to know about those details to get a clearer vision.

BOOK DETAILS
File Size: 731 KB
ASIN: B08431V51G
Word Wise: Enabled
Print Length: 269 pages
Publisher: HarperBusiness (11 March 2020)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jason Kothari is a passionate entrepreneur and business turnaround leader. While still in college, he acquired the bankrupt US-based Valiant Entertainment and led its transformation as the CEO to the third-largest superhero entertainment company after Marvel and DC and a sale for $100 million, a record industry return. Subsequently, Jason was the CEO of Housing.com, where he led the transformation of the distressed company and a merger with News Corp’s PropTiger to create the $350 million industry leader. Following this, he was the Chief Strategy & Investment Officer of Snapdeal, where he played a lead role in transforming the distressed company from a monthly loss of over $20 million to a profit, the first for an Indian e-commerce company. Jason was also the CEO of FreeCharge, where he led the sale of the company to Axis Bank for $60 million. In addition, he has been a senior advisor to Softbank; Noon.com, a Middle Eastern e-commerce company that has raised $1 billion; and is a Board Director of Emaar India, which has over $2 billion in real estate assets. He is also an Executive Producer of Bloodshot (Sony Pictures) starring Vin Diesel. Jason holds a B.S. from The Wharton School and lives in Mumbai.

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Review of Our Song by Milan Vohra

BLURB
‘People will leave. Even the good ones do. The music will stay.’ This is what life has taught Ragini. A struggling music composer who left the world of Hindustani classical music in Delhi to do her own kind of music in Bangalore, Ragini is impulsive, emotional and often a little lost. The typical creative type – or so Andrew thinks. The head honcho at a mega Pharma company, Andrew is half-British, half-Indian and a full-on ‘propah’ pain. Even if he’s gorgeous. The typical corporate type – or so Ragini thinks. He needs her to compose a song for the company’s silver jubilee. She needs him (well, just his project really) to be able to keep doing her music. They can definitely do without the sparks they set off in each other. Or the highs and lows and all the conflicting notes that being together seems to bring. Because love is off the table for him. And music is her only love. Can two stubborn people from such different worlds ever find harmony together?

BOOK DETAILS

Publisher : HarperCollins India

Pages : 240

MY REVIEW

First of all the cover gives you a great impression about the book and never gives you a second opinion of choosing the book.
Secondly it combines two good elements music and romance into a good amalgamation.
Loved how both contrast characters need to come together for the project.
Ragini who wants to continue music and Andy who wants her to compose a song for the silver jubilee of his pharmaceutical company.
Loved how Milan vohra weaved both the characters.
A fast paced , witty plot that’s sure to keep you engaged with reading the book.
The romance has been penned in a not so cheesy way that’s another feature that stands out .
Loved the way how the author kept the language simple but has given a great book. A sure to entertain read that could unfold itself as a feature film before your mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Milan Vohra is an advertising consultant and also Mills & Boon’s first Indian romance author.

This review is part of blogchatter book review program.

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Review of The gorgeous dozen

BLURB
June 16th. Twenty years ago, Ricky and her friends made a promise. They would have a reunion after two decades in Pop Tate’s, a famous milkshake shop. But when the day came only two of them made it. This prompts Ricky to go on a journey and seek the ones who broke the promise.
Modern life is not very conducive to long term friendships. Circumstances and situations change so quickly that it’s difficult to maintain loyalty and keep in touch for too long. The Gorgeous Dozen is a celebration of those golden years that we have all experienced in school, when the best friendships are made. It is one person’s quest to seek friends from a time long forgotten. For Ricky, it is as much a journey of self-discovery as it is about exploring our glorious and diverse nation.

MY REVIEW

If you want to go down memory lane and take a peep into school life and the lovely memories, I’m sure you have picked up the right book.

The gorgeous dozen does rekindle those memories and makes you time travel back to those golden days of happiness and enjoyment.

To keep in touch with your friends in the era where social media was long lost friend is truly great. The book is a light and an engaging read. I got the book signed by the author on exchange for honest review as part of blogchatter book review program.

I was happy that the book chose me. Yes not making it up, I was supposed to review another book and I’m not sure what really happened, the book never came and I was offered this. And I’m glad I made no mistake of denying an opportunity to review a good read.

A promise made by the girl gang, yes this happened, happens and is still happening to be in touch no matter what happens. They make a promise to meet at the exact same place a milkshake shop after twenty years.

Did it happen? Yes, not all from the gang. So Ricky takes up a challenge to set out on a roller coaster ride to find and reunite the others. As she travels across the country and gets to know different cultures ,creed she unveils truth of how life treated the others.

The cover actually makes you relate or gives you a glimpse of what’s it all about. I loved the simple and coherent writing and yes I finished it quick at a stretch.

Ricky on one hand has a personal problem in her relationship to deal and on other hand sets out to reunite the both dozen. Does she do it ? I will leave that you to read the book.

In the world of social media , Ricky did not resort to them for the reunion. She did not depend on Retweets, reposts or likes or forwards. She set out on her own legs to get the search on.

I loved the fact that this being a debut novel the author chose to write from an opposite gender point of view and has succeeded.

MY RATINGS

Title -4/5

Plot -4/5

Writing and presentation -4/5

Cover -4/5

Overall -4/5

BOOK DETAILS

Publisher : APK publisher LLP

Length :130

ISBN -10 : 938179152X

ISBN 13 : 978-9381791523

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vivek Aiyyar is an author based in Pune. He has contributed poems and short stories to numerous publications. He has worked for a music magazine and covered rock shows and done interviews with leading Indian rock bands. He is also a movie buff and football fanatic. He balances a day job, a little baby boy and a very restless mind along with his writing.
The Gorgeous Dozen is Vivek’s debut novel. He can be contacted on vivek_aiyyar@yahoo.co.in

This review is a part of for the Blogchatter Book Review Program. The Book was sent to me for a review and all views are honest and mine.