Book Review — Legends Over Generations by Ashraf Haggag

Legends Over Generations is a nonfiction book that highlights the contributions of various global leaders in fields like art, literature, science, human rights, politics etc. Each chapter is dedicated towards bringing to light basic facts about the life, upbringing, education, career and legacy of these revolutionary personalities.

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I found this book to be extremely insightful. There’s not a lot of information, just the necessary facts about all the individuals. That said, in certain chapters, the narrative was fluid and story like, whereas in some others it felt like a research report because of the chunks of factual information put together paragraph after paragraph. If you want to make the most of this book, then read it slowly, maybe a couple of chapters a day. That way you’ll retain maximum information.

Some interesting additions to each of these chapters were the quotes section and the signature. Looking at the signatures of so many influential people made me feel like I was going through historical documents at a museum. I understand that it’s never easy to compile a list of important historical figures because there are way too many of them, but I wish the author had included a couple of Indians who have been prominent in the arts and literature fields.

My favorite section was the one about human rights activists. If you wish to brush up on some basic G.K, then this a perfect book, give it a try!

Ratings – 3.5 out of 5 stars

What do you get out of it? Basic knowledge about some trailblazers like Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr., Ava Gardner and more.

Thank you Blue Rose Publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. 

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Book Review — The Soldier Prince by Aarti V. Raman

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In The Soldier Prince, we come to read about Prince Alexander Heinrickson of the Royal House of Stellangard, who is not in the least bit interested in putting on the princely attire and carrying out the duties of the royal family. The loss of a loved one pushes him to swap that life for one in the military as a soldier. But when a fated catastrophic encounter with the attractive Sasha Ray threatens to expose his true identity to the world, he must rush back home and let his family handle the matter. Sasha is a waitress who, apart from being curious about her regular customer, has no clue as to what she is dragging herself into when she jumps at the chance to save Alexander from a possibly fatal incident.

I actually really enjoyed this book, more so than I’d thought I would. It’s much more than just a romance. It’s about one’s duty to their family, their nation. It has a couple of action scenes as well. The writing style is compelling and makes use of sufficient descriptions, which had me really excited because well, a majority of the book is set in the snowy clad terrain of the Swiss Alps. We’ve seen and heard a lot about forbidden love stories and so, the main plot wasn’t very unique.

My favorite part of The Soldier Prince is not the inevitable romance between Alexander and Sasha, but the subplot involving the royal family and their lives. The setting also added to my enjoyment of the book. I even liked Sasha and Alexander separately because of their character compositions. But their relationship was not something I was entirely convinced about; parts of it were downright cliched. And while you could take this book as being just about their connection and how their relationship evolves over time, I was able to set that aside and appreciate this book based on its stories about individual characters.

I really liked the bond between the three siblings – Michael, Alexander and Lena. The little glimpse of Princess Lena that we get from this book interested me enough to want to know more about her. The treatment of the royal family is not stereotypical, which is something that impressed me. Because usually when you talk about monarchies, there’s atleast one snobby person in the family who looks down upon commoners and is arrogant, but in this case, all of them were very welcoming towards Sasha, they’re polite and respectful towards others.

Depending on how much you enjoy romance – contemporary fictions, I would surely recommend this book to you, because it’s a delightful read! I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.

Ratings – 4 out of 5 stars

What do you get out of it? A charming story about love, family, and duty.

Thank you Aarti V. Raman for sending me an eARC of your book in exchange of an honest review. 

Book Review — A Cage of Desires by Shuchi Singh Kalra

Shuchi Singh Kalra’s A Cage of Desires comments on the state of Indian marriages within a conventional family, while giving wings to the sexual identity of a woman. Renu is a married woman who, between taking care of her children, her father-in-law and the house singlehandedly, finds no relief for herself. Her loneliness and lack of affection in a loveless marriage urges her to get lost in the words of renowned erotic fiction author, Maya. This novel draws parallels between a woman subdued by patriarchy and a woman who is unafraid to give voice to her fantasies.

From the synopsis itself, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel because it promised a contrast in female character types that I’ve never read of before. We are introduced to the two personalities and how they differ from each other. Renu is shown to be meek, she doesn’t speak up for herself when she is mistreated by her father-in-law and husband. This habit  of hers doesn’t prepare her for the continued suffering she gets subjected to. Maya, on the other hand, is someone who knows how to put people in their place, is extremely confident and unapologetic about her desires.

I didn’t like any of the characters in this book except for Renu’s friend Akriti. From the moment we are introduced to Arjun, I knew he was a good for nothing character. All of his portrayed charm signaled warning bells in my head. Renu, to me, came across as someone very selfish and often negligent of how her actions would reflect on her children. She has no self-respect and clearly doesn’t care enough about herself to keep from going back and forth between two horrible choices. The writing style is not flowery and distracting; you can breeze through the book. The chapters are short and comprise of some colloquial usages.

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There’s a hint of mystery in the beginning that gets resolved by one third of the book. What I liked about the book is that it highlights the plight of married women doing thankless jobs and that it also strongly puts forth the idea of women owning their sexuality. But maybe if it had done so in a more appealing and ethical manner, I would have loved reading this novel. As of now, it’s my strong dislike for the characters that left a bitter taste. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad book, but I’d hoped to enjoy it a lot more than I did.

Ratings – 2.5 out of 5 stars

What do you get out of it? A taste of hypocrisy and patriarchal beliefs held by old-fashioned Indian families; a glimpse of what women have to go through to be heard and accepted for who they are.

Thank you Shuchi Singh Kalra for sending me a copy of your book in exchange of an honest review. 

Book Review — Who Owns That Song? by A.R. Venkatachalapathy

C. Subramania Bharati is a renowned Tamilian poet whose works spoke of nationalist sentiments and paved the way for the future of poetry in Tamil Nadu. Who Owns That Song? chronicles his journey as an artist and how his works changed hands a few times before finally being released by the government into the public domain, free of any copyright claim. A.R. Venkatachalapathy’s nonfiction also introduces us to the early stages of the media industry in India.

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Having studied about copyright in class, I was really interested in understanding the role of copyright in the consumption of a piece of creative work. Divided into 4 concise chapters, this book tells us about Subramania Bharati’s life as a writer and then proceeds to recount events concerning the publication of his works. The writing style takes on the tone required in a nonfiction and yet possesses the quality of being fluid and engaging.

As I was reading this book, I often felt myself light up with pride on learning just how passionate he was about writing and how much he contributed to society with his writings. At the end, you’ll find some of his poems and I loved them! What I didn’t like much about the book is that I felt it clubbed together the stories of too many people involved in the process. Of course I understand that it is important to know the role they played in either purchasing the rights to Bharati’s works or striving to make them copyright free, but every chapter was further divided into sections about these people. At times, it felt a little textbook-ish because of the amount of details packed into a page.

That said, this book begets the question of whether an individual’s work (regardless of the subject matter and how much of an influence it has on society) should ever really be dropped into the public domain for people to make use of as they wish. And also, should any one person unrelated to the artist be allowed to own the rights to the artist’s works? Shouldn’t it naturally be passed down generation after generation as heritage? The character of Bharati as portrayed in this book is one of an intellectual man. I wonder what he would think of all the tug of wars that took place. Who Owns That Song? is definitely a very insightful read and I would recommend to all!

Ratings – 3.5 out of 5 stars

What do you get out of it? Knowledge about C. Subramania Bharati as a writer and how his writings underwent copyright battles before finally being declared public property.

Thank you Juggernaut Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. 

Book Review — The Bitter Pill Social Club by Rohan Dahiya

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The Bitter Pill Social Club tells the story of the Kochhar family in all its tumultuous and extravagant existence.  As a multi-generational tale, the novel follows the lives of the young and the old, striving to stay relevant in the age of casual hookups and social media driven popularity. When there’s a wedding in the family, all the Kochhars get together only to be reminded of just how volatile their relations are.

The synopsis and the cover had me so excited to read this book because it sounded like one hell of an entertaining dramedy. And up until the first half, I was having such fun reading about this family that is so blinded by their desire to be the center of attention, that they are wont to ostentation and social fallacies. After the first half is when all the time leaps come into play. We follow the same characters at a later point in their lives, say a few months or a year later. But because this time distinction isn’t overtly specified, I felt puzzled. If the author had thrown in a couple of markers indicating “10 months later” or “2 years later”, it would have largely helped my reading experience.

Moving on, Rohan Dahiya’s writing style is a perfect combination of descriptions and dialogue. He definitely has a knack for writing dramatic scenes. All of the fight sequences were somehow hilarious. And as it tends to be with large families, the different characters added something to the predicament, making the situation chaotic. I love books about families because then there are many characters connected to each other in some way or the other and this book too has a lot of characters, each of their stories being different than the other, interesting in its entirety.

While Sana is grappling with a breakup, Surya is coming to terms with the decisions she is making and Vir works away from home, keeping his profession and personal life at arms length from the rest of the Kochhar family for fear of their disapproval. The parents, Hassan, Geetika and Kama have their own burdens to bear and are at times, governed by their insecurities. On the surface, some of these characters appear to be superficial, lashing out at each other and keeping their true selves hidden. You begin to wonder if they are beyond redemption, but somewhere along the line, there are changes to their personalities.

Without a doubt, I enjoyed reading this book because of the stories that were being told; however in the middle, I was thrown off track by the narrative technique.

Ratings – 3.25 out of 5 stars

What do you get out of it? A peak into the minds of characters overpowered by their need to be accepted. And mainly, the story of a flawed family that reunites time and again.

Thank you Bloomsbury India for sending me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. 

Blog Tour — Favourite Quotes from The Bitter Pill Social Club

This is my second post as part of the blog tour for Rohan Dahiya’s The Bitter Pill Social Club. I’ve read and reviewed it. The review post will be up in a couple of days. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the book:

“The theory of comfort food is perhaps more personal than the clothes one uses to cover themselves from nakedness… The concept at its basest level is a concoction that can not only bring peace to a stressed soul but also evoke the feeling of home, one that’s usually lost in memories as time passes and you lose yourself in the routines of a.m. to p.m.”

“Stars above had fallen around her, serving as a reminder that even though the sun was out they were always around.” 

“She was an island and he was lost at sea.”

“… wondered if irrelevance was one of those inevitable things in life… Is the demise of a beautiful girl a gentle progression where people slowly tire of you, or do they just wake up one day and realize they’re simply over it. Over you.” 

“They fit together in a way that the air shied away from passing between them.”

“Who was it that had told her of the incomparable rush of cutting wrists? It didn’t matter anymore because what she’d done was worse; she’d talked herself out of it because she couldn’t bear the thought of the pain. That was who she was, the weak girl with a bad heart… That was the reason Sunaina Kochhar stopped looking into the mirror to see if she was still there.” 

“… they ask you how you are but they only wait for the hole in your answer to hook their own story into.” 

“There is a certain freedom that comes with shedding your older self, sadly it’s one of those very specifically indescribable things about life that exists in the no man’s land of feeling and the absence of it.” 

“It was one of those unacknowledged facts of life that everyone had an open mind and liberal heart until the tragedy struck at home.”

“They were grown up versions of the same, tired high school clichés that once trolled around the canteen during lunchtime to ceaselessly judge and bully.”

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Going by the quotes above, the book would appear to be very intense. But these lines are used to add dimension to a character or a storyline, to keep them grounded when it’d seem that their head is in the clouds. Overall, I enjoyed reading most of the book. It was interesting to see these characters deconstructed and raw. Stay tuned for my review post!

Cover Reveal — Legends Over Generations by Ashraf Haggag

“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something.”

Author Ashraf Haggag brings to you one of the best Non-Fiction releases of the year, published by Bluerose publishersIndia will be released in the first week of may and will be available on Amazon soon.

The book was selected as the book of the month by Tredition.co.uk .(See the link).

Tredition UK is the publishing company which published my book and distribute it n Europe, Canada, USA etc but executing India

https://tredition.co.uk/authors/book-of-the-month/

Summary:
Since the beginning of human settlement, a lot of people came up with ideas, philosophies, beliefs, experiments, research, redesigning of thoughts, talents, and surveys to bring myths to reality.People contributed to various life aspects science, politics, literature, arts, social activities and so many other fields. These genius minds put a keen interest in every phenomenon right from when they were young. The zeal, passion, dedication, hard work and efforts they put into their work helped them discover something new about the world we live in.In these Legends, we’ve seen inexplicable abilities that helped us define our existence and human life. Their names are engraved in the sands of time for their work in the welfare of mankind with different inventions that have made our lives easy, enjoyable and successful. The following chapters commemorate the greatest personalities we’ve ever seen who changed the world.They are among the most influential people of today’s world. With practical advantages in various aspects, they have helped us to grow a better understanding of the world and different working phenomenon’s that governs us. Their way of shaping modern day culture is completely unrivalled.

About the Author:

Ashraf Haggag has spent nearly three decades in the corporate business world. He currently works as a senior executive in the hospitality industry.

Haggag has direct experience in many different aspects of business, including sales, marketing, revenue management, and administration. Having worked in Germany, the United States, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, his global experiences have exposed him to the diversity of culture across the globe and encouraged him to share his knowledge through his writing.He is eager to bring enhanced cross-cultural awareness to today’s business leaders.

Check the video of the book here.

 

The book was featured in various news papers. Check now

https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/ 2018/05/legends-over- generations-by-ashraf-haggag/

https://love-bookrelease. tumblr.com/post/173700716464/ legends-over-generations-by- ashraf-haggag

https://penzu.com/p/321ac7a5

http://bookmylife01.blogspot. in/2018/05/blue-rose-proudly- presents-legends-over.html

https://medium.com/@press. bluerose/legends-over- generations-by-ashraf-haggag- 843f56d6a43b

bookrelease.wordpress.com/ 2018/05/08/blue-rose-proudly- presents-legends-over- generations-by-ashraf-haggag/

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https://www.fictionpress.com/ s/3324555/1/Legends-Over- Generations-By-Ashraf-Haggag