Tuesday Talks | Picking a Book

Welcome back to another blogisode of Tuesday Talks, a Goodreads group started by Janie and Janelle. This week's topic is how we pick the books we read. 

For a long time I tried to objectively pick books based on what I needed to read. Books I needed to review and books I read for fun would pile up and I would frequently alternate them, pushing the deadline books to the top of the list. 

At one point, since it was a trend on BookTube, I even created a TBR jar in which I put the names of all the books I haven't read and vowed to pick a book out of it every month and read it with the goal of reducing the number of TBR books on my shelfs. Unfortunately that idea died as soon as I found that effort was required in keeping my TBR jar up to date. 

All in all, though I try to set up a TBR, although I try to outline the books I want to read, it rarely ends up panning through. Usually something else will catch my eye and interest me and I'll end up picking it up and reading that instead. My books are usually picked off of a whim, usually answered by the question "what do I feel like reading today?" 

How do you guys pick your TBR pile? Or are you spontaneous like me? Let me know in the comments below! 

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold | Iain Reading

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold is the thrilling first installment in a new series of adventure mystery stories that are one part travel, one part history and five parts adventure. This first book of the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series introduces Kitty Hawk, an intrepid teenage pilot with her own De Havilland Beaver seaplane and a nose for mystery and intrigue. A cross between Amelia Earhart, Nancy Drew and Pippi Longstocking, Kitty is a quirky young heroine with boundless curiosity and a knack for getting herself into all kinds of precarious situations.

After leaving her home in the western Canadian fishing village of Tofino to spend the summer in Alaska studying humpback whales Kitty finds herself caught up in an unforgettable adventure involving stolen gold, devious criminals, ghostly shipwrecks, and bone-chilling curses. Kitty's adventure begins with the lingering mystery of a sunken ship called the Clara Nevada and as the plot continues to unfold this spirited story will have armchair explorers and amateur detectives alike anxiously following every twist and turn as they are swept along through the history of the Klondike Gold Rush to a suspenseful final climatic chase across the rugged terrain of Canada's Yukon, the harsh land made famous in the stories and poems of such writers as Jack London, Robert Service and Pierre Berton. It is a riveting tale that brings to glorious life the landscape and history of Alaska's inside passage and Canada's Yukon, as Kitty is caught up in an epic mystery set against the backdrop of the scenery of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold is a perfect book to fire the imagination of readers of all ages. Filled with fascinating and highly Google-able locations and history this book will inspire anyone to learn and experience more for themselves as Kitty prepares for her next adventure - flying around the world!

I will admit, I am pleasantly surprised by this book. Prior to accepting it for review, I was slightly skeptical. The cover, the protagonist's name, everything about it just screamed "middle-grade" (something I hadn't tried, and, at the moment, didn't want to try), but the words "Yukon Gold" caught my eye and I began reading it. 

Over the summer, my family and I had travelled to Alaska, and I found it incredibly interesting to see the same scenes I've experienced manifested into a book. As Kitty travels throughout Alaska, to cities like Haines, Juneau, and Dyea, I find myself comparing my adventures with hers, reliving my vacation.

The plot itself was also quite interesting, though it could have been better spread out throughout the book. I felt as though the first half was relatively uneventful, while the second half was jam packed with the majority of the plot. The reader isn't even introduced to "the curse" until at least three-fourths of the way into the book. But I absolutely loved the bits and pieces of real history Iain intertwined into his plot, from the ghost town of Dyea to the sinking of the Clara Nevada.

For me, the biggest surprise was Kitty Hawk. The idea of a seventeen-year old named Kitty flying to Alaska by herself seemed somewhat ludicrous to me, but I really enjoyed her as a character. She had very realistic characteristics and a likable personality. While I'm still skeptical of her parents' decision of letting her fly alone, I think Iain did a very good job of making the entire situation seem realistic. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but I would definitely recommend it to a slightly younger audience, though there's nothing preventing anyone from enjoying this adventurous novel.

Girl Online | Zoe Sugg

I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

Before I even begin to discuss the book and how conflicted I am, I want to spend a little time talking about the author and the "scandal" that surrounded this book. Apparently, Zoella, YouTube beauty vlogger, decided to write and publish a book, a YA fiction book at that, and with over a million subscribers, she did just that. Girl Online has had record sales in its first week, comparable to those of Harry Potter, but of course there's a catch. This book was ghostwritten, meaning that while Zoe might have had the idea, there was a person (or a group of people) behind the scenes actually putting the words together. To be quite honest, I didn't know ghost writing was a frequented route for many authors, but it only makes sense when so many celebrities have their own book. I admit, I was hesitant to read her book. The plot seemed uninteresting, and the fact that Zoe didn't write the book herself yet took credit anyways is oddly unnerving. 

I will also admit that after reading this book I am pleasantly surprised. I think this would make a good coming of age book for girls between the ages of 11 and 15, anyone younger may not understand the "coming of age" aspect of this book, and anyone older might see through the plot and characters, finding the glaring gaps between the story and reality.

Even as I type this, I'm still conflicted about how I feel. Whilst I read it, emotions of giddiness and adorableness bubbled up inside me, due to the romance BUT the sharp deviations from reality really brought the book down for me. Do I recommend it? I have no idea. It's definitely not a bad read, but the lack of realism may be a turn off for some people.

Tuesday Talks | Free Books for Review

Good evening everyone and welcome back to another blogisode of Tuesday Talks, a Goodreads group started by Janie and Janelle. This week's topic is whether authors should provide a free copy of the book they want reviewed.

I think that, without a doubt, authors should provide a free copy of a book with a request for a review. An author should be open to sharing their work in order to spread it, that's how most books tend to get an audience anyways.

However I do think that if an author provided the first book of a series for review, they are not obligated to provide the rest of the series. Of course, it is ideal and preferable for the reviewer if they do, however they are by no means obligated.

I completely understand if an author is unable to give a free copy of his/her book, but I also think they will get less traffic. As a reviewer, I'm more inclined to read and review books that are given to me, specifically paperback/hardcover copies of books, but of course that is expensive and not reasonable for me to expect.

What do you guys think? Do you think authors are required to provide free copies of books to review? Let me know in the comments below! 

Five Point Someone | Chetan Bhagat

Five Point Someone is a story about three friends in IIT who are unable to cope. 

The book starts with a disclaimer, “This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don’t think straight.” 

Three hostelmates – Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT – they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. 

Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters – their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive. 

Will they make it? Do under performers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?

If you're Indian, odds are you've seen the ever famous movie 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, and even if you're not Indian it's still possible that you've seen it. This book was the inspiration for that movie. Generally I believe that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie, but in this case, having read Chetan Bhagat's book Half-Girlfriend, I wasn't expecting much from this book, and this book just barely made my expectations. 

While this was immensely better than Half-Girlfriend, it was by no means an extraordinary read. Personally I enjoyed the movie more, which if you haven't seen I highly recommend, even if you don't speak Hindi (that's what subtitles are for). In this book, the plot, the characters and the romance were fairly bland, but I loved how the problems of the Indian education system were showcased, both in the book and the movie.

The one thing that really bothered me about this book was the romance. Hari would constantly disregard Neha, the protagonist's love interest, as "all girls". Whenever Neha was do something even mildly confusing, Hari would say/think something like "Why do girls do this?" and he simply kept grouping Neha with every other girl, which I just found really annoying. 

Overall, this was a pretty mediocre book. I didn't feel myself falling in love with any of the characters, nor did I especially love the plot or the setting, but I didn't hate it like I did in Half-Girlfriend. Though I don't necessarily recommend this book to everyone, I do highly recommend the movie, which does a fantastic job of integrating serious issues and humor. 

Words With an Author | Laxmi Hariharan

Today I've had the opportunity to interview Laxmi Hariharan, author of The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer!

1. How did you get into writing? When did you first start writing?

I’ve been writing since I was five. So I always knew this was natural for me, to write a book. Interestingly it was always writing a book – not make a movie or become a photographer, though I am heavily influenced by the moving image. So I tend to write in a very cinematic fashion.

2. Where did you come up with the ideas for your books? Who/ what is your inspiration?

With my first book The Destiny of Shaitan… it was born because I was living on my own in Hong Kong – a very futuristic, confused city that set the tone. Living in an unknown city forces you out to make friends and seek out people you wouldn’t have normally. And Hong Kong was very much the place where many misfits, who didn’t belong anywhere else in the world, landed up. A series of strange such encountered inspired the characters in the novel. With, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer… Ruby emerged full blown on the scene. She was someone born of the rage and helplessness I felt about being a girl growing up in Bombay. About having to rebel against society almost every day to assert my individuality. And not least of all that dreaded commute to work by local train, where I had to fight through the crowds, and definitely be felt up by almost every other man crossing my path. I was helpless, Rub is not.

 3. Are any of your characters based on people you actually know, if so which ones?

No character is based on a single person I have met. But yes like many authors I suffer from over attentive disorder. I pick up details in my environment subconsciously. So gestures, styles of dressings, eccentric mannerisms, interesting life-stories… I borrow from it all. Many of my characters are an amalgamation of the interesting dimensions I come across in other people. Sometimes it's something some says, a random remark can spark off a new trait in a character.

4. If you had to pick only five books from your bookshelf you could keep, what would they be?

I am going to pick four:

The Ground Beneath Her Feet: Salman Rushdie. Lyrical, poetic, beautiful and complicated. This book is like an ideal woman. Mysterious yet seductive.

Fire & Ice: The Game of Thrones series. I simply admire GRR Martin’s audacity in the world he created and how he can simply kill of his characters once they have served their purpose… or do any of these characters even have a purpose. Does one have to have a purpose in fiction or in real life for that matter?

Angelfall by Susan Ee: You are probably surprised by this. But I pick this as a reminder that for an author you never know which storyline or character is going to catch the reader’s fancy. That there is a thin knife edge between obscurity and being discovered. I see this as a symbol of hope for myself. To keep me going in the dark mornings when I force myself to go out into the world to play a part that is more and more alien to me (i.e. my day job) but which I need to inhabit in order to keep my writing going.

An Equal Music by Vikram Seth: Poetic, lyrical, simple yet complex. A canvas of explosive energy simmering under the surface just waiting to be unleashed. It captures London beautifully

5. Who is your favorite character from any book and why?

Would I be too egoistical if I picked Ruby Iyer? She is a real person for me. I am fascinated by the confusion inside her. That she feels everything so intensely. That she often does the stuff she really doesn’t want to do, all the time knowing she shouldn’t do it… But she does it anyway. At other times she manages to follow her instincts, and pays the price for it too.

6. How long did the writing process take for each of your books?

My first novel took my nine years, my second nine months, and since on an average I complete a book a year. I don’t necessarily publish all of them.  I realize I prefer to write quickly, while the energy is still new and flowing. With Ruby Iyer, it’s a compulsion. I wrote the prequel novella, The Ruby Iyer Diaries as well as The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer in nine months. Right now I am writing the Second Life of Ruby Iyer, the sequel as well as Vikram’s story as a novella. Vikram is another character who fascinates me. An Oxford educated cop who gave it all up to join the police force. How intriguing.

7. Who are some of your favorite authors?

Salman Rushdie and GRR Martin

8. What actors/ actresses could you see playing the characters of your book?

This is a tough one. For Ruby Iyer it has to be a complete unknown. Someone who is fresh, fragile yet tough. Akshara Haasan has always been a potential consideration for me for Ruby. She seems to have that Fuck You attitude that is so important for Ruby. For Vikram Roy … I haven’t found the actor yet. I need an Indian actor, who is young on the outside but an old soul inside. Who is well built without being macho. Who is brooding yet vulnerable? No haven’t found him yet.

9. How did you come up with the title and cover of each of your books? Did they morph as you wrote the book, or were they constant?

The best titles are the ones which manifest organically. With Ruby that’s the way it has been… As I write at some point the themes and strands I am weaving with become clear. And the title is something which gives you an instant feel for the emotion of the book. With the cover for the Many Lives of Ruby Iyer… I kept looking till I found this picture that my friend Pooja Vir had shot of her younger sister, with the Bombay skyline in the backdrop. So it was so authentic… shot in an iconic area of Bombay which was very important. And capturing that flush of adolescence, when you want to say Fuck You to the world, for really all you can think is about yourself and your inner turmoil. As soon as I saw the picture I knew I wanted it for the cover for Ruby.

10. Are you planning to write any other books?

Right now it’s the Second Life of Ruby Iyer and Vikram’s novella.

11. What would your advice be to someone who's aspiring to be a writer?

I think you just have to keep doing it. Wake up in the morning and write. At the end of the day ask yourself how much you have written. At the end of the week, the month, the year… ask yourself did you persevere? There’s no short cut. You just have to continuously do it… stick to your red thread… if indeed writing is the red thread to your life.

12. Finally, just to wrap things up, what's your favorite color and why?

 Purple – It’s regal, intense, deep, and mysterious yet has the power to draw you in. It has many shades to it depending on which angle you look at it from.

Tuesday Talks | Guilt behind Not Finishing Books

This week on Tuesday Talks we're going to be discussing the guilt behind not finishing certain books. Tuesday Talks is a Goodreads Group hosted by Janelle and Janie.

Honestly, I've never really thought about feeling guilty about not finishing a book. If a book doesn't intrigue my, I usually don't waste time with it, which is why my rating system is developed the way it is. If I've finished the book, it gets at least three stars.

Though, I will admit, if I have accepted a book to review, I get through it. It may take be hours, days, or months, but I will get through it. As of now, there hasn't been a book I reviewed that I haven't finished and, honestly, I plan to keep it that way. More times than not, the book has usually gotten better by the end, and I can give it the honest review it deserves.

Honestly, I don't have much to say about today's topic since I never thought that not finishing a book should make me feel guilty.

What do you guys think? Does not finishing a book make you feel guilty? Do you force yourself through certain books like I do? Let me know in the comments below!