Book Review | Summer of 69

It's not summer for me until I have read the latest book by Elin Hilderbrand. This year Elin celebrates her 50th birthday (with her twin brother) and wrote a book on Summer of 69', the year she was born in.

In classic Hilderbrand style, Summer of 69' revolves around the lives of several members of the Foley-Levin family and of course, Nantucket is the main setting. Martha's Vineyard gets some mention in this book too.
This summer is a dramatic change for the family as Tiger who is 19 years old, gets drafted to Vietnam. His mom Kate is in distress and starts drinking heavily, ignoring all her mom duties towards her youngest, Jessie who has just turned 13. Kate also has two older daughters, one of whom is pregnant and is having problems of her own and the other one Kirby, who is the rebel in the family and is spending time in Martha's Vineyard this summer, instead of Nantucket - to be away from her family and to resolve issues of her own.

There are lots of historic moments from summer of 69' woven into the story, which I think was brilliant. These events change the life of characters in the story in small and large ways, mostly for good.

It's a feel good book which was brilliantly written with lots of details without making those details too overwhelming to read. Once I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down. Perfect read of this summer.

Rating - 5/5

Book Review | Love and Gelato

************************************************** Quote from the Book*********************************************************
"You know, people come to Italy for all sorts of reasons, but when they stay, it’s for the same two things."

"Love and gelato."
**************************************************************************************************************************************

This might be the best book I have read in a while. When I started reading it, I didn't like it much but once the Italy part of the book started, it started getting interesting from there and then I just couldn't put down the book. The story as you can say from the title is set in Italy. Lina (Carolina) has just lost her mother and is forced to go and live with her Father in Italy, who she didn't even know existed. Then starts her journey of discovering Italy and true love with the help of her Mother's dairy which she had left behind.

The story is very nice, the description of Italian food and beautiful mountains are amazing. This is my first book by the author and the way her writing is, easy and humorous, I really liked it. This book made me laugh a lot of times and I enjoyed reading it. Rate it 5/5.

Disclaimer : This book will make you hungry for all sorts of Italian delicacies.
I think I ate more sugar than ever, while reading this book.

Book Review | SITA - Warrior of Mithila

Finished reading, second book in the Ram Chandra Series, SITA - warrior of Mithila
🗡 The book is a sequel to Ram - scion of ikshavaku 🗡 if you enjoyed the first book, you would love reading this one too.

🗡 The story begins with Sita’s birth and proceeds to how she became one of the strongest and loved princess, across her kingdom and later throughout Bharat .
🗡 The book ends exactly where the first book ended so the story didn’t proceed any further but that’s not what the book is about.
🗡 This book is about Sita and it gives readers a peak in her life 🗡 This book portrays Sita as a strong female character, very different from the actual Ramayana.
🗡 I love strong female characters especially when they are re-written from #mythology, hence I really enjoyed reading this book.
🗡 While reading this book, remember it’s a work of fiction.
🗡 I can’t wait for the 3rd book in the series.

You can read my review on the first book HERE.

Book Review | Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

Hello All. Today I have another book review for you all. It's The Perfect Couple, the latest book from my favorite author Elin Hilderbrand 📚
Every summer I wait for a brand new book from Elin Hilderbrand and am never disappointed by it. This year it was bonus, she wrote a murder mystery that happens on a wedding weekend in Nantucket. The maid-of-honor is found dead on the morning of the wedding and suddenly everyone in the wedding party is a suspect. The story is very gripping, moving swiftly between the current day and the past. It is told from various characters point of view. The plot is so interesting that I finished the book in a weekend (that’s 466 pages for you). The only thing I wish the author had done was, end the murder mystery more cleanly, bringing more closure for all the characters and make it more dramatic like rest of the book. I felt the actual murder, for which the book is written, was not addressed properly at the end. Apart from that I really enjoyed reading this book. Its very entertaining and an absolute page turner. I have already started waiting for the next one from the author. Elin Hilderbrand, I hope you are listening 😉

I rate this book 4/5 (1 star missing only for the ending).

Couldn't help but share this one, me enjoying some samosa's and hot chai while reading this book.

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Book Review | Bring Me Back

Hello All. Today I have a book review for you all. It's B.A.Paris's latest Bring Me Back. I received a advance readers copy from St. Martin's Press recently and I was very excited to read and review it.

The story is about a couple Finn and Layla who are on a trip and one night Layla goes missing. After searching a lot for few years, Finn finally moves on with his life. 12 years later as Finn is about to marry, he gets a call that someone has spotted Layla. And then starts a thrilling plot with unreliable characters making you suspect every character as you read along this nail biting thriller.

Bring me back is a psychological thriller which once you start reading, is hard to put down and you keep going back to, until you have finished it. The story keeps going back and forth between the past and the present and as I was reading the book, I kept guessing what the ending could be and would change my mind every time there was a twist in the plot. The main characters themselves are not particularly endearing which makes you wonder if they could be behind the mystery. The final climax was something I did not guess at all was totally surprised by it so kudos to the author for coming up with it.

I rate this book 5/5. The book releases on June 19th, 2018 and get your hands on it right away to read this well-written thriller.

Book Review | The Hate U Give

Hello everyone. Today I am reviewing a book called The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. This book was published in February 2017 and quickly became a best-seller in no time. When I read rave reviews about this book I wanted to read this one as well, so after a long wait in the library I got my hands on a copy early this year.

The story is about a girl named Starr who witnesses shooting of her unarmed friend by a cop. This story line might sound familiar to you as it is loosely based on a similar real life event that happened few years ago. The similarity ends there and the story takes its own twists and turns as Starr's life unfolds after her friend is killed in front of her eyes. The big part of the story is how Starr juggles between her home life in a poor neighborhood and her school life in a fancy suburban high school. Apart from a strong story line, well narration the story also consists of a mini love story, drug dealers and some high school drama(which is part of every teen's life).

This book is not something which is easily forgettable. It makes you feel sad, angry and motivated all at the same time. There are some really good lines written in this book which I will remember forever, like this one - "Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right".

I rate this book 5/5.

Book Review | Mrs Funnybones

Hello Everyone. Here I am with my first book review of 2018. Most of you know that I am avid reader and finish at least one book in two weeks, unless I am stuck with a boring book. But the book that I am reviewing today is anything but boring. It's Mrs Funnybones by Twinkle Khanna. If you are from India, you would already know who Twinkle Khanna is. For those of you don't she an ex-Indian actress, now a successful entrepreneur and columnist. She rights a column in Times of India as Mrs Funnybones, hence the title of the book.

I read this book early last year but couldn't get around to sit down and review it. This book is about Twinkle Khanna a.k.a. Mrs Funnybones and hilarious incidents in her life. So its more like reading someones personal diary with chapters being different incidents from her life. The book is easy to read and makes you laugh out laugh(literally), so much that more than once my dear husband had to ask me "what are you reading" and "share it with me". The book is really small and I finished reading it in a day.


If you have been contemplating reading it, I would recommend that you actually read it. I rate it 5/5.

Book Review: One Indian Girl

A lot of you have asked me on Instagram, to post the reviews of the books I have been reading and its been a while since I posted any book reviews on my blog(even though I have read a LOT of books), so I decided to post one. The book that I am reviewing today is by an Indian author - Chetan Bhagat. He has authored a number of popular books and most of them have been made into movies already. One of the reasons Chetan Bhagat's books are popular are because he writes very simple and easy to read books with relate-able stories. Which is why some of the readers who think they are oh-so-superior by reading (and pretending to complete) books like Ulysses and Fountainhead - find his writing below there standards. I do not believe in such BS and have read all his books and was waiting to get my hands on his latest one - One Indian Girl.

One Indian Girl, as the title suggests, is a story about an Indian girl,Radhika, who is smart, successful and well to do, but at the same time faces a bunch of challenges and social myths which every girl typically faces in Indian society. The narration of the story is done very nicely and there was not a single point where I felt it was getting dull or uninteresting. The author has done a commendable job in writing and portraying Radhika's (the protagonist's) character. Full marks for voicing a girls thoughts and dilemmas, totally relate-able. The climax was unpredictable and I enjoyed the way the story ended. Though it was a good read, it was lacking the wow factor that some of Bhagat's previous books had. I rate this book 3/5.

Overall I would say it is a good book for a perfect weekend read (I finished reading it in 2 days). Read it if you can get your hands on a copy. Also read the other book reviews posted by me by clicking HERE.

If you want to see what I am currently reading, you can do so by clicking HEREand following me on Instagram. Happy Reading.

Book Review: Winter Stroll

Hi Friend's, today is another book review of mine that I am sharing with you all. As you all know Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorite author's and I have read each and every book written by her. You can read my previous review of her book The Rumor HERE. Today I am reviewing her latest book Winter Stroll which came out in October 2015. This is the second book in her Winter Series. The first one was Winter Street.

Winter Stroll is a story of Quinn family which gather in Nantucket for the winter stroll weekend. The whole story only takes place over the course of a few days, but we are filled in as to what has transpired over the year, since the end of last book Winter Street. The story is told from all the character's point of views, instead of one, which is really interesting as every family is facing challenges of their own - some major , some minor. The book has a open ending which leads me to believe that next year there will be another book in this series.

Elin Hilderbrand never disappoints me and I can say I am NOT disappointed yet again. I loved reading about Quinn family again this year and I could identify with each of her detailed characters and their storylines, as her writing style is comfortable and inviting. Yet again a entertaining weekend read by the author. I would rate it 5/5.

Book Review: The Girl on the Train

Hello Friend's, today's review is the New York Times Bestseller The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The book has been so popular among the readers that after 250 holds in library and a long wait I could get my hands on it only few weeks ago. I was really excited to read the book and expected it to be an "un-put-down-able" thriller but all that fell flat after I started reading the book and was into few chapters. First and foremost the main character of the story Rachel is made so pathetic and unreliable that I lost half the interest right there (If you have read my previous reviews, you would know, strong, independent women are my kinda heroines).

The story proceeds with a "missing person" plot and no its not Rachel that goes missing, she is not even remotely related to the whole drama but decides to meddle in it anyways because yes, she is that pathetic and has nothing better to do with her life. Two other female characters are added in the book Anna and Megan. Megan is the one with intriguing character but that's where it ends and has nothing more to offer to the story. After the introduction of all the characters the story proceeds into a suspense novel. I did become quite interested in the mystery. I wanted to know what happened to Megan and why. I also wanted to see if Rachel would ever grow a backbone and get herself together. I didn't foresee the changes happening in the climax so that was a plus point. Anyway, my final rating for The Girl on the Train is 2/5, in-spite of the rave reviews it got from other readers.

Book Review: The Accidental Apprentice

Hello Friends, I received a overwhelming response from my last review (Thank You Readers) so I decide to post another review of the book that I finished reading yesterday. "The Accidental Apprentice" by Vikas Swarup. This is his third book, he is famous for his first book called "Q & A" which was later made into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. The Accidental Apprentice was released in 2013 and it was recently that I came across the title and decided to give it a read. Even though I have watched Slumdog Millionaire, this is my first book that I read by the author.

From the beginning the book is easy to read with a story of seven tests, given to the main character named Sapna Sinha. She is a normal salesgirl at one of India’s many electronics shops when she is approached one day by a man named Vinay Mohan Acharya, supposed head board member in charge of the ABC Group. Vinay Mohan Acharya offers to Sapna, if she can past his seven tests that he will make her the CEO of the ABC Group, which comes with a multi-million dollar yearly salary. And hence starts the tests and the story proceeds. The story gets very addicting and can be called sort of a thriller to read. At the end I was convinced the story has enough masala and thrill to be made into a Bollywood movie, only to read somewhere that they are making a movie already, based on this book.

Parts of the book will make you cry with Sapna and her family, others will make you frustrated with the description of corruption happening in the country. The book builds up nicely, with Sapna’s tests becoming more and more personal and harder to separate from, and the climax was something which I never expected - which made me like the book even more. I would rate this book 4/5.

To see the details of the nail art featured above, click HERE.

Book Review: Scion Of Ikshvaku

Hello Friends, the book that I am reviewing today is the first book in Amish Tripathi's Ram Chandra Series called 'Scion of Ikshvaku'. If you follow Indian authors, you would know that Amish Tripathi is famous for his Shiva Trilogy books. Scion Of Ikshvaku, his latest book, released on 22 June 2015, is a mythological thriller based on Lord Ram, the legendary Indian king regarded as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

The plot is the story of Ramayana told through the modern eyes. Different mythological characters are shown as real life people with real feelings in this book. Lot of philosophical discussions between the brothers and some characters, which I couldn't help but feel are related to current social problems of India. The narration is very good and the best thing I like about Amish's books is the strong portrayal of female characters, be it Parvati from Shiva Series or Sita from this book. Amish Tripathi is definitely literary pop star (as mentioned elsewhere). I am now eagerly waiting for the 2nd installment of this book.

Book Review : The Girls of August

Today is National Read a Book Day. So I decided to post the review of the latest book that I read - The Girls of August by Anne River Siddons. This is my first book by this author. I found it in "Top 10 beach reads for summer" category on Good Reads (Add me as your friend on Good Reads - search for Sony Mansoori).

The concept is very interesting, its about 4 friends, who rent a house every August, away from husband's, work and real life, to spend time with each other. This tradition of theirs comes to standstill for few years after some unfortunate incident. The story begins where they, after a gap of few years decide to continue with this tradition one more time. Unfortunately the book falls flat after that in its story line. There are a bunch of odd scenarios in the book, like Chapter 7 could easily have been skipped and the readers wouldn't have missed anything. The ending was really weird, the author could have choosen to send the book in a different way which would have made up for other short comings of the book.

To be frank, I wasn't much impressed by this book. If you decide to skip reading it, trust me you not mot missing anything. I rate this book 1/5.

Book Review: Those Pricey Thakur Girls

Hello Friends, on popular demand is today's Book Review of "Those Pricey Thakur Girls" By Anuja Chauhan. The book, set in 1980's India, is a story of an upper-middleclass Rajput family of five alphabetically named sisters. The story mainly revolves around Debjani Thakur, the fourth sister and her career as a newsreader at DeshDarpan (read Doordarshan) and her current lovelife with Dylan Singh Sekhawat, who is a news reporter with India Post. The novel is not just about their romance, it also touches upon the anti-Sikh riots and independence of journalism during those items. If you remember growing up in India in late 1980's the book will make you nostalgic of "Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi" comedy tv show, news reader Salma Sultan's signature "rose tucked in her hair", Doordarshan's infamous depressing music and most awaited, Chitrahaar every Friday. The book is a nice read but I personally prefer Anuja Chauhan's first book Zoya Factor over this one. There is also a TV series started based of this book called "Dilli Wali Thakur Gurls".

To see details of the nails featured in the pic above, click HERE.

Book Review: The Rumor

It's been more than a year since I posted any Book reviews on my blog. Even though the main focus of this blog is nail art, once in a while I like to share my Henna art, my travel experience or book review of the latest book that I read.

Recently one of my followers on Instagram asked me to post the review of a book I read. Some other's asked me to post the review of every book I am reading. This made me think why not start posting book reviews regularly.

So here is the the review of a latest book that I read. The book is a new one called THE RUMOR from one of my favorite author's – Elin Hilderbrand. I have read all her books and love each and every one of them. The Rumor released in June, 2015 and me being her biggest fan had to read it rightaway.

Elin Hilderbrand's novels have all been set on and around Nantucket Island (she lives on that Island). Reading her novel makes you want to go and live on that island in summer. The story of THE RUMOR, as the name suggests, is about a set of rumors surrounding the families of two best friends Madeline and Grace. Some of the rumors are true and some are just made up. From beginning to end this book keeps delivering! You won't be able to put it down. The characters are real and story line is great. You will fall in love with Grace's garden ( I wanted to sit on the Adirondack chair and stare at the harbor for hours) and would want to eat the lunch spread, that she makes. This is a great story of how a small rumour can effect everything in that person's life and all those around them too.

If you haven’t read Elin Hilderbrand books, then run to the nearest library or book store and start now with whichever book of hers, you find first. My first book of Elin Hilderbrand was Castaways. I saw the book at a book fair and decided to borrow it from the library so I can try the author and her writing. By the time I was finished with it, all her books were already in my library queue and new ones were pre-ordered. I assure you that you will be addicted with her books and would want to read each and every one of them. Her writing style is clean and easy, which is what I prefer.

I would rate The Rumor 5/5. A must read (I finished it in 4 days).

What do you think of this new Book Review section on the blog? Do you like it? Would you like to see more book reviews in this space? If so then let me know in the comments section below. If you want to see which book I am reading - look up the tag #sonyreads on Instagram.

List of my Top 10 books

I was tagged by one of my friend's on facebook to list my top 10 books. Now those of you know me well, know what an avid reader I am. I don’t read as much as I used to read before but I manage to read a book or two in a month. So instead of just posting my list on facebook, I decided to post it on my blog as well. These books may or may not have been life-changing for me but I have definitely enjoyed reading them, some of them more than once. So here it goes –

1. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott:
A Classic. What more can I say. It is my all-time favorite book which I have lost count of how many times I have read. The movie adaption was equally good if I may say so.

2. To Kill a mockingbird – Harper Lee
This is a surprise for me as well. While I was reading this book, I wasn’t sure if I liked it but once I was finished I had to agree with the rest of the world. I book was really good and well written and I couldn’t help but add it to my top 10 list.

3. The Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
MUST READ. These are the two words I can describe the book in. This book is rendition of “Mahabharat” from Draupadi’s point of view. Very interesting, very addicting, you won’t put down the book until its finished. You can read the review of this book HERE. It’s a shame I don’t own a copy of this one. Definitely on my wishlist .

4. The Help – Kathryn Stockett
I never thought I would enjoy reading a social drama with such serious theme. The way author portrayed each character with compassion and humor while letting a serious story flow is amazing. Very well written.

5. Garden Spells – Sarah Addison Allen
Oh Gosh. My most FAVORITE author ever. I love love love all books written by Sarah Addision Allen. It was hard to choose just one book so I listed her very first book here. All her books are MAGICAL. You need to read one to understand what I am talking about. If I know you personally, I would have recommended her books to you one time or another. You must remember me reviewing her latest book Lost Lake. If you don’t read the review here.

6. Beautiful Day – Elin Hilderbrand
Another one of my favorite author. Her books are based in Nantucket and I have enjoyed reading every one of them.

7. Malgudi Days by R.K.Narayan
If you are of Indian nationality, you would know why I listed it here. This book reminds me of my childhood. Why just the book? Even the tele-series based off this novel as well.

8. Beneath a Marble Sky – John Shors
A Surprisingly a well written book by an American Author that too about Indian Mugal history. I even own a signed copy by the author himself :)

9. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The mysterious novel where the narrator’s first name is never revealed and no she is not called Rebecca. Best-seller for sure.

10. Twilight Series – Stephanie Meyer
Best series ever …didn’t take me long to become a Twihard.

Book Review: The Palace Of Illusions

Mahabharat is a major Sanskrit epic of ancient India the tells the story of two noble families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, who battle each other over rule of the Hastinapura kingdom. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni retells this story of Mahabharat from Draupadi's point of view. She was the wife of all five Pandava brothers hence also known as Panchaali. The plot remains true to the original, but the story beings when Draupadi is born out of fire to avenge her father. It proceeds with more details of her life from childhood to being tricked into marrying five Pandav brother's and what follows after that. Kudos to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni who has taken a male-centered story and breathed a new life into its female characters, giving us a story that is both contemporary yet timeless. I would definitely recommend you read this book whether or not you have read Mahabharat before. I would rate this book 5/5 and kudos to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni for taking such a bold step.

Book Review: Lost Lake

Apart from nail art, I have a bunch of other hobbies. I like sketching, painting, scrapbooking, cooking, traveling and reading books. Among all, reading books is my favorite hobby. When I was single I used to devour as much as one book a week, sometimes two. But I don't find that much time anymore. Still I manage to read one, sometimes two books in a month.

Since I have a blog now which is even though more about nails, I decided to add book reviews to it as well ( don’t worry I wont add reviews of all the books that I read ). The blog’s main focus will still be nail art, but I want get my reviews out there as well, just to keep things interesting.

So the first book I decided to review is from my favorite author – Sarah Addison Allen. I have read all her books and love each and every one of them. Her latest book Lost Lake released on January 21, 2014 and me being her biggest fan pre-ordered the copy through Amazon.

There is only one word to define Sarah Addison Allen’s book – MAGICAL. And that’s how Lost Lake is Magical. The story is about Kate who has lost her husband in a terrible accident and is recovering from that grief. I will not discuss the story here as you can read the excerpt online. But it’s the story of Kate and the other character’s that come later in the picture which is filled with magic, mystery and secrets. Sarah Addison Allen writes books where you do not want the story to be over ever. But once it does, you want to keep the book after you finish them, to read again & again. And that’s how Lost Lake is, you would want to read it again and again, just to experience that magic, comfort and sweetness all over.

If you haven’t read Sarah Addison allen books, I would recommend that you start now and start with her first book – Garden Spells. I assure you that you will be addicted with her books and would want to read each and every one of them.

I would rate Lost Lake 4/5 stars.

If you want more details on the nail art featured in the picture above, you can check it out here.
What do you think of this new Book Review section on the blog? Do you like it? Would you like to see more book reviews in this space? If so then let me know in the comments section below.