pen.books.and.scalpel

BOOK NAME: AN ISLAND AUTHOR NAME: KAREN JENNINGS GENRE: LITERARY / CONTEMPORARY FICTION PUBLISHER: PICADOR / PANMACMILLAN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://www.amazon.in/Island-Longlisted-2021-Booker-Prize/dp/9389104203 BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Another great book, and writing let down by weak execution. I totally understand why it was not the booker favourite of many in 2021. Samuel, the 70-year-old lighthouse keeper, is the sole resident of his island after having fled from the mainland. He cooks for himself, cleans and maintains the lighthouse, feeds his hens, tends to his farmland and occasionally disposes off the bodies of refugees that wash up on the shore. Though he is old and lonely and survives on the weekly ration that comes by boat, he is content to stay in a place that he can finally call his home. One day, the body of a young foreign refugee shows up on the shore, and he is surprised to find him alive. He gets to spend four days with this man on his island, and instead

BOOK NAME: MANSUR AUTHOR NAME: VIKRAMAJIT RAM GENRE: HISTORICAL FICTION PUBLISHER: PANMACMILLAN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://www.amazon.in/Mansur/dp/9390742978/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW This book is based on the life story of Ustad Mansur, the master painter and artist in Emperor Jahangir's court during the Mughal Empire. He was one of the finer artists to paint animals and birds after closely observing them, and he even painted a few from his imagination. His portrait of the dodo is so famous that it's said that their eyes were painted with a precision that no one else ever managed to recreate. He is also said to have signed his paintings even during the seventeenth century, which reflect his confidence, position and power in the court.  The Empress Nurjahan also bestows him the responsibility of handing over a few souvenirs to the emperor himself after painting each page with a butterfly. From what history says, Man

BOOK NAME: A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD AUTHOR NAME: ANNE TYLER GENRE: LITERARY FICTION / DOMESTIC FICTION PUBLISHER: VINTAGE BOOKS - PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE BOOK BUY LINK:   https://www.amazon.in/Spool-Blue-Thread-Anne-Tyler/dp/0099598485 BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Imagine Waking up to a warm bowl of your favourite soup on a rainy day with birds chirping around your balcony; your mother prepares your favourite meal on a Sunday - be it biryani with cucumber raita or a steaming pot of daal khichdi or a comforting bowl of white sauce pasta; the warmth of an evening bowl of Maggi or ramen (whatever you want to call it) with a cup of tea or coffee while reading your favourite book and resting your sore and tired legs into a tub of lukewarm water. How does this all sound to you? Comfort, right? That's precisely how I felt reading this book. It's about an ordinary American family living their everyday life among the chaos and love. It's a family saga spanning four generations that t

BOOK NAME: MURDER UNDER A RED MOON - A BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB MYSTERY BOOK 2 AUTHOR NAME: HARINI NAGENDRA GENRE:  MURDER MYSTERY PUBLISHER: HACHETTE INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://www.amazon.in/Murder-Under-Red-Moon-Detectives/dp/1408715236 BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW There is no denying that cozy murder mysteries have become a part of my reading routine occasionally because of the social commentary involved and the comforts these books provide. It is safe to say that I have read quite a decent number of cozy murder mysteries and police procedural / detective stories to have certain expectations from a book and draw comparisons between them.  This book is the second in the Bangalore Detectives Club mystery series, which involves the story of the famous detective, Kaveri Murthy, who tries to solve a murder mystery involving her distant relative. She must find Mr. Sharma's killer soon to avoid the possibility of having a murderer on the loose. Could it be his second wife Shant