The tree with a thousand apples by Sanchit Gupta

When you have put your heart and soul and have set sail for your dreams, you have already half way there. There are no expectations, no promises but the sheer motivation to work hard, work hard for your object of passion. In the end what matters the most is how deep are you willing to dive for your object your passion.

Sanchit Gupta has made his mark in the world of story telling and carving out the perfect story that will capture a part of your imagination and after you have read the last page of the book will force you to say a WOW! The tree with a thousand apples is a story about the three protagonists Safeena Malik, Deewan Bhat and Bilal Ahanagar and their journey through the ordeals of the night of 20^th Jan 1990. Deewan's brother. Ravi is killed by an unknown militant group.

Being a Kashmiri pundit is a nightmare when there are militants attacking the city. Deewan and his family takes shelter in Rehman Chacha's house. The general visits his house, people are killed and bullets doesn't differentiates between a family member and a mob.

Safeena's mother is killed and Bhat's family had to flee owing to the tensions growing in Srinagar and are forced to settle in Mumbai. But life takes it toll and 20 years latter destiny brings together the three friends Bilal, Deewan and Safeena.

What happens next?

Where is Safeena and her brother Bilal?

You need to read the book to find out what happens next and how the world will change for the three friends.

A gripping story line and the odd Hindi words in the book will always comfort you that an Indian writer has changed the way story is told and with such audacity that you will be in complete awe. The book never losses the momentum in describing the situations and circumstances that leads to an incident and that is what keeps you in the hunt about how the story will unfold itself.

A must buy book by Sanchit Gupta.

The Poems of Robin R. Rabi

The Poems of Robin R. Rabii are both influential and controversial. With his poems he shares his feelings. How the world around him has changed, how a baby can change one's perspective about life, religious wars, he has even spoken about the greatness of America, how the society has treated women and also how women have given birth to all the legends that have walked on the Earth.

One of the poems that I loved is “An Open Poem to God”, where he says,

Dear Almighty God, how can you be so bear the oppression that happens in the world and how the unfit men are teaching about religion and the poet wishes that God should stop talking with his self-appointed priests. The poems speak of love, betrayal and about the world filled with war and violence.

One of the best part of the book was the Preface of the book where the poet describes with such skill and precision about life and a mind that is free. Free from the narrow thoughts, can achieve a lot more than a person with a cheap mindset.

I loved this sentence from the Preface

“As we tread the path to self-transformation, messages from our subconscious are sent to our dreams, new thoughts are directed to our waking mind. The aggregate of all these gives birth to coincidences that begin to occur with frequency, generating the types of experiences and attracting the types of people that aid in the journey to be free from cultural, societal, ethnic and religious conditioning.......”

I felt as if the poems have spoken for themselves, the message they wanted to convey to their readers. As you flip through the pages you will be in awe about the imagination and the in depth analysis of the poet about a certain subject.

I liked a lot of the poems but some poems are not for everyone though. The poems are worth reading and the more you read the more you will find yourself immersed in this world.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day".

Read more about the book at Online Book Club

Book Review of Immediacy

Immediacy is a series of essays written by the author that compels one to think about the intricacies of life and how things are related to one another.

How can your thoughts influence you and still be very different from what you are perceiving at this particular moment. It a paradoxical world where every other thing happening contradicts how you feel or will feel once the moment passes. You may feel good at a moment and the very next moment something else may happen with you and your mood can change.

The author has mostly focused on the Nazi rule and how his family members suffered. I sincerely felt that this book would have influenced me more at the age of 45 or 50 than it does to me at the age of 25. I felt like this is too much for a 25 year old guy to think about things that dive deep into the world of psychology. The author has gone on to say why Hitler was an influential person and how he was a false Messiah, to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, to a person on a death bed and how she discovers the meaning of life.

The topics discussed here are very different to one another but as you read those essays it all makes sense, but the only proposition that goes against the book is that rather than talking about more how good can prevail, he has discussed more about evil and how to learn life lessons from it.

It was daunting to me to learn so much of truth about life and at a certain point of time I felt as if enough is enough, the author should stop now. You need to follow a pattern when you describe things or want to convey your feelings. But conveying your messages in a way that the reader feels like to set aside the book for a few minutes or hours before resuming again, isn't a way I would love to read.

The book is great for anyone who loves psychology and wants to learn the mysteries of life. It isn't for everyone out there. Only a selected few can understand the true meaning of the book and the messages imbibed in it.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day".

Read more about the book at Online Book Club.

Book Review of When Leaves Fall

About the book

Ralph wakes up to what others only experience in a nightmare. Chained to a shed, he has no idea where he is, or who his captor is. His memories are blurred at best. As the days press on, he finds himself experiencing a roller coaster of feelings. Hunger, thirst and pain become his only companions. Flashbacks of a happier time are all he has to keep him going. As his situation deteriorates, he finds himself doubting he ever had the very thing he wants most - a family.

When Leaves Fall is a dramatic thriller with a twist. Keep the tissue box close for the ending.

WARNING: Sad ending

My Review

Ralph isn’t sure what is happening. He is chained in an isolated and desolated place and isn’t sure why is he there in the first place. Who chained him and why? How can you treat a living creature this way? He is forced to use a corner outside the door as a bathroom, and has nowhere to go and there is no one in the vicinity to help him.

Now who is Ralph and why is he chained. The mystery that surrounds the story creates an atmosphere of oblivion. I wouldn’t be a spoiler and you need to buy and read the book to find out what happens next to Ralph. Honestly speaking it was mind blowing when I found out who is Ralph and why was he left alone.

The author has really added an unexpected twist to the story and I really liked a part of the story that says

“A single falling leaf grabbed Ralph's attention. It fluttered playfully about, caught in a gust of wind. It blew around in circles a few times before drifting peacefully down to join the others. How lucky that leaf was. If, at that exact moment, he could choose to be anything, it would have been that leaf. Ralph sighed - brought back to reality by another problem he didn't want to face.”

Interesting piece of story with a twist, that was totally unexpected. Anyone reading the story can relate to message the author has tried to convey to her readers. I like the story and would love to read more of her work.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day"

Read more about the book at Online Book Club.

Envoy of Jerusalem by Helena P. Schrader

About the book

Hollywood made him a blacksmith; Arab chronicles said he was "like a king."

He served a leper, but defied Richard the Lionheart.

He fought Saladin to a standstill, yet retained his respect.

Rather than dally with a princess, he married a dowager queen—and founded a dynasty.

He was a warrior and a diplomat both: Balian d’Ibelin

Balian has survived the devastating defeat on the Horns of Hattin, and walked away a free man after the surrender of Jerusalem, but he is baron of nothing in a kingdom that no longer exists. Haunted by the tens of thousands of Christians now enslaved by Saladin, he is determined to regain what has been lost. The arrival of a vast crusading army under the soon-to-be-legendary Richard the Lionheart offers hope -- but also conflict, as natives and crusaders clash and French and English quarrel.

This is Part III of a biographical novel about Balian d'Ibelin. The first two books in the series, Knight of Jerusalem and Defender of Jerusalem, were both BRAG Medallion honorees. Defender of Jerusalem won the 2016 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction set in the Middle Ages and was also awarded the Silver (second place) for Spiritual/Religious Fiction in the 2016 Feathered Quill Book Awards. It was a finalist for the 2016 M.M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day".

My review

Envoy of Jerusalem is the third book in the historical fiction genre series about the king Balian d’Ibelin. He had surrendered the Holy kingdom of Jerusalem and was set free by the Sultan. But he is determined to take control of the kingdom as soon as possible. His thoughts are always about the people of the land and how to evade those people from being slaves of the Sultan Salah ad-Din.

A fight to get back the land they had called their own some days ago before the attack of Salah ad-Din. Balin was able to free himself and was able to free the people who were able to pay the ransom. But there are many who can’t afford the ransom and were held captive till, Balin finds a way out.

The story tells us a tale of Lord Balin and the wars that he has fought, which makes the historical fictional book interesting. I just fell I love with the narration and how the author has used his writing skills to get the attention of the reader, just making him spell bound with the plot. I had a great time reading the book though I was very confused with the characters in the story. At one point of time I lost track of the where the story was going to, as the characters kept changing on every page.

I would love to see a movie made out of the story. A picture says more than a thousand words, so a movie will do justice to the story and its characters.

A great book that you will keep you engaged till the very last page. 

Read more about the book at Online Book Club

Book Review of Into Autumn.

Book Blurb

Lars is living alone in the Texas countryside when the economy collapses and his world becomes a dystopian nightmare. Joined by outsider Eileen, he and his neighbors band together for survival in their “Peaceful Valley.” They must learn to scratch out sustenance while fending off predatory invasions in an increasingly violent and lethal world. Into Autumn is a sweeping adventure, a thought-provoking saga that could happen to us all.

My Review

Lars the protagonist of the story is fed up with this life and decides to purse his dreams at the age of 54. Lars went on from being a mechanic in his mid twenies to the owner of Lindgren Chevrolet by the age of thirty, he had seen a lot in his life. He decides to live the hustle bustle of the city life and buys a 40 acre land near a river on the county side, so that he can live peacefully. He has everything he needs but he is missing something. He needs a woman in his life, having divorced his wife.

Now the author introduces us to Eileen, who worked in stock markets and after the stock market crashed on one fine day, and the news channels reporting of riots and the disturbance in the world, enough is enough for Eileen. She decides now is the time to leave the city and head south, to go far away from the city life.

On her journey to the south, she happens to drop by at Lars property. She eventually plans to stay with him and falls in love with Lars. But things were not going to be easy there. To be able to protect herself from intruders she has to learn how to shoot and a lot many things this, quite different from the city life.

Things turn around as chaos takes palace, the government is practically non-existent and there violence is on the rise. Lars and his neighbors have to take steps to ensure their safety.

A story of survival under hardships and far from one's comfort zone. Lars and Eileen's story tells you about the survival of the fittest. One should always be aware of one's surroundings where there is no one to take care of you rather than yourself.

I love the emotions the author has put into in the story and the conversations the characters in the story have among each other. Father missing his son and daughter and taking revenge upon killing his neighbors. The author has depicted the story wonderfully and in a way that you will not put stress on you. You will feel as if you are going with the flow of the story. The pace of story plot is great but I felt as if some parts in the story was narrated too much, excepting that I love the story plot as one situation leads to another and how the protagonists of the story face all the mayhem.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day"

Read more about the book at Online Book Club

Book Review of Outland Exile

Book Review of Outland Exile

Incredible piece of work by the author in showcasing the dystopian world, where the Democratic Unity of America rules over the majority of the population and how it is different from the people living in exile.

Their only crime being their age, anyone above the age of 40 is forced to retire and  they live to the West of the Unity in Outlands and they come to be known as Siris.

Lieutenant Chui is sent as the person in charge to access the damage and restore the station at Sunprairie. On the day of the reaching the station, she overlooked the damages. While asleep after a day’s work she was kidnapped and her ID chip was removed by a man named Jesse. She then had to follow the man for nearly six months before coming to a place where the older people stayed.

Chui was moved by seeing the ways the Siri’s lived, things she had never seen before in her life, the love among the kids, young and the old. Now she is in a dilemma as to what is captivity, the outlands or the Unity.

The emotion described by the author is just out of the box and strong. You can feel how the characters must have felt when they would have the new world they were never introduced to and the freedom that it brought along with it.

In an epic and compelling story W. Clark has made the book a must read for everyone.

This book was an "OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day"

Read more about the book at Online Book Club