Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior - Book 1, by Chris Bradford

Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior - Book 1, by Chris Bradford

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I started this series at a time when I was despairing over what I would read next. My ever-knowledgeable librarian, Pratap uncle, knew just what to give me. He handed me the first book in this series saying I should definitely read it. The author of these books is Chris Bradford. This was the first series which I have come across, where they talk in detail about the fighting arts of Japan. The first three books talk about the fighting arts of the samurai and the other five books are about the fighting arts of the ninja. The plot of the first three books, as I have only read those many, talks about a boy named Jack Fletcher, who is shipwrecked when he is on his way from England to Nagasaki with his father. He lands in Osaka with all the crew on the ship dead, killed by ninjas, including his father. He has to adapt to the way of the Japanese and also protect the navigational logbook called the rutter, his father’s most prized possession. It was the key which would guide him back to England. Unfortunately, the knowledge of the rutter has spread far and wide and has attracted unwanted attention. He is then adopted by a samurai warlord, Masamoto Takeshi and sent to a school to learn the art of being a samurai. He has to fight for his life, as a dangerous assassin and an angry fellow student are out for him, and are ready to do whatever it takes to kill him.

I liked this series because it was very well researched. The author gave proper Japanese terms and also has given a glossary at the end of the book. The different fighting arts have been explained very well, helping the reader understand what exactly was happening in the book. Most of the series and books I have read, have portrayed the protagonists to be near perfect. This series was different, as it showed all the flaws in the character and taught us an important lesson. You cannot eliminate your flaws if you do not try to or don’t work hard enough. A ninth book is coming out in 2019.




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© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

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I decided to read this series quite on accident. One of my mother’s friend had given us some books. One of the books included the fourth book in the Maze Rubber series. This gave me the perfect opportunity to start reading this series. There are five books in all, the first three being the main books, and the other two being prequels. My favourite books were the first one – The Maze Runner, and the last one – The Fever Code. The main books talk about a boy named Thomas who remembers nothing except his name. He wakes up to find himself with a bunch of boys, all who are like him, stranded in a maze with nothing except their name. The boys call the place the glade and themselves Gladers. Every month, a new person is introduced into the Glade, and this time it is Thomas. After Thomas arrives, the next day, another person is put in, and it is the first girl in the whole group. There are openings in the Glade and hey close every night. This keeps monsters called Grievers out of the living residence. The doors in the Glade stop closing and that the Grievers outside can get to them. Thomas and his friends figure out that a group called WICKED have trapped them in the maze and they manage to escape, but WICKED isn’t done with them yet. They put the Gladers into many other tasks in order to obtain a cure for a disease which has taken over the population of the world and is driving people to madness. They will not stop until they find a cure, even if that means that many lives will be taken. Will Thomas and his friends escape before WICKED’s experiments claim yet more lives, and this time, perhaps theirs?

I fell in love with this series after reading the blurb. It sounded gripping, much like a thriller, a genre of books I particularly enjoy. The author, James Dashner, managed to keep up the suspense, and when you read the fifth book, you are surprised to find the whole truth, as the main books leave a lot of unanswered questions which the fifth book answers. I would recommend the series for ages 13 above, because the books have a few gruesome deaths which can be disturbing to read.




© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments), by Cassandra Clare

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments), by Cassandra Clare

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Mortal Instruments: In the seventh grade, I wanted to read this series, but my librarian said that I was too young for it. In the eighth grade, I started reading it (I do not know what one year of time can do to a kid which makes them suitable to do tasks which they were not allowed to do before). This series is written by Cassandra Clare. The whole series talks about a different world from the human one, where werewolves, vampires, wizards, etc. all exist, but are much different from what you imagine. They are commonly referred to as Downworlders. Topping them all are Shadowhunters, a race of warriors who have sworn to protect the humans and the Downworlders from demons. The main protagonist is a sixteen-year-old girl named Clary Fray, who is told she is a a Shadowhunter in the first book. The series has two main antagonists, one is Valentine and the other is Sebastian, both who I am not going to tell you about because they are spoilers. All I can tell you is that they are two power-hungry maniacs, one who wants to wipe out all the Downworlders and the other who wants to wipe out all shadowhunters. Clary along with her friends have to stop these two villains before they wipe out an entire species.

It was the first series which I have read, where there was some serious romance between the characters (I skipped those bits. Too soppy for my tastes). This made it different, because before reading a page, I had to skim over it, fearfully, hoping there weren’t any nasty surprises.




© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

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The curious incident of the dog in the night-time: My father really wanted me to read it, saying that it was very well-written. He was right as usual. The book is one of my favorites and is so different, unique. The narrator of the book is a fifteen-year-old boy named Christopher Boone who has some behavioral issues and is an introvert. One of Christopher’s talents is his ability to excel at Math and Physics. However, due to his behavorial issues, he can’t read others’ emotions at all and that makes it hard for him to communicate with people. One day, he sees his neighbor’s dog being murdered and is determined to solve the mystery. On the way, he finds out the truth about a lot of things which had been left unexplained or lied about to him.

Mark Haddon has truly made this book stand out. One thing that catches your eye is the fact that the chapter numbers are not consecutive numbers but are prime numbers. The style of writing is very simple and allows you to explore the mind of young Christopher Boone. Every step taken by Christopher is explained and sounds sensible from his perspective. More than the solving of a mystery, it is more of Christopher’s way of solving the problems in life. It gives you a different perspective from which you can look at a problem - a somewhat simpler one.



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© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories Kindle Edition by R J Palacio

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, by R J Palacio

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Auggie and Me: This is the second book written by R. J. Palacio after ‘Wonder’. For those of you who haven’t read her earlier book, it talks about the difficulties in the life of a boy named Auggie Pullman who has a physically deformed face and bad health. ‘Auggie and Me’, is related to Wonder, but it doesn’t talk about Auggie. It talks about the people in Auggie’s life. These two books made me read ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night time’, as all three talk about boys who have some problems with social interaction but are extremely talented and unique when you get to know them. It is like their backstory, sharing a little bit of what it was like before they met Auggie, and their experience with him. There are three stories in it – one from Julian’s perspective (a boy who bullied Auggie), Christopher (Auggie’s earlier friend) and Charlotte (a girl who is kind to Auggie).

The Brahmin, by Ravi Shankar Etteth

The Brahmin, by Ravi Shankar Etteth

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Avishi and Abhaya are two historical fictions written by Sai Swaroopa Iyer. After reading them, I started enjoying historical fictions and was thirsting for more. That was when my father gave me The Brahmin written by Ravi Shankar Etteth. It is a murder mystery set in the time of King Ashoka.

When one of King Ashoka’s concumbines is murdered, the eponymous Brahmin, the head of the spies working under Ashoka, is sent to investigate. On reaching the murder site, he finds a red kovidara flower next to the body, which indicates that the dangerous assassin, famously known as the Red Flower is on the loose and is here to kill the king. When he informs the King about this, he is given seven days in which to find and capture the killer. The Brahmin along with his trusted lieutenant Hao decide to go to Ujjain, the residence of Queen Asandhimitra, as the war strategy plans are stored there. He stumbles upon sinister plots and his cunning is put to test when there is a chance that Queen Asandhimitra’s life is in danger too. How will he save Magadha when the enemy is always two steps ahead of him?

Carrie By Stephen King

Carrie

By Stephen King

Category: fiction: horor

Age: 12+

Reviewed by: Anvita

Buy from: Amazon IN, Amazon US

One of Stephen King’s earlier novels, this book explores the world of a bullied girl, Carrie, with a maniacal mother, and of the wondrous power of telekinesis which Carrie possesses, that does such horrible things. Carrie is teased at every stage of her life and is beaten up by her mother all the time. When Tommy Ross invites her to the prom ball, Chris, one of Carrie’s bullies along with her boyfriend Billy Nolan plan up a horrible night for Carrie. Forced, Carrie uses her powers that lead to terrible consequences. This was one of the first horror books that I have read, and I quiet enjoyed it because it wasn’t actually as scary as it was interesting. The reason I liked the book was how Stephen King built the plot up, and the techniques he used to make the whole story of Carrie believable, as if Carrie was a real-life character. He describes the mentality of every single character helping us understand why someone was evil and why someone was not. He has also used fake newspaper article snippets on Carrie’s problems, and has also created a fake autobiography written by Sue Snell, one of Carrie’s classmates. This makes the story very credible, as Stephen King also includes science articles that show how someone can have telekinesis.
© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

The Last Ghost: A Belladonna Johnson Adventure by Helen Stringer

The Last Ghost: A Belladonna Johnson Adventure (Belladonna Johnson Mystery)

by Helen Stringer

Category: fiction: fantasy, horror

Age: 12+

Reviewed by: Anvita

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

This is one of the books in the Belladonna Johnson series, which is written by Helen Stringer. It revolves around a girl named Belladonna Johnson who has the power to talk to ghosts. One day, all the ghosts slowly start to vanish, and that includes her dead parents, whose absence she never felt because she would talk to their ghosts. With the help of Steve, her friend, Belladonna has to find where all the ghosts are disappearing. Before her father disappears, he warns her that the doors are closing, leaving Belladonna puzzled. Which doors? Where are the ghosts going to? I thought that this book was full of mystery and adventure, and a lot of humour. Helen Stringer made you wonder where the ghosts could have gone at every step, and also introduced a new plot in the book adding more excitement and making you want to read the next book to find out what happens. She introduced a whole new story once the ghosts started disappearing which is what actually drew me to the book.

 © 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl

by Eoin Colfer

category: fantasy, Science-fiction

Age: 9-12+years

Reviewed by: Anvita

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

Most people must have heard of this series, and I have to admit I hadn’t read it until late. I went to this bookstore called ‘Blossom’ on Church Street and bought the first book of the Artemis Fowl series to see what the speciality of the book was. Believe me, this series of books are mind-blowing. Artemis Fowl, a twelve-year-old criminal mastermind, discovers the world of the People, basically the world of pixies, elves, dwarfs, goblins, centaurs and much more. He wants to steal some of the gold that the People possess. In order to do this, he first convinces an ailing sprite to lend him the copy of the Book, the only text that contained all the rules that the People would abide by. He then kidnaps Captain Holly Short, a fairy who works as a captain at LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Recon) and asks for a huge ransom. The People decide to set off a bio bomb once they run out of all options. A bio bomb is a bomb that destroys any form of living tissue in the place where it has been set up, leaving the rest the way it was. How will Artemis escape the bio bomb, and also secure the gold he wants? This book has been able to describe the magical world effortlessly without making things too complicated or confusing.

Unlike most books about magic that I have read, these books slowly introduce facts about magic that need to be known to the reader. The plot never lags or gets boring. There is a twist at every turn, yet there aren’t too many - just enough to keep the story interesting. There is a lot of suspense and the reader can’t stop anticipating what would happen next.

© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Time Riders - Book 1 By Alex Scarrow

Time Riders - Book 1

By Alex Scarrow

category: fantasy, crime, thriller, science-fiction

Age: 12-16 years

Reviewed by: Anvita

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

This book is a science fiction books series written by Alex Scarrow. It talks about a group called ‘The Agency’, whose main goal is to prevent people from meddling with the past to change the future. Three people, Liam, Maddy and Sal, who should have been dead, have been given the chance to join ‘The Agency’ and get to live life in secret. Foster, an old man who recruited them helps them run the agency. They work with the help of cyborgs, robots who can imitate human emotions. Their first mission is when a man called Kramer goes back to the time of Adolf Hitler and changes the past so that Hitler wins the world war. This results in a huge time wave. They now live in a place which is rigidly structured and the whole of New York city is bleak and grey. Liam and the cyborg Bob must go back in time to prevent Kramer from changing the past. Later Maddy, Sal and Foster find out that all their engines have shut down, and they need diesel to run them again. Meanwhile, another time wave strikes that ends up killing all life on earth and mutant cannibal creatures now live on Earth. How will the three bring back Bob and Liam without their engines working?

This series is very fascinating, as the part about time travel and the machines used is explained very well. The technique using which the three handle the problems with the help of Bob, their support unit, is truly unique, and none of the stories in the books is repetitive. Each character’s personality is different, allowing the hero to have some faults, showing that not everyone is perfect. To make the story better, Alex Scarrow has added a different plot. While the three are busy correcting history, they discover dark secrets about the agency. This makes it mystifying and each secret is very important to finding out the truth about the Agency.

© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Point Blank (Alex Rider Book 2) by Anthony Horowitz

Point Blank (Alex Rider Book 2)

 by Anthony Horowitz

category: fantasy, science fiction, horror

Age: 12+years

Reviewed by: Anvita

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

 

In the last newsletter, I talked about a series called ‘Power of Five: Raven’s Gate’. The same author has written another best-selling series named ‘Alex Rider’. Filled with the hair-rising adventures of Alex Rider, a fourteen-year-old who is forced to take the place of his deceased uncle, Ian Rider, an undercover spy for MI6. He is sent on a mission to reveal the secrets of Point Blanc, a disciplinary school where the rich send their children to help keep their toes in line. The accidental deaths of two parents whose kids were at Point Blanc, makes the MI6 suspicious and they send Alex to investigate the place. He is disguised as the son of Sir David Friend, a rich man who owns a successful chain of supermarkets and is equipped with a set of clever gadgets to assist him. The genius of the plot of any of the books in this series is that the solution is so spectacularly clever that one cannot even think of it, yet when one reviews all the facts, everything adds up. Usually in books involving spies, they mostly mention the excitement of the profession, but this book takes a new perspective. It shows the dislike that Alex feels towards the agency and his profession. None of the scenes in the books sound very repetitive, as if the plot of this book is the same as the plot in other such books.
© 2018, Anvita Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Our Indic Book Recommendations

From among all the books we covered in our monthly newsletters, here are some that we recommend on topics that are Indian or written by Indian authors. Hope you like them!

Six Spellmakers of Dorabjee Street, by Shabnam Minwalla 

Age: 10+ 

Category: fiction, adventure 

I can promise you a lot of laughs from this.  Nivi and her brother Nikhil, have just moved into a dull grey building called Cosy Castle, on Dorabji Street in Mumbai. She adjusts quickly with her surroundings and befriends a girl named Sarita. Their favourite spot was the garden located in the apartment. The garden had two large Bimbli trees which they used to climb and read books on. Two old ladies, Mrs. Braganza and Mrs. Katodia hate to see children laughing and playing, and start to plot together to inflict misery on the innocent children. Nivi, Nikhil, Rehaan, Sarita, Venu and Vijay must save the bimbli trees, their favourite spot.
Reviewed in our July 2017 eGranth newsletter 

A Mauryan Adventure, by Subhadra Sen Gupta 

Age: 9+ 

Category: fiction, history, mystery 

Set in the time of King Ashoka, the book is about a girl named Madhura and a conspiracy to overthrow king Ashoka. It is how Madhura and her brother Karthik, a spy, along with the help of Kamalika, a dancer who is also a spy, find out about the conspiracy and catch the culprit. I really liked this book as it portrayed Madhura as a girl of strong character,
Reviewed in our Aug 2017 eGranth newsletter! 

Gita for Children, by Roopa Pai 

Age: 12+ 

Category: Religion, Philosophy 

It reads like a storybook, simple and interesting. The chapter names itself are catchy.  Reviewed in our Aug 2017 eGranth newsletter. 

Brahma Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Brahma Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the seventeenth purana I am reviewing and is a Rajasika purana. It is the first purana in the order of puranas and has around nineteen thousand shlokas. The Purana is divided into 245 chapters (adhyayas). It is believed that the Brahma Purana was the first to be composed. We are not very sure of this because the original text of this Purana is lost, and the present text is not very old. If one notices the Brahma Purana, you will notice that it seems to have been reconstructed based on the accounts of the Vishnu Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Vayu Purana, the Mahabharata and the Harivamsha. I do not know how this Purana is a Rajasika Purana because it doesn’t appreciate Brahma more than the rest of the gods, and the part about creation is the same as the other Puranas with no extra information. This Purana starts with creation and goes on to talk about the stories behind different tirthas and temples, which also have a hidden value behind them.

Favourite Stories

Skanda Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Skanda Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the sixteenth purana I am reviewing and is also my last Tamasika purana. I love this Purana and it is my favourite purana as it has many stories. Puranas are named thus as they are of purakala (ancient) times and also because they complement (purana) the knowledge of the Vedas. The Skanda Purana is the thirteenth Purana in the list and is the longest Purana with eighty-one thousand shlokas. It is nine times the length of the shortest purana and about four to five times the length of a purana that is average in length. It is believed that the Skanda Purana was the first Purana to be written, as quite a few of the stories are the same ones that are mentioned in the Mahabharata. This Purana is divided into seven parts or khandas, which are as follows:

• Maheshvara khanda – the part relating to Shiva
• Vishnu Khanda – the part relating to Vishnu
• Brahma Khanda – the part relating to Brahma
• Kashi Khanda – the part relating to the holy city of Kashi or Varanasi
• Avanti Khanda – the part relating to the kingdom of Avanti
• Nagara Khanda – the part relating to the cities (nagara)
• Prabhasa Khanda – the part relating to the holy tirtha (place of pilgrimage) of Prabhasa

Varaha Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Varaha Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the fourteenth purana I am reviewing and is the last of the sattvika Puranas. This Purana is slightly longer than the Vishnu Purana, and is divided into two sections, the purva bhaga and the uttara bhaga. This Purana is known as the Varaha Purana because this Purana was narrated by Vishnu in his Varaha avatara or form to the Earth on her request. This Purana does not talk about any specific topic but include the usual information that any Purana should have, and then narrates stories according to the questions asked by Mother Earth. The stories in this Purana include many stories on the different tithis and also on the different sites of pilgrimage, and also include a lot on why Mathura is one of the holiest places one can visit. This Purana also points out what acts will displease Lord Vishnu, and how would you make an idol.

Favourite Stories

Agni Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Agni Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the twelfth purana I am reviewing, and this too is a tamasika purana. The Agni Purana was narrated by Agni, the god of fire, to Sage Vashishta, who then narrated it to Rishi Vyasadev. This is how the purana got its name. Unlike most puranas, the Agni purana does not have any parts, or bhagas. It is simply divided into three hundred and eighty-three chapters. The last chapter is considered to be the most interesting chapter as it talks about the Advaita brahmajnana, which teaches the union of the individual human soul (atman) with the brahman, the divine essence. This is very important and interesting because only when the atman and the brahman merge will one experience true bliss. The Agni Purana is an exception as the five characteristics that a Purana should contain are not all there, as the Agni Purana contains more of rituals, practices, omens, astrology, etc. This Purana is eighth in the list of Mahapuranas and contains fifteen and a half thousand shlokas.

Bhagavata Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Bhagavata Purana, by Bibek Debroy

This is the tenth purana I am reviewing, and this one is also a Sattvika Purana, as the name suggests. It is placed fifth in the list of Mahapuranas and is considered to be one of the most important ones. The Purana has eighteen thousand couplets and is divided into twelve sections. Each section (skandha) has several chapters. The tenth skandha is the longest, and also the most popular as it contains various stories on Lord Krishna. This Purana, like most Puranas has been narrated to the rishis by Suta, Romaharshana’s son. Romaharshana was a disciple of sage Vedavyasa. This Purana also says that Vishnu had twenty-four incarnations, though it mentions only twenty-two of them.

Linga Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Linga Purana, by Bibek Debroy

This is the eleventh purana I am reviewing, and it is a Tamasika Purana as I have already reviewed two sattvika puranas in a row. This turns out to be a coincidence as the Linga Purana is eleventh in the list of Mahapuranas and is the second shortest Purana as it has only eleven thousand shlokas! The Linga Purana is divided into two parts - the purva bhaga, which has a hundred and eight chapters, and the uttara bhaga which has fifty-five chapters. The language of the Linga Purana is not that simple to interpret as it is made of long sentences which makes the comprehension difficult. It does not purely consist of rituals as Tamasika Puranas should contain. It includes an assortment of stories that glorify Shiva, and also a few that glorify Vishnu. The rituals in this Purana are barely mentioned, at least in the abridged version of the Purana that I am reviewing. Information on the geography of India, and on the Solar and Lunar dynasties is the same as the Bhagvata Purana with a few minor variations.

Brahmanda Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Brahmanda Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is my last Mahapurana that I have to review and is naturally my last rajasika Purana. This Purana is made up of eighteen thousand shlokas which makes it a medium sized Purana. The Brahmanda Purana is divided into three sections known as the purva bhaga, madhyama bhaga and uttara bhaga. Each bhaga is further divided into subsections known as pada. The purva bhaga has the prakriya pada and anushanga pada, the madhyama bhaga has the upodghata pada and the uttara bhaga has the upasamhara pada. The whole Purana has seventy-one adhyayas (chapters) in all. This Purana has been narrated by Lord Vayu to the sages at Naimisharanya forest after a wonderful yajna took place there. The Brahmanda Purana is a Rajasika Purana in a true sense, as they glorify Brahma more than the rest of the gods and that most of the book talks about creation. The stories in this Purana are minimum, and you will find four to five stories, most of which have already been recited in the other Puranas in greater detail.

Favourite Stories

Bhavishya Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Bhavishya Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the eighteenth purana I am reviewing and is a rajasika Purana. It is ninth in the list of Mahapuranas and is made of about fourteen thousand shlokas. As the name suggests, this Purana talks about the future, as bhavishyati, the Sanskrit word for ‘to be’, or ‘will happen’. This Purana has a lot of information on the future, astrological predictions and also about the medieval period and the time when the British came to India. Some puranas like the Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana and the Brahmanda Purana have borrowed their predictions from the Bhavishya Purana. As I have mentioned earlier, the Bhavishya Purana includes events that are pretty modern. Most people don’t think that such predictions were ever made. They believe that the modern events were added to the Purana in the form of predictions supposedly made by sages. There is also this confusion on what makes up this Purana, as this Purana is found in three different versions today. They are the Bhavishya Purana, the Bhavishyat Purana and the Bhavishyottara Purana. None of the three texts separately count for a Mahapurana as they do not have the five characteristics that make up for a Mahapurana. Therefore, the Bhavishya Purana is the three parts together.

Favourite Stories