Kevein Books and Reviews

Life Know-How: Sensible Advice to Live Life to the Fullest by Viswanatha Reddy Thalakola is a handy self-help book. This book stands out from other self-help book because of its friendly and casual tone – while reading it you may feel that a friend of yours is sitting around you and giving valuable advice to you about how to proceed in life.

If you are into self-help books reading, you will surely realize that it’s not a warts and all book which relentlessly advocate readers to pursue happiness, success and wealth; in fact this book, unlike others, provides another stance at achieving a good and valuable life.
According to the gist of the book, living life to the fullest should be a basic proposition for every human. Ironically, it is not, and we humans spend all our life to this cause – sometimes it seems like an eternal quest. Well, if you ask someone what stopped you from living a good and meaningful life? The answers will differ from person to person, because every individual on t…

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Manini – the author of ‘Mandodari’. In this interview, Manini talks about her writing aspirations, the route to getting her book published, and her inclination towards mythology. Stay on...while we chat with her.
What motivates you to write? Writing to me is a gift of expression. At times when I write, I put down a strong notion which I didn’t know I had in me. The characters from my book start speaking in my mind and in my case they motivate me to write. How do you handle the response of your new book, ‘Mandodari’? The response to the book has been positive so far. It is going to be a month since it got published and I am waiting for more reviews to come in. ‘Mandodari’ being my debut, I am learning the dynamics involved in post- publishing. Why did you choose to write a mythological novel? I come from a family where we discuss literature, history and mythology with our morning tea. In my family, almost everyone h…

It is a serious story about friendship and commitment one friend has to fulfill after one friend’s death. The story is about friendship between the writer Amitav Ghosh and the poet Agha Shahid Ali. Though they met not so long before, but their bonding seems as they are friends since childhood. Some friendships may not last long but the impact they cast on one another may transcend all worldly barriers.

Shahid Ali and Amitav both live in neighborhood in Manhattan, USA. Though Amitav knows Shahid since his college days, as both were students in Delhi University, but their friendship occurred a few months ago through a common friend. Shahid is a powerful poet from the land of Kashmir, his collection of poems The Country Without a Post Office (published in 1997) have had a deep impact on Amitav. Once Amitav used a line or two from his collection in an article for newspaper.
It is 25 April 2001 that Shahid confirms the news of his impending death due to brain tumor. In that meeting Shahid…

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Rimple – the author of ‘Handwritten Letters in the Bookstore’. In this interview, Rimple talks about her writing aspirations, the route to getting her book published, and her inclination towards music and romance. Stay on...while we chat with her.
What motivates you to write? I don’t have any motivation to write. Motivation is a kind of an impulse. To me writing is something that brings me clarity on what I want, who I really am. It is meditative to me. And meditation is not motivation. Why did you choose to write a musical novel? I write what I enjoy. And music is something that I am addicted to. In last 3-4 years I wrote about few chapters on many concepts I had for my book. They were all thrillers and emotional drama content, but I realized, it’s more intellectual. I wanted my first book to be from my heart. And my heart always craves for music, books and a deep one to one conversation with someone alike. And tha…

In the preface the author has mentioned that there are many games that we have forgotten that our ancestors invented and played. Semmaari (A Lamb’s Gamble) by Samura is an historical novel signifying the value of one such game called ‘lambs & tigers’. This game represents the heritage of Tamil culture and is indeed a real brain teaser. Through this book, the author has tried his best to publicize this ancestral game.

The book introduces us to Semmaari, a poor nomadic shepherd boy who, along with his family, reaches to Chandira Kingdom. Ruled by the king Puthirasekaran, this kingdom is small in comparison to other neighboring kingdoms, but its love and passion for the art of sculpting makes it different and beautiful kingdom. Well, for this reason, other kingdoms keep a vigil and often spy on it.
In remembrance of his father, the previous king Manthirasekaran, Puthirasekaran orders to build a grand memorial hall of high architecture value. The project is led by Sadayudhar – the ch…

The Last Seychelles Flame by Medha Nagur is a romance cum inspirational novel. The book otherwise seem on the lines of quintessential Mills and Boons romance, but certain mixture of dreams and woman power make it a piece of disruptive writing. Even today Indian society acts as an antagonist towards women’s rising and dreams; they have to consider society at the first place before landing into any decision. But why? Because it has been made like this and those who wish going offbeat are coldly called rebels or deemed as unwanted.

Well, here the story is of Adrija, 32-year old and still unmarried. She wants to be an ace photographer and fulfill her dreams than anything else but her parents, being too mediocre, want things otherwise. She has a fantastic job offer from a good advertising company from Mumbai. Much against to her parents’ wish, she moves on there with financial constraint as one of the hindrances.
In terms of love-life, she had a dull past, a past where she was at the rece…