Kevein Books and Reviews

Srividya Bhaskara is an expert in food, nutrition and weight management. Her skills and know-how on these matters is brilliant and that is evident from her latest book 20 Healthy Foods for Weight Loss. This book is not a rocket science or a complex exercise regime, it’s laced with knowledge about 20 foods that can make you lose your weight in long term with no possible side effects. The book is well-segmented and presented in five long chapters. But before that there is a long introduction on the need of weight management and how one can keep him/herself healthy and fit, with no obesity around. The book has two sides, one is that it is way useful with its fountain of knowledge, and the second is that it is quite deep with its subject matter. For instance, when the author talked about how to measure weight gain, she takes us to the various health check-up methods too. The focus of the book is weight loss and what food or fats contribute in doing that. She has compiled a list of such

Zeest-E-Zubaani by Sweta Mandal is beautiful, candid, and evocative. It is a shayari book of Hindi and Urdu but written in English. The essence and juice of shayari is maintained, the only different thing is that it’s written in English so that it can reach to global audience. It is a book that one can read anytime to lift up the mood or can indulged oneself into its various themes. The book is for hardcore shayari readers, even new ones can also pick it up. The shayaris are of some different level that will compel you to read and see the work of great ones like Rumi, Iqbal, Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib and many more. Sweta Mandal has brought forward her musings that one gets when one indulges way deep in the blend of Urdu and Hindi poetry and shayari. It is a short book, offering 245 short shayaris. There needs no order to read the book, you can pick it up from any side. Yes, it is a mood soother. Often shayaris are something that explores the vagaries and veracity of our lives by i

Death Counter & Encounters by Amarnath Pallath is a profound memoir of the author who comes unscathed from the den of a deadly disease. The book is non-fiction that recounts the life experiences of the author that deals with death and other queer encounters. The book closely studies the vagaries of life in the face of adversities. Grappled by the deadly disease when the author is admitted at Hinduja Hospital Mumbai, he takes a look back at his life and strange occurrences of death and life that he encountered from childhood to current time. The book is interesting because the author’s life and family history is worth noticing and riveting. From about to falling off a train in the lightning storm to 1971 war to horrific turbulence in flights to Bombay blasts of 1993 – the author details his journey in a fascinating art of storytelling. The book is not only limited about death subject, it rather touches upon the other aspects of life as well such as fear, trust, things that cha

Acts of Sanctification by Amitava Chaudhuri is a riveting general fiction book. It narrates the story of one common young man who plunges into the filth of politics unwittingly. Ultimately, the novel asks its question, is politics career for any one or does it choose its own pawn? The story’s protagonist is Rohit. In fact, the novel tells the tale of this man right from college to getting into politics and much more. As you get deep in the story, Rohit’s story will surface inevitably and it will be tagging along with you. He came from a rich family. His father is a senior cop in Delhi Police. He studies engineering. Well, during college time, he gets close with one girl named Saanjh. Rohit goes too casually with her. She curses her for some revenge. Rohit works in Saunnagar. He gains some popularity due to his helping nature to the fellow workers. However, the big thing knocks his way when one day he slaps the powerful MLA, Murliji. He is being dragged into politics war. But why di

The field of Information Technology is nothing less than a glittering gold. It indeed a goldmine for millions of Indians even today. Getting a job in the IT field is still a dream for millions of aspirants. After all, it takes care of all dreamy aspects that one could think of like offshore projects, travelling to foreign countries, handsome salary packages, fast promotion, and exposure to international clientele, and many facilities that one can hardly get in domestic industries. Above all, IT is a gimmick and glamorous, however, there are only a few who knows it from inside and outside and seen it growing from nascent stage to AI algorithms. The author Satish Badgi is one of them. His expertise and knowledge about the IT is far reaching than many veterans. His debut novel ‘IT'S A Story’ is full of stories pertaining to IT field. The lead character is Vinod from a middle-class family but his ambitious goals of having a life and career in IT nudges the plot of the story. Though the

“Bells of Consciousness” by Kumari Mini Yadav is a wonderful collection of poems that can lift anyone’s mental and spiritual wellness. The book offers 20 unique, slightly connected but totally independent poems. From inspiration to life lessons to gratitude to deep cogitation – the collection has all. The collection commences with “Light” – it is indeed a lovely poem on love and loneliness. In fact, by reading it you may get the feeling that the poet’s hunch is true about love. “In this lonely life Searching the light of love The darkness of loneliness Sees no tunnel Fighting every day with hope It does get lonely.”   The poet is right in depicting that in search of love one becomes a traveler or wanders here and there as it doesn’t come so easily. There is an era of loneliness before it strikes you stealthy in full bloom. Each poem is followed by a saying of Paramahansa Yogananda and a beautiful illustration. The second poem “Crow” draws inspiration of gratitude in l

Below Torrential Hill by Jonathan Koven is an interesting novel about a teenager who is bereaved of love after his father passes away in the woods. The novel is slow burn but quite evocative and emotional in its soul. The novel features the story of sixteen-year-old Tristen. He lives with his mother Lucy and stepfather Lave. Torrential Hill is a small town, the story is back dropped against its exquisite nature and landscape. It is Christmas time but for Tristen, he is drab and gloomy. He couldn’t adjust well with the terms of life after his father went missing in the woods and found dead. There was something sinister related to his death. He could not overcome it. However, Tristen and his mother live in some other trance or fits of mood, may be they hear strange things in the town through their kitchen. Strange things occur in the town like comets falling, explosion of light in the vast expanse of snow. The novel peeps inside the broken heart of this teenage guy. He is into smokin

The Anatomy of a Fiction of Truth by OrpheuS Rayswarnadhir is an interesting novel with snatches of crime thriller in it. The novel is set in entirely fictional places; however, it speaks of the current situation of our country. More often, the book takes a stance on as how religious fanatics disturb the flow of peaceful living and communal harmony in any country. The story, mainly, about investigating the case of one journalist named Aohona Mirsa. She was killed by some goons that belonged to a religious group. This story may not be all based on true events, but it gives hunch that similar violent activities have had happened in the country since its independence and the sole reason was religious fury. A media house is stumbled upon the murder case of Aohona Mirsa. They take it to know the facts behind the murder of that person. So, a few characters from the media house chug ahead to know the inside peaks. The novel moves at a measured pace. It is a good read with optimum focus on

Long Run (A Paradise Augmented) by T. Sathish is a riveting novel that features a larger-than-life character named Raghu from Chennai. The novel is excitingly thrilling, though it's not a crime or murder mystery. In fact more or less, the book is based on Raghu's professional life. His life is truly an inspiration for millions of people. The author’s superb and straightforward narrative adds a sense of excitement to the overall performance of the novel. Broadly putting, Raghu loses eyesight but still he continues the stellar performance in the stock/trading business. As the novel kicks off, we see he is living in some secluded place owing to bad health. A reporter seeks to cover his story, which is not only incredible, but also amazing in its stance. The novel shuttles between two or more timelines, but all are superbly connected. This is one such book that urges readers to move forward with the story, yes there is a lot of financial technical words and situations but its m

Weight Loss: A Sustainable Approach by Pradeep Kumar Pandey is a very realistic book on many important health topics spiraling off the author’s life experiences. However, the title of the book is nothing less than a gimmick, as it says weight loss – which is a hot word among us. In real sense, the book is about the author’s struggle and strategies that he adopted or tried to lead a good, stress free, and healthy life, which also meant that he got rid of obese or fatty personality. On a plus side, this book, being self-help, does not bore readers with banal stuff. It is slightly different…why? The author presented facts and stats from his tried-and-tested life. In the book you will find how the author practiced some tips and hacks that made him lead a cool life. The original experience in the book makes it stand tall from other books in the genre. Let’s see some of the contents of the book. No doubt the book is relevant and full of insights in simple language but it is somewhat ab

Years Spent by Lalit Kumar is a beautifully written poetry collection. The book presents a gamut of themes and emotions that will surely spellbind the readers. Among all aspects, the versatility of the collection is superb and it needs true appreciation by the readers of poetic genre. The poet did a good job by segmenting the poems in five sections i.e. Life and Exploration, Freedom and Adventure, Pain and Loss, Success and Achievement, Love and Passion. Before we examine the book segment wise, let’s see what the title poem “Years Spent” means specifically. It’s a beautifully written poem in simple words. It narrates the vagaries of author's life, how he felt at different junctures. At the end, he seeks inspiration from “Butterfly” that epitomizes detachment from the past deeds and looking to fly away afresh, to soar high. Pragmatic yet inspiring! Life and Exploration: This segment holds 23 short poems, lucidly presented. The major theme in these poems is the innocent remi

Secrets & Ruin by Monica Ageno is a fast-moving dark romance thriller. The novel is staged against an African village. The novel features Winyo and Guma as its main characters. The girl Winyo is poor and lives in Pomolo village, in Uganda. She is the only girl child in the family, with many brothers at her side. As the novel kicks off, we see that there is buzz about Odyek family returning to Pomolo village from some other place. The family is believed to be grappled with black magic and witchcraft. It could be a rumour…be it anything but it sets the element of suspense in the novel to good scale of length or until you confront that this novel is a romance story. However for Winyo, the beautiful girl, it seems like good news. She believes that she will find a life partner from one of the boys from the Odyek family. As the story chugs ahead in a typical fashion, Winyo stumbles upon Guma. It takes time but both find themselves in the web of love. Particularly, Winyo’s narrative a

It's You Always and Forever by Kolagani Babu RP is a nice book of love, romance, and relationship. The book sounds like a novel but a close look reveals that it consists of four long stories that can be read as independent novellas. The main theme of the book is to seek a feeling called love that is essential in life which actuates and fosters relationship bonding in marriage. Another unique aspect about the book is to explore the absence of someone that leaves our life void and empty. If there is a great love and bonding between husband and wife or couples, when one goes away suffering is inevitable. The book kicks off with a long love story called “Last Letter to My Sweetheart”. In this novella, we stumble upon the complicated love life of Varun. He is well settled in Germany with a child and wife named Sudha. However, his world upends when he finds an old letter from his childhood lover Nidhi. Will he go back to her or devise something unbelievable to win her back? Better yo

Inner Trek by Mohan Ranga Rao is a beautifully written and well-captured travel memoir book. The book is non-fiction and based on true events. Right at the beginning, we see that the author is troubled by some land mafia for acquiring his land in Bangalore. Somehow he gets out of that trouble, credit goes to God. His wife is kind and nudges him to take a pilgrimage tour of Mount Kailash to pay gratitude. The story lingers there for some time; the author never had taken such a high-altitude trekking expedition. In fact, he is reluctant to go there, he was thinking of doing some meritorious work towards the God at home instead of going there in the highest region of the Himalayas. By reading the initial portion of the book, you will realize that taking a trek for Mount Kailash is not a child’s play or local tourism. It requires funds and good health and much more. Anyway, they get on the tour. And the context of the book begins changing thereon. There have been many books on Mount