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Author: Jeffrey Archer Total pages: 336 Total approximate words: 1,00,800 SYNOPSIS Harvey Metcalf, one of the protagonists of the story is a man of ill-fortune. Despite his poverty-ridden childhood, Harvey manages to amass extreme wealth by the time he is a grown man, thanks to his shady deals with corporates and banks. In one of his latest duping strategies, four men fall victims and lose a combined value of one million dollars. When they find out the person behind all their losses, they come together and weave plans on how to get their money back, with a series of deceptions and tricks. How did I like the book? Well, a book that has survived decades and is still easily available in book stores everywhere, is kind of hard not to like. The novel, first published in 1976, has surely gone through all the testing that its readers and critics had to offer and has lasted through it all with flying colours! The plot is suspenseful, the words used are easy to understand and the portrayals are done aptly to the settings of the early and mid-twentieth century. The narration is not too fast or too slow. It maintains a consistency that keeps the reader in sync with each turn of events while still keeping the suspense alive till the end. With its fair share of drama involved in the plot and a bit in the protagonists, I wouldn’t be surprised if the novel is adapted into a Hollywood movie! A good 8.5 for this novel, and another Jeffrey Archer book for me, please! Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Happy reading!

Author: Lavanya Sankaran Total pages: 350 Total approximate words: 1,19,000 SYNOPSIS The plot has two protagonists, Anand, a family man and a factory owner, and one of his housemaids, Kamala. Both their stories are narrated simultaneously while bringing the other characters like a bridge between their stories. Anand, a hardworking man, at times gets caught up in the unnecessary complexities that his marriage of fifteen years brought with it. His efforts in expanding his factory were no cakewalk either, because of the local political goon and the corrupt bureaucracy. Kamala, the housemaid, is honest, and hardworking too whose life revolved around her twelve years old son who she raised all by herself right from his birth. Her initial days in the city as a construction site labor were the worst of all, and she was grateful to her fate for finally having a job as secured as a housemaid. Kamala’s son Narayan was an obedient mamma’s boy, and helped her in all possible ways. One of those times were when Narayan fixed a broken table lamp all by himself at Anand’s place, he is pleasantly impressed by the young boy’s intelligence and decides to sponsor his education in a good private school. The story ends, with Kamala being fired by Anand’s wife who was known to be temperamental with the housemaids. Kamala however finds a job just next door, and Anand continues to support her son’s education while he handles the political goon and succeeds in expanding his factory despite all the hurdles that came along. Did I like the book? Hell yeah! The characters seem so mundane, yet their individual stories were so vivid. The story weaved around two different sections of the society, while showcasing the good, and bad at the backdrop, is heart-warming to read. The narration is paced just right, in the perfect mid-point of fast and slow. The writing is mature and relaxed. The novel is a perfect example of how simple elements from ordinary lives could be put together to make an extraordinary piece of storytelling. The plot doesn’t incline towards one specific genre, but instead takes a handful of this and that, and makes it into one wholesome story filled with a bit of realism, a bit of fantasy, a pinch of romance, and a tinge of suspense. It is one of the best books that I have read so far! 10/10 for THE HOPE FACTORY.

Author of AVIATION WINGS Gagandeep is an aviation trainer, recruiter, and author of the book AVIATION WINGS. The book has information about the recruitment process, eligibility criteria, airline grooming, and frequently asked questions at an interview. It also mentions the recruiter's perspective during an interview and what kind of candidate do they usually look for in an airline interview. It is an excellent guide to know about the basics of the airline industry, especially the cabin crew and ground staff job profile. Currently, she is working on her second book, which is also a non-fiction, but not any career related. TBG had a great time engaging in some interesting conversations with Gagan. Click the video below to watch the full vodcast. Gagan can be contacted through THE BOOK GULLY for any aviation-related queries. Aviation Wings can be bought on https://www.amazon.in/Aviation-Wings-Arun-Sharma-Gagandeep/dp/9389024269/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HKZZTYT5X139&keywords=aviation+wings+by+arun+sharma&qid=1646240288&s=books&sprefix=aviation+wings+by+arun+sharma%2Cstripbooks%2C456&sr=1-1 Follow TBG on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/THEBOOKGULLY Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/tbgthebookgully/?hl=en

Author: Stephanie Rowe Total pages: 314 Total approximate words: 91000 Plot Satan’s former apprentice Paige Darlington, quits working for Satan and is now living a new life with her friends, who are also immortal like her and have otherworldly powers. While she was enjoying her time away from hell (literally), Satan secretly put an evil wraith in her who was in the process of slowly consuming her soul to turn her into the most destructive destroyer of all the worlds. On the other hand, when Satan Jr comes to know about the evil wraith in progress, he sends an assassin, Jed Buchannan, who is also a shadow warrior, to bring Paige to him. In return, Satan Jr promises to release Jed’s brother Raphael who was being mercilessly tortured by him for some other reason. Obviously, when Jed and Paige see each other, they fall in love. The rest of the story is about how Jed tries to save Paige from turning into an evil wraith while disobeying his boss’s direct orders, and also somehow ends up saving Raphael from being taken by him too. How do I like the book? If I was a nineteen-year-old, I might have actually enjoyed the characterization, and the occasional soft porn that the plot had while showing Paige’s and Jed’s romance. Too bad I am almost 32! The narration has some humor in it in how it describes Satan’s character, his broken heart, and his machoism in considering destroying the world as an act of revenge. Also, the relationship dynamics of Satan and his son Satan Jr are pretty amusing. At its best, the plot is a Juvenile imagination, without much depth. Gets monotonous with the repeated lovemaking scenes. (Hurray for people who like steamy scenes!) The characterization is comparable to Netflix’s LUCIFER. Part of me even considered the possibility that the creator of Lucifer might have got the idea from this book! Guess we will never know! I might never pick up this book ever again unless it’s the last book left in the world to read. On that note, I would rate this book a 5/10. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Nevertheless, happy reading!

Author. Nora Roberts Total approximate words. 55000 Pages. 216 Temptation is the second book of 2022, that I have laid my hands upon. I have bought it so long ago, that I don’t even remember when. The previous book that I read before this one was To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. It was an intense reading, and Nora Robert’s Temptation was just the right book to pick after. SYNOPSIS The story revolves around Eden Carlbough, who lost all her family wealth after her father passed away leaving behind only bad debts for her. After losing almost everything and a fiancée who left her because of her situation, Eden decides to start afresh by starting a summer camp for girls along with her close friend Candy. It is here that she meets Chase Elliot, owner of an apple orchard, and the man with whom she eventually falls in love with. CONCLUSION It is an easy-going romance fiction without the complexities of a classic love story (Pride and Prejudice, or Wuthering Heights, for instance), both in terms of story and its narration. The writing is easy to understand, and the narration was not overly detailed, which was also why it wasn’t a boring book at any point of reading. I would have enjoyed it more ten years ago, when I still had delusional fantasies about falling in love (I am a much more practical person now 😊). All in all, a good pick, if you are looking for a read for a few lazy afternoons. I would give it a 6.5/10.

Kelly is a Creative editor, grammarian, and general writing polisher from Cape Town, South Africa. She has worked with independent authors and corporate clients in her career spanning over a few years now. She is passionate about helping young non-native English speakers to get their stories told in English. In Kelly's own words, '' I work very closely with writers and authors to ensure that I get a full understanding of every aspect of their stories. Gently, together we will expand on creative ideas, correct all grammar issues, ensure clarity, and polish up expressions of ideas; all while maintaining the true essence of your story.'' The Book Gully had the awesome opportunity to make a vodcast with this amazing and talented woman. Click the link below to watch the vodcast. Below is a brief about the entire editing process as shared by Kelly. ''How it works: We meet on Zoom so I can listen to a brief outline of your story told by you We will go through some sections of your writing together and discuss some creative options. This will give you an idea of how I work and how together we can bring colour, life and clarity to your piece. You send me the writing that you would like assistance with. I will do an initial word count and quote a price on this. Half of this amount will be paid upfront as a retainer before I begin editing your piece. We will have weekly 30 min meetings to discuss progress and suggestions. I will provide unlimited weekly meetings until you are completely satisfied with your work. On completion of your work, a new word count will be calculated and the balance will be paid. Where it works: All documents will be shared and edited via google drive, this allows for simultaneous editing. All meetings will be held on Google meet. Once you have made an appointment for a meeting you will receive a meeting invitation from me. All payments can be made via Paypal and the details will be included in your initial quote. How much: $20.00 per 1000 words. Please be reminded that this includes all meetings and revisions.'' Get in touch with THE BOOK GULLY to book a chat with Kelly Hanegraaf for more information on her work and services. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/THEBOOKGULLY & Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tbgthebookgully/

Author: Harper Lee Total Pages: 309 Total Approximate words: 1,08,150 The new year hasn’t been the happy one so far that I was hoping for, after receiving so many good wishes on the first day of 2022 (bummer!). I fell sick, and so did my husband (since we couldn’t keep each other away from each other😉). And I was reminded how horrible it is to fall sick. Thankfully, after January became the official pill popping month for us, we were both saved by our relentless white blood cells, and are now back to our own ways of hustling. Him running a Sustainable Home Design consultancy where I support him with my two cents and me with my writing gigs. And this is how, finally on the fourth last day of the first month of 2022 I am ready with the first book review of this year. SYNOPSIS: The story is based during the 1930s American era, when racism was far from being subtle. A black man is falsely accused of raping a white girl in a small town, and a white lawyer is appointed as his lawyer. Despite getting threats from mobs for defending a black man, the lawyer tries his best to convince the jury of the accused’s innocence. The jury (comprising of only white men) however, still did not acquit him and was sent to jail, awaiting his capital punishment. The accused man, gave up all hopes of ever getting an exoneration, tried to escape the prison and got shot seventeen times by the prison guards. The story is narrated from the perspective of the eight-year-old daughter of the lawyer. CONCLUSION: The narration is slow in the beginning, with details describing the residents of the community. The pace doesn’t change until close to the midpoint in the book. The accusations on a black man and the unfairness surrounding the trial finally improves the pace, and it gets interesting. The details as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old in the courthouse gives a very different and interesting perspective. Despite being a child, Jean Louise Scout’s narration sounds very mature at almost all the phases of the story, which at times also seemed a bit unrealistic. The story is slow, and the hype surrounding the book, in my opinion was a little too much. Undeniably the story had a good intention, and it successfully delivered what it meant to from the very beginning. In the sea of fiction books, this one is definitely an above average pick. Much better than ‘Love Story’ by Erich Segal, for example, but still far from books like ‘The Martian’ by Andy Weir or Amish Tripathi’s books. I have enjoyed portions of the narration, and the overall plot of the book. I know I am being very brave here by rating a book that won the Pulitzer Prize, but I think a 7 out of 10 is a fair rating from my side of perspective. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Nevertheless, happy reading!

124 Days 21 Books Read 19 Books Reviewed 6 Funky poems composed 2 Vodcasts made That was 2021 in a nutshell for THE BOOK GULLY. I think the year 2021 turned out to be more significant than its predecessor 2020. Last year, I finally quit my flying career of ten years, to pursue writing, full time. Well, to be honest I was the unfortunate part of the huge laid off that happened because of the pandemic, and I wont lie, it felt immensely betraying. The limited dopamine and serotonin eventually convinced me to see the negative circumstance as an opportunity, and pursue my interest in writing. On a personal front, since then I have written almost 144,000 words. Well, of course not all of them were for the blog, but a mere 5 percent. The remaining 95 percent went down for my two manuscripts, which I am working hard to convert into published fiction novels (whose launch dates and buying links would be published in the website, so stay tuned for that!). THE BOOK GULLY being still a four-month-old baby, is very small. I am almost proud of how much it has done since its very first blog published, 124 days ago. Apart from reviewing books, and writing poems here, through this cool platform I am always in lookout for fellow writers for possible collaborations, and new authors, editors, publishers to make new vodcasts, from different languages all across the globe. If you would like to be a part of the vodcasts, or collaborate for reviewing books or writing poems, drop me an email at jayshreemdas@gmail.com, alternatively connect through our social media platforms. See you soon next year!

Author: Christopher Paolini Total Pages: 850 Total approximate words: 300,000 Last couple of weeks have been pretty interesting. I was going through the stacks of my many books (not trying to show off), and decided to start the row that I haven’t touched since they got a cosy space in my bookshelf. Through the course, I read THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir (OMG what a terrific read it was!), THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown (wasn’t disappointed), ONE PART WOMAN by Perumal Murrugan, and INHERITANCE by Christopher Paolini. I kept putting these books on the side, because honestly they looked intimidating, majorly because of their sheer size, except the Tamil translated in English ONE PART WOMAN (because I was getting carried away by books written by more famous authors; kind of shallow of me, I now understand). Another thing that intimidated me was the font size. The smaller the font, and the thicker the book, my mind perceived it something of a ‘boring book’; the same stood true for too big fonts too (who would have thought that there were wierdos out there choosing their next read based on the size of its font right!). Once I got tired of chasing the high of reading books written by authors whose work I was more familiar with (Amish Tripathi’s books for instance; I love them by the way), I finally took a deep breath and decided to venture into the unknown. And then finally, after the writing wizards Andy Weir, and Dan Brown wiped my inhibitions of indulging in the unknown, I picked INHERITANCE. And oh, sweet mother of God what a ride and read it turned out to be! I didn’t just have had to finish a 300,000 words book, but it also needed to be finished before 2021 ended. That was 850 pages in twelve days. And that is exactly what happened. INHERITANCE is the fourth and final part of the four series books by Christopher Paolini. I haven’t read the first three parts, however, Paolini gives a brief of the books in the first few pages (which was helpful actually). The story revolves around the protagonist Eragon, a dragon Rider in his quest to save the empire from Galbatorix, the evil king. He is joined by the elves, the dwarves, the last remaining dragons, humans, and other magical creatures in defeating Galbatorix. After a series of unsurmountable challenges, loss of many lives, the evil king is finally slayed by Eragon, of course with everyone else’s help. The story is extremely elaborated, with details of the many fights and wars that happen throughout the book. An entirely different world is created with numerous different species, and hundreds of different characters in those species. Each character has been described justifiably, so have been every small incident in details. The plot is small, but the world created around the plot is humongous. Despite Eragon being the lead character of the story, the author beautifully and diligently puts the lime light on other (supporting) characters from time to time, which gives the reader the space to choose a favourite character (Roran, in my case), other than the protagonist. If you are into epic stories like LORD OF THE RINGS, then this book (in fact, the whole series) would be a no brainer for you. Despite being such an elaborate novel, and my first time in reading such a book, I would surely read this epic book at least once again, if not more. I would rate this fat gorgeous book a 9/10. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Nevertheless, happy reading!

Author: Celice Maree Total approximate words: 77000 “Misconceptions of Forgiveness” is a memoir. Celice has written about a part of her life when she was living in the cosmopolitan city of Dubai and was working as a flight attendant. The book is majorly focused on her failed relationships with two different men, her struggles as a single white woman in the middle east, and the pitfalls of her time zone jumping job as a flight attendant. It is a story of her being exploited by these men, emotionally, financially, and physically over and over, and over again, for years. She has written freely and boldly about the repeated physical abuse that she first faced from Harry, a Kenyan man (the man she loved for more than five years) the repeated lies on cheating and stealing, and draining her of her own hard earned money while having sexual relationships with tens of other women for years; and then from Omar, an Egyptian man (for another five years), who was a narcissistic, compulsive cheater and liar who gave the illusion of being the perfect man for any woman and then slowly and calculatedly exhausted Celice’s mental, physical and financial strength. Celice’s story gives the reader an idea of how she was raised in a first world country, where people were more straight forward and less deceptive, keeping her unprepared and unguarded when she moved to a different country, and more so when she fell for men like Harry and Omar, who came from very different countries, in essence from very different cultures. Her story gives a very realistic impression about what could possibly go wrong if two people from massively different cultures get together. The memoir is very graphic, as Celice mentions in a chat we had, while promoting her book, and it surely is. But that is what also makes it very intimate to read. And that is what also makes it a memoir. It is a very detailed memoir, focused on her struggle to forgive repeatedly the men she loved, and how every single time, she was let down by the same men. At certain intervals, the narration tends to get monotonous, and feels like a continuous outburst of rage, but then again, in real life when it happened, it must have just happened like that, non-stop and brutal! Celice’s story is considerably relatable to myself, and I am sure a lot of women out there, who would read this book as a lesson or as a guide for their own lives too. The narration is unapologetic and mind numbing at times, as she takes the reader through an extremely personal story through the years of trauma and torture. Celice’s humble attempt in writing her story is inspiring and brave, to say the least. I would rate this honest memoir a 6/10. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Nevertheless, happy reading! :) Click the link below to purchase this book. https://www.shawlinepublishing.com.au/our-titles/non-fiction/display/110-misconceptions-of-forgiveness.

Author: Perumal Murugan Total Pages: 240 Total approximate words: 71000 The novel was originally written in Tamil, and then translated in English. I am guessing, the Tamil read would be more tantalizing, because I firmly believe, some of the original beauty gets lost in translation. Having said that, the version that I read, has been quite a treat too. The story revolves around a couple who were married for twelve years and were childless, despite all their efforts in pleasing all kinds of gods, and trying every available means. The setting of the story is in the pre independence era in a remote village in the south of India. The couple despite having no child, were very much in love with each other despite their families encouraging the man to marry again, for the sake of having a child. The man, however, at times thought about getting married again too, because of societal and family pressure, but promised his wife, that only if she liked the other woman, then he will bring her home, otherwise not. But because of his wife’s tantrums, and also for his love towards her, he waived off such thoughts. The families however were so desperate, that they even considered the wife sending to another man in the name of god, just to get her impregnated. Despite Kali the husband, strictly prohibiting the families to even think of such unethical means, the wife’s brother succeeds in deceiving her and makes her believe that Kali was okay with her going to another man in the name of god to have a child. Because of the circumstances, the wife, Ponna doesn’t get an opportunity to verbally hear the consent from her husband, and trusts her brother’s words and reluctantly agrees. After all, that would give them a child, and that is what they both have wanted for so long. The story ends, with Kali discovering that his wife has gone with another man for a night, and abuses her of cheating on him. The narration has an old-world charm, perhaps because the story is set in the yesteryears. The words used for the most part is easy to understand. The plot is not gritty but it doesn’t get monotonous at any point. The narration is neither fast paced, nor very slow. It is just about apt for a laid-back leisure reading. The character building is diligent and it sincerely tries to take the reader inside the character’s mind, which for me is a personal treat while reading a fiction. On a scale of ten, I would rate this book a good 8. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers and the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Happy reading!

Author: Dan Brown Pages: 590 Total approximate words: 1,94,000 Wow what a read! My absolute good fortune to be able to get my hands on such incredible books, that too, back-to-back (I read The Martian before reading this book, check the review here, https://www.thebookgully.com/post/the-martian). I was almost sad as I reached towards the end pages, realising that I would have to part ways with Robert Langdon, and Sophie, and Leigh Teabing, and almost every character that I came to learn about through this thriller of a book. Wouldn’t want to give any spoiler alert by writing much about the story. It is a thriller & suspense novel, with conspiring stories about one particular religion. There is a lot of chase involved between the characters, as they venture out to find the ultimate truth which is also a secret. The chase has endless cryptographic riddles, limited time, the police, and some secret society involved. The story has twists and surprises like any good thriller fiction, and a decent amount of drama. The story continuously develops with every chapter and builds on the suspense. Excellent plot making and character detailing. The vocabulary used reflects that the writer is a native English speaker, and that made me look up the meaning of quite a few words in the dictionary (I actually like it, as it helps me learn new and fancier words for my own writings). Despite being a bulky 590 pages, at no point did it feel like a drag, or even monotonous. The details about the historical references, including people and places is described with such aptness that it reflects the generous amount of research that has gone in the making of the story. It is a feel-good factor for me, when the author does this kind of due diligence, and treats its readers as someone who would appreciate the details that all the ground work brings in for the creation of a beautiful narration. If you like reading thrillers/suspense fiction novels, this book is a no brainer. I would rate this book a straight up 9/10. Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal reading and understanding of the book with my own limited experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t guarantee the same level of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction to other readers, as well as the reviews could vary from individual to individual. Nevertheless, happy reading!