The Monster in the closet by K Kris Loomis - [Book Review]

Book Details:

Title: The monster in the closet
Author: K Kris Loomis
Genre : Fiction, Short stories
Length of the book: 152 pages
Publisher:  Lililoom Publishing; 2 edition (December 20, 2016)
Source: A free kindle copy from the author for review

Blurb:

Growing up is tough. So is growing old. And everything in between? Well, it’s all tough.

Between the pages of this short fiction collection, you will find internet daters, shy bus drivers, talking corpses, playground bullies, and monsters in the closet. Spies, old friends, unhappy teens, grieving sisters, overworked businessmen, and novice chess players bare their struggles and triumphs in local parks, cafes, funeral homes, bus stops, even their bedrooms. 

These poignant, often humorous, contemporary short stories remind us how important human connections are in this crazy, yet beautiful world. 

Fifteen stories in all!

My Review :

This book is a collection of different short stories for children. A few stories are great, some are silly and some are real. The collection is categorized to bedtime stories, the cafe stories, the park stories, the funeral stories, and the bus stories.  

The first story which is also the title of the book is unique and sends across a message that every individual has to learn to overcome their fears and use their sixth sense to detect danger and act accordingly.

The story ' self-improvement ' in cafe stories is very funny. 

'The Gossip Grind' is very nearer to the truth. I wish many people would think like Beth and stop gossip.

The story "Now at peace" is very nice. It is about an elder sister who comes for her mother's funeral to realize a few unknown things about her mom. This story shows how relationships change with time.

"Glue it to your butt" story is cool when we minus the swear words.

"Say something " is emotional and real. I loved the human connection depicted well in this story.

Overall, this is a good time pass read. I enjoyed reading most of the stories. I would have loved to see some twists in the storyline, but a few are simple.

I recommend this book to the readers who love short stories. 

My Rating: 4/5

PS: I have received this book from the author in exchange for a review and this is my honest opinion on the book.

About the Author:
K. Kris Loomis is an eclectic author who writes both fiction and nonfiction books. She is the author of the novel, The Sinking of Bethany Ann Crane, as well as the short story collection, The Monster in the Closet and Other Stories. Kris has also written several books about yoga and meditation and a humorous travelogue about the time she, her husband and their handicapped cat moved to South America called Thirty Days In Quito: Two Gringos and a Three-Legged Cat Move to Ecuador. 

When Kris isn't at her standing desk writing, you will find her playing chess, folding an origami crane, or practicing a Beethoven sonata on the piano. She lives in Rock Hill, SC with her husband and two cats.

Until next time,

A Trail of Honesty by J A Angelo - Book Spot Light

Children's Book, Children's Social Issues

Published: October 2018

Summertime is vacation time for the Angelino family, and the two Angelino boys are excited about their upcoming camping trip. They’re going to the local state park, where they can swim, go fishing, and look for wildlife!

Being on vacation doesn’t mean the boys have to be careful. An encounter with a sneezing deer provides their father with an opportunity to teach the boys about respecting wildlife and staying alert for danger. Knowing more about the park’s wildlife helps the boys have more fun while staying safe. They discover staying quiet and moving slowly makes it easier to see the animals and birds that call the park home.

At the camp, the boys have responsibilities like the rest of the family. When they neglect one of these responsibilities and lie about it, they wind up in trouble—and learn an important lesson.

Beautifully illustrated, A Trail of Honestyteaches children about honesty while explaining actions have consequences. J. A. Angelo’s delightful story is an ideal way for parents to use consequences to teach children how to be better people—not simply to punish them.

About the Author

United States Army veteran J.A. Angelo believes strong family values build strong families. J.A. and his wife enjoy volunteering in their local school district and are leaders in various non-profit organizations catering towards children. They also donate to various national and local charities to include the Apraxia Kids, Wounded Warrior Project, and the Coalition to Support America’s Heroes. A portion of the book proceeds will go to these great organizations to help children and support veterans and their families.

J.A. Angelo is originally from Zanesville, Ohio and currently resides in northern Virginia. He is a dad to three wonderful children – two daughters (16) and (10), and a son (7). He is also a devoted husband to his loving wife of 17 years. He is also the oldest of eight children – three brothers and four sisters. 

Some of our hobbies include spending time with our family, writing, donating time and materials to charities, and going to the beach.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

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Promo Link

Purchase Links

Amazon

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iTunes

IndieBound

Until next time,

Blogging Resolutions 2019

Happy new year to everyone! I think,people are busy this month making Resolutions. Whether we can stick to the Resolutions for a long time or not is some other thing, but setting some goals at the beginning of the year can help in planning, right?

Plans might change, a few plans will fail, we might realize that our planning is bad, but starting to plan keeps us organized.

I am not a person who sets new year resolutions. I believe that any time is good to start something good. A new year is like any other time of the year appropriate to set resolutions.

Here are some resolutions that I want to set for my blog :

1. Consistancy in publishing
If time permits,  I would love to write a post every day. However, I don't have that luxury. So, I want to set a goal of posting twice a week.

2. Spend more time reading other blog posts
I want to read atleast 4 posts a week from other bloggers. Due to the smart phones, we have access to internet every minute and i know that all my friends ' blogs are a second away from me to read. Just I have to set sometime on Weekends to read them,comment and share them.

3. Focus on blog graphics
Thanks to my blogger friends like Corinne , Amrita, I learnt about a lot of tools that can help my blog posts look attractive and grab some eyeballs on social media. I will focus more on creating such good images with watermark of my blog address. I also want to spend more time on creating images specifically for social media.

4. Write quality content

Since I started working again, I am busy this year and so, I cannot write as much I want to. That is the reason i want to spend time on creating quality content on books, parenting and travel instead of churning out more posts per month.

So, those are the basic goals/ Resolutions I want to set this year for my blog. How about you? Do you believe in Resolutions? If not, do you agree with me that setting resolutions help us in long term planning even if we don't stick to them?

Let me know in comments.

Until next time,

This blog train is hosted by www.prernawahi.com, www.vartikasdiary.com and  www.mothersgurukul.com, sponsored by Pandora's Box and Recipe Dabba.

Iam participating in the blo train for the following theme : Unwritten - Your Blogging Resolutions for 2019

Shweta Ka Swayamvar by Sundari Venkatraman - Book Spot Light

Print Length: 55 pages

Publisher: Flaming Sun (Indie published) 

Publication Date: October 26, 2018

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Language: English

Available on Kindle Unlimited 

Genre: Romance, Short Story

When Shweta receives an irrefutable offer from a TV production house to participate in the reality show Shweta ka Swayamvar, she’s not as excited as she should be. And there’s a reason for it.

Adi is attracted to Shweta the moment he sets eyes on the fashion model cum TV actress. But he just doesn’t get an opportunity to woo her as he rushes off to the US for his father’s heart surgery. 

Disappointed at not meeting Adi or knowing of a way to contact him, Shweta signs up for the show, unaware of the surprise that awaits her when the shooting begins…

Are the two of them—Adi and Shweta—meant for each other or will fate keep throwing hurdles in their path? Read the full story to know more.

*A shorter version of this story was published before in the anthology Matches Made in Heaven

  

It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author who has 40 titles (36 books & 4 collections) to her name, all Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon India, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia in both romance as well as Asian Drama categories. Her latest hot romances have all been on #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.

Even as a kid, Sundari absolutely loved the ‘lived happily ever after’ syndrome as she grew up reading all the fairy tales she could lay her hands on, Phantom comics, Mandrake comics and the like. It was always about good triumphing over evil and a happy end. 

Soon, into her teens, Sundari switched her attention from fairy tales to Mills & Boon. While she loved reading both of these, she kept visualising what would have happened if there were similar situations happening in India; to a local hero and heroine. Her imagination took flight and she always lived in a rosy cocoon of romance over the years. 

Then came the writing – a true bolt out of the blue! And Sundari Venkatraman has never looked back.

Click here to check out all the titles by the author...

You can stalk her @

      

        

Grab Your Copy From

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Until next time,

Walking on the path of Indie Publishing by Rubina Ramesh - Book Spot Light

Walking on the Path of Indie Publishing

by 

Rubina Ramesh

 This booklet is temporarily pulled down and will be available soon. In the meantime, if you want to get a copy of the booklet, you can write to the author and ask for a copy at rubinaramesh1973@gmail.com


Now that you have decided to become an Indie author, here are a few tools you will need. 





The Topics covered are: 


1. What it takes to be an indie author 

2. Why have you chosen this path? 

3. Components of Indie Publishing 

4. Tools needed for writing. 

5. The Big Eight Brothers of Social Media 

6. Facebook Marketing: Promotional not Ad. 

7. Checklist for Facebook Marketing before your book is published: 

8. The Other Platforms for Marketing 

9. How to start a newsletter? 

10. Different forms of editing. 

11. The art of Cover Making 

12. Formatting of Manuscript 

13. Sample copyright page. 

14. Contacting reviewers 

15. Mind-Blowing Cover Designers' links 

16. Hashtags for Instagram Marketing and Twitter Marketing 

17.100 Facebook Groups to start off with your Book Marketing 



Hope this book is beneficial to the new authors out there. I, for one, learned a lot while writing and researching about it. 

Email to the author to get a copy of this book

rubinaramesh1973@gmail.com

Rubina Ramesh is an avid reader, writer, blogger, book reviewer and marketer. She is the founder of The Book Club, an online book publicity group. Her first literary work was published in her school magazine. It gave her immense pride to see her own name at the bottom of the article. She was about 8 years old at that time. She then went to complete her MBA and after her marriage to her childhood friend, her travel saga started. From The Netherlands to the British Isles, she lived her life like an adventure. After a short stint in Malaysia, she finally settled down in the desert state of USA, Arizona.  Living with her DH and two human kids and one doggie kid, Rubina has finally started living the life she had always dreamed about – that of a writer.

Connect with the author:

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads

Other books in this series

Why Go Indie? 6 Reasons for Self-Publishing  Vol 1

by Devika Fernando

Walking on the Indie Path Vol 2

Can be presently found in her blog www.rubinaramesh.com

by Rubina Ramesh

The Art of Ghostwriting Vol 3

by D. R. Downer

Publishing Your Book on Amazon KDP Vol 4

by Sundari Venkatraman

Fears and Doubts of a Writer Vol 5

By Reshma Ranjan

Boosting Book's Sales with a Riveting Blurb! Vol 6 

By Ruchi Singh

This Tour is Hosted by 

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Linkedin

We Promote So That You Can Write 

Until next time,

Bound by Forever by M V Kasi - Book Spot Light

a

check out the schedule here

Bound By Forever by MV Kasi 

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 3175 KB

Print Length: 47 pages

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

Language: English

ASIN: B07KDZ9X3G

Current Ranking on Amazon.in

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Historical

#5 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Plays

#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Plays

Brutal, powerful and demanding are the words used to describe him. He is a man who is used to throwing orders and having people follow them without questions.

Beautiful, bold and feisty are the ones used to describe her. She is a woman who is used to bending rules and conventions.

They haven't met before, but they have always known there are to marry each other because of an age-old tradition.

Sparks fly when they finally meet. But will they HATE each other? Or fall in LOVE?

It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR

A very reclusive author who is always on the bestselling list. Her stories hold passion of a woman and the raw nature of romance. But always (ok mostly) with a twist :) - Rubina Ramesh. 

Click here to check out all the titles by the author...

You can stalk her @

      

        

Grab Your Copy From

This Tour is Hosted by 

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Linkedin

We Promote So That You Can Write 

Until next time,

KOH - I - NOOR by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand - [Book Review]

Book Details:

Title: Koh-i-noor - The story of the world's most infamous diamond

Authors: William Dalrymple and Anita Anand

Genre : History

Length of the book : 352 pages

Source : A free review copy from Juggernaut


Blurb:

From the internationally acclaimed and bestselling historians William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, the first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, arguably the most celebrated jewel in the world.

On March 29, 1849, the ten-year-old leader of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the center of the British fort in Lahore, India. There, in a formal Act of Submission, the frightened but dignified child handed over to the British East India Company swathes of the richest land in India and the single most valuable object in the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond, otherwise known as the Mountain of Light. To celebrate the acquisition, the British East India Company commissioned a history of the diamond woven together from the gossip of the Delhi Bazaars. From that moment forward, the Koh-i-Noor became the most famous and mythological diamond in history, with thousands of people coming to see it at the 1851 Great Exhibition and still more thousands repeating the largely fictitious account of its passage through history.

Using original eyewitness accounts and chronicles never before translated into English, Dalrymple and Anand trace the true history of the diamond and disperse the myths and fantastic tales that have long surrounded this awe-inspiring jewel. The resulting history of south and central Asia tells a true tale of greed, conquest, murder, torture, colonialism, and appropriation that shaped a continent and the Koh-i-Noor itself.

My Review:

This is the story of the most infamous diamond 'Kohinoor' which crossed the continents, which was the cause of wars and robberies, which has moved from one king to another and at last entered the British crown.

I was reading about Kohinoor from childhood and so, this topic is interesting to me even though I am not a history buff. 

The initial pages of the book are boring as there is no clear evidence of where the Kohinoor was found/ seen before it entered the Mughal kingdom. But, the authors have written on multiple instances of its reference in Vijayanagara kingdom, Nizam's rule etc., The book covers the detailed history of Mughal kingdom's decline after Muhammad Shah(Rangila), Nader shah's cruelty, his conquests in India, the diamond moving to Persia and then to Afghanistan and returning back to Ranjit Singh, King of Punjab from Shah Shuja. 

It is indeed frightening to read how much violence is caused because of this kind of precious stones. The way the British (especially Lord Dalhousie) dealt with the young king of Punjab Duleep Singh by forcing him to give the Kohinoor to Queen Victoria, separating him from his mom and Rani Jindan is manipulative and cunning. 

It is interesting to know the circumstances that made the Kohinoor a curse to the owners. I felt bad to read about the cut done on the diamond in London which made it lose its major mass. It is disappointing that British is still strong on not returning the diamond back to the country it belongs.

The book also covers the recent incidents of politicians asking for the return of Kohinoor to India including the PM Modi's visit to London where he didn't bring up this topic with the royal family. 

A small, but invaluable diamond seems to bring mixed fortunes wherever it went and created its own place in the world's history. 

What I liked about the book?

The narration is interesting with facts. Even though I don't like history, it is written well and thus gripping till the end. The highlight of the book is that it covered even the recent events about Kohinoor. The authors have done thorough research and are knowledgeable on the topic which is plus point of the book.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I recommend this to all history lovers and fiction lovers alike who love to know about this infamous diamond.

PS: I have received a complimentary copy of the book from juggernaut for review and this is my honest opinion on the book.

About the Authors:

William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and a bestselling and award-winning author whose books include City of Djinns, White Mughals, The Last Mughal, Nine Lives and Return of a King. 

Anita Anand has been a radio and television journalist in Britain for over twenty years, presenting major programmes on BBC. Her first book, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, is a highly acclaimed biography of the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of Punjab, who was forced to hand over the Koh-i-Noor to the British after they annexed his kingdom in 1849.

Until next time,

Word of the Year 2019 #WOTY #WOTY2019

This is my last post of 2018 and this is about the coming year.  Every year I set a word for that year and try to abide by it in all circumstances.

In 2016, I have set the word of the year as 'Change' and there are a lot of changes that happened in my life especially relocating to another country, leaving the job that I enjoyed working for almost 11 years etc., But, I believed that change is only for good and accepted it without regret.

In 2017, I decided my word of the year to be 'Aggressive', though it might seem negative, I was bored of my routine life of household works and thus wanted to be aggressive in promoting for my dance classes and network with other people in the new place that we recently relocated to.

In 2018, I have set the word of the year as 'Positive spirit'. I have been mindful to every happening in my life, I tried to be positive, without losing cool and succeeded upto 90%. Once or twice negative thoughts have surrounded me and I felt, depressed. But, Overall I could stick around with this word and create positive vibes around me.

This coming year 2019, I want to set the word of the year as 'Slow down'. 

Yes, Fortunately, I have achieved my long-term goals and now, this is the time to slow down a bit and relax. I want to spend more time on things that I like - blogging, traveling, reading books etc., I want to continue improving my knowledge of software testing and focus on my dance classes. There is no hurry to achieve any goal but being mindful is important. So, I have decided to slow down a bit and enjoy every moment in 2019.

What is your word of the year? Word of the year is some word that we want to focus in the coming year. Think about it and let me know what you want to focus on in 2019.

Meanwhile, Accept my wishes for the happy new year :-) Celebrate and welcome the new year. I wish the new year brings you all good health, wealth and happiness.

Until next time,

Linking this post to Word of the year post by EverydayGyaan.