Anika's Top Books of 2017

From the books I read this year, these are my top six.

Ambushed

by Nayanika Mahtani

 Amazon US, Amazon IN

Tara, a modern-day girl is dismayed when she learns that she is going to spend her holidays near a sleepy tiger reserve at the foot of the Himalayas. Later she discovers a famous poaching gang. With the help of Satya and a friendly wildlife expert Rathore they decide to catch the poachers. I came across this book in an edition of the Sanctuary Magazine. The review of the book was interesting. I decided to buy the book after reading the review. Ambushed was as an amazing book and uncovers the different ways of poaching in India. The book was lovely. It also protests against hunting and poaching in an interesting manner.
(reviewed in April 2017)

George and the Big Bang (George's Secret Key to the Universe Book 3)

by Lucy Hawking,‎ Stephen Hawking

 Amazon US, Amazon IN

This is the third book in the series. Annie’s fathe Erric is working with a group of other scientists to do an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to explore the Big Bang. George Annie find out that an organization named TOERAG plans to plant a bomb and wipe out all signs of the experiment and the scientists working on it as they believe that the experiment would destroy the planet. Eric has already left for the experiment so it was now up to George and Annie to reach there and defuse the bomb. They also realize there was a mole in the team of scientists who was keeping informed about the LHC experiment. Would George and Annie be able to defuse the bomb?

The book was very interesting. I had lots of fun reading it and I also learnt new facts along the way.
(reviewed in June 2017)

Dead As A Dodo

by Venita Coelho

 Amazon US, Amazon IN

Rana, Bagha and Kela were three agents from the AIA on a mission. They discovered that the extinct species, the Dodo is alive! Only one managed to survive and is held at Mauritius, South America. They went to Mauritius but the dodo is taken by another person. Their job was to rescue the dodo, Sam, and find a home where people won’t try to hurt him. This was a very interesting book. It was peppered with comments from Kela the monkey and Sam the Dodo making it hilarious. Sam kept on wailing about being the last dodo alive while Kela tried to console him but he wasn’t very successful. The ending of the book was so funny! I couldn’t stop laughing. I loved this book and enjoyed reading it a lot.
(reviewed in April 2017)

The Six Spellmakers of Dorabji Street

by Shabnam Minwalla

 Amazon US, Amazon IN

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. I found this book to be interesting and simple. It was extremely funny. Each character and each scene was described clearly, giving the look and feel of the place. You could almost feel yourself see the whole thing happening. I loved the book and I have re-read it many times. The plot is interesting but simple. One gets many laughs out of this book.
(reviewed in July 2017)

Secrets of Zynpagua: Return of the Princess, by Ilika Ranjan

 Amazon US, Amazon IN

It is the first book in the series. The book talks about a land that was once on Earth, and was called Zynpagua. The ruler of Zynpagua was Queen Sussaina. There were good times in Zynpagua, until Sussaina neglected her kingdom when she was pregnant and allowed Drudan, an evil scientist, come to power. The three stars- Sun, Venus, and Mars, that made Zynpagua happy and rich, didn’t bestow their light and allowed Drudan to rule. Drudan created a light called the Violet Light, that would kill anyone if it entered the person’s veins. The violet light was so strong, that it pulled Zynpagua from the Earth’s surface and threw it into space. This scared the people and they accepted Drudan’s rule. Drudan locked Sussaina in the shadow of the Moon, so she couldn’t escape. At that time, she got pregnant with a baby girl who would save everyone from Drudan. This girl was sent to India to protect her from Drudan until she was old enough to return to Zynpagua. The rest of the book talks about how she returned to Zynpagua and drove Drudan out.

Everything is described in detail, and each part of the story is clear. The story involves many characters, and keeps switching from one scene to the other, but it is very smooth, and one doesn’t get confused.

(reviewed in August 2017)

 

Secrets of Zynpagua: Search of Soul Mates by Ilika Ranjan

Amazon US, Amazon IN

This is the second book in the series. It talks about how Drudan defeated and crushed without the violet light starts planning and conspiring with a mermaid on how to defeat Anika. To his delight he finds out that King Soto, Anika's father is being held in the mermaid's clutches. With the help of Romeo, a sea snake and the mermaid he comes up with a clever plan. Meanwhile, back at Zynpagua Queen Sussania, Anika and Vivian, Anika's brother are thinking of a plan to turn back Femina, Vivian's girlfriend into a human. Before, Drudan had been defeated he had turned Femina into a stone statue. Anika had had a premonition that a girl named Aarna Malhotra would save Femina. Now Fredrick, Anika's uncle was going to India to find Aarna Malhotra. The rest of the book talks about how Femina is saved and how does Anika defeats Drudan yet again. This book was as amazing as the first. Everything is described in such detail and so clearly. You feel like you're sitting there in Zynpagua itself. I recommend anyone who loves fantasy to read this amazing book! 

(reviewed in Nov 2017)

© 2017, Anika Agarwal. All rights reserved.

eGranth - Book Newsletter - Nov 2017

Editor’s Note: -  This is our eighth newsletter. Last time my sister was the editor so this time I , Anika am the editor. We have less books in this newsletter. We have been doing the newsletters since April and as November and December are the last months of the year we are doing something different. We have decided to include our top 5-6 books from all the books that we have done. In this issue of the newsletter my favourite books will be there and in the next issue my sister’s books will be there. Hope you enjoy reading this newsletter. - Anika

Secrets of Zynpagua: Birth of Mystery child

By Ilika Ranjan

Mystery: Adventure: Fantasy

Age: 9-11

Reviewed by: Anika

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

Secrets of Zynpagua: Birth of Mystery Child – This is the third book in the Secrets of Zynpagua series which is written by Ilika Ranjan. We have covered the first book and the second book in the August and September newsletters. At the end of the second book, the mermaid kidnaps Radhika and takes her to the Pacific Ocean where she gets the demon planets to bless her unborn son. She and Radhika are taken in by a colony of old people who live in the sea. Her son was very powerful because even though he was not born he could speak and sing. Whenever he sang he would cause a lot of pressure on the eardrums of the others and their ears would start to bleed.  Meanwhile, back at Zynpagua everyone was worried. They sent many people to search for Radhika but she was not to be found. They also had got to know that Pajaro - Leo’s mother was alive and she would be crucial in saving the people from the mermaid’s son. The book then talks about how Leo, Anika, Vivian and Lady Carol try finding Pajaro. They face many hurdles and get many clues and at last they find Radhika. By then the mermaid’s son had been born and he had started liking Radhika and wanted to marry her but was thwarted by Fredrick. They escape from the mermaid’s son and learn from Venus that Radhika would be the one who would be able to defeat him. The book ends with a prophecy. The story will be continued in the fourth book The Serpent’s Shadow’.

 

Brahmanda Purana - Review

Brahmanda Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Kindle IN, Kindle US

This is the eleventh Purana that I am reviewing which you can probably guess is the Brahmanda Purana. The Brahmanda Purana comes at the last, in the eighteenth position in the list of Mahapuranas. It is a rajasik Purana, a purana that glorifies Brahma. It is not too long or too short. It is medium-sized in length with eighteen thousand shlokas. These eighteen thousand shlokas are divided into 3 parts, purva bhaga, madhyama bhaga and uttara bhaga. These 3 sections are further divided into chapters. There are a total of seventy-one chapters.
I shall give a bit more of introduction and then start the review
This Purana was originally recited by Vayu the wind god on the insistence of some sages in the namisharanya forest after a yagna.
We’re done with the introduction so let us now go into the review.

Markandeya Purana - Review

Markandeya Purana, by Bibek Debroy

This is the tenth Purana that I am reviewing. Its name is the Markandeya Purana as you know. It is actually the shortest Purana. It has only nine thousand shlokas. I noticed that the last three Purana reviews that I had written were all satvik puranas, puranas that glorified Vishnu. I decided that it was time to move on to another type of Purana. I felt I had not written about rajasik puranas, puranas that glorify Brahma apart from the Brahma Purana. Between the rajsik puranas I decided to review the Markandeya Purana. This Purana was actually narrated by four birds to the sage Jaimini. Well, how did this happen and who were these birds who could talk.

There was once a rishi named Drona who married a woman named Tarkshi. One day, Tarkshi went to Kurukshetra when the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas was happening. Arjuna and Bhagadatta were fighting when one of Arjuna’s arrows hit Tarkshi in the stomach. She died but four eggs fell out of her stomach. Bhagadatta’s elephant had a bell around his neck. A stray arrow sliced it off and it fell over the eggs protecting them till the end of the war. After the war ended a sage called Shamika found the birds and took care of them. They learnt to fly and speak. They bowed to Shamika and asked him to teach them the true knowledge. They then went to live at Mount Vindhya.

Bhagavata Purana - Review

Bhagavata Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the ninth Purana that I am reviewing. Wow! I never knew I had read so many Puranas. This is the Bhagavata Purana as you know. It is the fifth Purana in the list of Mahapuranas. It is a satvik purana, a purana that glorifies Vishnu. It is not too lengthy. It is medium sized and has eighteen thousand shlokas. It is then split up In twelve sections(skandhas) which are further split up into many chapters. The tenth skandha is the longest and talks about Krishna. Let us move on now.

This Purana has been narrated by Romaharshan alias Suta. He was called Suta because his father was a charioteer who are often called sutas. The sages in the Namisharanya forest wanted to know more about Krishna and the shastras so they asked Romaharshana to recite a Purana that had all these things. The Bhagavata Purana was the one that fit the description best so it was recited.

Shrilok Homeless - Review

The Adventures of Shrilok Homeless

by Pika Nani

Have you ever imagined an Indian Sherlock Holmes? Well here it is in the form of ‘Shrilok Homeless’ by Pika Nani. Shrilok is exactly like Sherlock but there are a few variations in his habits that are suited more to the Indian style. If you look at the cover page closely you will see some recognizable buildings in the background. I you look even closer you will notice that the book is set in Mumbai. Shrilok uses his skills of logic, observation and deduction to solve ten cases and the last one is with his enemy Masterji (a tailor). I am going to review the very same book.
First of all, you must be very curious to know how Pika Nani turned Sherlock into Shrilok. Well first let us review the facts we know about Sherlock.

• He has a companion in his cases that is Doctor Watson
• He likes to blow on his pipe while thinking.
• He plays the violin.
• The only person to have outwitted him is a woman named Irene Adler.
• His enemy is a professor named James Moriarty.
• The inspector in the Sherlock Holmes books is Inspector Lestrade.
• Sherlock is a private detective.

In Shrilok Homeless, everything above is changed so that it is suited to the Indian way. Let me write the facts below:

• He has a companion named Rohan Doctor who studies in class VII.
• He likes to drink chai while thinking.
• He plays the flute.
• The only person to have outwitted him is an 8- year old girl named Pari.
• His enemy is a tailor named Masterji.
• The inspector in this book is Inspector Divya Lokhande.
• Shrilok is a chaiwallah.

Now you have seen that the author has cleverly twisted everything into an Indian manner. As the book is set in Mumbai few things are also related to ordinary Mumbai life. Few of the cases such as the ‘The Lunchbox’ and the ‘The Rose Diamond’ are related to Mumbai things. ‘The Lunchbox’ is related to a dabba and dabbawallas. ‘The Rose Diamond’ all starts with a simple vada pav. This gives the Indian touch needed. All the cases are quite interesting and funny. I like the book very much. My favourite case was ‘The Rose Diamond’. I found this case very interesting. The mystery really needed you to think to find the answer. My favourite part in the mystery was the part when they start interrogating the workers at the shop from where the diamond was stolen.
I had also gone to the launch of the book that was held at Hippocampus. Over there we met the author Pika Nani and had a fun session solving codes and learning more about the book. Let me give you an example of few codes. See if you can solve it. You can check your answers below. Here it is:

1. STMHGE KRDOASZE MDQIXAPMYOGNHD’
2. Heat the cold lunch in the cool box Answers to Q1 and Q2

I enjoyed the book as it was simple yet really interesting and fun to read. You feel like you are solving the mystery along with Shrilok when you read the book. I liked the book but my sister did not. She found it boring. Few people might not like it but they are free to have their own opinions.
All the ten cases are amazing. Each one better than the other. I loved reading this book and had a really good experience.

Read “Shrilok Homeless” By Pika Nani to find out more about Shrilok and his interesting adventures.



Answers:
Answer 1: THE ROSE DIAMOND
Explanation: You had to cross out every alternate letter to find the answer. It was quite simple.

Answer 2: THE LUNCH BOX
Explanation: After each word related to temperature or weather you had to underline the next one.
So the code was:
Heat the cold lunch in the cool box
Answer was The Lunch Box.


© 2017, Anika Agarwal. All rights reserved.

eGranth - Anvita and Anika's Book Newsletter - Sep 2017

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth newsletter. Last time my sister had edited it so this time I, Anika Agarwal, am the editor. In the August edition of the newsletter we had mentioned doing themed newsletters. Well, this edition is a themed one. The theme for this one is the Bookalicious section. That basically means that all the books in the newsletter are ones that we like. There is not a single book we don’t like in this edition. There is also one new addition to our newsletter. We have decided to give awards to our favourite books and the funniest book of the month. If you look in the top right corner of each page, you will notice a small badge, or trophy, telling you which section that particular book is in. Badges are for the normal sections. The trophies are for our favourite books, and the medals are for the funniest books. Hope you like these additions - Anika

George and the Blue Moon by Stephen and Lucy Hawking

Sci-Fi: Adventure

Age: 9-11

Reviewed by: Anika

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN

Electrifying
Adventures

George and the Blue Moon: This is the last and final book in the George series. In this book George and Annie are selected for an Astronaut training program that trains young kids who are interested in becoming astronauts when they grow up. After being fully trained these young astronauts were sent to Mars on an expedition to find out about life on the planet. Both the kids thought it would be fun and interesting, but they were in for a rude shock. The program was far from nice; it was quite the opposite. All the children at the program were put in pairs of two. Along with their partners the pairs had to undergo three very dangerous tasks without any adult supervision! Annie and her partner Leone were the best team by far. After some time, George and Annie start getting a bit suspicious as none of the tasks seemed like they would be useful later. When a plane that was carrying all the children of the program malfunctions, it seemed that their suspicions were turning out to be true. The plane would have crashed if Annie’s partner Leone had not taken charge and saved the day. To add to it all George and Annie meet their arch enemy Alioth Merak again! I really liked this book, though the ending was a bit sad. It could have been a bit better. Otherwise the book was amazing. My favourite part was when the plane malfunctions and Leone saves the day. I felt this was the second-best book in the George series. The best was ‘George and the Big Bang’ which was covered in the June newsletter.

Garuda Purana - Review

Garuda Purana (Great Epics of India: Puranas Book 17)

Translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the eighth purana that I am reviewing. It is easy for anyone to guess the name as at the start of the review it is given the “Garuda Purana”. This Purana is the seventeenth Purana in the list of Mahapuranas. In my Vishnu Purana review I had mentioned that I was taking a break from tamsik puranas and would be reviewing satvik puranas instead. The Garuda Purana is also a satvik purana. It is the third satvik purana that I am reviewing. This Purana is not very long. It has only nineteen thousand shlokas. These shlokas are divided into two parts – the purva khanda and the Uttara khanda. These parts are further divided into chapters. The purva khanda has two hundred and thirty-four chapters and the Uttara khanda has forty-five chapters.

I think this much introduction is enough so let us move on.