CraxMe Readers Book Club

Still a newbie

The process for any kind of upgrade is too confusing and tedious.. After so many hours still a newbie.. Feels like running naked in full public voew.. Sigh..

Which Author's writing do you write most????

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

First reason to pick this book was obvisous - its title. I was sure that this would be containing some really good stories, and it really has ! But still, have been reading many good reviews about it, I was curious how the story has shaped because it was shaped around widows ! And the author surely knows how to keep you engaged, not just by title but by the flow of the story as well. Set in England, this immediately reminded me of those Hollywood movies set in either USA or UK, telling fun tales of our beloved NRIs. Exactly on the same theme, this book sets some amusing, some shocking and some beautiful moments of the people who has set in foreign countries but still there hearts sits back in their motherland. I wasn't expecting a multi-dimensional story telling or some Tharoorian language. Simple and flowing language is, for a change, a relief to read every once in a while. Occasional humor and tender moments makes the story alive. And not just (brilliantly done) erotic tales, the parrellel tale of lead characters like Kulwinder, Nikki and even Arvinder, makes us bond with them and move with them as the story moves forward. Certainly a satisfying read, surely looking forward to the movie version, as I have read somewhere that movie rights are already bought. Bring it on !

List of Mahabharata-inspired literature

I have tried to put together a list of Mahabharata-inspired literature, but, of course, it is far from exhaustive. Please feel free to drop in names of books which I should add here. Adi Parva – Churning of the Queen by Amruta Patil After Kurukshetra by Mahasweta Devi And Now Let Me Sleep by P.K. Balakrishnan Arjuna: Saga of a Pandava Warrior by Anuja Chandramouli Asura: Tale of the Vanquished by Anand Neelakantan Duryodhan by Kaka Vidhate (original in Marathi) Gandhari Ki Atmakathha by Manu Sharma Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen by Kavita Kane Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari Mahabharata by William Buck Mahabharat Ki Ek Saanjh by B.B.Aggarwal. Mrityunjaya, the death conqueror: The story of Karna by Sivaji Savanta (original in Marathi) Parva by S.L. Bhyrappa Rethinking the Mahabharata by Alf Hiltebeitel The Aryavrata Chronicles: Govinda (Book 1) The Aryavarta Chronicles: Kaurava (Book 2) The Book of Yudhishthir The Cult of Draupadi Vol I by Alf Hiltebeitel The Cult of Draupadi Vol II by Alf Hiltebeitel The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurucharan Das The Forest of Stories by Ashok K. Banker (MBA1) The Great Golden Sacrifice of The Mahabharata (Hardcover) by Maggi Lidchi-Grassi The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor The Mahabharata (2 Vols):A Modern Rendering 01 Edition (Hardcover) by Ramesh Menon The Mahabharata: An Inquiry in the Human Condition 1st Edition (Hardcover) by Chaturvedi Badrinath The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Paperback) by R. K. Narayan The Mahabharata (Volume - 1) by Bibek Debroy The Mahabharata by Meera Uberoi The Mahabharata: Re-Imagined by Trisha Das The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattnaik The Second Turn by M.T.Vasudevan Nair (original in Malyalam) The Seeds of War by Ashok K. Banker (MBA2) Thus Spake Bhishma by M.M.Thakur Women of the Mahabharata by Badrinath Chaturvedi Yajnaseni by Pratibha Ray Yudhishthir and Draupadi by Pavan K. Varma Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant Yuganta by Irawati Karve

The Dark Maidens by Rikako Akiyoshi

[table=98%] [tr][td][img=318,0]http://18.191.111.248/forum/201807/19/151323vblkdo3zdobkbe30.jpg[/img] It's always an wonderful experience, reading a translated book. Especially Russian and Japanese. The mystery around those two cultures are something that keeps me interested throughout. I have never heard about this writer untill you guys came up with this as group read. And I thank you for this recommendation. Such a novel idea (atleast for me, as reading this author for the first time). And interesting setup for the whodunnit makes it an engaging one and makes you want to finish it at one go. (Which I didn't though). It took me on a ride while one by one story kept opening more and more possibilities for the murder and in the end, gosh ! What a reveal ! Well, any more recommendations from this author ?[/td][/tr] [/table]

Is book subscription these days really worth?

Can we have a discussion here about the book subscription box these day we get every month with goodies . They are pretty costly in India .But do they send books which I like or randomly coz their books might not be my taste . Are they really worth? Thanks Sudeshna

◢ Welcome to the new «Readers Club» section ◣

[i=s] Edited by cynic at 23-9-2018 03:52 PM * [backcolor=RGB(255, 255, 224)] [table=98%,#FFFFE0] [tr][td] [[attach]81374[/attach]](https://www.craxme.com/forum-180-1.html) The wait is over! The new **[Readers Club](https://www.craxme.com/forum-180-1.html) **section is finally here, a natural evolution of our successful group. We're sure you have already checked it out. A vote of thanks to the admin team and a big shout out to our group members. Over the past few months, we have become a mini-community of sorts - sharing opinions and ideas, agreeing and disagreeing, and debating and discussing. We hope you all will continue your support and participation in the new section. The basic functionalities and activities of the book club are the same, with some interesting new features and activities. All book club members are requested to kindly move on to the new Readers Club section. This group will complete its closing process in two weeks. The group will be locked, but not deleted. After the closure, you would still be able to access all its content. Please read** [About «Readers Club» section / Rules, Recommendations for Use and Quick Guide.](https://www.craxme.com/thread-10129-1-1.html)** before continuing. If you have any doubts or queries about the new section, drop us a message at [**CHAT thread for the READERS CLUB section**](https://www.craxme.com/thread-13118-1-1.html) Let us move to the Readers Club, and continue to make our book club a success. As always, see you at the Readers Club.:) [/td][/tr] [/table] [/backcolor]

Book request

[i=s] Edited by arjuns1988 at 1-11-2020 02:09 PM * Is this right forum?

Our very own Gareebon-ka-Sherlock!!

So how was brainstorming with those maddening clues?:hope Did you feel like throwing something at the mods? (Don't pretend we can read ya!:fee) So here are the winners, yes you read that right! We got two, two winners people. :greedy @nike1234 @lonefighter But this is not even it! There is something big coming up. So stay tuned!!! *evil smiles* *scratch that* *evil laugh* :trick:deride

Worst book you have read

So we all have had a dose of books in the range of worst to best. We had a thread on books which we could not finish - but that was not necessarily beacsue it was worst(we wouldn't be able to judge fully till we completed it). So which is the worst book that you have read? and can you give reasons in brief? You may have more than one book too in that list. Not taking 'worst' in its literal sense(meaning we can group more than one book in that category).

Dances with Wolves Series- Micheal Blake

[i=s] Edited by divey at 21-9-2018 10:00 AM * Dances with the wolves is a brilliantly written book, simple yet compelling. It was written almost three decades before people were mesmerized by Steven Speilberg's Avataar and the portrayal of indigenous people. The book revolves around a young US army lieutenant John Dunbar who is posted in a remote fort which was abandoned by his comrades. Here he lives alone until he encounters native Indians and then gradually he becomes an integral part of their tribe. Book explores how a conquering force which justifies its means in the name of bringing civilisation to the unexplored land, brutally suppresses nature, killing and plundering at will and destroying the delicate balance that people living in that place have forged out in centuries. This has been the norm since humans first ventured into unchartered territory and is still continuing when we read tribes protesting against setting up big refinaries and steel plants in their backyard. The book explores the journey of Young John as to how he struggles with his loneliness and fights to find his way and purpose in the greater scheme of things and how he transforms into the young Comanche warrior. The book was written as a screenplay inspiration and also has a sequel which looks more promising than the first part for it explores the life of young officer after he was made part of the tribe and he settled to live with them. Thus it also satiates the curiosity that what happened after "Happily ever after". Will share my views for the sequel soon. P.S. The book was later adopted into academy award winning movie in 1991 with the same name though there are many differences in both You can explore the book here https://www.craxme.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=13080&highlight=dances%2Bwith%2Bwolves

Does historical fiction have an obligation to be factually accurate?

We have discussed about memoirs being "spiced up" to be more saleable. And if truth is indeed such a grey concept. What about historical fiction? Does historical fiction have an obligation to be factually accurate? It is "fiction" after all. Does it need to be true to its place & time, or is it okay to take a few creative liberties? What are your thoughts on this?

raj comics anyone?

there was a media fire link for almost 7000 raj comics pdf.does anyone have those please upload?i seriously miss raj comics.can anyone give links for any raj comics outside craxme.com

French bookshops revolt after prize selects novel self-published on Amazon

[i=s] Edited by cynic at 15-9-2018 07:10 PM * **[attach]80101[/attach]** **Booksellers refuse to ‘jump into the wolf’s mouth’ and order Marco Koskas’ Renaudot-longlisted novel online ** French booksellers have called on literary judges to “defend books and not those who threaten them”, after one of France’s most prestigious prizes selected a self-published novel available only via Amazon. Among the 17 titles in contention for this year’s Prix Renaudot is Marco Koskas’ Bande de Français, which was self-published on Amazon’s CreateSpace platform. According to the Syndicat de la librairie française, which represents French booksellers, the jury have put them in an impossible position. The French-Israeli author, who has published more than a dozen books via more traditional routes, told the Guardian he was forced into put out an edition of Bande de Français himself after no French publisher picked it up. “As I didn’t want to bow down to this decision,” Koskas said, “in the end I decided to self-publish. Otherwise I might have gone into some sort of literary hiding.” The novel is only available for sale through the internet giant, so according to the Syndicat, it is “technically and commercially almost impossible” for bookshops to put it on their shelves. “Morally, above all, they refuse to ‘jump into the wolf’s mouth’,” the Syndicat said in a statement. Amazon, it said, not only wants to become “a major player in the book market, it wants to become the market itself by eliminating its competitors, organising unfair competition, avoiding tax and replacing publishers, distributors and bookshops in one fell swoop”. The Syndicat warned that including Bande de Français on the Renaudot longlist “does a disservice to the author himself, as well as to booksellers, and is a worrying sign for the future of book creation and distribution”. Far from fearing that the jury had done him a disservice, Koskas declared himself “amused and proud” to find himself picked out, adding that the Syndicat’s call for him to be excluded was a “great lack of fair play, not to say blackmail”. Bookshops should not be angry with him, he said, nor with the Renaudot jury, but with the publishers who “made a mistake about my book” – a decision he suggested stems from an anti-Israel sentiment that he says is strong in France. “I know that booksellers cannot turn against all the publishers who rejected me – there are too many,” he said. “But they’re turning against Amazon, who published me. That makes no sense. Amazon offers authors a much more flexible contract than publishers, and above all, Amazon has no literary opinion. That is important. They do not get involved with what I write. They don’t ask for money to print my book, and they are paid, like any matchmaker, when the product sells. What do I have to complain about?” Renaudot jury member and author Patrick Besson defended the choice of Bande de Français in Le Point, calling the novel “one of the most original, the most interesting”, of the autumn season. “It tells of the life of French Jews who emigrated to Israel,” he said. “It has a freshness … It’s intelligent. I devoured it.” Besson said he had not noticed that the book was self-published via Amazon, and that he was only interested in the text. “Take Proust,” Besson said. “Swann’s Way was published by Grasset in 1913 at the author’s expense. What farmer would work his field for a 10% return? It’s perfectly understandable that some authors are not satisfied with the current situation and rebel against publishers.” France is highly supportive of its independent booksellers: it has fixed book prices, and caps discounts at 5%, passing a bill in 2013 to stop retailers such as Amazon from combining the 5% discount with free delivery. There are around 3,000 independent bookshops in France, compared with less than 1,000 in the UK. Koskas said that he likes having bookshops on the high street and hopes they survive. “But if they are bookshops where you can’t find my books, when I have spent my life writing books, well, let’s say that I am becoming less sympathetic to booksellers’ plight,” he added. According to the French author Laurent Binet, it’s easy to understand why bookshops are up in arms. For booksellers, the issue was not so much that the book was self-published, he said, but that it was published through Amazon. “For us, literary prizes have an enormous impact and generate a lot of sales, so the stakes are high,” he said. “In France, our bookshops are doing better than elsewhere because of a very restrictive book policy … and also thanks to our attachment to paper books. The sale of ebooks is still marginal. But this relative good health is fragile, and it would take little to destabilise it. And Amazon is clearly seen as the No 1 threat. The move from the Renaudot is seen as a sort of Amazon Trojan horse.” [Source](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/15/french-bookshops-revolt-after-prize-selects-novel-self-published-on-amazon)

Books to Fall For: Mystery

Find your next mystery and thriller on our fall book list! Read new page-turners by Shari Lapena, Anne Perry, and Lee Child, among others. [Safe Houses](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36463975-safe-houses) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36463975-safe-houses) [Missing, Presumed](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26141649-missing-presumed) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26141649-missing-presumed) [Red, White, Blue](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37007774-red-white-blue) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37007774-red-white-blue) [Exhibit Alexandra](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35629257-exhibit-alexandra) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35629257-exhibit-alexandra) [Lullaby Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34837125-lullaby-road) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34837125-lullaby-road) [Dark Tide Rising](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34909693-dark-tide-rising) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34909693-dark-tide-rising) [The Scarred Woman](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34128062-the-scarred-woman) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34128062-the-scarred-woman) [Shadow Tyrants](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37945429-shadow-tyrants) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37945429-shadow-tyrants) [Only to Sleep](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37885418-only-to-sleep) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37885418-only-to-sleep) [The Girl in the Spider’s Web](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25074850-the-girl-in-the-spider-s-web) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25074850-the-girl-in-the-spider-s-web) [Sleep No More](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35134235-sleep-no-more) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35134235-sleep-no-more) [Sharp Objects](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15784966-the-novels-of-gillian-flynn) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15784966-the-novels-of-gillian-flynn) [An Unwanted Guest](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38240386-an-unwanted-guest) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38240386-an-unwanted-guest) [Past Tense](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34019122-past-tense) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34019122-past-tense) [Our House](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35924499-our-house) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35924499-our-house) [Source](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/mystery/?ref=PRHFCC0CF5F21&aid=randohouseinc3974-20&linkid=PRHFCC0CF5F21)

The Immigrant- Manju Kapoor

How does it feel to be uprooted from a place you call home, place you have lived all your childhood and then move on to a new country amongst new people, just with a hope in your heart of living a better life.... The Immigrant is a story about such people or in particular two people who due to personal tragedies have to move to a completely alien land and then build up their lives. its very well written and captures dilemmas and adjustments one have to make as an immigrant in a new country, how you are treated as something exotic in your adopted homeland vs the sudden rise in status back home as you are now an NRI. The protagonist Nina encompasses what an immigarnt goes through after her marriage to an NRI and book explores many topics centred around feminism through her lens. There are instances when one feels that women are same everywhere, subject to struggles and violence even in so called first world. Its a touching and heartwarming tale with hope of love; pain of loss, feelings of emptiness in a foreign land with no one to call your own, betrayel and then a journey again to rediscover one's identity. Few passages a very touching in the books especially one where Nina comes back to India after her mother's death and second how an immigrant is described as a temporary person without any base or roots, he has to move continously and find a new identity and roots everytime, shedding his core to become like his western counterpart to feel more acceptable and inclusive in his new surroundings and the constant conflict of dual identity. I would give this book 4/5 .... This can be accessed here <https://www.craxme.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=9564&highlight=manju%2Bkapur>

Books to Fall For: Fiction

[i=s] Edited by cynic at 11-9-2018 08:38 PM * This autumn, leaf through a new book! Find your next read in this book list, including new fiction by Paulo Coehlo, Khaled Hosseini, and Jodi Picoult. [Uncommon Type](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34368390-uncommon-type) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34368390-uncommon-type) [Alaskan Holiday](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37966378-alaskan-holiday) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37966378-alaskan-holiday) [A Ladder to the Sky](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39676520-a-ladder-to-the-sky) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39676520-a-ladder-to-the-sky) [The Silence of the Girls](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37969723-the-silence-of-the-girls) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37969723-the-silence-of-the-girls) [Bridge of Clay](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7767276-bridge-of-clay) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7767276-bridge-of-clay) [An Absolutely Remarkable Thing](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24233708-an-absolutely-remarkable-thing) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24233708-an-absolutely-remarkable-thing) [Hippie](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39731666-hippie) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39731666-hippie) The Sapphire Widow  [Time’s Convert](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38395454-time-s-convert) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38395454-time-s-convert) [Vox](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37796866-vox) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37796866-vox) [A Spark of Light](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39072210-a-spark-of-light) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39072210-a-spark-of-light) [The Forbidden Door](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38919694-the-forbidden-door) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38919694-the-forbidden-door) [Cherry](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39911748-cherry) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39911748-cherry) [The Drama Teacher](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35553729-the-drama-teacher) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35553729-the-drama-teacher) [Lullaby Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34837125-lullaby-road) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34837125-lullaby-road) [Lake Success](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739942-lake-success) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739942-lake-success) [Sea Prayer](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38664775-sea-prayer) [](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38664775-sea-prayer) [Harbor Me](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37584983-harbor-me)[](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37584983-harbor-me) [Source](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/fiction/?ref=PRH2EFDF184A1&aid=randohouseinc3913-20&linkid=PRH2EFDF184A1)

Crowned for the Sheikh’s Baby by Sharon Kendrick

[img=189,300]https://www.ebookhunter.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/crowned-baby-sharon-kendrick-189x300.jpg[/img]From innocent maid… …to the sheikh’s pregnant queen! The last thing sensible maid Hannah Wilson expects is to be whisked off to a glamorous party by Sheikh Kulal Al Diya. Their intense chemistry and searing kiss lead to the most amazing night of her life—with the most shocking consequences! Now Kulal will do anything to claim his heir. Even if it means making Hannah his desert queen!

Indebted to the Sheikh (You Can’t Turn Down a Sheikh #5) by Holly Rayner,‎ Ana Sparks

[img=200,300]https://www.ebookhunter.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/indebted-sheikh-holly-rayner-200x300.jpg[/img]An indecent proposal for a cherished heirloom, A favor for a favor, One night with him, to do whatever he asks… What else can you give a prince who has everything? Roving reporter Cassie Renault has bitten off more than she can chew. Summoned to Paris to settle her estranged father’s estate, she first meets a mysterious, gorgeous stranger. The two have a stolen, romantic night together, only for her to learn that he’s a longtime business rival of her father’s, and what’s more, he’s seizing her inheritance from under her! It turns out Cassie’s father was in debt to the charming, but vengeful stranger, and she won’t even get to keep the one thing she really wanted, a treasured childhood book… After a lewd suggestion by her gorgeous creditor’s business partner, Cassie comes up with a salacious plan: a trade, of sorts. Her body, for the book. It’s only after he agrees that she learns her soon-to-be lover is in fact a Middle Eastern prince! Sucked into her own exotic romance, Cassie soon finds herself in stormy waters. Will the Sheikh expect her to fulfil the deal, or will their fledgling romance take off, even as maniacal billionaires, jealous suitors, and bitter business partners seek to keep them apart?

Sheikh’s Princess of Convenience (Bound to the Desert King #3) by Dani Collins

[img=189,300]https://www.ebookhunter.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/sheikhs-princess-dani-collins-189x300.jpg[/img]He’ll do anything to protect his kingdom Even blackmail her into marriage! Sheikh Karim is as ruthless as the harsh desert that forged him. Entertaining bubbly Princess Galila at a royal wedding seems frivolous…until she reveals his family’s darkest secret. To protect their honour, Karim must seduce Galila into silence! The raw heat of their encounter stuns him…and inspires a more permanent solution. To prevent a scandal, Karim will make impetuous Galila his convenient bride!