Monthly Favourites: November 2016.

Hello! 

November has drawn to a close and what a month it has been. 

Long..sometimes it felt too long.

Trump Won. 

:O

Demonetisation became a nightmare in my country. Common folks have had to line up in never-ending queues for their own money. People dying, DYING for their life-savings. It's not nice.  I do most of my transactions online and using my card so this doesn't fully make my life a misery but it isn't pleasant. 

Oh! November you've been a tricky one. 

But there were also joys...my sister's birthday.

Lots of quiet happy moments and some favourites...so let's get into it. 

1. Mild Autumn/// The weather affects my mood like no other. 

And this mildness in the sun and the gentle and kind breeze of November was a soothing balm after the scorching heat of October. 

:) 

2. Moccasins/// I have worn these black moccasins pretty much exclusively in November. Winter and moccasins are a match made in heaven. These ones from Max and were pretty affordable and go with  pretty much everything. 

3. Favourite Dori/// This little floral delight arrived from Tip Toe and Tulip and it has been my journal on the go and the one that lives in my bag. I love the floral print and the free tulip paper clip is just adorable. Love it! 

4. Arts & Colouring/// These DIY bookmarks are just the best. 

First up you get to colour these in and then you get a bookmark.

And there ain't such a thing as too many bookmarks! 

The pens are from Muji which are amazing to both colour with and write with. 

5. Paper Geek Co. Washi Tapes/// Got a bunch...a big ole bunch of gorgeous Washi Tapes. So pretty and we got them on a good deal too. 

Check out the shop HERE. 

6. Favourite Bag/// This pink suede satchel from Princess K was a birthday gift in 2014 and I recently went back to using it and I love it. It's super soft and has just the right amount of space in. Added a bauble from H&M for some pop. Love this bag! 

7. Journal/// This new gorgeous journal came home with me and will be journal (my diary for thoughts and feelings) in 2017. 

I love it, isn't it beautiful? 

Also these fluffy creatures are so cute! They are badges and can be put on outfits and bags. 

So cute! 

A proper haul will come soon. 

All of these are from Accessorize. 

8. Netflix and Chill/// I have finally succumbed to the Netflix bug. And I am loving it! 

I joined to watch the Gilmore Girls Revival and I am hooked to Netflix. There is so much to watch and stay entertained. I am especially looking forward to watch a ton of Christmas movies in the last week of December. I highly recommend you try Netflix..but be prepared to have your life taken over by it, but in a good way. 

I am currently binge watching a show called Lovesick. I've finished the first season and have started on the second season. 

9. Nykaa Matte Nail Polish + Lipstick/// I am in love with the Nykaa Matte nail polishes. The colour pay-off is amazing and the paint lasts for upto a week. So pretty and these are decently prized too and their colour selection is pretty varied. 

10. An Old Favourite/// Finally got the battery changed on my sister's old watch and I've been wearing it a whole lot recently. I love the hands of this watch. It looks like a flower in bloom. 

Love it! 

Hope your November was good. 

& 

I hope December is even better and festive and joyous! 

:) 

Book Review: Shadowed Promise & Fighting For Tara by Sunanda Chatterjee {Kindle Unlimited}

Book: Shadowed Promise

Author: Sunanda Chatterjee

Pages: 229

Read via: Kindle Unlimited on my Kindle

Read in: ~3 hours

Plot Summary: Moyna’s cousin panted at the doorway, heavy with child. “Who did this to you?” her father shouted. And Moyna knew that somehow she would be blamed for this unspeakable shame on the family. Her aunt blamed her for all the tragedies, from the death of Moyna’s own parents to the riots in Bombay. But, as her cousin lay dying of stab wounds, Moyna promised to protect the baby.

In a panic, eighteen-year-old Moyna made a hasty decision that would return to haunt her years later. 

Bullied as a child, Sameer wants to make the world a safer place.  He has spurned a cushy career in his father’s law firm for public service. Sameer is drawn to the mysterious Moyna when they meet in Los Angeles. The attraction seems mutual, but Moyna remains cautious and secretive about her past, insulating herself from love to protect others from her unlucky curse.

At the cusp of political victory, Sameer faces increasing gun violence and death threats leading to an FBI investigation. But his greatest challenge comes when a shadow from Moyna’s past threatens to destroy their future.

What hope do they have with the media hungering for a scandal?

Thoughts and Review: We picked up this book via our Kindle Unlimited subscription. I love Kindle Unlimited because it is a low-cost, low-risk way of trying new authors and new genres. So, this book- Shadowed Promise- tells the story of an orphaned girl- Moyna- who builds a life for herself in the US. It starts with the 1992-3 riots in Bombay after the destruction of the Babri Masjid, an event in which Moyna's unwed and highly pregnant cousin- Tania- is killed by the mob. Moyna then makes up her mind to give Tania's son her name and the name of the boy she loved as the father's name. 

Cut to several years later, where Moyna is a successful lawyer and is happily married to the guy she loves. Her husband, Sameer, has political ambitions and being scandal-free is critical for reaching the heights of public office in the US (yes, yes, present election not included). 

What I like about this book is the multiple 'American Dream' type stories that it has- not only Moyna's but also her friends, Lupe (a girl from an ordinary family, raised by a single mom, who also struggles from a genetic illness), Aaron (a scholarship student, who goes on become a successful TV journalist) and, of course, Sameer. The multiple stories in this book are nice as are the characters. 

The only critique I have against this book is that some of the events are way too convenient. I don't want to spoil it, but the unnamed father of Tania's son turns out to be someone very, very predictable and is not very realistic at all. 

This book is a nice read- it is well written, has sweet characters and an overall interesting narrative. 

Rating: 3/5 

⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕⤕

Book: Fighting for Tara

Author: Sunanda Chatterjee

Pages: 312

Read via: Kindle Unlimited 

Read in: ~3 hours 

Plot Summary: “I have no use for a baby girl. Get rid of her tonight!” He towered over her as she cringed in fear.

But Hansa, a thirteen-year-old child-bride in rural India, refuses to remain a victim of the oppressive society where a female child is an unwanted burden. Instead of drowning her baby, Hansa escapes from her village with three-month-old Tara.

Hansa soon discovers that life as a teenage mother is fraught with danger. But a single lie opens the door to a promising opportunity far from home.

Just seven years later, Hansa finds herself fighting for Tara’s life once more, this time in an American court, with a woman she calls ‘Mother.’

Will the lie upon which Hansa built her life, defeat its own purpose? How can she succeed when no one believes the truth? 

A story of two mothers, two daughters and a fight to save a child, Fighting for Tara explores the depth of love and motherhood.

Thoughts and Review: This book is part-good and part-utterly bizarre! It tries to tackle multiple social issues like child marriage, female infanticide, prostitution, the unreasonable religious beliefs that stand in the way of saving a life (Jehovah's Witness and their policy on blood transfusion) etc. but does not really do any sensible justice to any of these issues.

The overall narrative makes little or no sense. An illiterate or almost illiterate child bride and mother from rural Rajasthan pretty much learns fluent English and moves to the US, where within one year, she joins a high school and does not get bullied for anything. Why you wonder?! Cos she is the hottest girl anyone has ever seen anywhere! *rolls eyes till head hurts* 

Anyway, the story may have a lot of weird and bizarre events- not really getting into them because they are so weird and they are completely unrealistic and outside of the realm of possibility- but it does have some nice characters. I particularly liked Wolfy, Sheila, Tara and Rani Sahiba. 

Rating: 2.5/5 
This is an average book...the story is a bit of a stretch but it is worth reading only for the characters!   

Monday Moods: Gilmore Girls- A Year in the Life!

Hello! 

My weekend if described in one word..or two was basically Gilmore Girls!

Ah! 

After all this time we were back in Stars Hollow and it's quirky and adorable inhabitants. And I couldn't be happier.

When I first heard about the revival I was a bit skeptical. I was terrified of it being like the Sex and The City movie debacles. (Those movies were horse shit!) 

But I was so happy to have a slice of one my favourite shows back. Even for just a measly four episodes I was happy to be back in this world. 

:)

If you haven't watched the new episodes, do so now.

If you haven't watched the original episodes...seriously go watch them.

You won't regret a thing.

It isn't a perfect TV show but it is wonderfully quirky, with clever writing and some memorable and loveable characters.

It is a treat.

It will make you crave some (a lot of) coffee and some junk food.

Be warned but seriously, watch it. 

I will now talk about my feeling about the revival, there will be SPOILERS so if you don't want to be spoiled...go away. 

Gone?

Still here?

Let's do this! 

Oh! 

I loved it.

I really loved it. 

THINGS I LOVED! 

• Seeing my favourite fictional town again. To see so many of it's loving, kind and good people again. Miss Patty, Gypsy, Taylor and Kirk---good old strange and funny Kirk and his little piglet. :) 
• Seeing Lorelai and Luke in their long awaited relationship and home life. These two deserve a happily ever after. 
• Emily Gilmore's character really came on her own and seeing her deal with her grief was both heart-breaking but real and lovely. She really surprised me with having a whole Hispanic family moving in with her and being so kind to them.
• Jess! I am wholly and have always been Team Jess. It broke my heart that those two couldn't make it work. It was nice to see him again and he was just as lovely. 
• Rory's struggles in her career and her general struggle with who she is was just...real and relatable. Rory is my age and I've always felt very connected to her and identified with her. She was my favourite Gilmore Girl and seeing her struggle was hard but it made sense. 
• Lorelai was the Gilmore I liked best in this series. Way more than I've ever liked her before. 
• I loved and really appreciated that so many of the old-timers showed up for a friendly appearance. Dean, Suki and even Rory's dad. 
• It was good to see Paris Geller- the scenes with her were so funny- and even go back for a bit to Chilton- Rory's fancy prep school! 
• This series still had so much of the magic of the original series. 
• The last episode Fall was hands down my favourite. I was a sobbing mess by the end. So good! 
• The wedding was great too. 

THINGS I DIDN'T LOVE! 

Like I said before, Rory was my favourite Gilmore Girl. I actually find the Lorelai of the original series a tad bit annoying at times. Rory was my age and loved reading and was quiet and studious and bright and I really loved her. 

I felt a little disappointed by her now.

And it's not her career confusion. That was the most relatable and human bit about her. 

Oh...she was almost never shown reading in these episodes! :O What?!!!! 

Back to my disappointment with Rory...the way she treats Paul was not funny. And it made me very uncomfortable that it was used as such a joke. It's not nice to forget about someone who is your boyfriend for over 2 years and really treat him like shit. Not cool! 

Also the whole thing with Logan was just awful.

Ugh! 

I never liked Logan to begin with...but Rory being his thing on the side, while he is engaged to another woman. NO! Just no! 

I expected better from her...even though she did a similar thing with a newly married Dean.

It just made me not like Rory...the way she treats the men in her life. 

Not cool. 

THE ENDING....hmmm...it gives me hope for more episodes? 

I really hope there are more. 

But if not...I could have done without the cliffhanger. 

And I guess Logan is the baby daddy...which makes me sad...and Jess still likes Rory...ugh!

I really hope there are more episodes. 

And even if there aren't I guess this is a full circle kinda ending which I guess I understand. 

⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜⇜ 

I need to get to bed!

It's 6:13 am and I just needed to write this down, so my thoughts were still fresh.

Future me will edit and post this later in the day. 

I hope you guys have a good Monday. 

Stationery Sunday: Teal Speckled Fawns Traveler's Notebook

Hello, hello!

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

This Stationery Sunday, I am sharing a look at my sister's current memory capture traveler's notebook. This is the Teal leather 'regular' size notebook from Speckled Fawns.


The teal leather is so vibrant and rich-looking in person. It is almost jewel toned. So, so pretty.

My sister uses the Midori/Traveler's Factory Week on 1 Page + Memo insert for 2016 inside this notebook along with another blank insert for sticking in memorabilia from travels and such. So, this has three notebooks (known as inserts) and one zipper insert from Fourrouf. 

Felt clips are a great way to add some cutesy and colour to one's traveler's notebooks. These are from Created by Danielle on Etsy. 

This is what the inside looks like. There are three pockets, which can fit in your standard credit cards or in this case, washi samplers, stickers etc. 

Here is a look at the cover of the 2016 insert that my sister uses. She has customised it using stickers and washi tapes. 

Some examples of the kind of stuff we document. ^^ Samples from a washi tape haul :) ^^. 

^^ Postcards received from friends. This one was kindly sent from the lovely folks at Stickerrific. ^^

This is the olive coloured zipper insert from Fourrouf. Normally, one wouldn't use a zipper insert when the traveler's notebook already has pockets, but since my sister already had a ton of stickers and such inside it, she moved it over to this notebook. 

Here is a look at the inside of the zippered pocket- some stickers, journaling cards etc. 

Hope this was fun! 

Have a great Sunday and a terrific week ahead, folks! 

Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Book: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Pages: 367

Read: The paperback copy

Read in: 4-5 hours over two days

Plot Summary: Lily hasn't always had it easy, but that's never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She's come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up - she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily's life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He's also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle's complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan - her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

Things I Liked: 

1. I really enjoy Colleen Hoover's books. She writes sweet love stories but her stories always shine a light on a social issue of some sort. This is book is no different. She shines a light on the very private side of domestic violence. Through her characters Lily and Lily's mom, she tries to show how victims of domestic violence rationalise the violence, giving the perpetrator more and more opportunities to abuse and torture them. 

2. The characters are all very likeable and well crafted. Lily, Atlas and Alyssa were my favourites! 

Lily is such a nice, warm and sweet person. She has seen and experienced so much as a young person but still had the courage to move out to Boston and start her life all over again. Her reactions to Ryle and her experiences with him before and after their marriage are understandable and easy to understand. Since this book is about domestic violence, Colleen Hoover has tried to get inside the mind of the victim and the abuser to help us outsiders understand what goes through their minds when faced with such situations. She does a good job through Lily- someone who has seen her mom deal with domestic violence and how she reacts to Ryle inflicting the same on her. 

Atlas is just pure love! He is, again, a person who has been through neglect and abuse as a child and who made his way in the world through sheer grit. He is kind, thoughtful and helpful. He wants to do so much to help Lily when they run into each other but he gives her her space to figure things out on her own, whilst providing her with a safe haven.

Alyssa her husband- Marshall- are nice, warm and funny people. I love how Alyssa supports Lily when it really matters. 

3. This is a book about a difficult and triggering topic- domestic violence. I quite liked the very human, everyday perspective with which this story has been written. The abuser is not some evil villain and the victim is not some spineless, helpless person. There are reasons that drive victims to stay in abusive situations and Hoover has tried to get readers to understand those reasons and not judge. 

4. This book is also about friendship- about what being a good, supportive friend means... how opening up about our struggles to our friends only helps us. I really liked reading about Lily and Atlas' friendship as well as about Lily and Alyssa's friendship. 

5. Lily's diary entries from her teenage years are also very entertaining to read. She wrote the diaries as letters to Ellen DeGeneres and these letters show her tense home life, her time with Atlas and all her inner turmoil and thoughts. Using this style of a diary in the form of letters was a great way to reveal the past. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. The only thing I had an issue with is showing Ryle as this all around good guy apart from his tendency to hit Lily and get uber-possessive of her! I am not saying that he should be painted as a black-hearted knave but his violent tendencies are ONLY and SOLELY reserved for Lily and no one else. That is not realistically plausible or accurate. 

Rating: 4.5/5 

A great book to read if you love love stories with a strong social message. 

Friday Favourites: Hair Cut + Food + Book Journal + Leaves + Christmas Baubles.

Hello! 

Happy Friday Folks :) 

Time for some of my favourites this week! 

1. Hair Cut/// Got a haircut this week and I feel so good! 

It has added so much volume and life to my slightly boring hair. 

2. Greenery/// This picture was taken while stuck in traffic on the Western Express Highway on a weekday morning. 

I love how green Bombay is even it's busiest bits. Beauty in unexpected places. Pockets of greenery in an urban jungle. 

3. Sriracha Chicken Wings/// Yum in my tum! 

4. Book Journal/// Do More of What Makes You Happy. 

A book to jot down my thoughts on the books I read. 

5. First Christmas Ornaments of the Year/// I am already looking forward to Christmas and bought myself some new ornaments for our tree. I try adding a new ornament to our tree every year. I got these ornaments from Fabindia yesterday and I can't wait to see them on our tree. 

Hope you had a lovely week and have a relaxing and chill weekend. 

:) 

General Whimsy/// Bag Lady - Part IX

Hello! 

It's been a while since I've done a Bag Lady post on the blog!

Like in almost over a year!

What is life?!

I am a through and through bag lady and it's high time I shared some of my recent bag loves. 

The bags below are some of the bags I've used and loved in the last few months. 

Oh! 

Just realised that all of these bags are from Zara!

I am clearly a fan.

Seriously though Zara bags have such great quality and so on trend. 

Loved all of these bags. 

A very special and such a different bag from Cord. 

Love the shape and of course the indigo-ness is such my aesthetic. 

A very 90s style backpack from 20 Dresses.

This backpack really takes me back. I swear I had a black one in pretty much this exact style.

The red bag tassel is from Accessorise, which always adds a little something extra to all of my bags. And I've been adding bag charms a lot to my bags lately.

Oh Bags! 

You always make my heart sing. 

:) 

Book Review: The Trap by Melanie Raabe

Book: The Trap

Author: Melanie Raabe

Pages: ~300

Read: The paperback edition

Read in: 3 hours or so

Plot Summary: For 11 years, the bestselling author Linda Conrads has mystified fans by never setting foot outside her home. Haunted by the unsolved murder of her younger sister--who she discovered in a pool of blood--and the face of the man she saw fleeing the scene, Linda's hermit existence helps her cope with debilitating anxiety. 

But the sanctity of her oasis is shattered when she sees her sister's murderer on television. Hobbled by years of isolation, Linda resolves to use the plot of her next novel to lay an irresistible trap for the man. 

As the plan is set in motion and the past comes rushing back, Linda's memories--and her very sanity--are called into question. Is this man a heartless killer or merely a helpless victim?

General Thoughts: I found this book via Instagram. I saw a picture of this book on my explore page and read the summary and was hooked! It sounded so interesting! 

A bookworm will find book recommendations everywhere! 

:) 

Things I Liked: 

1. The premise is really quite thrilling. A reclusive author, who had witnessed the murder of her only sister, sets a trap for the killer by writing a book about the murder. The book promises loads of mind games and thrills and it does not disappoint! 

2. Linda Conrads is an interesting character. She suffers from anxiety and depression and is agoraphobic. She never leaves her home and even within her home, there are areas where she feels more comfortable than the others. This was done very well. The author seems to have done her research on Agoraphobia quite well, as well as on other anxiety spectrum disorders. 

Though Linda's reactions and behaviour sometimes seem excessive because the author does not really give us a glimpse into the real nature of Linda's trauma on finding her dead sister.

3. Linda's whole interview with her sister's killer is a very interesting sequence. We have Linda being in control and fully losing control.. don't want to give anything else away but what happens during the interview is a nice little twist. 

4. The snippets we get to see of Linda's book are also interesting. Since it is a pretty accurate fictionalized version of the events following Anna's murder, we get to see how Linda almost fell in love with the cop investigating Anna's murder. Also this little feature made it seem like we were reading 2 books in one, which is quite nice. 

5. The final outcome was quite satisfying. Won't say much else, but it was nice that things happened the way they did. 

Things I Didn't Like:

1. Anna as a character was not really done justice to- was she a saint? Was she a bitch? It was almost like we saw Anna through the misty haze of Linda's guilt and then, later, through the killer's anger. So, we don't really get to see how she really was! We see two versions of the same person but the real Anna seems to remain elusive. 

2. The way Linda lost the plot during the interview was kinda predictable and quite boring to read about. As a reader, I saw it coming because the interview was at the halfway mark of the book and you know that since the book is nowhere close to ending and so, there would be no resolution at this point. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

This is a good, quick read which is quite nicely written.   

Monday Moods: The Office.

Hello! 

I seem to have done a disappearing act on the blog here! 

:(

Not intentional.

I fell a little sick last week and had to take some time off and just be and read and heal.

Plus it was my sister's birthday and I wanted to spend time with her and my family. 

So the little blog was ignored! 

But I am back and with lots of posts in mind.

This Monday has been a fun one.

I got haircut. A proper one since April,  so it was long over due. 

A haircut does so much for one's soul.

I feel like a new woman.

I mean not entirely but let's just say I feel really good! 

Then I had a nice lunch with my sister and her partners and it was good food and fun conversation. 

Now I am pooped and sitting in my sister's office and writing this post, so here are some snippets from my sister's office. 

A little peek into what I carry in my bag. 

Wallet & Card Holder.

Make-Up Bag.

Pineapple Bag for iPod. 

Tic-Tacs. 

Gum.

Hand Sanitizer.

Tissues.

Bag Clip.

The couch in my sister's office in the sunlight. 

Coffee Mug in my sister's office. 

It's from Chumbak and so cute! 

On the desk. 

Books, Bookmark and Coffee. 

My Moleskine Cahier to write down and elaborate on my story ideas. 

Have a great week ahead folks. 

I will be back with book reviews soon! 

:) 

⬹⬹⬹⬹⬹⬹⬹⬹

Book Review: The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad by Twinkle Khanna

Book: The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad

Author: Twinkle Khanna

Pages: 256

Read: The paperback edition pictured above

Read in: 2-3 hours

Plot Summary: A gangly young girl transforms her village with a revolutionary idea. Sixty-eight-year-old Noni Appa finds herself drawn to a married man – ‘Why do people have to define relationships, underline each word till the paper gives way beneath,’ she wonders. Bablu Kewat becomes obsessed with sanitary napkins much to his family’s horror, and a young woman keeps checking the weather forecast as she meticulously plans each of her five weddings.

Things I Liked: 

1. The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad is a collection of four short stories, each unique in its setting, theme and the kind of characters it features. One story is set in a village, two in big cities and one in a small town. The characters are very human, slightly eccentric but always relatable. 

2. The writing is good. Khanna is a competent writer with a gift for infusing even simple, everyday events with humour. This book has multiple laugh-out-loud moments. 

3. Each and every story touches your heart. They are about people- simple, common people like you and me- and you can relate to them and their struggles and journeys. Even if you can't fully relate to some of them, you can certainly empathise with them. 

4. My favourite story was Lakshmi's and Bablu Kewat's,  the latters story is inspired by the real life Padmashri Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented the low-cost sanitary napkin machine that helps rural women make and sell a pack of 8 napkins for as low as Rs. 16. Bubblu's struggles, his journey, his determination and the various hilarious things that happen along the way make it such a heartwarming story. Lakshmi's story is just heart-warming and inspiring. 

5. Noni Appa and Binni's story was also adorable and hilarious. Also, had a lovely life lesson about living in the moment and living for oneself sometimes. Plus any story about a pair of feisty sisters is just so my cup of tea. :) 

6. This is a wonderful little book and you can breeze through it in one sitting and come away feeling very moved. 

Rating: 4/5 

I highly, highly recommend this book. This book works for everyone and is a fun ride from start to finish. I loved the time I spent with this book. 
 

Monday Moods: Life Lately

 The past week was, pardon my French, totally f*ck all!

An epitome of white privilege, racism, misogyny and bigotry is now the leader of the free world. It is a sad, sad time to be alive.

Closer home, each Rs.100 note is almost, perceptually, worth a million or more, depending on how desperately one needs cash for day-to-day lives! Sigh.

Anyway, there were some small comforts to be found and here are somethings my sister turned to cheer herself up slightly. She says the jury's still out on whether all of them worked or not!

Matte teal-ish nails from Naykaa. This is their shade called Matcha Tiramisu and it is a lovely matte teal. Their matte nail paints are quite impressive. Really opaque and chip resistant. 

Sister's weekly planner pages before the ink. This is her 2016 Week-on-one-Page insert from the Traveler's Company. 

There was some happy mail from Sojourner by Retrowtures- a very well loved brand of Traveler's Notebooks. This is an A6 in Olive- a lovely military green, suede-ish leather. Love! 

A cheer-me-up plate of Roast Chicken with Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Veggies. YUM! 

A pretty artichoke print laptop bag (it is a tote, but my sister is using it to tote around her laptop currently) from Limeroad. Isn't it pretty! :) 

I hope your week is off to a good start!

Have a good one, folks! :) 

Book Review: Chain of Custody by Anita Nair

Book: Chain of Custody

Author: Anita Nair

Pages: 365

Read: The paperback pictured above

Read in: 2-3 hours

Plot Summary: Bangalore's Inspector Gowda is back in another nail-biting thriller. 

What does thirteen-year-old Nandita's disappearance have to do with the murder of a well-known lawyer in a gated community? Gowda is soon embroiled in the investigation of a child-trafficking racket. 

Negotiating insensitive laws, indifferent officials, and uncooperative witnesses, he is in a race against time to rescue Nandita from one of the most depraved criminal rings he has ever encountered.

Things I Liked: 

1. I enjoyed Anita Nair's first foray into crime fiction- Cut-like Wound- and was quite excited to read the second book in the Inspector Gowda series. 

2. The book is quite well written. Nair is a competent writer and she does justice to the three distinct crime-relate plots in the book as well as snippets of Gowda's personal life. 

3. The central crime in this book is actually a murder of a famous lawyer and around that murder are related incidents of human trafficking. Gowda's maid's 12 year old daughter is kidnapped and through her eyes, we get to see snippets of life at a brothel run by these traffickers. I liked that the author has attempted to show three aspects of the whole human trafficking trade- one for labour, one for prostitution and the other is a more "high class" escort services. 

4. This is a very realistic book. There are no perfect resolutions to various tragic situations involving children, which is how it really is in our country, unfortunately. The police procedures, the interference of politicians and influential business people to stall investigations and the undying efforts of NGOs to fix things within this horrible, broken system. 

5. The investigative process was decent- not the best that I have ever read but not the worst. There were no major red herrings and several "plot twists" were eminently guessable. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. Like I said, there is no major big mystery in this book. The central murder mystery is completely relegated to the back burner as the police team chases leads in their search for 12-year old Nandita. I don't mind a quick paced book on child trafficking but this was not that fast-paced and was quite predictable. 

2. This was a slightly depressing book, I won't lie! There is a not-so-nice development from the first book, which has still been left open and unresolved even at the end of this book. Plus, the 'real killer' in this book, pretty much gets away scot free. Ugh. Don't like such books. We read fiction to escape from our sucky reality and this book didn't deliver that. 

Rating: 3/5 

Friday Favourites/// Fall + Desk Scene + Flowers + Sloth+ Bangles.

1. Fall in my city. 

2. Desk Scenes. 

Book + Notebook + Pens. 

3. Flowers and Positive Messages. 

4. Sloth Love. 

:)

And Matte Nails. 

5. A box of bangles. 

The box is from Art n Light  and the bangles are from a bunch of places. A nifty way to keep my bangles in one place. 

Hope you are having a good Friday. 

And have a great weekend folks.

I've been a bit blue lately, since the Election Results. 

I know it's not my country yet I find myself quite disheartened about how things turned out. 

Seeing hate and racism and sexism being rewarded just seems wrong.

Gah!

I plan on doing a lot of mental self-care this weekend.

Reading something good. 

Colouring.

Watching funny movie.

Drinking hot chocolate. 

Just doing things that make me feel good.