Book Review - Around the World in 80 Cocktails by Chad Parkhill

A colorful cover and a catchy title got my attention when I saw this book the first time. I have seen titles like "Around the world in 80 days", "Around the world in 80 trains", "Around the world in 80 Dates" but 80 cocktails. That was completely new for me. So curiosity built up inside me. I like to try various combinations of mocktails at home, so when I saw this book, I actually saw it as an opportunity to try 80 new drinks. I expected it as a normal recipe book but it turned out as a complete surprise for me. I was flat by its artwork.

Book Blurb

Around the World in 80 Cocktails celebrates the globetrotting history of the cocktail through eighty different iconic drinks – each of which has its own story to tell. Bartender and writer Chad Parkhill takes you on a whirlwind tour of the places that have shaped the history of the cocktail from its birth to the present day, with recipes so you can follow along at home.

You'll learn about the surprising military history behind the bubbly, vivacious Venetian Spritz; how the G&T moved from India to England (and why the best in the world are now made in Spain); and how France's Burgundy region turned tragedy into triumph with the Kir. Accompanied by gorgeous vintage-style illustrations that evoke antique travel posters, these stories and recipes are an ode to the joys of travel, history, and drinking.

Coming to the text content, as the title suggests the book discusses 80 well-known cocktails from various cultures & countries. Each cocktail is dedicated to a chapter, which covered history or basic facts about that drink. It also covers recipes and ingredients required for that cocktail. If you love booze you will enjoy these drinks, but if you are a nonalcoholic (nondrinker) you may substitute flavored soft drink and convert it to a tasty mocktail. I tried a few you may also. Check out the book to know more.

Those who are not aware:

A cocktail is an alcoholic drink.

A mocktail is a nonalcoholic drink

Let's take a review of artwork. This is I am discussing specifically. The beauty of the book is the artwork. The illustrator Alice Oehr has given wonderful depictions of each cocktail along with the culture or place it belongs to. The culture is visible in the background of each chapter.

Good points

• A perfect combination of art & culture
• Light in nature,. If you like a chapter read it, if you don't, skip it.
• The recipe described are easy to try
• You can use it for a showcase or as a coffee table book
• Good quality of pages and graphics

In and all, I liked it. And yes I am giving 5 stars to art and 4.5 stars to the book.

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - Ghoomophiro - Travel Bringing Families Together by Himadri Garg

I have read fiction based on trekking, road trips, mountaineering. But a traveling-fiction was my first-time experience. There are three major reasons for selecting this book.

1. Traveling fiction - Something new. We have not tried it yet.
2. Writer - Himadri Garg is the sister of Prachi Garg. We have already read Super Women series by Prachi and we loved it. So we had high hopes from Himadri.
3. The domain of writer - Those who are not aware of sisters. They run a travel venture with same name Ghoomophiro. So they must have ample of wonderful memories to relate and make a story around it.

Book Blurb

"Full of photographs, souvenirs and trinkets from around the world, the Kumar house was nothing short of a mini-museum of the flavours from the world. There were preserve-me glow balls from places that no longer existed- like the great barrier reef or the Hawaiian Islands, along with memory-cubes, that contained snap-shot holograms of places that the residents had been to and wanted to revisit virtually anytime they wanted. Happy photographs of family members, still framed, instead of the now common digital screen-shots that kept changing as per calendar events, awards and certificates for varied accomplishments, both professional and personal and signs of a well-read occupant were all visible. The house, to say the least, had character and spoke for itself, even though, ironically, most of its members did not as much.

Ghoomophiro is the story of two sisters Nitika and Kritika and their exciting much-awaited trip with their family. Both of them are travelers and during this trip, family discusses everything about their travel tales.

With its vivid descriptions, uplifting adventures, Ghoomophiro is a journey that everyone can live with and can relate to and can inspire anyone to pack the bags to explore."

Coming to the story part, it revolves around a promise or a trend set by two sisters, Nitika and Kritika. They have decided to go on traveling every year without fail and they have followed this tradition for 25 years. But this year they have decided to do it with the whole family. The family trip has made the story more interesting, as each character brings a new & fresh perspective. Read the book to know more.

As I have already mentioned Himadri & Prachi have traveled a lot. They have been to different places, which can be seen while reading Nitika and Kritika's experience of 25 places they visited during their 25 years of trips. It required a lot of research and first-hand experience of traveling, places, people to write a perfect travel-book. The debut efforts of Himadri is really commendable. The only issue I found was mix and match of fiction, travelogue and documentary style. It could have been better.

I would give 3.5/5 to efforts of Himadri.

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Nautanki Diaries - A Travelogue of Dominic Franks

A really pink puppet show themed cover having a cycling man dangled by strings, a colophon describing the book to be a travelogue, but most importantly the use of word Nautanki (mischief). In times where everyone documents their travel experiences through blogs, I wondered what lay inside, as, on top of it, the genre also mentioned non-fiction yet had mischief in its title.

Book Blurb

Nautanki Diaries sits comfortably in the travelogue niche, yet in the best traditions of travel writing, it does much more than just describe the passing scenery. With candour and a quirky sense of humour, the author carries the reader on a twenty-two-day journey on a cycle from Bengaluru to New Delhi, aiming to reach in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

As a schoolboy, Dominic Franks looked up to his sports coach, Shikaari, as a mentor and inspiration. Shikaari inadvertently planted the seed of a journey that he himself had made in 1982 in his young student’s mind. Eventually, the author decides to use the same sort of ‘doodhwallah’ bicycle and names her Nautanki.

Replete with anecdotes and (un)conventional wisdom gleaned from the conversations he has along the way, Nautanki Diaries is a ‘cycling book’—one that allows the reader to share the intricacies of cycling as a sport, as meditation in motion and as a craft.

As for Nautanki—she plays her role perfectly, in true heroine style, right till her very last act. 

Overall Verdict:- Saddle up and enjoy the Nautanki

“Nautanki Diaries” is a travelogue of Dominic Franks where inspired by his mentor he decides to journey from Bengaluru to Delhi to attend 2010 Common Wealth Games on a cycle who he fondly christens as “Nautanki” along with a crew who documents it as the journey progresses.

Dominic Franks has documented his gritty, colorful and soulful journey in a manner that is simple yet humorous. The manner in which it all starts with a whim, the preparations for the same, the different stages of the journey is written in an engrossing manner where we can relate ourselves.

From his encounters with different people from various cultures to the simple tea and cigarette breaks of the journey, the author is able to describe the same effortlessly. The transition from state to state is seamless. 

“Nautanki Diaries” is written in first person narrative. The chapters are dated well and there exists no dragging throughout the book. Personally, I felt the epilogue was overdramatized as compared to the rest of the book. But other than that the book is a delightful read and we are left mesmerized with the scenic journey that we take along with the author, both outside and inside.

This was my first book in this genre and all in all it was perhaps an adventure for me too. And I am glad and honored that I was able to do the same through the words of Dominic Franks.

For Dominic Franks’ well-written travelogue, my overall rating would be 4/5.

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Colorful Notions The RoadTrippers 1.0

After reading "Monkeys, Motorcycles, and Misadventures" I started linking adventure & travelling books. "Colorful Notion: The RoadTrippers 1.0" was able to create similar impact on my. The moment I got my hands on the book I went through first few pages of the book and author Mohit Goyal has done splendid job by placing road-trip plan on 3rd page itself, which has increased my interest even further. 

Blurb of the book (which I found little bit boring)

Would you give up your high-paying job and comfortable personal life to drive ten thousand km across India? Just for fun! Three twenty-somethings dare to do just that! While the two guys take turns to drive, the girl gives voice-over as they record their entire journey on a handycam.

Ab, Sasha and Unnati are ordinary youngsters, rendered special by the feat they accomplish. As they recount their adventures, I crave to live their journey all the more. They look at each other with a glint in their eyes, as if refurbishing those memories, as they narrate their spooky time at Bhangarh Fort, strange escapades at Wagah Border and Sundarbans, car breakdowns, wild animals, near-death experiences and highway robbers! It's nothing less than crazy.

I doubted if I'd ever have the gumption to create such experiences. So I did the next best thing - I penned a book about them, and their roadtrip.

Story started with Abhay. A guy suffered emotionally because of his parents divorce. His best friend Shashank was the only person whom he considered family. Shashank a foodie fat guy who is settled in his family business was bored of his monotonous life. Only color in Shashank's life was his girlfriend Unnati. Abhay made a plan of road trip. A crazy road trip, starting from Delhi to North - West - South - East India, covering more than 25 locations & more than 10000 thousands KM. Abhay convinced both Shashank as well as Unnati's family for the trip. Their concept kicked off and got finance from main-stream media house production. Through out their trip their bonds deepen and became each other support. They even had self-realisation experience. 

Following would be the high light point of the book:

• Book was written in Bollywood style (someone can make movie out of it)
• As I said Bollywood style, I found it lacking in trip detailing due to over-concentration on drama
• At place story was witty and can make you laugh
• Best parts of book were : Bhangarh fort, Wagah Border, Hyderabad, Sundarbuns, Bodhigaya, Agra-Delhi Highway

Talking about ratings:

1. Cover - 4 / 5 (0.5 less for boring blurb)
2. Language - 3.5 / 5 (Smooth for given genre)
3. Story Line - 3 / 5 (Marks deducted specially for less detailing of trip)
4. Concept - 4.5 / 5
5. Characters - 4 / 5
6. Overall - 4 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

I won a review copy from The Tales Pensieve as part of Reviewers Programme. Register on #TTP for lots of #book fun and activities.

Work High, Sleep Low by Vinay Singh

"A mountaineer's foray into management and education" as subtitle tells about 'Work High, Sleep Low' by Vinay Singh is collection of author's experiences in personal & professional life along with his adventurous activities specially hiking, trekking, cycling, skiing. 

When I received this book as gift in exchange of unbiased review, I had thought book might be either autobiography or hiking adventure. To my relief book was not normal autobiography, because usually I avoid biographies. And after reading 'Monkeys, Motorcycles, and Misadventures' by N.S.Harsha Vardhan, adventure non-fiction became one of my favorite genre; again I was disappointed when book was not complete adventure journey. It was mix and match of author's life experience. 

It is the story of a boy from small town, whose dad was in police department. Author had spent his early life in various small cities. Being good in studies he went to IIT-Roorkee (University of Roorkee at that time) for engineering. He wanted to join army and got call letter from govt. But his father's consistent efforts made him changed his decision. He joined mountaineering club of college and started mini treks near Gangotri region. His expedition became serious when Capt. M. S. Kohli lead their camp for proper hiking. This part of the story was my favorite. Author joined IIM-A for his PGP, where he had another experience. He cycled all the way from Mumbai to Goa. 

Then came full section of author's personal - professional life, where he switched few companies to understand what he actually wanted in life. He also got married and had daughters. He got divorced and remarried. Story was pretty dull during this section. Story became interesting where author again went back to his adventurous nature and started trekking and travelling, which brings us to last 3rd of the book. Book from there to his efforts for social cause was really nice. A good read for any age. 

Talking about rating:

1. Cover - 4 / 5
2. Content - 3 / 5 (Details lacked when I expected more) 
3. Language - 4 / 5 
4. Story Line - 3 / 5 (Could be more organized specially first 50 pages)
5. Characters - 4 / 5
6. Overall - 3.5 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart
Review from other readers can be found at - GoodReads

BookReview - Monkeys, Motorcycles, and Misadventures by N.S.Harsha Vardhan

Firstly Congratulations on Completing Humongous task of the trekking & biking and then finishing this wonderful book. Also thanks for providing such a wonderful book describing your adventures. I would say this was one of the best giveaway book I got in last year (after multiple love stories)

Coming to 'Monkey, Motorcycles, and Misadventures' - It is the journey of Author - Harsha along with his two friends Sri and Sam from Hampi (Kiskindha) to Sri Lanka (Lanka). The journey Hanuman made to locate Lanka and Sita. It took them 73 days (Walking (in India) & Biking (in Sri Lanka)) to finish their journey. But more than destination their journey was wonderful to read about. Along with story they showed many faces of people and animal they met along the journey (mostly positive incidents except 1-2 bad experience)

Journey was started with different motives for each individual; and it shows how they find answers and faith in their path is written nicely.

Except few para - where author went to self-discussion mode and get me bored I loved book. I will definitely refer this book to others along with multiple re-read from my side. ;) Talking about rating:

1. Cover - 4 / 5
2. Concept - 5 / 5 (Many fragments from known stories)
3. Language - 4 / 5 (I finished it in 3-4 sittings)
4. Story Line - 4.5 / 5 (Smooth)
5. Characters - 4.75 / 5 
6. Overall - 4.25 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart
Review from other readers can be found at - GoodReads