The Fiction Magnate- A book blog

(but not really a magnate just a broke college student reading books and writing about them)

Akshaya Reddy

Introduction

Hello world, well maybe not the world, but the two or three people other than my
communications professor who will be reading this. I was given an assignment of writing
blog posts everyday for a week. I did not have to think very hard on a task that I would do
everyday to write about it. Anybody who knows me knows that I read books a lot, like  A
LOT. so you know how when a man who has been starved for weeks is fed, and he
inhales the food? yeah, that’s how i am with books, not exaggerating. Very often you
would find me itching to hold onto my phone and dive into a mesmerising story. 


So a simple preface into this challenge/task, for everyday of this week I will either be
reading a new book, or rereading books and writing about them. Here’s to hoping I am
able to read a book everyday in between my busy schedules of classes and draftings, or
maybe I could just squeeze in a few pages during classes (shhhh… its our secret). Also
just a prelude, most of the books I read are either Rom-coms or fantasy, but I will be sure
to bring in a little change and include a variety of genres.

and…..

Let’s Begin.

Thursday, July 7 2021

Today was a rather hectic day. We ended classes very late and me being a serious
procrastinator (well not true, AG just has a lot of work) did not finish work for the next day.
But, do not fear when I tell you that I read a lot, I really do. Because I barely, just barely
managed to finish a book.

The book that I chose for today is…… drumroll please…….

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

(p.s- this has spoilers, so if you have not read the book before and want to read it, then
RUN, literally RUN and go read it right now.)

This is a book that I have read before, and wanted to read it again as it was an absolutely
beautiful story. I first read this book for a seventh grade english assignment and
absolutely fell in love with every part of it, well except the assignments that I had to do
after reading the book. It was a period in my life when childhood was nearly over, but
adolescence had not yet set in, and it was a time when animals were my greatest love. 

Where the Red Fern Grows is set in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, and follows the life
of a young a boy and his two dogs. 

As a child I read Where the Red Fern Grows for its adventures and the profound love Billy
has for his two dogs. Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy and his dogs go coon hunting every
night and play in the river during the day. 

This is a book about love -- not only human love for an animal, but the love of a parent for
a child, a man for his home, and a special love between two animals. Billy's family is
extremely close-knit. His mother teaches Billy and his two sisters to read and write
because the school is too far away, and when he turns eleven, Billy’s father lets him help
out in the fields. To complete the happy nest. Grandpa lives right down the road, and has
the family over every Sunday afternoon for supper. It portrays the different bonds that we
as humans have and it is very beautiful to read in the perspective of a ten year old. There
is something very special about the bonds that can develop between humans and dogs.
Bonds such as the one Rawls describes in this passage from Ch. 18:

"Men," said Mr. Kyle, "people have been trying to understand dogs ever since the
beginning of time.  One never knows what they'll do.  You can read every day where a
 dog saved the life of a drowning child, or lay down his life for his master.  Some people
call this loyalty.  I don't.  I may be wrong, but I call it love – the deepest kind of love.”

The very first time I read this I was moved to tears, but not as much because of their
eventual end. 


Although the plot is rather simple, which is of a boy wanting beyond hope two hunting
dogs that would be the best in the Ozarks, the authors execution of this book brings
everyone to tears, and also makes them reminisce their own bonds and emotions. 

By the time I reached the second-last chapter, the one with the mountain lion, I was on
the verge of losing it, like I knew I would.  It was a vicious punch to the gut, even though I
knew what was coming.  I had to pause for a bit, to make sure my welling eyes did not
prevent me from reading as I was being forced to recall the tragic ends of Old Dan and
Little Ann. Maybe this is why Where the Red Fern Grows is a book that I will remember for
eternity. It forces us to confront the emotions of death and loss, while also realising, as
Billy does years later, that there was something special in that bond between dog and
human that goes beyond grief and heartache.


Additionally, I love the brilliance in the name of the book for the meaning that it has. When
both Little Ann and Old Dan die, Billy visits his dogs one last time and he sees a red fern
growing between the two graves. According to legend, an angel has to plant the seed of
the red fern, and so wherever there is a red fern, it marks something very admirable and
special. He remembers that he prayed for the dogs and that all along, they seem to have
been a gift of God. Because an angel has honoured his dogs, he understands that they
are part of God's plans.

Friday, July 8 2021

I started a new book today, Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. It was
extremely hyped up on Instagram, and every other book video I saw recommended this
book. So I was like what better time than now to start reading it.

The very first time I heard about this book, I thought that romanticising a gruesome event
was insensitive and extremely inappropriate. However, I have mixed feelings about this
book. I loved that the suspense and the thrill had me on the edge of my seat. but also as
the story progressed it got extremely predictable and monotonous.

First, a little background information of the true events:

In autumn 1888, five women were murdered in the east London slums at the hands of an
unknown killer. This murderer came to be known as “Jack the Ripper,” a man who
repeatedly evaded and taunted the police.During the Jack the Ripper murder era, police,
media, and local officials received an onslaught of letters—making Jack the Ripper the
first “media serial killer.” Due to his mystique and unknown identity, this case remains one
of England’s most notorious unsolved cases.

This book is set in the year 1888, a serial killer is on the loose in London, brutally
murdering women on the streets of London. It follows the life of seventeen-year-old
Audrey Rose who is a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege before her. But
between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life. Against
her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her
uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on
a string of savagely killed corpses tugs Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer,
her search for answers brings her close to her own world.

Audrey Rose is a progressive woman who strives to show that women can be just as
strong as men, and study in the field of science.

This book follows very closely with the true events that happened during the killing spree.
One of the letters that Jack the Ripper had written to the police during his time:

Dear Boss,

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have
laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track.

Yours truly, 

Jack the Ripper

I love the thorough research that the author had undertaken to include facts and the
correct scientific terminology in her book. She also made sure to use the appropriate
Victorian etiquette, dress code, social rules and restrictions in order to make her
characters and world even more believable. Her writing style is vivid, lush, beautifully
detailed and powerful. A special touch I really liked was that dispersed between the
chapters also were pictures of diagrams, places, diseases, and settings related to the
story/time period.

The pacing of the book started out a bit slow, however, it allowed me to soak in
everything around me, it created an air of intrigue and overall creepiness around the
whole story. It also allowed me to play detective along with Audrey Rose and I had a
pretty good idea of who Jack the Ripper was going to turn out to be. Even though I knew
the killer, I still really enjoyed the intense and fast ride through the last few chapters and to
the devastating and monstrous reveal.

Saturday, July 9 2021

For Saturday I chose a Colleen hoover book; November 9.

COLLEEN HOOVER. I could talk endlessly about her books; her absolutely brilliant
characters, their witty quips, the romance, the way she pays attention to the tiniest of
details and finally the twists, THE TWISTS. I would think that the story is going to go a
certain way and then it does a complete 180 degree turn to leave the readers speechless.

I went into this story completely blind without knowing anything other than what the blurb
said. I read it in one sitting with my heart racing the whole time, the story was unique and
unexpected that it took me completely by surprise over and over again. I swooned, I fell in
love, my heart was broken, and then healed again.

This book starts off by just throwing you right into the story. You hit the ground running
and it’s a non-stop ride until the very end.

Let me start off by explaining the gist of this story. On November 9, Ben and Fallon meet
at a restaurant and they have an instant connection. Ben is an aspiring writer and Fallon
an actress and an avid reader. But Fallon is moving across the country the next day and
also she feels she will not be ready for a serious relationship for the next 5 years (until she
turns 23). This becomes the inspiration for Ben's first novel and for the two too met up
every year on the same day. So they decide to go on with their lives and date other
people but only meet each other every year on November 9. And they would have no
more contact with each other other than that one day of a year.

This book made me want to totally change my entire life. Go out and redo everything. Be
more confident. Be more experimental. Be more free. The book made me have this big
epiphany moment, which just made me love the book even more.

And ben, my god just ben. He would say the cutest things to her - “I laughed, relieved
that she’s…that she simply exists. And that we were lucky enough to exist in the same
lifetime, in the same area of the world, in the same state.” I really found it to be amazing
how these two characters could literally spend only a matter of hours together over the
years and still have me wholeheartedly believe their love for each other. But I really did. I
felt the feels, believed their love, understood the mistakes, cheered for the victories. I
loved it so much!

“This is real life, and in the real world you have to bust your ass for the happy ever after…
When you find love, you take it. You grab it with both hands and you do everything in your
power not to let it go.”

Isn’t that an awesome quote??

This is one of those book that you would not drop until you finished it, and trust me it is
worth every hour I put into reading it.

Sunday, July 10 2021

After the absolutely perfect romance story I absolutely devoured yesterday, I was in the
mood for one more.

Today, I read Hate Notes by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. I have read both of their
books, and knew that I would be absolutely swooning at this story too.

The Female lead, Charlotte is feisty, creative, and driven to live her life on her own terms.
Charlotte thought she was happily engaged until she learned that her fiancé was cheating
on her. Her life is turned upside down when she leaves him and quits her job at his
family’s company. Selling her wedding dress leads to finding an amazing dress with the
most romantic love note sewn inside. This segues into her meeting with Reed, a textbook
workaholic. He really doesn’t have anything in his life after a broken engagement other
than selling real estate in the family firm.

And let me tell you them meeting was one of the funniest parts of the whole book.
Basically she fills out a form to view an apartment in his firm when she is drunk. And this
is the conversation that ensues after she views the apartment:

“Once we circled back into the main space of the bedroom, he looked at me.
“Questions? Comments?”

I needed to just end this. Say something.

“I’m thinking . . . um . . . that this might be too much space for me.”

He sat down on the bed and crossed his arms, the ever-present folder still in his hand.
“Too much space . . .”

“Yes. I’m thinking it might be a lot for just me. I . . . work a lot. And . . . won’t have time
to enjoy it.”

“Yes. I’m thinking it might be a lot for just me. I . . . work a lot. And . . . won’t have time
to enjoy it.”

He glared at me—like, full-on glared. “Oh, that’s right. The dog-surfing instruction.”

Dog what?

“Excuse me?”

He tapped the folder with his index finger. “Your occupation. You filled out the
application and submitted all of your information. That job sounds very involved—dog
surfing. How does one come to teach that?”

Oh shit.

What have I gotten myself into?

 At this point, lying was simply easier than explaining the truth.

I started speaking out of my ass. “As you said . . . it’s very . . . involved. It takes . . . a lot
of schooling. A lot of practice.”

“How does it work exactly?”

How does dog surfing work? Beats the hell out of me.

“You stand at the back of the board and . . . the dog stands on the front . . . and, um . . .
he . . .” I lost my train of thought.

“Surfs.” The word came out in a laugh.

“Yes.”

This is one of the funniest scenes I have ever read and I feel like I would always remember
this as the dog instructor book.

It was a fast-paced, humorous tale of Reed and Charlotte's journey. All of the emotions
felt so real, everything they went through, the good, the bad, and the middle ones. The
romance was one of the best parts in the story.

Hate Notes was the perfect Rom-Com.

Monday, July 11 2021

Throne of Glass. This is my all time favourite series. The books that made me fall in love
with reading, in love with fantasy, in love with love. The book that had me amazed at the
mind of a person and the things that we could create with words.

Throne of glass is a fantasy romance series that follows the story of Aelin Galathynius,
alias, Celaena Sardothien, an assassin, a queen, and most of all a true friend.

Today, I re read Heir of Fire for almost the ninety ninth time. It is the third book in the
series, and told in multiple point of views.

Heir of Fire is really the shift in the series. The Throne of Glass series is a rather big plot
and long as a whole, however, while the first two books are essential, they are so wildly
different from the rest of the series. Heir of Fire kind of acts like a book one even though it
is a book three. Very strange, but weirdly refreshing. It was really well done.

The main reason I love this book so much is that it shows the growth from Celaena
Sardothien, an assassin to Aelin Galathynius, a true queen. This character development
was great and watching her break and then come back from the brink of death into a
practicing Queen. It was wonderful to see her finally accept her heritage and master her
magic. It shows the internal battles she faces, the past she struggles to get over, and the
relationships that she makes along the journey.

“Because I am lost," she whispered onto the earth. "And I do not know the way.”

This book focuses on how a person can come back from their breaking point and how
Celaena did exactly that in her transformation to Aelin Galathynius.

“She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius—and she would not be afraid.”

While Heir of Fire may be mainly about Celaena finding the strength to accept who she is
meant to be, the other plot lines are no less engrossing. The book introduces us to many
other characters and their stories, and is a prelude to the next books.

Overall, Heir of Fire is a very deep and emotional book – slow to start, perhaps, but every
page is worth the read. I absolutely loved the way this ended, and what it hints at for the
next book. This is a series that grows better by the book. Heir of Fire is a beautifully
written masterpiece, and unquestionably one of my favourites in this series.

Tuesday, July 12 2021

To mix things up a little, I read my all time favourite short stories. They’re the stories of a
legendary Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, created by Saradindu Bandopadhyay.

The book that I read is an amalgamation of both long and short stories and are classic
“Whodunit?.” Byomkesh calls himself  the inquisitor and not a detective, but in reality he
is a brilliant detective who often gets very well paid for doing his job. Saradindu provides
Byomkesh with intriguing and sensational cases which are very well written and capture
the essence of Pre and Post colonial Bengal. The very first short story is also where he
meets Ajit, who becomes a friend, an associate, and the narrator of the Byomkesh Bakshi
stories.

The story that I read today is The Venom of the Tarantula. - A short story about an old
man who is addicted to spider venom and is able to take his dose of the drug even under
constant supervision of his family. A very clever mystery and with some good sense of
humour. Ajit is sent by Byomkesh to investigate this as  Byomkesh is busy with a different
case.

Although the story is predictable, I loved the simplicity of the story and the way that it
allows the read to cling onto every word in the story. These stories are very easy to read
as they are not only small but also fast paced, which allows the reader to read each of the
stories at their own pace.

Wednesday, July 13 2021

One thing I love (maybe not on the same level as reading just a little lower) is soccer. I
have played soccer most of my middle school and high school, and absolutely love the
sport and the relationships that I have made because of this sport. What’s better than
reading a book, you may ask. Well, reading a rom-com about characters who play soccer.
Yeah that sounds like absolute heaven to me, and today I found out that I found exactly
that in the book Kulti by Mariana Zapata.

I have read a Mariana Zapata book before, and knew that her brand of slow burn would
be absolutely delicious, I love how she builds her relationships up in such a realistic way
and finally her broody men and badass women that she makes me stumble and fall in
love with.

The Synopsis:

When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the
greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to. It didn’t take a week for 27-year-
old Sal Casillas to wonder what she’d seen in the international soccer icon – why she’d
ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-
playing soccer babies. Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the
history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn’t known she’d existed. So she
isn’t prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team’s season: a
quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he’d once been. 

This book is the perfect example of a sports romance and was an almost instant love for
me. I absolutely adored both of them. Obviously I took a bit longer to warm up to dark
and broody Kulti because he doesn’t speak much at the beginning of the book. The book
is told in first person POV from the female lead Sal. And she carries this book very well.
She’s down to earth, extremely likeable and absolutely hilarious. And once we get to
know Kulti… just adorable!

The main reason I love this book so much is that the banter is top tier and Sal and Kulti
are both so petty, stubborn, competitive, and they fight/bicker all the time that it's just
entertaining, making everything funnier.

And the best part, the romance. the little sweet moments between them. I knew, just
knew that the moment Kulti started calling Sal schnecke, was the moment that I fell in
love with this couple, also we all know that this is the moment that he fell in in love with
her too.

"My schnecke. My little snail, do you know what it means? It's a term of affection in my
country. My love. My snail, I don't want to waste more time. I have nothing to hide and
neither do you.”
if he doesn't call you "my snail" in his native language, is he really worth it? I guess it's
apparent that Zapata doesn't care about my well-being at all because she suddenly
started attacking me with all this cute things Kulti said to Sal,

"You are my gift, my second chance, and I will cherish you and your dream.”

or

"You are the most honest, warm, loving person I know. Your loyalty and friendship
amazes me every day. I have never wanted anything more in my life than I want your
love, and I don't want to share that with anyone. I haven't done a single thing in my life
to deserve you, schnecke, but I will never give up on you, and I won't let you give up on
me.”

Yeah so I knew that this was the moment that I fell in love with the idea of LOVE. I will
forever blame Zapata for making me believe that this kind of love exists and further make
me yearn for it.

Thursday, July 14 2021

So I know that I promised to read a variety of genres, but that didn’t work out for me.
Through this week, I found out that nothing pleases me more that a good romance.
Therefore, I bring to you another wonderful, witty, swoon worthy and most of all a
romance that is filled with a roller coaster of emotions. Frayed Silk by Ella Fields.

This book follows the story of Lia, a wife and mother of two, and her husband Leo. It is a
second chance romance story between them. It talks about the struggles that they face
as couples and individually. From the very first page, Lias cries for any sort of reaction
from Leo that he cares that their marriage is sinking and heartbreaking.

It depicts how a person distances themselves from their most loved ones in times of
need, instead of confessing to them and seeking help. And this is exactly what Leo does
in the book. Instead of talking through problems with Lia, he distances himself from her in
order to not burden her, and only strives in breaking their relationship even more.

"I can’t keep waiting on him. I can’t keep hanging on by a frayed thread. I think it needs
to snap once and for all. Let the pieces fall where they may. Because if he won’t do it,
then they only person who can fix this pain and make me happy again is me.”

You could feel her frustration as she tries to connect with her husband Leo, find out
what’s wrong, and get some part of him back. I was frustrated right alongside her, I was
scheming what I thought his problem was, why was he so distant, why won’t he giver her
what she needs, what she wants??  The list was a long one but NEVER did I see what
would eventually come. Once things fall into place you won’t believe it.  It was a
shocker!!!

So spoiler alert!!!

Basically the reason that Leo distances himself from Lia is because he gets raped by one
of Lia’s best friends when he was drunk. He was ashamed of himself and could not live
with the thought that he was taken against his will, which is the reason he distanced
himself from all physical and emotional attachments.

I loved that Ella Fields was able to write such a controversial subject in a way that didn't
come across offensive. and what I appreciated even more is that she showcased rape as
a problem that not only women go through, but also men. I'm grateful the author took a
sensitive and somewhat taboo subject and, not only gets the conversation going, but also
follows through with steps towards healing.

"Life. It doesn’t always follow the rules and plans you lay out for your future. Something
always happens to make you realise that while yes, you are in control, some things just
 can’t be predicted. And simply won’t fit into the mold of your plans or dreams but
rather, will smash them to pieces and force you to rebuild. So finding a way to be happy
and live despite that is what matters. It’s where you’ll find your true strength and find
out just how much you have.”

This story rocked me. It consumed my world. This story shattered me, it wrecked me, and
it put me back together. This story had secrets, lies and pain - but the real story was
about the power of love, acceptance, forgiveness and the importance of communication
in relationships.