Adultery by Paula Coelho

Name of the Book - Adultery

Author - Paulo Coelho

Publisher – Random House India

                 www.randomhouse.co.in

- "Sometimes you have to lose yourself to discover who you are."

Reading “Adultery” was on my list of “books to read” this month. Unfortunately, I got so busy with unimportant things that I did not have the time to even go online to buy this book written by my favorite author Paula Coelho. Well! I did not have to worry about it as a dear friend of mine ordered it online and gifted it to me (Thanks a ton!)J! Adultery opened up a whole new world for me. Being a die-hard Paula Coelho fan, as I read each line I tried to understand the deeper meaning that the author had woven into them.

This book is about a woman in her thirties, who like a lot of other women, begins to question her life, her existence. She has everything anyone could possibly ask for; a home, a husband, a good job and children and yet she goes on a journey where she discovers herself and the true meaning of “Love.” Yes, this novel explores the meaning of a 4 letter word that we all think we understand. In the novel, the protagonist reveals her inner self, she fights with the demons in her life, she surrenders, she falls and then she rises higher than ever before.

What I loved about the Novel -

Adultery is real! What I mean to say that the book reveals so many things about each of us that it is frightening. As humans living in a society with so many rules and regulations it is difficult to expose the “real” person. The fear of being rejected and ridiculed, keep us from being who we are; we conform to standards, we live lives that kill us daily and yet we brush our feelings under the carpet, not realizing that eventually those unsaid words turn into demons that haunt us later.

I admire the way the author uses examples from Greek Mythology, Stories and symbolism to represent the feelings that the woman is going through. These examples add to the essence of the novel and make the story more real. It connects to each soul that spends hours poring over the words in the book. This novel like most of his other books help you fight your own demons - they tell you the struggles that other people face and then leave the decision to you. After all, you have to live with yourself!

You can read more of my work on –

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Twitter - GuptaRach

Guest Post - Writing a book from your blog posts By Tony Riches

I read somewhere that it was a great idea to format a dozen of your most interesting blog posts as an ebook – and publish it on Amazon.  It just happened that I‘d reached the last in a series of posts on my writing blog about social media tips for authors wishing to increase their readership. Each post had ten ‘top tips’ for a particular social media channel, such as Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads, so as there were now ten of them I could call it something like ‘100 practical Tips’.

It didn’t take long to format the ebook, as I simply copied and pasted the blog posts then ran it through my free tool ‘Mobipocket Creator’. I used a free cover template, as I wasn’t going to spend ages designing one, then published it on Amazon and Smashwords.

Then the problems started. Amazon sent me a terse email saying they had discovered that the contents of a book I had just published was available free online, so I had to remove it immediately. They were, of course, referring to the posts on my writing blog. I reluctantly had to then delete the original posts from my blog, which was a shame as they’d had a lot of visitors.

Next Smashwords sent a warning that they couldn’t distribute the ebook to their usual channels as it contained links to Amazon. They were right – I had a whole chapter on setting up your Amazon author page.  I removed the actual hyperlinks from the text but they still haven’t accepted it - and I don’t think they will until the ‘A’ word is gone altogether.

In the meantime the book is selling on Amazon – and I decided to give it away free to anyone who guest posts on my blog, which has worked well.  It was also useful that when Twitter recently changed the header layout I was able to easily update the ebook – which I probably would never have remembered to do for the blog posts.

So there you have it. It can be a good idea to ‘recycle’ your old posts as an ebook, although there may be hidden problems that can take you by surprise!

How to Build Your Online Author Platform: 100 Practical Tips is on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IUQ7QSK

About the Author- 

Tony Riches is a full time author based in Wales UK.  His blog The Writing Desk is at www.tonyriches.co.uk  and he has a Wordpress site for his published work at http://tonyrichesauthor.wordpress.com/ You can also find Tony on Twitter @tonyriches and on Facebook  

The Fault in Our Stars

Book - The Fault in Our Stars    

Author - John Green

Publisher - Penguin

www.penguin.com

I always wanted to watch the movie, “The Fault in Our Stars.” Friends and relatives said it was good, the reviews on the Internet were great, but strangely I never got around to watching it. Well! In my case, I guess I was just destined to read the book! (Yes, I do believe in destinyJ.) Unlike most of the books I have written reviews about, I never bought this book. A friend who knows that I love reading gave me this book (bless his soul) one fine morning and I can’t thank him enough for this wonderful gesture!

Unlike most of the other books I have read this one took me longer to finish because I was busy with chores (maids missing because of Ganpati Puja), but then I was able to understand the characters better because of this. Every time I put the book down and was busy with chores I was left wondering how Hazel, Augustus, Issac or their family members felt in the given situation, how they coped with reality and what gave them this strength.

Life is short we always say, but this novel by John Greene makes you sit up and wonder if you really know the meaning of the phrase! It’s sad when old people leave this Earth to inhabit the one above, but when the young go it’s so much more painful and this is what the novel is about, a fact that we like to forget – death! Inevitable though it is, this word frightens me as it is so permanent, irreversible and painful. John Greene in this novel shows the reality that people with cancer face and yet, he brings in so much positivity while telling the tale that your mind marvels at the strength that the protagonists display and looks at the beauty of the present rather than the sadness and pain of the future. Two strong characters, Hazel and Augustus Waters lead us through the novel. They take us on the roller-coaster ride (as mentioned in the novel) with them as we learn about their past and live with them in the present and future.

Why I liked the novel -

By the time I reached the end of the book I was already sobbing. It was not only the end that caused this reaction; it was also that the book reminded me of my friend who lost his battle with cancer a few years ago. I never knew he had gone till I visited his Facebook page and read all the messages there. This episode along with my father’s demise a few years ago introduced me to death, a fact that I always disregarded because I thought people I love would never leave me. I know how wrong I was in thinking that!

I am very particular about the books I read and that is reason I write about each book so passionately. I do not believe in revealing the story because for me a book is like a treasure map which I open to follow the path that leads to the treasure. Each review is my interpretation of the novel! Read “The Fault in Our Stars” only if you want to understand the trials and tribulations of a patient with cancer and how they do not like being pitied. Of course be ready to shed a few tears as you turn the pages of this lovely novel that talks about reality!

Links to My Work -

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachna-Gupta-Content-Writing/521712004517975

www.myriadhues.com

Twitter - @GuptaRach