Friday, September 26, 2014

One writer who taught the Indians to Dream and believe in them

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, himself leads the path by telling the readers through his narration, what it means to ascend the ladder of accomplishment and knowledge.


When thoughts receive wings, they fly away like a fluttering butterfly. The thoughts transcend the boundaries of imagination and derive creativity that is hard to replicate or measure by any human capacity. This is exactly what happens when a scientist writes a book. It does not remain a research based subject, but mellows down to an inspiring alley where readers can churn more thoughts and add to their ever-inflating collection. Wings of Fire is truly the book of the new millennium. It has India at the pivot where everything else revolves around it. With a clear objective of wanting to see the country reach its true heights by 2020, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, himself leads the path by telling the readers through his narration, what it means to rise along the ladder of success and knowledge.
Raised in a challenging environment, Dr. Abdul Kalam excelled in his academics and was one of the pillars of the Nuclear program in India. He is rightly called the ‘Missile Man’ of Asia. A boat-owner’s son, Dr. Kalam is an inspiring idol and epitome of professional supremacy. His books are literary jewels, acknowledged in international and domestic circuits. His one line that cuts through the realm of time and space is “We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire". The energy carried in one single line has the power to change lives.
When thoughts receive wings, they fly away like a fluttering butterfly. The thoughts transcend the boundaries of imagination and derive creativity that is hard to replicate or measure by any human capacity. This is exactly what happens when a scientist writes a book. It does not remain a research based subject, but mellows down to an inspiring alley where readers can churn more thoughts and add to their ever-inflating collection. Wings of Fire is truly the book of the new millennium. It has India at the pivot where everything else revolves around it. With a clear objective of wanting to see the country reach its true heights by 2020, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, himself leads the path by telling the readers through his narration, what it means to rise along the ladder of success and knowledge.
Raised in a challenging environment, Dr. Abdul Kalam excelled in his academics and was one of the pillars of the Nuclear program in India. He is rightly called the ‘Missile Man’ of Asia. A boat-owner’s son, Dr. Kalam is an inspiring idol and epitome of professional supremacy. His books are literary jewels, acknowledged in international and domestic circuits. His one line that cuts through the realm of time and space is “We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire". The energy carried in one single line has the power to change lives.

What began as a tryst with science, Dr. Kalam authored one of the best reference book in space aviation, titled “Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology”, way back in the year 1988. His dream was finally connected with words when India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium was published in 1998, the very year India re-announced its entry into the elite league of Nuclear capable nations. Following the great critical and commercial success, he brought his writing skill to the gallery by publishing “Wings of Fire”. A truly idealistic novel that stirs passion in every Indian, both natural and adopted, rate this book as a life-changing encounter. The ideas illustrated in the novel are ignited on fire and it continues to rage with spirited enthusiasm. Manifesto to Change became a sequel to India 2020, when it was published recently in 2014. In between Dr. Kalam penned  nine novels, that have all been equally audacious and rampant in declaring the love for the kids and youth, while clearly defining the role of the elderly in designing the future of India. His definition of ‘patriotism’ motivates the reader to a level where you can actually feel the heartbeat pulsate with frantic fervor. Some readers have even acknowledged that every turn of the page gives them a feeling of  ‘Hoisting the Tricolor’. Each encounter is a respectful salute to the contributions of soldiers, farmers, leaders and every single person who has contributed in some way or the other. Reading his books is a treat to the intellectual faculties and that is why, Dr. Kalam continues to be a writer with ‘Astronomical’ creativity.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Remembering Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh is no more; however his legacy to the world of Indo-Anglian literature will continue. Some of his most famous works include Delhi: A Novel; The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories; I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale; A History of the Sikhs; Tragedy of Punjab; Sex, Scotch and Scholarship: Selected Writings; Not a Nice Man to Know; Black Jasmine; We Indians; Women and Men in my Life; Ghadar: India's First Armed Revolution; Declaring Love in Four Languages; Burial at the Sea; A History of the Sikhs; Death at my Doorstep; Uncertain Liaisons: Sex, Strife and Togetherness in Urban India, With Malice Towards One and All and The End of India. He was born in Hadali in Punjab (now part of Pakistan) in 1915. He studied at Modern School, New Delhi; St. Stephens, Delhi University, King's College, London; and read for the Bar at the Inner Temple.
 
Khushwant Singh started his career as a lawyer until he entered the Indian Foreign Service and worked as Information Officer of the Government of India in Toronto, Canada. He later worked in London. He became a member of the Rajya Sabha.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan that he returned in protest to the siege of the Golden Temple in 1984. He died on March 20, 2014. We will miss his satirical humor, wit and wisdom

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Award Thursdays - Orhan Pamuk

On Award Thursdays this week, BookChums features popular Turkish screenwriter, writer and academic Orhan Pamuk. Needless to say, his most popular literary works include Snow, The White Castle, The Black Book, Istanbul: Memories and the City, The New Life, Other Colors: Essays and a Story, The Museum of Innocence, and The Naive and Sentimental Novelist. He was born in 1952 in Istanbul. He is currently the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in Humanities at Columbia University.

Pamuk attended Robert College in Istanbul and then Istanbul Technical University. He discontinued his studies to become a full-time writer and graduated in Journalism from the University of Istanbul. His first book was Darkness and Light and was a co-recipient of the Milliyet Press Novel Contest. He won several prizes for his essays and today, he is also popular for his support for the political rights of the Kurds. In 2005, he was put on trial for highlighting the genocide of the Armenian Christians and the plight of Kurds in Ottoman Turkey. By doing so he had made an attempt to emphasize on political freedom.

Pamuk has been a recipient of awards including the Nobel Prize in Literature, Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, Premio Grinzanr Cavour and International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Embrace our collection of Magazines

Embrace our collection of Magazines

Embrace our collection of Magazines

This New Years, replenish and rejuvenate with our collection of Magazines. We have selected an assortment of magazines,, hand picked especially to serve and cater to you. Have a blast!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

10 Best Love Story ebook free download pdf of 2011 -2012


Love is an emotion of exultation, of extreme happiness, bordering on delirium and superficial onlookers may term it as insane, as many things of the heart are so readily termed. As far as books are concerned, the most popular of the love stories are the oft-repeated boy-girl romance sagas.

Look at the most downloaded book of love stories, written by A Bushman called, quite simply, A Love Story.  The book has seen a sizeable 847 downloads until now, which tells a lot about the weight that the word ‘love’ carries.
Who doesn’t like a tinge of mystery and murder to a love story? Love on the Rocks by Ismita Tandon Dhanker explores the same formula from a new angle. This has certainly reaped rewards for the book that has been downloaded 715 times, until the time of writing.

We recently celebrated the 200th birth anniversary of Charles Dickens, and if our eBook download meter is any indicator, Mr. Dickens still charms a new generation of readers, as we have witnessed. The Charles Dickens’ book The Battle of Life: A Love Story has been downloaded 553 times, making it one of the most downloaded eBook by a 19th century writer. 
Mr. Dickens is however not alone, we have the great Leo Tolstoy’s tale of a doomed love that has found many takers too. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy has been downloaded 471 times already, and that is an impressive number for a novel that was first released as a series in a periodical, somewhere between 1873 and 1877.

Coming back to our modern times, we have Sanjeev Ranjan question the popular perceptions of the boy-girl romance in his book In Course of True Love! The book has been downloaded 559 times within a month of its addition to the eBook list. Love makes the world go round? It is certainly so in the book reading world.



Love stories continue to stimulate us, and if we go by the number of times Thomas Bailey Aldrich’s Rivermouth Romance has been downloaded, you would get an idea of the hold love has over us. The book has been downloaded 394 times within a month of its availability on the BookChums eBook section.  Aldrich (1836-1907) was an American poet, novelist, traveler, and editor.

In a similar vein, and an instance of another enduring work, we have Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility that has crossed the 400 mark in the number of downloads. The chronicle of the two Dashwood sisters, who find their hopes dashed by their two dashing prospective suitors, still has many takers. Will the Dashwood sisters find their men? Read this eBook to know more. 

A guy-girl romance has also found many faithful followers, as has been seen with the book Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn. We have already had 383 downloads on this one. The story tells about a perfectly happy man called Sebastian Grey, who just finds it impossible to sleep one night. Why is he finding it difficult, what is he missing?


The 1920 book by D.H.Lawrence, a sequel to his 1915 book The Rainbow, was controversial when it was first released. Women in Love continues the saga of the Brangwen sisters even as their search for love takes them up to the snowy Alps. With 333 downloads, this eBook enjoys a steady following, as is evident of the classics. To think that the book was severely criticized for its sexual subject matter and the way it depicts British society as it was before the First World War.

Thus we come to the end of the most downloaded list of free eBooks in the category of love stories. Farewell.