Winners of the contest: When the Snow Melts

To make it a memorable 12-12-12 for the winners we chose to hold on to the names of the winners of our contest! We received many correct replies and the response to the contest was phenomenal. Thank you to all those who participated. Congratulations winners and better luck next time to the other participants.

Requesting all the winners to send their postal address with contact number to bookwelove at gmail dot com to enable us to send the book across as soon as possible:

Gunjan S
Vulcan Eager
Dr. Sharmila K
MM Roy
Shilpa Roy

Send us your address as soon as possible please!

When the Snow Melts: A Review and a contest!

I recently happened to read a book called When the Snow Melts by Vinod Joseph. The book is Vinod’s debut novel and must say it was a very interesting, fast paced read.  What surprises me is the low key or almost zilch promotions for the book by the publishers- seriously wonder why. It is a good read, well priced yet not many would have heard of the book. Also have a major bone to pick about the book cover! Anyway that’s the publisher and author’s call, but I am glad I chose to read the book.

So what is the book about? It is a racy thriller about espionage, spies , where everything is deceptive and trust is rare. The protagonist Ritwik Kumar is the Indian representative in an International intelligence gathering group named International Assessment Group. This group has intelligence agents from all over the world who are trying to pool in their information networks to help fight global terrorism. Ritwik who is battling his alcohol addiction ends up borrowing a lot of money and when IAG head General West gets to know of this, asks him to pay up within 15 days or lose his job. Finding himself isolated and cornered he finally decides to defect. To get out of the mess he is in, he ends up getting into a much bigger mess by defecting to terror network of Al-Qaeda. He realizes he doesn’t fit there either and its ideology is something he can never agree to.

Is it going to be such an easy task to switch loyalities? Would the members of Al-Qaeda trust him enough to let them know of what is going on in their organization? Will Ritwik be able to get out of the self created trouble he is in? It gets messier still when he starts falling in love with Nilofer, wife of one of the members of the Al-Qaeda team. In a hostile place where he can trust not a single soul is he setting himself up for the worse….

All in all a good read, nice plot and page turner of a read. For those who like to read such genres should give reading this book a try. Believe me it is worth your money.

What’s more our blog also gives you a chance to win an autographed copy of his book by answering 2 very very simple questions. We have 5 copies to give away. But remember the contest closes on 8/12/12. The rules: You need to be an Indian Resident above 18 years of age, Judges decision is final…Now for the questions:

A)      Who was the founder of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)?

B)      “Mossad” is Israel’s external intelligence agency. What’s the name of Israel’s internal intelligence agency?

So hurry and send us your answers to bookwelove(at)gmail(dot)com your time starts now!

Winners of the Brett Lee Contest

Dhantanaa!!!! We have the winners of The Brett Lee book giveaway contest and here they are:

• Vishal Kale
• Kshaunish
• Crystal Clear Thinking

Congratulations winners! Do send us your contact details(postal address and telephone number) to boookwelove(at)gmail(dot)com to send the book across to you.

Thank you all for participating! Every single response to that question was a memorable moment in cricket history but we had only three books to give away...But we have another contest coming up real soon..so keep reading.

Here goes...The Brett Lee Contest!

Many of you have been waiting for this contest. Many still do not know we are planning to give away three copies of Brett Lee's book My Life courtesy Random House India. How? The contest is simple, all you have to do is answer one simple question and leave your answers as a comment to this post. But before we ask you the question here are the rules:

• This contest is open for Indian Residents only.
• The contest ends on Friday, 27th July, 2012
• The Judges decision is final as far as the contest winners go. No queries will be entertained after the winners announced.

Okay now that we have the rules out of our way, here is the question:

What is your favourite moment in Cricketing history? 

Also note:  India winning the World Cup does not count!

Readers, cricket fans let's get going...your time starts now!

Coming soon- A brand new contest!

We At The Book Lovers we try to engage our readers not just with reviews and interviews but also through contests, where we give our readers a chance to win books! This time our contest is for book lovers who also love cricket!

He is recognized as one of the fastest bowlers in the world, this right hand fast bowler's cricketing heroes are Allan Donald and Dennis Lillee. He recently announced his retirement from all forms of International cricket due to a calf injury. Can you guess who we are talking about? Yes it is BRETT LEE!

So if you are a fan and you would want to win a copy of his book keep reading this blog. Contest coming up real soon. Get set and be ready to goooooooooooo...............!! 

Contest Winners of Poor Little Rich Slum

Following are the winners of Rashmi Bansal's book Poor Little Rich Slum. Congratulations winners! We received many entries unfortunately we have only 10 copies to giveaway, those who did not win can try their luck in the next giveaway contest which will happen soon. Keep reading!

1. Priyanka Kantak
2. Vipul Dassani
3. Rahul Revne
4. Chaitali Anand
5. Shilpa Roy
6. Gunjan S
7. Deepika M
8. Kumar
9. Giju Mathew
10. Geetanjali Kaur

Congratulations again! And happy reading!

Thank you Westland for the books for our winners.

Contest time....and your time starts now!

Snap out of the Monday morning blues and get ready to participate in this contest! The winners get to win a copy of Rashmi Bansal’s latest book Poor Little Rich Slum on Dharavi, its enterprising spirit and its entrepreneurs. Remember we have only 10 copies to give away...so hurry!

How well do you know Dharavi? Do you know…..

• Dharavi has an annual economy of over USD 650 million
• Many businesses in Dharavi generate million dollar incomes
• Products made in Dharavi are sourced and sold globally (NY, Europe, SE Asia etc)

Now back to the contest… All you have to do is answer these three simple questions and if you send us the right answers you stand a chance to win the book.

Rules first questions later  J

This contest is open for Indian Residents only.

The contest ends on Friday, 29^th June, 2012

The Judges decision is final as far as the contest winners go. No queries will be entertained after the winners announced.

Questions:

1) Dharavi is usually touted as the largest slum settlement in the world which is not true. Tell us which is the largest slum in the world?

2) Name the director and writer of the critically acclaimed movie Dharavi?

3) Which tourist agency carries out a tour of Dharavi giving insights into the functioning of this entrepreneurial area?

Yes it is as simple as 123! So put your thinking caps on and send in your answers to us at bookwelove@gmail.com

Books courtesy: Westland Publishers.

Winners of the Remembering Tagore contest to be announced shortly!

Yet again an overwhelming response to the contest! Thank you all for participating in such large numbers, we are in the process of shortlisting the winning entries, so wait a while please for the name of winners.

Until then do share with us what you are currently reading or any book you have enjoyed reading recently.

The books I have read and enjoyed recently-

Empire of the Moghul: Ruler of the World - Alex Rutherford
Don't Go Away. We'll be right back: The Oops and Downs of Advertising - Indu Balachandran

Currently reading Amitav Ghosh's River of Smoke and eagerly waiting to read Arvind Adiga's Last Man in the Tower.

Remembering Tagore Contest!

The Book Lovers in association with The Penguin Tagore Bookshelf  is proud to present a brand new contest for all our readers and Tagore fans. The winners of this contest stand a chance to win exciting titles from Penguin's Tagore Bookshelf. How to go about it? Here's the deal -We will be asking three questions related to Tagore. If you know the answers email to us at bookwelove(at)gmail(dot)com. If your answers are correct and you are shortlisted we will get in touch with you shortly after the contest ends.


So, are you ready?

Our questions:


A) Who wrote the introduction to, and actively promoted, the English translation of Tagore’s Gitanjali?


B) Two of Tagore’s songs are now the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. What is Bangladesh’s national anthem?

C) Which University awarded Tagore with Doctorate of Literature and in which year?

Simple enough? The rules are simple too! Here goes:

-          We have only ten copies to giveaway so rush your entries soon!

-          The answers should be emailed to us at bookwelove@gmail

-          The contest closes on 21st June, 2011.

-          The decision of the judges will be final.

Chanakya's Chant Contest

The Book Lovers is happy to announce a brand new contest for our readers!  

By answering some simple questions, you stand to win, an autographed copy of bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi’s latest book Chanakya’s Chant.  The book which was released recently is already amongst the top ten books selling in India. So here’s a golden chance to win a copy, go for it!

Q1. Which Mauryan king did Chanakya help in acquiring the throne?

Q2. Which famous treatise on statecraft and governance is usually attributed to Chanakya?

Q3. Which ancient university located in modern-day Pakistan was Chanakya associated with?

Simple enough? The rules are simple too! Here goes:

-          We are giving away 10 autographed copies of the book.

-          The answers should be emailed to us at bookwelove@gmail

-          The contest closes on 7^th March, 2011.

-          The decision of the judges will be final.

About the book and the author :

The year is 340 BC. A hunted, haunted Brahmin youth vows revenge for the gruesome murder of his beloved father. 

Cold, calculating, cruel and armed with a complete absence of accepted morals, he becomes the most power- ful political strategist in Bharat and succeeds in uniting a ragged country against the invasion of the army of that demigod, Alexander the Great. 

Pitting the weak edges of both forces against each other, he pulls off a wicked and astonishing victory and suc- ceeds in installing Chandragupta on the throne of the mighty Mauryan empire.

History knows him as the brilliant strategist Chanakya.
Satisfied—and a little bored—by his success as a kingmaker, through the simple summoning of his gifted mind, he recedes into the shadows to write his Artha- shastra, the ’science of wealth′. 

But history, which exults in repeating itself, revives Chanakya two and a half millennia later, in the avatar of Gangasagar Mishra, a Brahmin teacher in small town India who becomes puppeteer to a host of ambitious individuals—including a certain slum child who grows up into a beautiful and powerful woman.

Modern India happens to be just as riven as ancient Bharat by class hatred, corruption and divisive politics and this landscape is Gangasagar′s feasting ground. Can this wily Pandit—who preys on greed, venality and sexual deviance—bring about another miracle of a united India?

Will Chanakya′s Chant work again?
Ashwin Sanghi, the bestselling author of The Rozabal Line, brings you yet another historical spine chiller.

About The Author

An entrepreneur by profession, Ashwin Sanghi writes extensively on history, religion and politics in his spare time, but historical fiction in the thriller genre is his passion and hobby. Sanghi holds a master’s degree from Yale. He lives in India with his wife Anushika and son Raghuvir.