KhepiAri

Book Review: Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi Quote: I asked him what his work was. He answered that he devoted all his time to his political activities... He was undoubtedly busy with the diplomatic relations between his testicles and women's breast. In an elegant room, there is a gathering of women who after lunch have put their husbands to siesta, Marjane Satrapi then in her twenties is witnessing gossip unfold while she serves tea to her grandmother's friends. Soon she learns of stories of sex, love, betrayal and jokes.  Her grandmother a woman I fell in love with in Persepolis, is admirable and scary, and fierce. A woman who has no place for weak-willed, opium addict and thrice-married. An entire book is an act of retelling, now minus the sombre part of their lives. Grandmother recalls how she tried to help a friend fake her virginity on the wedding night and how it turned into a horribly-funny story. Another woman tells how her parents ...

Florilegium: A collection of literary extracts. A word I dare not pronounce and know not how to spell without the help of a dictionary. My whole Sunday was spent lazing between waiting for last two episodes of most probably my the most favourite Korean Romantic Comedy and the pages of this flower florilegium. Nothing many remains about the author Mr. Alexander Marshal's life in the pages of history. He was a flower enthusiast, amazing painter and chronicler of gardens. He had a wife, no children, was friends with few nobles and loved illustrating. His only flower florilegium has been passed down through many owners to finally make its home in the Queen's library. A book most probably many wouldn't get to see because it's so delicate and beautiful and old, that it may crumble if left to mere hands. This book is a reproduction of those beautiful flower art. Now made available for mere mortals who are flower crazy, a book definitely suitab...

Curious texts that I stumble upon! I have serious issues with that foreward and the forceful inclusion of the word 'war' in every other recipe! I understand the text was written with extreme zealousness and patriotic fervour at peak of the World War I. But it also shows a pattern, the U.S. or the American society has this strange fascination with women and her kitchen, and sadomasochistic love for the war. The care and concern for the soldiers is so dipped in nationalistic pride that biscuits are called war biscuits! No they do not care for the martyred, they care for the inflated sense of an individual in service of nation without realising the cost of war. Though, I hate cooking the recipes are actually interesting. But it's the thought process behind them. The tone of mockery and nullification of women's contribution to economy is what enraged me. I bet the women didn't need to be told how to ration their kitchens, be...

Book Review: My Pet Human by Yasmine Surovec Quote: It took me a while to master "the look," but it's essential to getting what I want from humans. And let's just say, I always get what I want. I mean, who can resist this face? I'm adorable! Meet Mr. Independent nameless cat, who knows it all! He knows how to avoid animal control, how to get scraps from cooks at restaurants, climb tries and avoid human toddlers. And oh he loves boxes. The blurb of the book is what made me part with my money. A cat seeking a human pet: who must feed him a lot of treats, give back rubs, supplies boxes, plays with him and loves him Infinitely. Soon this independent cat befriends two humans who have just moved into the empty house at the end of the line. Curiosity get hold of him, he ends up becoming the little human's only friend and her mother soon warms up to him. They give him baths, feed him tuna and cuddles, and he in return claws meows in the night and shove...

Book Review: A Shakespearean Botanical by Margaret Willes Quote: When Tatiana commands her fairies to serve Bottom the weaver with exotic fruits such as apricots, figs, and mulberries in A Midsummer's Night Dream, she is is indulging him with 'banqueting stuffe'. On Saturday afternoon my boss showed me the gift her daughter bought from the Bodleian Library. A library I absolutely drool over, for Harry Potter freaks, that's your Hogwarts Library! And All Souls Trilogy fans that's where Diana met Mathew. I practically waltzed around my boss, nagged her, geeked about the beautiful book to finally make her part with it for the weekend. How many times have we read Shakespeare and gone he knew his stuff too well! Which is the major reason behind the long-standing debate of Mr. William's actual identity and authorship of his plays? This book is aptly described as a marriage between the beautiful words of the Bard and the illustrations of John Gerar...

Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Quote: I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too? The first time I came to learn about the existence of this book happened when I skipped a school day and stayed home and found the cinema adaptation airing on my television. I was thirteen and the protagonist of the story was thirteen. Melinda and I, we just connected. And I fell in love with Kristen Stewart's portrayal, I really wanted to scoop her up, protect her and marry her then. That was also the first time I really understood the reason for every daughters' mother's fear and concern. I asked my best friend to watch the movie the next day, who soon made an interesting observation about Melinda's ex-best friend Rachelle not being dumb and blinded by love for a boy to forget her reason and thought process. And it taught us one lesson we never forg...