BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW - MRS. DALLOWAY BY VIRGINIA WOOLF

 Genre : Classics, Fiction, Feminism, Women Literature

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Mrs. Dalloway was written by Woolf in 1925, when the world, particularly Europe, was experiencing a lot of changes in all fronts. The story is set in those days of modernism; and revolves around a woman named Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a rich influential bureaucrat, who loves throwing parties and socializing. The entire story is set in a day of Mrs. Dalloway's life, where each character tells a story about his or her life. Each character directly influencing Mrs. Dalloway, looks back on a day when they were younger, when Clarissa turned down her friend, Peter Walsh's proposal for marriage. Mrs. Dalloway is one of the classics which have been widely read and appreciated around the world.
What I loved the most about Mrs. Dalloway is it's representation of the characters. A typical London morning in 1925 will have all the prominent characters in the novel. Clarissa is a socialite who arranges parties and indulge in socializing with high class families to share gossips and talk about life in London. What is even more special about the timeline is that it is set in 1925 which means the story encapsulates the old fashioned ways of living and the new modernist approach to life. Clarissa Dalloway, is taught from her early childhood how to become the perfect wife in a rich household, and that just represents how women had a certain role in lives. While she is not happy about the ways of life, she has not been able to break out of it. On the other hand, several characters, break out of the perception to become independent and "different" from the women in that time.
The novel has no chapters, just a steady flow of thoughts which jumps from one character to another to form an entire day of activities, impressions and views. Every thought, every view has a specific opinion on life in 1920s, every argument had different approaches and every view had its consequences. Every character has a personality so strong and so different, it's hard to talk about just one character. A character, Septimus Warren Smith is particularly interesting in the story, who is apparently written as a double to Clarissa. While both of them doesn't appreciate the way of life, Septimus breaks out of it by killing himself. And when Clarissa comes to know of it, she describes it as a defiance; she sees it as a way of escaping from the world of mishaps and misfortunes.
Virginia Woolf is a genius, and someone who has read at least one of her works will agree with me when I say this.

-NIVEDITA

Hacks To Buy Books For Cheap Online

If you're viewing any article on this blog, then it's quite fitting to assume that you're a bookworm. So are we. And being a bookworm is more of a lifestyle choice as most of you would agree. Each bookworm has his own resource to read books from. Some borrow from libraries, others from their book-hoarder friends and few others download ebooks.
If you happen to be the book-hoarder of your group, then this post is for you. If you're planning on starting your own lil library (read: book hoarder noob), then this post is for you too. Being a book hoarder doesn't come in cheap, but here are ways you can save some monies and make wise choices while adopting books from online sources.
*For Desi Bookworms only*

1) Compare:
Comparing prices from all the online shopping portals is rule number 1. We know, it's tedious and who the hell has got the time? Well, let me make it easy for you, presenting:
India Bookstore, a website which will compare book prices for you. Just type the name of the book you're looking for in the search bar and voila! compare and buy the desired book from the site offering it for the lowest price.
Your welcome.
The only problem here is that the site doesn't include Snapdeal, in which case you might want to do the work and check the price of the book yourself.

Indiabookstore is available as an app for android users.

2) Book Deals:
We all love us some online good book sales. But the problem is we often get confused as to what to buy and if the price could go any lower yada yada. Cue Book Deals For Broke Bibliophiles, this facebook group handled by the mysterious and equally brilliant Broke, not only notifies you of ongoing sales but also highlights/posts the best deals that are available. How awesome is that? Ironically, most people have turned broke after joining this group because, books.

Bow before thy master Broke

Apart from book deals, there are readathons and book meets and so much bookish fun! If you're not a part of this group, you're missing out on the book party life, so join now!

You can also find the deals on Broke's twitter handle, @BookDealsIndia and for some interesting book recs, follow Broke on Instagram at broke.bibliophile

Broke also has an app called BookThief, available for android users. Download the app and get notified of the best book deals. Such Technology. Much Awesome!

3) Money-back:
This hack will not only help you in book shopping but for other kinds of online shopping as well. Goodfind, is a site which provides cash back if you shop via their site. This video will help in understanding how >>



To register on Goodfind , please use this referral link, thank you!

4) Used Books:
If you don't mind buying used books, then you might find BookChor appeasing. This site sells used books, most of the people we know who bought from the site have had a very good experience. They send bookmarks and handmade notes along (sometimes free books too), how cute is that? And you can get books for as cheap as 30 bucks! Yes, you read that right, 30 bucks! Free shipping above Rs.200/-
Use the tag #bookchor on Instagram to check book hauls of people who've purchased from them.
BookChor is also available as a mobile app for android users.

Another great way to buy used books is via OLX. I bought a hardcover of A Dance with Dragons for Rs.300, hardcover you guys! So, keep an occasional check for you might stumble upon some really good negotiable deals on really good books.

The Hardcover I bought from OLX for dirt cheap, jealous much?

Those were the hacks, hope you found them useful. I was not paid to endorse these sites and have only mentioned them since I've found all these very useful in my very fervent online book shopping. And if you happen to use any of these hacks, do let me know how you liked them or if they were of any help!

Do you know of any other hacks, share them with us! :)