Gypsy Magic for the Lover's Soul :A Romany Book of Spells, Sachets, Oils and Incense

Gypsy Magic for the Lover's Soul :A Romany Book of Spells, Sachets, Oils and Incense
by
Allie Theiss
150 Pages, Gypsy Girl Press
ISBN 0-9771835-0-5
Available on Amazon.com ( click on the title link above to buy)

Reviewed by Deepa Kandaswamy


The Roma people have always been a misunderstood lot in the West and ignored in the East. Magic and Meditation on the other hand mean different things to different people. The author, Allie Theiss aka Allie L.T, traces her ancestry to the Roma people of Europe and has succeeded in creating a interesting, informative and intriguing book about Roma people and magic.

Easy to read and understand, the book explains what magic means to a gypsy and how the word gypsy itself came about. It contains information on stones, incenses, oils and spells and explains each in detail. It also has warnings and how to go about charging and casting spells of love and healing for friends and lovers. For those interested in magic, real magic being the healing of ourselves and our loved ones and living in harmony with the world, this book offers insight and makes one contemplate.

Crisply written, it makes an interesting read. All of us have something we wish for - healing a broken heart or mending a friendship, a longing for love or friends, a way to break off a relationship amicably, etc.

Since the crux of the book is about this very topic, it is well worth the read.


© Deepa Kandaswamy, All rights reserved.

Flight to Pakistan

Flight to Pakistan
By Azam Gill
356 pages, Bewrite Books
Available on Bewrite Books
Price varies depending on format -- paperback and e-book.
ISBN: 1-904492-26-6
Genre: Fiction/ Adventure/Thriller

From the allies of Lahore to the mafia operations in Boston, from the killing fields of Vietnam to schools in London, Gill manages to tell a multilayered, multidimensional story of intrigue, first love, murder, caste, and honor that spans continents, race, and families. For most readers, it is inevitable to compare it with Mario Puzo's epic novel The Godfather. However, the author tends to outdo Puzo by adding several other dimensions.

Sirdar Ali Shah a.k.a. Dara, a Harvard Business School graduate runs the prostitution business in the city of Lahore, Pakistan after the death of his father. However, why does a Harvard Business School graduate chose to return to Pakistan and take over the family mafia business when he could have easily got a job in one of the top Fortune 500 companies? Read the book to find out.

It is not often you get to read Asian fiction that does not use the Western stereotypes or the colonial setting of the East. This book is a rare gem as the author manages to tell the story, free from the stereotypical settings and characters. Your senses tend to come alive as you read the book and irrespective of where you grew up, the story will move you.

The author is a former Pakistani Army officer who had to seek political asylum in France because he wrote a book on Army reforms which angered the Pakistani government.

Extremely visual in style, I hope it would be made into a movie soon.

Copyright © 2007 by Deepa Kandaswamy , All rights reserved.

Don't judge a book by the cover

Good writers don't get PR, at least most don't. This blog is for those who write fabulous books but don't get the required publicity. I'm a reviewer. I get irritated when an editor has the gumption not even to read the book or the review but edits it anyway.

I spend days reading books and try to get the essence of it in 250-300 words. My first post is therefore a book review -- one rejected by one of my editors because she didn't like the cover image of the book. Hmmm... Judge for yourself by clicking on the Title of this post.



Love without a Net…
By Karen Ligon
138 Pages, Publish America
$ 19.95, Paperback
Genre: Poetry
Available on Amazon.com
ISBN: 1-4241-1771-2

What happens when you love without a net, a belt or something to keep you safe in case your love is not reciprocated? The book examines relationships and the various emotions one feels from anger to ecstasy. It also explores the imagined or fleeting relationships like when a youngster is convinced that the attractive girl/guy on the bus is in love with him/her and for the period of the trip forms an imaginary relationship. The poem Not Think of Me will make you laugh or remind you of the one-sided love which you never expressed towards someone. Are You is another poem most readers will be able to relate to as well as Cried a Little. Almost all women want what the poet describes in Unexpected and would agree with what is said in Extra Credit. The poem Your New Woman Said I Rolled My Eyes at Her is what most readers would like to send to their ex.

Born in Jamaica and raised in New York, Love without a Net is the second book of poetry by award winning poet and writer, Karen Ligon. The author writes in free verse and uses simple, clear language to capture complex emotions beautifully. The strength of the book is that you do not have to be a poetry connoisseur to understand what is being said. The poems manage to cut across boundaries of culture, race, religion and region making it truly global as only love can.

© 2007 by Deepa Kandaswamy