Book Reviewer Spotlight – Mridula

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]For Indie Authors, book reviews are very important. Each review, rating in amazon.in or good reads mean a world to us. I distinctly remember each of my book release days and week followed. I woke up everyday, went straight to the amazon page and good reads page to see if I had got any new reviews. I really didn’t mind if it was a one star review or five star review. The satisfaction of someone reading my work itself gave me thrills.

Then there are book reviewers, who not only takes time to read the book but also do some marketing for us on our behalf. More than Book Reviewers or Book bloggers I call them as Book Evangelists. If it is not for them few good books could have gone unnoticed.

So I decided to give a shoutout for one of the book bloggers I like and interview her in my space.[/vc_column_text]

“You’ve got to face facts and the fact is life is a joke, a fucking bad joke, or, no, a bad fucking joke. There’s no point taking it seriously because whatever happens, and I mean whatever the fuck, the punch line is the same: you go out horizontally. You see the point? No fucking point.”- Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis. ⚪ ❓QOTD: Would you go out of comfort zone and try out other genres? I don’t mean that you’ll have to like them, or continue reading them. But would you be brave enough to read a book that’s essentially ‘Not Your Type’? – – I would totally love too. It is like going on another adventure, and trust me when I say it, sometimes you find the rarest gems that way. Go take my advice, and go for it. Well, do a little research before because u would wanna pick a book that serves as a bad example for that particular genre. ⚪ ⚪ ‘The Book of Chocolate Saints’ and ‘The Bengalis’ was a giveaway win, organized by @thebooksatchel (Someone I look up to) and @alephbookco (a publication I am extremely fond of). Looking forward to reading these books this year. Have you read any of these? ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #booksofinstagram #indianbookstagrammer #bookstagramindia #unitedbookstagram #aleph #bibliophile #blogger #blog

A post shared by Mridula 🤓 (@ecstatic_yet_chaotic) on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:47pm PST

QOTD: What’s your favorite Fairytale? ⚪ 🐥 ⚪ ✨Fairytale by Danielle Steel✨ ⚪ ⚪ Camille is a teenage girl who looses her mother to a disease. She lives in the Napa Valley and manages the winery Château Joy with her dad. Camille has had a wonderful childhood, full of love and support. She is as smart as her mother and as charming as her father. But when her father remarried this mystery woman who calls herself the countess, Camille knew something about her wasn’t right. She looses her father soon after to an accident and that’s when her stepmother takes over. Things get a lot worse when the will reveals that the winery has been inherited by Camille and her step mother and her sons have been left with nothing. A typical Fairytale retelling, here what you can look forward to in this novel: ⚪ 👼 The Napa Valley described beautifully and so realistic. You might just wanna settle there. 👼Beautiful characterization. 👼Decent plot, almost predictable. #ecstaticyetchaoticreviews ⚪ 🐥 ⚪ Stamp Courtesy: @thedoodlesoup ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ #bookstagramindia #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #bookishfeatures #featuringbooks #totalbooknerd #igreads #booknerdigans #bookphotography #bookphoto #diverseyalit #bookstagrammerindia #indianbooklovers #indianbookstagrammer #unitedbookstagram #likeforbooks #likeforlike

A post shared by Mridula 🤓 (@ecstatic_yet_chaotic) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:33am PST

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]So here we go. I just asked Mridula Gupta who blogs at ectstaticyetchaotic.wordpress.com ten questions and she quickly got back to me.

• Why did you choose this vocation?

I was looking for an escape, from the world of responsibilities and adulting. And hence, I decided to write my thought about the books I read, no matter how clumsy I was. Initially, it was just for me, but then I decided to post it online. That’s when I realized how much fun it is. I never started reviewing because it would help other people. I did it for myself, because I needed a place where I was happy and dreaming about beautiful places and characters. But now, Blogging has become such an important part of my life, and I could never be happier.

• Of Course, you must have been a bookworm even before the good reads days. How does website like good reads influence or help your reading?

Goodreads is a very important platform according to me. I use it all the time. It motivates me to read more, and finish my goals. And sometimes, when I don’t know where the plot is going, I always have reviews to get back to, or people, who are more than eager to have a conversation and discuss matters. It’s a very exciting world out there.

• What is the best thing that happened to you as a book reviewer?

So far, I have met some amazing people, who motivate me every day, and correct me if and when I am wrong. The other best thing was to be officially invited to the first every literature fest in my city Ranchi. I know it’s nothing big, but for me it was an honour.

• Have you ever gotten reader’s block? What did you do about it?

I am a voracious reader, but there are times when I read like a maniac, and times, when I won’t even touch a book. It’s more like dry spells, I can never predict when and how long it would take. I usually don’t try to overcome reader’s block, and let it take its own sweet time. Once in a while, I pick up an old favourite and check whether I can read more than a page in an hour or something. Yeah. It’s that bad.

• What are the common traps for aspiring book reviewers? I mean there are lot of people who just copy past the blurb and then give a two line review in the name of book blogging. What would you tell them if you address such a bunch?

If I had to answer this question a few months back, I would have answered it differently. But right now, I know a lot of people who basically, rewrite the blurb in 500 words. And as much as it annoys me, I just don’t want to address that bunch. Because I have seen a lot of people from that particular bunch, preferred over and over again over reviewers who put actual hard work into writing a review. It’s an unfair world out there, but this is outrageous sometimes. But, I don’t want these events to kill my inner peace, so I would just take a deep breath, and do my own thing.

• I am a follower of your Instagram page. How much time does it take for you to position books for such beautiful photographs? I am sure you love doing it.

Absolutely, all that hard work pays off when people appreciate it. So, thank you. I usually don’t do a photo shoot, unless I have ideas formed in my mind. So, it doesn’t take long. But I have a screening procedure, which takes forever. I am a crazy person (I wish I could use the term Perfectionist) and I am very selective at what I post and the overall look of it. That takes a lot of time, but it’s fun.

• What are the things you look out for when you pick up a new author’s book for review?

The blurb. I am always looking for a new concept. Sometimes, when it’s a friend recommending me to review something, I usually ask them about the themes and whether there’s anything different about the book. Life is too short to read the same thing over and over again.

• What do you expect from Indie authors, when requesting review, during the waiting time, and after the review being published? What are the best practices in dealing with book reviewers according to you?

I think mutual respect is very important. In the world where everyone reading a book, calls themselves a reviewer, it’s difficult to pick and choose the good ones. But that doesn’t give authors to use us as a tool to just get reviews and rating. We are happy to do that, obviously, but then sometimes, a simple ‘Thank you’ would make it all better and motivate. Also, the new bee authors should actually go through the reviews. Not all, but maybe a few? Also, promotions, we bloggers are left all alone to find audience. We need a boost sometimes too.

• When you don’t work on reviews, what do you do?

If I am not seen with a book, or writing a review somewhere, I am usually studying, eating, sleeping or binge watching TV shows.

• List down your favourite reads of 2017 and links for those reviews for my readers please.

Here’s the link to a similar post I wrote for my blog.

https://ecstaticyetchaotic.wordpress.com/2017/12/30/favourite-books-of-2017-end-of-the-year-recommendations/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]