Book: First Brush on Canvas

Publishers: Half Baked Beans

Usually I am not impulsive when buying anything and more so from on-line portals, though my husband has grown very fond and comfortable with the concept of buying on-line. I have to, however, feel the thing first be it a dress, a kitchen gadget, décor accessory and even a book.

Book? What is that I have to feel in a book, to think twice before buying it on-line, someone would ask? Well, I love going to a book store filled with the smell of fresh paper of the books that sit pretty on the shelves showing off their bright coloured covers tempting me to touch them… I don’t however buy a book even if I get attracted to it unless I have read the author earlier or till I have read smallest bit review about it.

This time, however, I bought a book on-line, impulsively…. First Brush on Canvas by WritersMelon….. I wanted to find out what kind of stories had made it to a book….. so that when next time any such opportunity comes up, I could take part too. And honestly I have not regretted buying it!

Outcome of a nationwide contest ‘Melonade’ with stories by aspiring writers that were judged by the likes of Ashwin Sanghi, Preeti Shenoy and Arnab Ray and edited by Priyanka Roy Banerjee, this collection of short stories is a first for authors of stories as well as for WritersMelon.

The book has stories divided into sections ‘Romance’, ‘Comedy’ and ‘Thriller’. Of the five stories in romance genre I loved the story of a gay couple and their yearning for a child in  ‘An Adoption’ by Uttiya Ray. It goes on to show that people are accepting gay relationships in our country  enough to write stories about it. ‘Popping the cherry’ by Amit Nangia captures the dilemma of ‘how to fit in’ faced by young boys and girls and their willingness to experiment with their physical needs. Shaily Bhargava’s ‘Coffee conversations and you’ brought a smile on my lips because it reminds me of small arguments that me and my husband  have even now after fifteen years of marriage.

The Comedy section has three stories and I loved the ‘Godliness’ by Abhishek Mukherjee the most. The ‘Writer’s Block’ by Avishek Basu Mallick is a satire with a twist which came as surprise to me.

I love to read my thrillers….the stories in this section were very dark and sinister. The little girl Tina was the most scary. The troubled housewife killing herself in the story ‘Clue and Cue’ was also quite gripping.

In all I loved the stories much. I hope one of these days I will write as good a story as these talented aspiring writers whose stories have been featured in this first ever attempt by WritersMelon. Kudos to the writers.

A take-me-along-while-travelling kind of book and a good read for all type of readers.

Also read:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1442964729