The Moon Pool by A. Merritt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Abraham Grace Merritt, a science fiction writer and also a journalist by profession from Philadelphia USA has gone to the depths of fantasizing a science fiction in this work of his.

An scientific adventure taken up by a family of young scientists at the mysterious islands of Papua, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, results in the disappearance of the entire family into a abysss of a strange opening in one of islands. Later investigation and expedition carried out by Dr Goodwin with the help of a war pilot Larry O’Keefe and seaman Olaf Huldrickson to find the whereabouts of the missing family. The team enter the aperture in the island and realize that there is a whole world of strange living beings beneath the ocean, who adapted to the subterranean living centuries ago when a large piece of rock separated from the Earth and became the Moon, centuries ago. There they discover that these people down there are planning an attack on the Earth and its living things soon to re-claim their original land. The team somehow learn their tricks by mingling with them and foil their attempt to come back to the surface by destroying their wicked leader and priestess Yolara with the help of Lakla, a beautiful daughter of ancient Gods (The Silent One). The Silent Ones (God of the Good ones) ultimately destroy The Shining One (God of the Wicked) in a fierceful war between the two armies in the abyss, thus permanently closing the portal of the underground world and sealing the chances of their attack and destruction of the present world.

Positives: Existence of another world beneath the surface of the Earth and their plans to capture the land above them with their latest weapon system much advanced to those above is the best part of the story. The reader is taken through the heights of fantasy in this beautiful book. It is quite interesting to those who are interested in nuclear physics, atomic behaviour, space science etc wherein many scientific principles and processes have been cleverly explained by the author through a fantasy story. A book which generates further interest in knowing about secrets of the evolution of Earth and other space related bodies. The powerful influence of Moon and its rays over some phenomenon on Earth is well explained scientifically.

Negatives: A person who is a layman to science and its wonderful creations will find this book to be absolutely Greek and Latin. Too much description of the so-called beauty of the other world has slightly over burdened the story. More clarity on the Shining One and Silent One could have been emphasized.

My rating is 2.75 out of 5


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Emergency: Wife Lost and Found by Carol Marinelli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The very beautiful author under the pen name of Tessa Bell was born in England but lives in Australia. She is primarily a reader cum writer of Romance with an inclination towards medical field.

This book published by Mills and Boon can be labeled as a soft and neat romance between an ex-husband (Dr James Morell) and ex wife (Dr Lorna Mc Clelland). Both of them get divorced over a trivial matter and fate unites them after ten long years through an accident. Long lost love blooms again when the couple realize that they love each other more than anyone else in this world and it took ten years to get this confirmed. The reason for which they got separated becomes the sole reason again to re-marry and live happily ever after.

Positives: A soft and clean story that carries away the reader smoothly until the last page. A mix of deep emotions of love that remain suppressed inside both of them and which slowly unfold over a short stay of Lorna with James in his house. The author clearly brings out the fact that first love is never lost and is the strongest bond which remains forever, if given a chance. The importance of having children for the bond of marriage to become even stronger is well elicited.

Negatives: The role of fate bringing the couple together after ten years of separation somehow appears to be out of present times. The physical weakness of Lorna seems to have weakened her high headedness over a period of time which also became the main reason for her to accept James again, who in turn is projected to be the gentleman and ‘not at fault’ guy during the separation. Why didn’t he try to explain things clearly to Lorna and avoid separation….whatever may be the circumstances?

My rating is 3.25 out of 5


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The Heart of Abundance by Candy Paull
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A simple book of quotations and statements that motivate the reader towards appreciating the grandeur of life. A book that would bring one to a feeling that life is just a brief journey which needs to be enjoyed to the fullest extent instead of brooding over the so-called griefs and sorrows. One gets to learn about different kinds of appreciating life and its components through its chapters, enlisting The Art of Abundance, The Art of Encouragement and the Art of Simplicity.

Positives: A beautiful collection of some of the most famous quotes of eminent personalities across the world. Also, an exhaustive list of inspirational books that can be referred to. The author can be appreciated for her enthusiasm to motivate people through her various activities. One can have this book in his/her library for reading whenever he/she feels low.

Negatives: Though the minutest of beauties of life were enlisted perfectly, there is some gap between the author’s intention and the reader’s reception.

My rating is 3 out of 5


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The Positive Thinking Secret by Aaron Kennard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author is a real estate businessman by profession who wanted to shift his focus on teaching about Amazing Life, when all of a sudden, everything changes diversely against his fate.
The author, a father of four children, is affected by a severe colon disorder (Ulcerative Colitis) leading to unbearable pain and agony for over two months at home and hospital. He witnesses and experiences the severest of pain in this world with blood stools, frequent puking, and never ending sleepless painful nights. He loses weight by over forty pounds during this time and almost comes face to face with death. Just at this time, he gets operated and gets his colon (part of large intestine) removed forever, by a smart doctor. But his mental torture doesn’t stop there! His eight year old son gets mentally affected due to the dilapidated conditions at home and almost kills himself, one day. The author with the help of his ever supporting wife Nan, overcomes this emotional suffering by following some valid points, which are worth reading.
The author uses his personal story to educate the reader as to how one can combat pain and suffering through faith, positive attitude towards life, and some dietary changes, in order to achieve the Amazing Life, one always has around the corner. To get this, its all in the positive thought process of such persons only.

Positives: The reader stands benefited by getting to learn the importance of faith in God, positive thinking attitude (that all pain and suffering ultimately leads to something for your own good), and that there is nothing called a Bad Day in anyone’s life. This is truly motivating for a person who is depressed and feels that he is on the edge of an emotional collapse. The importance of healthy organic food, substituting the processed food is also emphasized by the author, for a healthy and positive living. I feel that this book should be in the library of every person who once in a while feels that he is born for troubles and his life is not worth living. This book has one of the best Epilogues ever read by me till now. There are also suggestions of valuable books to read written by famous authors, in order to have more control over negative emotions.

Negatives: The author always feels thankful and emotionally strong for every bad thing that happens to him despite being stumped many times with repeated excruciating pain in the abdomen and many emotional blackouts. This, I think, was possible only because of his ever supporting wife, siblings and in-laws which might not be available for many of the kind, across the world. In fact half the suicides in the world are attributed to lack of support from the family members when the person is emotionally and physically subdued. Somehow, I feel the author was lucky to have this……!

My rating is 3.5 out of 5


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The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another classic from H G Wells, one of the best fiction writers, in earlier days.

Storyline: The book starts with a stranger (Griffin) lodging at downtown slum area with lot of mysterious luggage and apparatus. Soon, he attracts attention of the visitors to the lodge and the caretaker investigates the strange activities of this man. To everyone’s surprise, this stranger one day reveals his true identity by stripping off his clothes in public. He is invisible to the common eye. From then on, he strikes bad luck by undergoing a series of difficulties of remaining invisible, until he comes across his old school friend Dr Kemp. He reveals his true identity to Dr Kemp, as to how he passed out of his school and went on to pursue his interest in physics. His passion for research into invisibility by bringing down the refractive index of objects and equaling it to that of air, thus making the object invisible to the naked eye. He applies his body to this experiment and one day suddenly finds himself invisible. But, his intention of using his invisibility for bad means like creating terror in the township and to rule and loot them makes Dr Kemp inform the police. Griffin, after a long struggle in an attempt to kill Dr Kemp for betrayal, gets caught by a clever plot of Kemp and gets killed while he was still in his state of invisibility. His invisibility vanishes and his real body appears back, once he is dead.

Positives: A beautiful bed time story of horror, clubbed with science fiction. The author has a great knack in creating meaningful fiction, filled with scientific innovations, like in all his other books. A real page turner and must read by all fiction lovers. The process of invisibility explained clearly in scientific terms with a moral attached to the story. The moral says as to whatever might a man achieve through his intellect and skill, if that achievement is used for unfair purposes against the mankind, the invention or innovation would go waste and hence die its natural death.

Negatives: The modern reader might find the story very primitive and simple, but one should appreciate the author’s insight into science fiction, when very few thought about writing it, in those days. The story ends abruptly with a simple death of the Invisible Man and the reader is left wondering what happened next to the great invention.

My rating is 4 out of 5


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