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Anuj Tikku is a travel blogger from India. He had his share of memories of working in Hindi film industry (popularly known as Bollywood). However, an unfortunate event turned his life upside down. Losing his father sank him into depression. He, however, shown willpower to come out of it and then he decided to start a journey to discover the world. The journey made him feel so satisfied that it became his passion and he decided to make it a lifelong experience. And, while exploring the world, he found himself also.
We’ve already read and reviewed two of his books, here are quick links:
So, when he approached with his another book, Travelthon Tales, a collection of travel tales, we’ve decided to read and share our unbiased book review with you all.
| Book Title | : | Travelthon Tales (Tikku’s Travelthon Book 3) |
| Author | : | Anuj Tikku |
| Publishers | : | Self Published; Published: (12 February 2019) |
| # of Pages | : | 3358 KB, 79 (Kindle EBook) |
| # of Chapters | : | 13 |
| Purchase Link(s) | : |
As always, let us take a look at the cover page of the book.
Travelthon Tales By Anuj Tikku | Travel Tales Collection | Book Cover
A very colorful cover page makes the ebook looking very attractive. No matter what we say philosophically, but we all know the influence of a cover page on purchase/read decisions. While the colorful brush strokes will remind you of “Holi” – the festival of colors, the photographs of popular travel destinations around the world (which are not necessarily covered/mentioned in the book) reflects the spirit of the book well.
It is comparatively a short book (79 pages). There are 13 tales explored in the book. I will not talk about all of them in order to avoid spoilers (as much as possible). However, I cannot keep myself from mentioning these beautiful lines which I came across in the beginning of the book.
Travelling is the best way to learn and grow in life but it is also important to be observant as well as aware of your surroundings. Watch the view as your journey unfolds along the vast roads, mountains and peaks. Under the sea, a world unexplored opens up – all blue
and colourful, neon and bright, the world beneath the sea is a true delight. I enjoy this
rush of the unknown and the unconquered. This is what it is. A perilous plane – a journey almost to the divine.
It is rightly said that experience is the best teacher. And, a traveler gets exposed to so many areas and aspects of the life and surrounding that a person sitting within the four walls or confined to a cubicle can never ever get a chance of. It helps you develop a positive attitude and witness humanity and humility as first-hand experience.
This book is better than Anuj’s previous two books we have talked about at ThinkerViews in literary aspects also. The quality of writing is significantly improved. The book contains some nice wordplays like:
Caught but not guilty, I was howling.
The good thing about the book is when it refers to a specific travel destination, it goes into detail about history and stories associated with the same. The reader will enjoy it.
The temple for which Gangasagar is held so sacred is the Kapil Muni temple at
Sagardwip. This is the fourth constructed temple in the island. The first was razed by a
tornado and the next two were destroyed by the sea.
Anuj himself seems to be a foodie! The way he talks about some food items in a story titled “Prayers and Pethas in Agra” is interesting.
Other petha-selling shops try to match the competition. One is by innovation by finding new flavours such as chocolate, paan, khus, orange, pineapple, coconut, dry fruits and
even a sandwich variety, which comprises of two layers of petha with a filling of khoya,
cashew and cardamom.
While some of the stories (especially the ends of the same) are not interesting (or rather I would say, below expectations), some of them stay with you. When you read the author’s experience of visiting a graveyard in a foreign country where he remembers his father due to a date connection; will surely make you emotional. The story of Kedarnath (Bheem Shila) reflects the “bond of love” and the “protective environment” provided by a father, quite effectively.
A love story spread in 3 parts is really a worth reading tale. It reminded me of The Doodler of Dimasq at some extent.
The book also has a tale to give you realistic experience of the wildlife as well, but I would leave it for you to explore by reading the book. It even touches a core issue which only emotional and intelligent reader could get connected with.
Some of the lines from the book reflects human nature quite well.
Liza saw this and sat down on a bench pretending to be having tea as she saw two grown men fight for her attention.
The book has some formatting / narration issues.
I fell on my knees and started to pray for my
father’s soul. I took deep breaths and chanted a few mantras including the
Hanuman Chalisa and Om Jai Jagdish Hare. A dog howled at the background as if he had
also felt the omen.
— — — — —
“Nahi nahi ho salta hei ki
she ne mara ho, par dil, grade phi gayaab hei ladki ka
If they could have taken care of, the book tend to give even better reading experience. However, you can ignore them in a broad aspect.
The book price could have been kept lower to attract more readers.
Summary:
I like this small summarized set of guidelines for a newbie blogger. The book is written for a target set of readers and they will enjoy reading it.
Definitely not less than 7.5 out of 10.
Quick Purchase Links:
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