Blossom Book House Haul

A couple of months back, my husband and I visited  Blossom Book House on Church Street. I was keen on buying Bread Baking for Beginners by Bonnie O'Hara. I looked for this book at the old store and the new one but I was unable to find it. I did not really want to get any other book but then as I looked around, I found a few interesting books. I ended up buying 3 and my husband 1. So, here are the 3 books that I got.

Daughter of Silence by Morris West

This book seems to be kind of a thriller and I had not bought thrillers in a long time so I decided to get some. I loved the old school book cover- it reminded me of really old movie posters.  I have never read a Morris West book before but I have heard of some of his great works like The Devil's Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman. I look forward to reading it next year.

MASH by Richard Hooker

I love the TV show M.A.S.H.  I can watch it any number of times and never get bored of it. I hope the book will be just as good. The expectations are quite high with this one. I have never read any of Richard Hooker's books before. I could not find any book by this author but I will look up if this book turns out good.

The Chalk Man by C J Tudor

I have started reading this book already. So far, it has been okay. It is supposed to be a hybrid ok Stephen King and Lee Child. I got this book again for the thriller genre. What got me interested in the book is the name and the cover. It reminded me of Hangman that we used to play in school. I really look forward to finishing reading this. By the way, this was not the 1 book I said I would read. I started reading before I set my goals (told you....too busy this year doing a lot of stuff)

PS: Sorry for the poor quality on some of the pictures

I would definitely share my poorly written reviews once I am done reading them. I also hope to find a second hand/used version Bread Baking for Beginners by Bonnie O'Hara soon.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I read Alice in Wonderland as a child and I loved it then. Of course, I read an abridged version of the book. I was thrilled to see the book in Blossoms'- remember this haul.  I wanted to read the original one for a long time and finally got to it.


Though the cover of the book that I have says Alice in Wonderland, it actually has the sequel to Alice in Wonderland- Through the Looking Glass, and also some of Carroll's other works, mainly poetry. I have only read Alice in Wonderland in the book and not the sequel or his other works. So, this blog post would be one about Alice in Wonderland.


I will be honest, I did not find the original book to be an easy read, at least initially. I found it quite laborious at first and it took me some time to actually start enjoying the book. Though written in 1800s, the language is quite comprehensible but the current day children of age 3-7 may not find it easy to read and understand and may also find it boring in parts. One has to have great story telling skills to make the read appealing to the children today.

Most of you who would have read the book as a child, would remember the simple story where a little girl finds follows a talking rabbit to find herself in a land where everything is remarkably different from her current world- where animals and inanimate objects seem to have sprung to life and have conversations like regular people and by eating and drinking potions, one can influence their size and there is a bizarre story knit into all of this with the King and Queen of Hearts from a pack of cards ruling this entire new world or kingdom. It is all very confusing for her, only to find out that SPOILER- it was all a dream.

While the story line remained more or less the same, I think the below differences stood out in the original:

- Alice was never someone who sulked and rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in the version I read as a child but she did all of this in the original.
- There is some outstanding word play in the original. See an example below.

- The book never came across as funny to me as a child but I could see it sprinkled with humour throughout. Also, if you have a good imagination, it makes the read funnier than it actually is.
- The original book has a lot of poetry and songs, which I think was completely missing in the abridged version that I read as a child.
- I really did not expect any illustrations in the original book but there were plenty. I would not say they were particularly good but it did provide some relief while reading the book. Of course, the abridged version I read as a child was meant for children and was packed with colourful pictures quite different from what was in the original if my memory serves me right.


There are a lot of books which I read as a child that had the same effect on me when I read them as an adult. However, this book did not really have the same effect on me. To be fair, it was not exactly the same book, considering the one I read as adult was not an abridged one. I felt quite differently about the book now. I loved it as a child and enjoyed it a lot and re-read it but I do not think I would like to do the same as an adult. I really wish I could enjoy it more but it was a real struggle.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate it a 2.5- midway between enjoyable and boring.