I’m Mallika from India.
I love to read and have done so ever since I can remember. As a child, the bulk of my reading was Enid Blyton (she did write over 700 books), whom I still enjoy reading. I moved on to the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew (also the Dana Girls), then Conan Doyle and Christie, Wodehouse, Henry Cecil and popular fiction including Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham and Robin Cook besides classics and mysteries. After discovering Shelfari and then Goodreads, I found so many new-to-me authors whom I really enjoy and have added to my favourites list since including Margaret Oliphant, Barbara Pym, Miss Read, and Nancy Mitford; through these forums I also found middlebrow fiction which has so many delights to offer.
I enjoy reading a range of genres including detective fiction (which I am often found reading), history (non-fiction) and historical fiction, children’s books, young adult fiction, popular science and maths, fantasy, classics, and humour–pretty much a potpourri.
I started this blog technically in 2015 but have been blogging regularly only from the later half of 2017. My posts on this blog include book reviews, posts about books (favourites lists, characters, genres, etc.), posts about authors, and the occasional post about poetry. I also review on NetGalley so those reviews appear here as well.
On the blog, I also have a page Keli Cat’s Book Corner on all things ‘books and cats’; here you’ll find a cat-alogue (thanks for that one Paula), of books featuring cats in prominent roles in various genres–from classics to mysteries, children’s fiction to poetry (with links to their Goodreads pages and reviews from me or fellow bloggers), cat pun book titles, and links to interesting ‘books and cats’ posts. This page is updated regularly, so if this is something you would enjoy, do pay it a visit.
I also have a separate page on one of my favourite authors, Enid Blyton (her books that I have read and reviewed so far on this page and posts on Blyton that I have written so far).
Besides books, I love animals, nature, gardens, and food. I have a dog, two cats (and also some visiting dogs).
[Because I have been a little lazy while blogging, my posts aren’t organised by category all that well, but I am actively working on organising my menus better. But you will find most posts if you browse through them].
<img src=”https://www.netgalley.co.uk/badge/53f7ae2899b13fc95b4613492b7297adb2cae419″ width=”80″ height=”80″ alt=”80%” title=”80%”/>
I am on goodreads here
and twitter here
I’m also on instagram here (but you’ll only find pictures of my furry pals there; now also some books).
Literary Potpourri 
Hi Mallika – my name is Chris, and I’m a librarian in Canada, and a writer as well. I can’t find a better contact address for you, so thought I’d leave a comment here.
I’m wondering if you’d have any interest in reading / reviewing my historical fiction novel, “Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale”… which is on Netgalley here:
https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/260404
There are some very positive reviews there, and there are more on the Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61094421-close-your-eyes
And if you’re interested, Mallika, I’d actually be sincerely pleased to put a print copy of the book in the mail to you in India! 🙂 I have no idea how long it’d take to get to you – but I’d be very happy to give it a try! 🙂
Best wishes!
christomasini.ca
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Hi Chris, thanks for sharing the NetGalley link to your book; I’ll certainly have a look but I can’t at this point say how long it may take me to get to it since I’ve had a busy time with work commitments and reviewing has taken a backseat for over a month which means a huge backlog. But I will look it up on NetGalley
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Thank you Mallika! 🙂
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Hi Chris, I’ve downloaded a copy via NetGalley, and look forward to reading the book, though I can’t tell how soon I’ll be able to.
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Thank you again! And I understand about the possible time delay – I hope you enjoy it when you are able to read it 🙂 Best wishes!
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I see you reviewed an historical book about Anne Bonny and Mary Read. You might like to know about my historical novel, Wayward Voyage, inspired by Anne and Mary, published by the Book Guild 2021. I am following you now on Twitter. Very keen to reach readers in India.
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Thank you for mentioning it. I hadn’t come across it before, though I’ve read about Anne Bonny and Mary Read in a couple of nonfic volumes now. I’ll certainly look up the book. And I followed you back🙂
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Thanks for the visit to my blog! I really need to read your Enid Blyton — I love discovering authors that have been so influential for someone. Did you ever read the Trixie Belden mystery series? I loved them even more than I loved Nancy Drew. I’m a Wodehouse fan, too; they are so silly and happy. I discovered Barbara Pym in 2016 and she became a fast favorite of mine too. I have some books by Miss Read and an e-collection of Mrs. Oliphant, neither of which I have read, and I don’t own anything by Mitford, but she’s been on my radar as one I need to read. Have you tried Elizabeth Fair or Angela Thirkell?
I love to read history, too. Do you have a favorite time period or topic to read?
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Miss Read is lovely, do try her when you get a chance. Mrs Oliphant is excellent too. Yes I did read Trixie Belden, also the Three Investigators books. I have read Thirkell but am yet to read Elizabeth Fair. The furrowed middlebrow books have a great set of authors.
I have read most often about the Tudors in English history and Mughals in Indian history both of which I enjoy but I also am intrigued by the Mauryan period in India. I do like reading history of science books as well.
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