Author:Michelle Ermens Release Date: 30th March 2021 Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Series: Magic’s Source (Book #1) Format: E-book Pages: 285 pages Publisher: – Blurb: Can the Magic’s Source help her protect the ones she loves most? Thera has always known that she’s different from her wonderful, loving human family. However, that would mean that she’s one of the specials, beings of legends – but how could it be, when no human has seen them for hundreds of years? A visit from a masked stranger who warns her of danger and an attack on her village shatter the life that she knew. Forced to flee with her mother and her younger siblings, Thera finds temporary shelter in special territory, in the home of a beautiful special named Raven. She needs more than temporary shelter, though. She needs a way to keep her family truly safe. The Magic’s Source might help with protection, but will Thera dare to seek it out and try to get some magic of her own? And if she does, what kind of magic will she receive, and what new dangers will she find herself in?
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Essence of Magic by Michelle Ermens is a fantastic new fantasy read that will definitely blow your mind!
I loved reading this book from the first page to the last! This book had great characterisation, an amazing and very interesting plot, good world-building and brilliant execution of the story idea. I loved the ending and am totally looking forward to reading the next book in this series!
I enjoyed the writing style of the author – it was simple yet good and was easy which made reading this book a pleasure aside from making it a quick read. I would definitely recommend this book to all fantasy readers and lovers of YA genre.
Author:Cathy Burnham Martin Release Date: 31st August 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction Series: Format: E-book Pages: 242 pages Publisher: Quiet Thunder Publishing Blurb: What happens when an American girl of Eurasian descent finds herself suddenly immersed in all facets of her Armenian ancestry? Told with an often soulfully introspective voice, “Destiny of Dreams” follows the true story of a teenager and her grandfather, retracing loving, learning, and terrifying footprints of the past. While survival remains center stage, love and courage must emerge, or all will be both lost and forgotten. More fact than fiction, the author reveals her Armenian roots in this historical novel, chronicling her family members’ love, strength, and resolve to both survive and thrive in treacherous times. Reflecting the traumas suffered by all people displaced from their original homelands, this Armenian story focuses on one family’s challenge to find light in the dark days of the waning Ottoman Empire. Anyone with the diaspora in their family heritage will relate. Whether thinking of Jewish people from Israel, Africans scattered through slavery, Armenians fleeing annihilation in Turkey, so-called boat people escaping Asia, or Syrians fleeing life-threatening violence in their own nation, humans continue to rise up in the face of the toughest times. Who would emerge from extraordinarily desperate places, and how could they choose to set positive examples of humanity during highly inhumane times? Set in the early 1900s and flashing forward to the 1960s, the story’s themes ring with tolerance and intolerance, dreams and destroyers, family and friends, amidst challenges that eerily parallel life in current judgmental scenarios.
Written for Young Adult and Adult audiences, the book contains some explicit descriptions and a couple of disturbing, though not graphic, violent scenes. While not gratuitous, the depictions may be unsuitable for young readers
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Destiny Of Dreams: Time Is Dear by Cathy Burnham Martin is a beautifully written historical fiction book about survival and the darkness that plagues our society.
This book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, along with quiet graphic descriptions of violence, which lent this book an air of seriousness that otherwise would have been missing. I liked reading this book from cover to cover because the plot was very engaging, the writing was good, the characterisation was well done and the execution of the story was really good.
I would recommend this book to all historical fiction buffs. Although do keep in mind that this book has some graphic violent scenes (for those who might find them triggering.)
Author:Deepak Mullick Release Date: 19th August 2021 Genre: Non-Fiction, Finance Series: Format: E-book Pages: 191 pages Publisher: – Blurb: Everyone wants to be rich, but not everyone is. There is a method and meaning to it that’s more than just numbers. In this book, investment veteran Deepak Mullick takes you on a journey to financial freedom. SimplyMutual isn’t just a guide to make more money, it is about building wealth to live the life of your dreams.
If you’ve ever thought of retiring in your 40s to do what you love, this is THE book for you!
SimplyMutual : The 1% Formula To Gain Financial Freedom by Deepak Mullick is a new release in the Indian Finance genre.
I generally don’t read finance-related or investing advice books, but the title of this one was very catchy and intriguing therefore I was more than happy to give it a read. And I am very happy that I did as this book had a lot of wisdom to impart and a lot of good suggestions for people of all ages to learn about investing. The best part, for me, about this book is that it is written in a very easy-to-understand-by-a-layman language and the author has simplified concepts, which I am sure, are not that easy to grasp otherwise.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who’d like to know about investing and the author’s 1% formula.
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, I’d like to welcome author Deepak Mullick for sharing an excerpt from his latest release SimplyMutual: The 1% Formula To Gain Financial Freedom.
About the Book
SimplyMutual : The 1% Formula To Gain Financial Freedom
Everyone wants to be rich, but not everyone is. There is a method and meaning to it that’s more than just numbers.
In this book, investment veteran Deepak Mullick takes you on a journey to financial freedom. SimplyMutual isn’t just a guide to make more money, it is about building wealth to live the life of your dreams.
If you’ve ever thought of retiring in your 40s to do what you love, this is THE book for you!
On a warm summer evening in 1947, my grandparents packed their bags and left their life behind. FREEDOM. That was the chant in the air. History was being made as the British left a partitioned India behind. For millions of people this meant leaving behind everything they owned, their life’s work and savings, the security and comfort of their homes, of the life they had known, and moving to unknown lands with an uncertain future. My grandparents too made their way from Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of what is now Pakistan, to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
I grew up hearing the stories of their life. In the evenings when we all sat together in the courtyard of my grandparents house, they would get nostalgic. My grandmother would tell us about our culture, our food, the traditions, all the wealth we had, the lands we owned back then, and how we earned our surname Mullick, a title given to big landlords. Even as a child, I could hear the longing in her voice, and a note of bitterness at being uprooted. When I write this from the comfort of my home now, I can’t even imagine what they must have gone through. The way they had managed to move with just a few suitcases, hurriedly packed. The way they had to travel hundreds of miles in search of a new place to settle in an environment of extreme hostility.The stress and anxiety of not knowing where they are headed and the despondency of having to start living from scratch.
But start again they did! And they made quite a success of it too.
Why am I telling you this? What does a story about uprooting and migration have to do with a book on wealth building?
Well, in this story there is a lesson. That life is unpredictable. That ups and downs will happen. That sometimes everything you took for granted will be disrupted. But don’t lose your wits. Financial success is all about thinking in the long term. As the poster boy for long term investing, Warren Buffet said, “successful investing takes time, discipline, and patience.”
I’ll add to that and say wealth building is also about optimism. I consider myself an eternal optimist! It’s in my DNA! And even after witnessing the ups and downs of economies for over 25 years, I continue to believe in the India growth story. But more on that later.
I learnt important life lessons – resilience, optimism, and street-smartness – from my parents, grandparents, and my Alma Mater La Martiniere, that have helped me immensely on my path to financial freedom.
After I finished my schooling, I had the easy option to join the family business. But it wasn’t something that interested me. I wanted to look at work as something that helped me live the life I desired. And I am very unapologetic about it. I am a firm believer that you work to live and not live to work. Have you ever thought about it?
What would you do if you had all the money you needed to live a comfortable life?
Would you still pursue the job you have currently?
Would you go after something that you are truly passionate about?
Would you give and contribute to the world?
Would you spend time travelling the world, experiencing new things, and gaining different perspectives?
The thing is, most of us spend a lot of time in the lower 2 stages of Maslow’s Hierarchy. We struggle to make enough money to pay for our basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. And we compromise on building meaningful relationships and on finding our true potential. Often because that raise or that promotion is so much more important. Well, I didn’t want to live all my life with some golden handcuffs.
So my aim was to find a career path that would help me realize my retirement goals (yes, I was thinking of retirement when I was 20!) by the time I turned 45. A highly ambitious goal given India’s economic situation then. However, in a series of seemingly unconnected events, I found my calling.
In the early 90’s when I was figuring out my career choices, the financial services sector was abuzz with activity. India was undergoing an economic transformation. From a bottomless pit for foriegn aid, India was creating Economic Liberalization policies that will make it an emerging superpower in just two decades. Companies were coming up with IPOs every other day and there was high demand for finance talent. Later, this timeframe would also be known as the IPO scam period. Amidst this turmoil, I passed out with an MBA degree and a campus placement in a financial services company that gave me a take-home salary of about Rs. 5000/- per month.
From a starting point of Rs.5000/- per month to a sizable corpus of a few Crores, I have come a long way to retirement at 45. And I have lived well. I’ve indulged in my passions and in things that interest me and my family. We’ve traveled extensively and experienced the world closely. From whisky trails to northern lights, we have made our way to 29 countries across 5 continents.
This financial freedom has been a journey of considerable learning. First, I found a God-sent friend, philosopher, and guide with whom I have had the privilege of working for two decades. And then, for over three decades, I had the opportunity to witness the rapid evolution of the country’s economic constituents – the businesses, the consumers, the regulatory environment, government policy, the markets, and the ever-changing global scene. I have figured out what works and what doesn’t. I have learnt to tame the volatility and to invest in a way that sustains my lifestyle choices while building my corpus of funds. I have distilled this learning into this book and created the 1% formula to gain financial freedom.
The idea of this book came from my experiences of sharing my technique with friends and family members who wanted to quit the rat race, to pursue other life goals, and passions. And most of them have benefitted by following my technique.
This book is written as an equity investing guide for those who are keen to make their money work for them. People in their 20’s and 30’s who are looking to retire by 45 or those who have 7-10 years before they want to retire. People who want an easy to understand insight into how investing works. This book is your ticket to long term wealth creation and living comfortably off that wealth without giving in to stress, anxiety, or overwork.
In this book I will tell you the secrets to financial success. I’ll share stories of people who have seen the light and changed their investing behaviors for enormous gains. I’ll help you build good investing habits and make informed investment choices.
While there are different assets you will invest money in – both physical and financial, we will not cover the entire umbrella of financial planning and management. And there is a reason for that. I believe that if you understand equities the right way, and work with the 1% formula, the need for other kinds of investment vehicles is greatly reduced.
In my 25 years of experience in the financial sector I have got a fair idea of practices of banking industry, insurance industry, and the quality of the advisory business across categories of advisors. I have worked with several financial planners, attended many workshops, and deep dived into the subject of financial and investment planning. I’ve looked at all asset classes – real estate, gold, debt, equity, foreign equity, etc. from the lens of factors such as – returns adjusting for risks, returns adjusting for inflation and taxes, liquidity, volatility, convenience, costs of investing, etc. I’ve realized that Equity Mutual Funds is where the best balance can be achieved. In fact, I’ve been able to pull out of my term life insurance policies because of the corpus I have built through equity MF investments!
And so, this book will deal in equity investments only, and more specifically investing in equity through mutual funds. For the purpose of this book I am also considering Hybrid Mutual Funds with over 65% investments in equity as Equity Mutual Funds.
By reading this book, you would:
Get a better understanding of the India opportunity and how long will it remain
Get the right perspective on share-markets, understand emotional hurdles and mistakes on the way to financial freedom, and gain insights on how to benefit from the markets
Learn a simple equity-based technique to build wealth and to create your own “Salary-Pension” stream for retirement
Like every great adventure, this book is a start. And as you read it, I’d like to give a word of caution. This book focuses on financial resilience. That means periods of no-gain or even loss that you sit through for long-term returns.This book is NOT about quick fixes or immediate gains. If that’s what you are looking for, then this book is not for you. If thinking long-term does not appeal to you, then this book is not for you.
That said, in the coming pages there is a wealth of knowledge and tried and tested methods that work. I hope you’ll find them as useful as I have, and use them to find your financial freedom.
About The Author
Deepak Mullick
Founder and Chief Wealth Strategist, SimplyMutual
Deepak has spent over a quarter of a century in the investments industry, working with the country’s largest wealth creators. His last assignment was a 15-year stint at HDFC Mutual Fund. He was their Business Head for North, South and East India during different parts of his tenure. Having dealt with a large spectrum of investment avenues, Deepak realised that Equity Mutual Funds is where the best balance can be achieved. This belief in the India growth story and its potential to create wealth for decades to come stems from deep experience.
Deepak spent decades in the financial sector witnessing the fast evolution of each constituent of the investments industry — mutual funds, banking, insurance, investment advisors, NBFCs, the regulators, etc. He associated with the country’s top minds in financial and investment planning, attended numerous workshops and conferences, and dived deep into the intricacies of the business.
To come up with the best solutions for investor needs, he constantly drew comparisons between the most popular asset classes, such as equity, debt, real estate, fixed deposits, and gold, and other new asset classes like foreign equity, cryptocurrency, and art. He weighed each option with an exhaustive list of factors such as liquidity, volatility, regulatory environment, transparency, cost of investing, cost of holding and maintenance, convenience, and returns adjusted for risks, taxes, and inflation. This analysis has cemented his belief in the importance of Equity Mutual Funds for individual investors and given him the foundation to create SimplyMutual: The 1% formula to gain financial freedom.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Author:Deb McEwan Release Date: 7th August 2021 Genre: Cozy Mystery Series: The Island Expats (Book #3) Format: E-book Pages: 112 pages Publisher: – Blurb: A troubled daughter. A heinous crime. A vengeful woman. When Matt’s daughter, Kayleigh takes a job in Souvia to escape her abusive ex, she’s horrified to be a victim of a malicious crime that goes disastrously wrong. Matt has no idea why his daughter and her new boss have been targeted, but he’s determined to protect Kayleigh and to ensure her safety from those who want to harm her. Elena and Kayleigh find themselves right in the firing line as the investigation progresses. Will they err on the side of caution, or will Kayleigh’s skills stop the criminals in their tracks? Family Matters is the third novella in The Island Expat series. A two-hour crime fiction read with a touch of romance, set on the fictional Mediterranean island of Souvia.
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Family Matters by Deb McEwan, the third book in The Island Expats series and the sequel to Bondu and Beyond.
This book was just as good as the first two books in this series and I am so glad I got to read them all. I liked this book because the writing was great, the plot and the concept were very refreshing and the characterisation was well done. So, all in all, this book had all the things that I had expected and then some. I’ve come to like the author’s narrative voice and it made reading this book very quick affair for me, not to mention, the well-executed pacing of the book helped in that too.
I’d definitely recommend this book and the series (so far at least) to all the readers of cosy mystery and mystery genre.
Author:David Spivak Release Date: 28th April 2021 Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult Series: Format: E-book Pages: 222 pages Publisher: New Degree Press Blurb: “Justice is about all of us.”
New Boston was born out of a series of nuclear wars after the devastating results of climate change rendered the US eastern seaboard uninhabitable. The city kept peace through its self-governing tribunal system and was thriving. But what started off as an egalitarian society began to divide along economic lines. The rich moved into the upper levels of the city and the poor masses retreated below ground. Food became rationed and tensions erupted… The Tribunals follows Jaym, a teenager bursting with youthful energy who grew up in the dark alleys of the Furrows. When a job takes him to the upper levels of the city, he soon faces the most powerful family in New Boston, the Chief Justice and his children, Piers and Gwen. Gwen is intrigued by this Furrows boy, Piers feels threatened by the intrusion. As the city goes through political upheaval, Jaym finds himself fighting forces greater than himself to try and save his friends and, ultimately, the city from a corrupt system. Can New Boston be stopped from complete collapse?
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Tribunals by David Spivak is a young-adult post-apocalyptic read packed with action and intrigue.
I liked the concept of the book, though not exactly unique, the world-building so-far moved the plot forward well. The characterisation was good, but I believe we’ll see more development and build-up of characterisation in the next instalments of this series. Still, for the first book in a series (hopefully it is a series) it is a decent enough book.
The story had many twists and some intriguing aspects that kept me turning the pages. I liked the ending and I am looking forward to reading more books by the author, preferably in this series.
I’d recommend this book to all YA and dystopian as well as post-apocalyptic readers.
Author:Deb McEwan Release Date: 28th May 2021 Genre: Cozy Mystery Series: The Island Expats (Book #2) Format: E-book Pages: 132 pages Publisher: – Blurb: A new life. A shocking discovery. A missing woman. When Jenny the rescue dog finds more than she bargained for in the Souvian countryside it triggers Matt’s illness, and the night horrors return. He knows the only way to deal with it is to tackle matters head-on and to seek justice for those involved. Elena will do everything in her power to help the man she loves, even if it means putting herself and others at risk from men whose only motivation is money. Matt and Elena are unaware of the depths to which the criminals will plummet to reach their goals; so are the unsuspecting victims. Bondu and Beyond is the second novella in The Island Expat series. A two-hour crime fiction read with a touch of romance, set on the fictional Mediterranean island of Souvia.
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Bondu And Beyond by Deb McEwan, the second book in The Island Expats series and the sequel to New Beginnings, serves as a perfectly entertaining cosy mystery taking things ‘up’ a notch as compared to the first book in this series.
I loved reading this book as much as, in fact even more than, the first book in this series. The author’s writing style only made the book a faster read and complimented the well-crafted plot very well. The characters were well-developed and relatable and made the plot come alive with their unique flair.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series and would definitely recommend this one and the previous book in the series to all cosy mystery fans.
The Reading Bud 