English Bites!

On By MeghaIn Book Review, Writing Challenge
  • Title – English Bites – My Fullproof English Learning FormulaOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  • Author – Manish Gupta
  • Publisher – Penguin Books India Ltd.
  • Genre – Non Fiction/Self Help
  • Pages – 334
  • ISBN – 978-01-434-19-006
  • Price – 250 INR

Synopsis – English Bites! My Fullproof English Learning Formula is the story of a man who goes from being tongue-tied in school to becoming a smooth talking banker. Through a series of hilarious personal adventures and misadventures, Manish Gupta provides easy solutions to problems faced by language learners. So, whether you’re a vernacular speaker, a GRE/ GMAT/CAT/XAT aspirant or just a language nut, English Bites! will expand your vocabulary and improve your verbal ability. It may even help you love the English language a little more.

Review – The first thing that interested me about the book is the title, English Bites! It aptly summarises everything this book is about. The book has a beautiful cover. Illustrated with the caricature of a student burdened by the pile of books in an attempt to get a grasp on English added to my enthusiasm of reading the book.

When I read the blurb of the book for the first time, I hoped to read a biography rather than a self-help book. I was delighted to discover, the author has cleverly peppered anecdotes and illustrations (that I wish were more ) with amazing trivia, combining etymology and mnemonics to better our understanding of the English language.

Note the footnote bearing word meaning & usage on left & the interesting illustration on the right.
Note the footnote bearing word meaning & usage on left & the interesting illustration on the right.

The highlights of the book are the footnotes bearing meaning and detailed usage of the difficult words on the page, enhancing the readability of the book while saving the reader from bothering to open up a dictionary again and again.

Great care has been taken to make the lessons in English stay fun and easy to follow yet delivering an enriching experience in their own stride. My penchant for English added to my experience of reading through this masterpiece.

Besides, trying to memorize many new words that I learnt while reading, I am sure I’ll be re-reading it many more times to relive those golden moments of embracing groups of words held together by their etymological bonds.

The story has many interesting curves and bends that bring back fond memories of one’s college life with impeccable articulation and narration. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the pleasant dose of humor added to make the pill of lessons in English get a delectable sugar coat.

I highly recommend this treasure of a book, with a note, that it is best relished in ‘bite’ size reading sessions, enjoying every morsel of lessons in English and allowing it space in your mind forever.

The book sure stands tall extolling the hard-work put in creating a book that’s here to be read and remembered at par with Barron’s and ‘Word Power Made Easy’.

About the Author : Manish Gupta is a banking professional. When not crunching numbers he is busy engaging with and examining the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of the English language. He also likes delving into human psychology and giving professorial discourses to colleagues, family and friends, and practically anyone who can give him a patient hearing.

Rating : 4/5

* Thank you Manish Gupta for sending me a review copy of your fabulous work. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

10 thoughts on “English Bites!”

    1. Dear Blogger, thanks for your comments. You can check-out the best prices of English Bites! on Amazon.in (as they are offering FREE Delivery for a limited period). It is anyway available at all the bookstores and on all other e-comm sites like Flipkart.com, Infibeam.com, Uread.com, Shopping.Indiatimes.com, Landmarkonthenet.com, Crossword.in etc. The book is also available as an eBook on Amazon and iTunes. Best regards, Manish

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    1. Dear Ashwathy, thanks for this gesture. You also recommend the person to check-out the best prices of English Bites! on Amazon.in (as they are offering FREE Delivery for a limited period). It is anyway available at all the bookstores and on all other e-comm sites like Flipkart.com, Infibeam.com, Uread.com, Shopping.Indiatimes.com, Landmarkonthenet.com, Crossword.in etc. The book is also available as an eBook. Best regards, Manish

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  3. Dear ME,

    I am delighted by your review and also by the efforts you put (a detailed review, with pictures of the cover page and the page with illustrations) and the short time you took to read and publish the review. Hats off to you. You are a gem of a find for me.

    I don’t mean to infringe on your time, but I am leaving a couple of requests with you.

    1. Can you share any feedback on improvement in the book to make it more interesting and relevant to the youth of our country? One feedback that I have already taken on board is the need to have more illustrations in the book. Is there anything else, however minor (or major) that you would like to share with me?

    2. Can I also request you to post this review/ratings on your Twitter and Facebook account, Goodreads, Amazon.com, Amazon.in, Flipkart.com etc.? It will do wonders to the value of the book in eyes of the potential readers/beneficiaries.

    Best regards & thanks once again.
    Manish Gupta
    Email: mystruggleswithenglish @gmail.com
    FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/EnglishBitesBook
    Twitter: @English_Bites
    FB A/c: http://www.facebook.com/manishdeepaligupta and http://www.facebook.com/EnglishBitesAuthor

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  4. ines

    where and how can I buy this book in Algeria , what’s the price ines dollar please answer me I want it so bad ! 🙂

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    1. Dear Ines, Thank you for taking so much interest in English Bites. You can get this in Algeria thru Amazon.com. Simply search for “English Bites” – it is also available as an eBook. I am not sure of the price but an eBook is priced between USD 2.4 – 9.9 (depending on the country). Let me know if you have any trouble getting the book in Algeria. Another option is to order thru http://www.uread.com – they offer international shipping albeit at a price. Best regards & thanks once again.

      Manish Gupta
      Email: mystruggleswithenglish @gmail.com
      FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/EnglishBitesBook
      Twitter: @English_Bites
      FB A/c: http://www.facebook.com/manishdeepaligupta and http://www.facebook.com/EnglishBitesAuthor

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