Book Review : The mouse charmers

                                              Book       - The Mouse Charmers

                                              Author    -  Anuradha Goyal

                                              Publisher - Random house India

                                              Pages       - 344

                                              Price        - 299 

Author Background - Anuradha Goyal wears many hats to pursue her three prime passions - innovation, travel and books. She studies business innovation, especially business models and blogs about them. She has earlier co-authored the India Innovates Series published by CII showcasing innovations from across the country. She was a jury member for Economic Times Power of Ideas Contest in 2010. Her papers on business innovation have appeared in various journals and forums. She is one of Indias leading travel bloggers, writing a popular travel blog for a decade now. Her travel story has been published as part of an anthology Celebrating India and her paper on in-city travel appeared in travel journal Earth. Her stories regularly appear in various print and online publications. She has close to 400 book reviews to her credit on her book reviews blog. She is a keen student of Indian art history. She regularly speaks on these topics at various conferences and institutes.In her earlier avatar she worked in the IT industry for over a decade. She studied computer applications for her masters degree and physics for her graduate degree at Panjab University

Blurb - The advent of Internet has been a significant game changer for our generation. Mouse Charmers are a new breed of entrepreneurs in emerging India powered by the Internet and the opportunities that it offers to create new markets and to cater to old markets in new ways. Some of them have already achieved success where they can be called iconic and inspiring while others have powerful ideas that put them on the same path. Anuradha Goyal tells the stories of digital entrepreneurs like Flipkart, Zomato, ImagesBazaar, IndiBlogger how they started out, the innovations and technologies involved, their business models and unique marketing strategies. Inspiring and useful, The Mouse Charmers is an essential guide for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Review - The name of the book "The Mouse Charmers" itself was a intriguing one. Since the author was an active blogger as well hence there was really good buzz around the book. When I read the blurb and came to know what the book is dealing about, I thought I must buy this book as this will definitely increase my knowledge about the sites I am using everyday at the same time I will get to understand new perspective. 

I got really ecstatic when I got this book for review as I would have bought it anyway but then I became a little circumspect thinking what if the book didn't live up to the expectation it has build as the book is forwarded by Sam Pitroda, who is a credible name and the book is praised by some really big names from the industry like T.V Mohandas Pai. 

As I started reading the book I got lost into it. The writing was smooth, you would never feel a jerk while reading the book. Most of the books which deals with facts tend to have jerks as they try to jump from one fact to other but the author has done great work in weaving the whole chapters together. 

Most chapters will give you the background about the website and tell you about it's functioning. It also contains detailed information about the innovations done by the entrepreneurs and future prospects. 

The chapters which I like the best are Flipkart and Indiblogger. Flipkart because like every other Indian I do most of my online shopping through this website and Indiblogger because this site is a blessing for every Indian blogger. Though I have read already read some articles about both these popular sites but still reading the chapters were really insightful.   

I also liked reading about Bigbasket and Zomato. Bigbasket because I always thought dealing with grocery is a tough task and reading it actually made me think I was right. (read the book to know why ? ) The chapter on zomato was really full of information for me as I was interested in knowing some information about them. The chart about being a reviewer was helpful to know why some of my food blogger friends post so often on that site. 

Merits - As already stated the flow of the book is definitely a merit, you won't feel that some facts or figures or interviews have been jumbled. The chapter goes from one point to another and the flow can be well understood. Secondly, the author has maintained the uniformity across the chapters, you won't feel let down in any chapter.

The personal experiences, interviews and stories added with facts and figures makes this book a delight to read. I also liked the well crafted and rightly put charts and tables. They also add the value and if you like stats then you would definitely like to treasure them.

Demerits - When you will read the book, you will come to know how much effort has been put into this book and I think being a reviewer herself, the author has kept in mind the experience of a reader. A few more stats on sales and a bit of data analysis would have made it even more better. 

Verdict - I think this book is a must read for everyone as it will make you feel more closer to the sites which you use everyday. For the people how are thirsty of knowledge would definitely treasure it. I have kept it in my "go-to" book shelf so that I could check it whenever I want. The book is priced at a really reasonable price and you will find good discounts also. ;-)

Rating - 5 / 5 stars

Buy The Mouse Charmers from Flipkart.com