Malibu Rising By Taylor Jenkins Reid

The book opens with enchanting descriptions of Malibu, particularly its picturesque coastline and rugged terrain, and the unpredictable fire incidents that have been a part of its history. The narrative comes full circle, culminating in a fiery climax. It’s a tale that’s not just significant, but truly epic in every sense. The story unfolds within…

None of This is True By Lisa Jewell

Alix Summer meets Josie Fair in a gastropub on an otherwise ordinary day by mere coincidence, except that it is the day of their forty-fifth birthday. As their birthday guests can see, there is little commonality between Alix and Josie besides their shared birthdate. Alix is a popular podcaster who conceptualizes, produces, and hosts a…

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow By Gabrielle Zevin

Are you fond of online gaming? Do you take any interest in the world of video gaming? Are you also keen on understanding nuances of human relationships spanning multiple decades? Finally, do you dot on complicated confusing love stories? If you answer affirmatively to one or more of these questions then you have reached the…

The Night She Disappeared By Lisa Jewell

This book falls in the category of gradually increasing their allure with every flipped/ swiped page. On the surface though it seems to be another teenage romance story which is not heading in the expected direction of ‘and they lived happily ever after’ but there is much more nuance to it added skilfully by such…

The Making Of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece By Tom Hanks

When you have a powerhouse talent with an illustrious career writing about the movie making process; you ought to sit up and take note immediately. It’s like pulling aside a curtain and welcoming the movie goers to a world shrouded in glittering mythical mystery. So, it’s no wonder that The Making of Another Major Motion…

One of Us Is Lying By Karen M. McManus

The novel begins with a backstory about five high schoolers who were punished for behaving uncharacteristically foolish during a class which has led them to their current predicament. It’s neither a smooth starting nor the characters introduced are easygoing. Still, something about the humdrum beginning keeps the readers engaged to deliver a gut punch. The…

My Year of Rest And Relaxation By Ottessa Moshfegh

Let’s call this as a sleeping beauty story with modern plot twists set against an American backdrop. But unlike the original fairy tale where the darling princess is sleeping because of an uninvited curse, this beautiful girl is inviting sleep on account of a self inflicted curse. Wait, what???!!!! Does this make sense at all??…

City of Girls By Elizabeth Gilbert

The second novel by Elizabeth Gilbert is all about the memories; memories of one’s youth enjoyed and spent in repentance, memories of familial relationships built and nurtured, memories of friendships built and lost and memories of a city loved and admired for over a lifetime. The story begins in 1940s New York when Vivian Morris,…

Vinegar Girl By Anne Tyler

Vinegar Girl is a modern take on Shakespeare’s Taming The Shrew by Anne Taylor. Like the original source, this book also has a spinster at its heart who is a bit problematic for her father and then gets eventually ‘tamed’ (sort of) by an arranged suitor. However, unlike the original play, the entire plot line…

Mythos By Stephen Fry

Mythos written by Stephen Fry is a contemporary and concise retelling of Greek mythology but with a classical narrative. It doesn’t necessarily travel in a linear manner and sometimes we find similarly named people or places in more than one stories. Having said that, this retelling of classical stories with a relaxed timeline and emphasis…

Anxious People By Fredrik Backman

If I have to explain in one sentence about this book then I would say that it talks about human relations, breakage of family system, loneliness, the fallacy of the modern financial system and the psychological impacts on account of one or multiple of these issues. And yes, the black humour which envelopes it and…

Intimations By Zadie Smith

This compact but complex book of essays by Zadie Smith is your quintessential reading for these unusual, unpredictable times. Coming out in the middle of this once-a-century pandemic, these six concise essays manage to capture the mood of this muddled hour so perfectly. These six essays have nothing in common in them per se but…