Quite an interesting title and very intriguing story of a girl named (yes, you guessed it right! January Scaller. The main theme or genre of the book is magic or fantasy YA. But I am glad to notice that it goes much beyond that. This is the story of a young girl without any mother,…
Tag: Family
Zikora | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is an Amazon exclusive short story by the noted Nigerian author. In fact, this is her latest work of fiction post the acclaimed novel Americanah. You can call this as a short story, a stand-alone work of fiction or even a novella due to it’s form; but whatever you would like to classify this…
Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata
There is something odd about Ms. Keiko Furukura. She is in her mid-thirties and works at a Convenience Store for over 18 years. At age 36, she is trying to understand her place in society and trying to adapt herself in society’s mould. From childhood itself, Keiko Furukura is considered to be an oddball character….
The Vegetarian | Han Kang
What would happen if any ordinary, mediocre person will have a sudden, random change in his/her personality resulting in a 180 degree change in the behaviour. How should the people surrounding him/her be reacting? How can they fathom the reasons and face the repercussions because of such sudden changes? And most importantly, what’s happening in…
Just An Ordinary Day | Shirley Jackson
When you talk about Shirley Jackson then you immediately think about her stories detailing the supernatural world or other worldly characters. This anthology of her short stories – some published previously & some unpublished ones, cover both of these categories; but they are not limited to any particular genre here. There are total of 54…
From Words to Views |A Suitable Boy
How you write about the most famous Indian novel of our times? How you build a screenplay out of such massive book? Well, to answer the first question; I’m not here to write a book review of A Suitable Boy. I am here to talk about the screen adaptation of this important literary milestone. As…
From Words To Views|The Haunting of Bly Manor
The subsequent season of the Haunting of the Hill House has dropped and how! It has all the spooky elements to stand out among all the horror stories available right now. There is a rehearsal dinner in progress; we have the bride and groom, with few of their selected guests. Then comes she, mysterious and…
Troubled Blood | Robert Galbraith
Margot Bamborough; a doctor, practising GP has walked out for the day of her shared practice on 11 October 1974. Her evening plan was well-known to her colleagues as well to her husband; which was to meet her best friend. From there, straightforward heading to home to her infant daughter- Anna. But as she steps…
Dancing In Cambodia And Other Essays | Amitav Ghosh
This is what happens when an accomplished novelist is also a brilliant historian as well as a noted columnist; essays mixing all these different elements to present us with a nuanced view of South East Asia. The namesake of the book titled ‘Dancing in Cambodia’ takes up to the tiny Buddhist nation of Cambodia; neighbouring…
The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden | Jonas Jonasson
When I first picked up this book and went through the blurb on the backside cover; my immediate reaction was the plot seems bit weird but might be wonderful. And yes, I can now summarise that my initial guess was correct – quite a charming but weird tale with multiple whacky characters. So, the story…
The Illicit Happiness of Other People | Manu Joseph
Why Unni did what he did? This question is at the heart of Manu Joseph’s Chacko family tale titled The Illicit Happiness of Other People. It traces lives of Chacko family members- the downward spiralling father Ousep, disturbed Mother Mariamma and perplexed teenage brother Toma. True to his journalistic work and using the trick of…
The Cairo Trilogy- Sugar Street | Naguib Mahfouz
The end of a trilogy but not of the lives of Al-Jawad family. Like the real life, their lives continue beyond the ending of this mighty novel. In this penultimate book of the series; the focus veers slightly from the main house of Al-Jawad family towards the extended branches living at the Palace of Desire…
The Cairo Trilogy- Palace of Desire | Naguib Mahfouz
The lyrics of a famous Hindi song were the ones came to my mind when I completed the second novel in the Cairo Trilogy. As the song goes, this novel talks about descending into recesses of one’s soul because of unrequited love. हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे चले गये हम… हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे…
Discovering Charms of Uttarakhand With My Mother
“I understand that they have came here to learn Yoga and Indian Spirituality; but besides that what they exactly do? Rest of the day or remaining of their stay? How about the cost of living, earning etc. how do they manage?”She was so full of questions, perplexed looking around at all these ashrams and their…