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 By 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 By 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…

Cicadia By David Gilbert

On a typical Saturday night, three boys set out in the late evening to attend a party. The car is driven by  Rodney, Ben is sitting just next to him and Max is in the back seat. Although the story is of these three friends, it belongs more to Max. Max- the dreamer, the philosopher…

The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden By 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 By 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…

Bear Town By Fredrik Backman

We are the bears….. We are the bears from Bear Town!! A small, secluded village lies in one forgotten corner of Sweden; sleepy, downward bound in terms of economic growth but famous for only one thing, it’s Ice Hockey Team. Peter used to be one of the most famous and well-loved player of Bear Town….

The Cairo Trilogy- Palace of Desire By 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…

The Cairo Trilogy – Palace Walk By Naguib Mahfouz

The Cairo Trilogy is more than just a book; it functions more like a time machine, taking you on a trip of bye gone era. This Cairo is far off from the pyramids and pharaohs you have heard of. This is a city of living, breathing neighbourhoods behind the massive gates & narrow alleyways of…

Belinda By Anant Samant

अनंत सामंत यांच्या कथा आणि कादंबऱ्या त्यांच्या अतिशय वेगळ्या अशा दर्यावर्दी भवतालामुळे, त्यातील खलाशी आणि देशोदेशीच्या नानाविध लोकांच्या कहाण्या मांडण्यामुळे अतिशय प्रसिद्ध आहेत. त्यांच्या ह्या वेगळेपणामुळे त्यांचा असा खास वाचकवर्ग आहे. बेलिंदा ही शीर्षकथा आणि इतर लघुकथा असलेला हा कथासंग्रह देखील आपली निराशा करत नाही. ह्यामधील बेलिंदा आणि ती ही कथा हि समुद्राच्या, जहाजच्या प्रवासात…

The Dutch House By Ann Patchett

There is a castle and it has a king; self assured , almost content with his self-built empire, his queen and their children. But is he really think that they are content? His wife is happy being queen of the castle? Our protagonist and younger of these two kids is searching answers for these questions…

Prodigal Summer By Barbara Kingsolver

At the heart of this book is loneliness. And the book weaves it’s theme of primal instincts around this. The story revolves around Lena, Garnett and Deanna- these are our central characters having their own character graphs and stories happening around or about them. Each of one of them is lonely in their own way,…