Thursday, August 31, 2017

Books I read in August

I'm in Bangalore for a while, and it's not been a great month for reading, because I'm spending a lot of time hanging out with friends. No regrets!

But look at this magnificent haul of second-hand books.


Picture Books and Graphic Novels
(from the shelf of friends I'm staying with)


Three Pigeon books by Mo Willems
I like The Pigeon Wants a Puppy best. Not only does it remind me of myself (when I was a kid, and also like right now because I do want a puppy dammit!) but it also has Pigeon hilariously promising to water it once a month. Get it for the babies in your life, even if they're adults.

A Gardener in the Wasteland by Srividya Natarajan and Aparajita Ninan
This beautiful, beautiful book describes the work of Jotiba and Savitri Phule. The art is gorgeous, and I don't know enough about the Phules, so this book was a lovely introduction.

Everything else

The Inner Courtyard edited by Lakshmi Holmstrom
I've been wanting to read this, and was got it as a gift recently. It's a lovely collection of stories by some of the most eminent writers of twentieth century India (and one from Pakistan/UK).

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag
A friend had lent me her copy and asked me to read this book ages ago; I finally got around to it. Fittingly, because I read it soon after coming to Bangalore and the book is set here. It's a thin, delicate novel, much more nuanced than it appears at first.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
This book was really popular a year or two ago, and I can see why. It's a thriller, but an extremely intelligent one. It reminded me of Emma Donoghue's Room in style, though in genre it's probably closer to Gone Girl. I found Gone Girl extremely disappointing ultimately, and this book is everything that one wasn't.

The Cosmopolitans by Anjum Hasan
Another book I've been intrigued by since it first came out, and finally got around to reading. I loved its meditations on art and artists, and Anjum is, of course, a very good writer. (Check out this beautiful piece on her fiction.) I felt the novel handwaved a rather major incident (and flaw in the character), and I felt one plot twist was contrived and sort of predictable, but it's a really interesting book that's stayed with me.

How Fiction Works by James Wood
This is a surprisingly easy-to-read, engaging book on literature and art. I loved it and mean to reread it soon.

In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
This amazing book blends history and memoir and is set in Egypt and India (mostly Mangalore). It's Ghosh's personal account of discovering the story of an Indian slave owned by a Jewish Egyptian who moved to India in the fifteenth century.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Books I read in July

I've left home and am living in friends' homes in a different city for a while — if it works out, till October. My laptop conked off and I had internet issues and health issues, but here I am finally with my books of July.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
I am really enjoying Schwab's fantastically (heh) light touch and her wonderful heroine, Lila Bard. Highly recommend this series: start at the beginning, A Darker Shade of Magic. The Kindle books are not expensive.

The Strange Haunting of Model High School by Shabnam Minwalla
This is the YA ghost story that is not scary. You have school, friends, boys, competition, mean girls, and a friendly but sad ghost. Pretty entertaining stuff.

Boats on Land by Janice Pariat
I finally read this book I had heard about for years. The stories and writing are hauntingly beautiful, and I always have a weakness for stories and characters from Assam or even Shillong.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
This novel fascinatingly combines science fiction with a Victorian London in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are at work, and the daughters of certain fictional mad scientists are in need of help. But Holmes is not the hero, he is more of a romantic interest: the women save themselves. This is one book that I greatly recommend to everyone.

Mr Majestic! by Zac O'Yeah
I'd been curious about O'Yeah for a long time but never read anything by him until this book. It's a thoroughly entertaining and curiously realistic thriller that I must imagine someone is planning to make into a popular movie right now. I rarely rarely enjoy thrillers based in India, but this is the real deal.

The Foucault Reader 
I'm not always a big fan of "readers", but they help me decide whether - and which of - an author's books to read. I'm new to Foucault and this was a very interesting introduction to his work. I'm more interested in his literary/art theory, but his social theory is interesting too.

The Algebra of Infinite Justice by Arundhati Roy
I vaguely remember reading these essays when they had first been published in Outlook and other magazines. Rereading them had me marvelling at her prescience, while also often feeling disappointed that her prose seems less luminous than in my memory. (I might share further thoughts on this book in a separate post later.)

The Blind Lady's Descendants by Anees Salim
I'm surprised that I haven't read Salim before. This is a beautiful, clever book about family and sanity, and how much the two affect each other. The prose is enchanting; I found the protagonist/narrator annoying, but was compelled to read on nonetheless.

Murder in Mahim by Jerry Pinto
At times more anti-bigotry treatise than murder mystery, this was a fun and also deeply moral book. For more, read this lovely interview of Pinto by my friend Shreya.