Rapes have become the most prevalent topic to discuss these days. Everyday the newspapers are filled with how girls are raped and gang raped. Few days back I read a story about how a 28 day old baby was raped. Apalled as I was, I got the opportunity to review a book which talks about how a woman resurrects herself
Read moreI absolutely love reading a collection of short stories. This book, That Woman You See by Sujata Parashar has all nine dedicated to women. I just had to pick this one up for the mix it provides. Ganga: She who is pure – This describes the girls of the night. How a girl full of love gets into the flesh
Read moreAn endearing novel of self-discovery, Sutak is a thoughtful look at the way in which flawed human beings are wrong – and right. This story is about two sisters and their ever intertwining lives. Lalitha and Vinodini though appear like two different species at a glance have more in common than they ever cared to acknowledge. They are like two
Read moreThis was the first Jhumpa Lahiri book I read and from the get go, I was enchanted by the poetry of Lahiri’s prose. It is a little difficult for people who have grown up reading Jeffrey Archer’s short stories – people like me who expect every story to have a beginning, a premise and an end – to fully appreciate
Read moreHave you been reading? Reading women writers? May you read, read more and read more women writers. If you ask why, I believe that women have been adding more sensitivity to writing in India. I have been brought up on a staple of books written by women in Bangla, and they are all amazingly touching and close to reality. Women
Read moreAfter last year’s success with Kamadeva – The god of Desire, Anuja Chandramouli returns with this striking work on Shakti – The divine feminine. We all know about Shakti – She is the Mother Goddess, Mahamaya the enchantress, the supreme consciousness, the pure source from which all creation emerges and to whom all must eventually return. As Ushas, the enchanting goddess
Read moreNirbhaya case had taken the entire nation by shock. It was one of the most talked about and heartfelt case in the history of Delhi Rapes. This particular incident has again come to the limelight, due to the juvenile being released free after committing such an atrocious crime. In the midst of all of this when I got the opportunity
Read moreThere is something about Short stories. You get done with them fast. Also if it is a collection of short stories then, you can relish many more stories (10 in this one) in one, which is like extra icing and chico chips on the cake for a reader. I like the fact that at the start of every story a brief
Read moreThis is Yashodhara Lal’s third book, after her first two successes Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid. The lady is firmly establishing herself as one to watch out for in the Young Rom-Com space. Her protagonists are career folks sweating out their love stories. Their work, personal and social spaces and the balance (or the lack thereof) in them,
Read moreSunil Gangopadhyay was one of the most prolific writers in Bangla. His books, over the decades, have enriched the readers and reached new heights of popularity. He is my favourite author, of course, having read almost all his novels since they came in periodical magazines with a lot of suspense between a week’s separation. Not only novels, Sunil Gangopadhyay was
Read moreI am personally not an ardent fan of Short story genre as I haven’t read much of this genre. It’s not that I don’t like short stories as such but it never occurred to me to try this type of literature as I found myself more inclined and glued to the longer version of the game. So when I got
Read moreWhat should I tell about a young woman named Savita Halappanavar that she was smart, beautiful and vivacious; that she was a doctor by profession and loved to dance; that she was ever vibrant in personality and had a diamond smile; that she was recently married and was expecting her first child; that her womb had along-with the fetus, some
Read moreBanker on weekdays, writer on weekends the first Indian Mills & Boons writer to have a global book release – Shoma Narayan – has had an exciting journey from being a winner of Mills & Boons Passions Contest to judging the same contest 3 years later. As Passions 2014 – Season 4 is well underway we get inKonversation with the writer
Read moreBrooks Town is a sleepy hill station that hasn’t changed much since independence. Everybody knows one another, and secrets, it seems, are rare. But Charlotte Hyde has some rather big secrets that she manages to guard very well. Only one person – Soumen – knows all her deepest and darkest secrets, but he is a rather unreliable character, appearing and
Read moreThe Sea of Innocence by Kishwar Desai is her third work in the Simran Singh Series. The first one was Witness the Night which dealt with female infanticide while the second one Origins of Love focussed on surrogacy. The only thread linking all these three reads is the recurring protagonist – Simran Singh who is a social worker/ investigator making it suitable
Read moreA north american with memories of India, returns back after decades to write a fiction based in the country of her childhood memories. Part memoir – part fiction the Jana Bibi Adventure series is back this winter with its second instalment. We get inKonversation with the creator of the vivacious fortune teller Jana Bibi and her intriguing parrot – Betsy
Read moreApurva Purohit talks about the Suffering Sita syndrome and the fortyish syndrome found in Indian women. She points out categorically that these not only hamper their career growth prospects, but also impede their character development. She writes, “Like wine, we only become better with age.” The modern social scenario, according to the author: “It is thus crystal-clear that traditional stereotypes are getting redefined and we cannot slot men and women into airtight boxes any longer.”
Read moreThere are books which engage us for a short time and some which touch our hearts. Sreemoyee Piu Kundu’s novel lingers on in our hearts even after we have finished reading the book. It is lyrical and very very feminine. Though not a feminist statement, it does reveal an underlying feminine consciousness.
A piercing insight into human emotions, Faraway Music is a wonderful debut creative endeavour.
Mills&Boon (M&B) are books that a girl apparently grows up with but fortunately or unfortunately, my reading group in school – we grew up looking down on M&B. Even though reading wasn’t that cool in the 90s, we beleived we were too cool to be reading about love struck petite heroines and love deflecting hot heroes.
The first time I read a part of a M&B was (preposterous as it may sound) when I was forced to read a chapter during the hostel ragging.
Read moreShe has one of the most intriguing author profiles, we have ever come across Indian writers: Ambalika was born during an extraordinary planetary eclipse that had momentarily wiped off the sunshine from her life. When the darkness threatened to take over, she wrote and wrote, and when the eclipse passed, she found that she had authored this book. When she
Read moreTrue Friendship! The chord that comes out of no where and may go into eternity. The connection that is as mysterious as it is deep rooted. The bond that is as strong as it is fickle. Amrita Anand Nayak chooses this complex relationship amidst three girls to debut with.
Read morePart of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013, South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads A book all the way from The United States of America. Quite literally! This one took four weeks to reach me, is published by an American publication house based in New Jersey and written by an Indian based these too. At 133 pages,
Read moreShe will be the big Three O soon, has a super bitch competitor in business, has the whackiest supporter there too, has the craziest bunch of friends (like all of us) and they are all congregating for her 30th. For a whole week. And yes, she has this filmy deal with her not really buddy friend, that awaits realization at
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads So, a parrot green cover – a white clock – 30 over it – and a hookah, a lipstick, a ladies handbag and sunglass among other things splashed around! With a cover like that I don’t think I had any illusions about what I was getting into when Milan Vohra,
Read moreWelcome to the Pensieve special giveaway of April 2013! How Do You Win the Copy? Simple just answer the question in the form below: What was that one signal that told you he/she is the one, the special one? And Vola! The best answer wins the copy. Giveaway Ends: May 3, 2013 | Open only to residents in India. I
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2013 Title: Cold Feet Author: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan Publisher: Penguin Books India ISBN: 978-0-143-41720-0 Pages: 234 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.5 of 5 Reviewed for: Mysmartprice.com Chick Lit – Yes, that very insulting word for literature by any woman writer who dares write a story on fellow gender friends. Yes Cold Feet is a book by
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