“Good satire comes from anger. It comes from a sense of injustice, that there are wrongs in this world that need to be fixed.” – Carl Hiaasen Giving words and a voice to our emotions through stories, or verse, is a way to express them without having to directly say what is troubling us. The world around us is not
Read moreJust as a kite flies against the wind, one must defeat resistance or fall to the ground. This is what entrepreneurship is. Take risk, fly high or be ordinary. We all take risks in our lives. Sometimes we take risk because there is no other option and sometimes because that is our choice. Women are inherently risk takers. You ask
Read moreBlurb, they say, is the window of the book. It helps a reader decide whether he wants to spend that money and go ahead and read. Many a times I have had this complaint that authors do not give appropriate justice to the blurb. But this blurb is apt and pertinent and evokes the exact excitement to read such a narrative.
Read moreCategorized as a superhero fiction, a part of speculative fiction by the author; the story narrated by the author often blurs boundary. A part “social satire”, a part “super-villain” story, a part study of human evolution; The Legend of Yuck-Man begins as a story of exploitation and displacement fostered by greed and augmented by capitalism; however, it soon descends in
Read moreThe cover page of this particular book grabbed my eyeballs. Seeing it and without reading the synopsis (a first for me!) I had decided I want to read this one. It lets out such a strong message. Kudos to Geetali for a splendid job. Smita and Krishnaprem are in love. They are ambitious people. Also dealing with their own complications.
Read moreI picked this book up at the Bombay airport a few years ago and read it on my journey to Delhi. At that point, I just remembered Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron as the movie that had that timelessly funny Mahabharat scene, which as college students we would watch on loop sometimes, on Youtube. The rest of the movie was a blurry
Read moreThe second book of the Hastinapur duology, The Rise of Hastinapur, concentrates on the second and the third generation of the Kuru clan, mainly the Queens. This book revolves around Amba who was wronged by Bhishma’s actions and whose daughter eventually led to Bhishma’s death; Gandhari, the queen of Gandhar, who was later married to Dritarashtra, the grandson of King
Read moreThere has been a dearth of good readable Indian history books and The Ivory Throne helps fill that void. (Other eminently readable and lesser known Indian history books: 1857 by Vishnu Bhatt, Do and Die by Manini Chatterjee). Manu S. Pillai’s Ivory Throne is a fantastic book that chronicles the history of the kingdom of Travancore. To be frank, I only picked the book
Read moreI have recently gotten hooked to Indian history again, after a few years. To be honest, except Guha’s “India after Gandhi”, I wasn’t aware of any good book on India’s history post Independence. And I have recently come across around five… I read Amritsar right after Kuldip Nayar’s fantastic ‘Emergency Retold‘ and loved it. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob take
Read moreSoorina Desai’s debut novel, Anamika, was first published in the year 2005 and republished in 2015. It is the story of Anamika and Rajbir. Written with an eye for detail, the story describes a time when India had newly gained its freedom. Romance in that era was very different from what we understand today. There’s a certain old school charm
Read moreI got onto this book after reading the fantastic ‘Rokda‘ from the same publisher. I am in a phase where I am finding contemporary Indian history interesting, which is why I breezed through Shobha Bondre’s ‘Dhanda‘ in two days. Though I liked the book, it had two major flaws. One, except the Gujarati Mayor character, I had heard of none
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Poetry is an expression of experience, so I noted very recently. When we write, it is borne from that experience, be it emotional or observational, or even inspired by the work of another poet. I love reading. One of the blessings of this life has been that love for reading that has been inculcated in me since childhood. One of
Read moreThis virtually unknown book came to my attention as I was trawling Amazon’s book pages during one of their umpteen ‘Dhamaka’ sales. Filled with anecdotes that went on behind the scenes during the making of ‘Sholay’, I found the book a terrifically fun read. ‘Sholay’ started off as a four sentence story idea that Salim and Javed had about a
Read moreI remember asking my mother if she remembered the Emergency in the 70’s and she told me, “Yes, a lot of people went to jail; but corruption went away. Trains, buses used to be on time.” That and the undeniable fact that Indira Gandhi had induced the Emergency to satiate her hunger for power, had been my narrow viewpoint on
Read moreWhen I took up the book for reading expecting some run of the mill stuff with perhaps a touch of suspense laced in to a romantic story… just to catch the fancy of the casual reader! ! But let me tell you… I was in for a pleasant surprise. Love Kills is unique.. it is not what you would look
Read moreI was somewhat surprised that I liked The Zoya Factor so much. I expected to merely pass the time on a flight with the book; what ended up happening was that I was perhaps the only one not sleeping (or not trying to sleep) on a late night flight, completely hooked to Anuja Chauhan’s first. The story line and plot
Read moreAgni Sreedhar’s bio on wikipedia reads as former gangster, writer, critic and artist. His book Daadagiriya Dinagalu (Kannada), winner of Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi Award, has been translated into My Days In The Underworld – Rise of the Bangalore Mafia. The translation, by Sreedhar himself, stays colloquial and the tone of the book is naturally street side. What an exciting
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 moreThe first thing that I noticed about the book when I saw it was the cover. In an explosive pink color, the cover is cluttered with a huge hyperlink mouse pointer image with little badges surrounding it. Yes, Start-ups in this technical age revolved around computers. For the sake of argument, which business doesn’t? I could make out the title
Read moreSyed Hussain Zaidi’s Byculla to Bangkok is touted as the sequel to Dongri to Dubai but it fails miserably, leaving very few traces of coherence in chronology. It is the first time in my life that I have been disappointed by a Hussain Zaidi book; even Rahul Bhatt’s sob story, Headley & I (co-authored with Zaidi), was far more tolerable.
Read more‘Being an avid reader of crime fiction myself, I have always harbored an ambition to make my own humble contribution to this genre,’ said writer Sourabh Mukherjee in an interview. ‘The story, of course, had its germs in my own interests in human psychology and in the complexities of human relationships, especially in these times of changing social order.’ ‘Also,
Read moreTo me, ‘God of Small Things‘ has always been the gold standard for the kind of book that should win a Booker. Booker winning book after book since has disappointed me sorely. The Booker Prize it seems, is more about the one eyed amongst the blind and not really the best book of the year. That said, ‘The White Tiger‘
Read moreWritten by a Brahmin mendicant (Vishnu Bhatt), who somehow fortuitously ended up being in parts of India where (and when) the revolt was breaking out, ‘1857‘ is a fantastic book chronicling the first great uprising of the Indian freedom struggle. Vishnu Bhatt wrote the book as a diary – which was published only after his death in the early 20th
Read more“We dream and we actualize those which are closest to our hearts” Alchemist of The East is a story about a boy who copes up with his life after the untimely death of his parents and tries to follow his dreams only to be informed about a legacy he is a part of. Everything that follows adds to the making
Read moreI read this book after I came to know the movie version wasn’t really an accurate adaptation of the actual history of the Chittagong uprising. Being a history buff, I really wanted to know what actually happened in Chittagong. Chatterjee does justice to the subject and keeps you hooked even though you know the fate of the uprising already (from
Read more“It’s not right, but it’s okay. I’m gonna make it anyway… Don’t you dare come running back to me… I’d rather be alone than unhappy.” This number by Whitney Houston has been playing on my music system ever since I accidentally discovered it while looking for Anuj Tiwari’s novel of the same name. The song examines a woman confronting her lover about his infidelity.
Read moreThere is perhaps a law of diminishing returns with an author. Look at John Grisham – the same guy who gave the world classics such as The Rainmaker or The Testament – also wrote absolute putrid shit such as The Summons, The King of Torts or his latest Theodore Boone book series. It is perhaps a disservice to Pattanaik that this is the first
Read moreAuthor as a main protagonist has always caught my attention. Also romance is my favourite genre. This book was a combination of both and thus I did not flinch even once to pick this up. Ajopa Ganguly is a struggling writer. Her script has got rejected many times, thus making her not wanting to write any further. She picks up
Read moreLove is in the Air!! Astor Hotel in Shakespeare Sarani of Kolkata was all abuzz with excitement. All in anticipation of a book launching event – Sreemoyee Piu Kundu’s third novel – You’ve Got the Wrong Girl published by Hachette India. Following closely on the heels of her female erotica, Sita’s Curse, this new book has generated considerable amount of interest
Read moreLeela was destined to be unlucky right from her birth, her being a manglik and all. Her parents had always favored her younger brother Sanjay over her and finally when a wedding alliance presented itself in the form of Vishal, who was a manglik himself, her parents were more than happy to get Leela married off. Little did they know
Read moreDamodar Mauzo is a Sahitya Akademi awardee, and a highly respected figure in Konkani Literature. And so, picking this book as one I really wanted to read and review was a no-brainer. “Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression.” ― Isobelle Carmody
Read moreDo you like short stories? What do you like about them? The fact that they are short? That they are stories? Not novellas? Or big giant novels? That more often than not, they just deliver a knockout punch smack on your face and disappear? Or, that they are like the cup of coffee early in the morning that makes your day
Read more‘The original draft was much darker than the current version.’ said the authoress in an interview. It had me wondering how the book would have panned out had the original draft prevailed, for the final product is anything but dark. An interesting title, a tidy book cover and a particularly appealing blurb at the back. From the outlook, Abirami M.
Read moreHorror stories! Didn’t we grow up on a lot of them. Shared them in school. Exchanged them in college. Tried Planchits. Stayed up nights under the blanket to watch Aahat. And at times some real encounters too! Let’s hear them Pensievers! Tell us your horror stories and we will put a smile back on your face with the prizes for
Read moreThe genre of espionage fiction hardly fails to thrill. To say that the first part of The Svastik Trilogy, Baramulla Bomber by Clark Prasad, is just an espionage thriller, would be tantamount to the statement that our country, India, has only natural bounty. It is a must read for anyone who likes reading espionage fiction, with an after taste for scientific
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 moreAndy Paula is quite a versatile personality. From a teacher to a corporate trainer to a writer, she has travelled a long road, which few of us dream of travelling or are apprehensive of. After the innumerable essays, poems, articles, editorials, congratulations & condolence letters she wrote for herself and others refused to satiate her writer’s self, she finally put
Read moreOnce in a while, you come across a book that will make you ponder about the life you have lived – about everything you have learnt and done; and this thought process might trigger a self introspection of your being. This book did that for me – it had me thinking about my journey, things that I could have done better and how I can start making little changes that would make me a better person and take a step closer to achieving my dreams.
Read moreThe genre of self help books has gained immense popularity and readership over the past couple of years. These books help in self –improvement as well as provide useful guidance to enable one to tide over the tumults of life. Readers Digest (yes, that international magazine) had conducted a survey and had found the top ten self help books that have successfully
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