“Do you ever have a feeling about someone? Like they’re your safe space and, I don’t know, like someday it could be more?” ―from the book. It's so fascinating how some books instantly draw you in. I was reading the sample of this book on Kindle, and by the time I reached the ending of the sample, I knew I had to read this novella. I keep talking about Love Virtually and Every Seventh Wave by Daniel Glattauer. They're my absolute QQfavourites, of course. I recently reread these books and loved them again (and I just learnt that there's a film called ‘The Space Between the Lines’, which i ..read more

Book: The Lies Among Us Author: Sarah Beth Durst Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Source: Netgalley Genre: Women's Fiction/Drama/Fantasy Short Blurb: After her mother dies, Hannah doesn’t know how to exist without her. Literally. In fact, Hannah’s not even certain that she does exist. No one seems to see or hear her, and she finds herself utterly alone. Grief-stricken and confused, her sense of self slowly slipping away, Hannah sets out to find a new purpose in life—and answers about who (and what) she really is. ‘Somewhere out in the world, there must be countless albums that were neve ..read more

Book: Rossogolla Murders Author: Debeshi Gooptu Pages: 243 Genre: Murder Mystery Price: ₹200 (Kindle copy. Also available as a paperback) Rossogolla Murders by Debeshi Gooptu is the second book of the Dragon Aunty Series. I read 'The Mangar Mayhem’ ―the third book in the series (the books in the series can be read as standalone novels) and really liked it. So, I wanted to read The Rossogolla Murders, and before I could buy it, the author sent me a copy of this book. However, this (and the fact that Debeshi is a dear friend) does not affect my review; it's totally unbiased. Mini (Mrinalin ..read more

  ‘Have you ever looked forward to reading a book so much you can’t actually start it?’ This is a quote from ‘The Flatshare’ by Beth O'Leary. And when I read it, I was like ki 'arrey haan! This is what I do. And I am not the only one.’ That's the thing: no matter what we do, think, feel or go through, we are not the only ones.  There are so many books on my bookshelf (including kindle shelf) that I bought because I really, really wanted to read them, but have been saving them for later. I don't know why. Maybe because I fear I might not like it? But then I realized that tomorr ..read more

Book: Kashmir (the partition trilogy) Author: Manreet Sodhi Someshwar Genre: History/Politics (a blend of creative nonfiction and fiction) Publisher: Harper Collins India Pages: 294 Price: ₹ 324 (on Amazon. Kindle version available) Kashmir by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is the conclusion to the Partition trilogy. The preceding titles are Hyderabad and Lahore, and although it has some references of Lahore, you can read it as a standalone novel.  It captures the final parts of the period of partition and its aftereffects (From October 1947 to December 1948). The delay and dilemma of ac ..read more

Image: My Painting (acrylic on canvas) So I found this beautiful poem on Twitter, beautifully recited by Sanjeev Paliwal Ji, and felt like translating it. You can listen to the rendition HERE) So, here it goes: मंजुल निगम जी की कविता: अलसुबह मुझे जगाते हैं तुम्हारे ख़्वाब,  मेरी उम्मीदें मेरे ढेरों अरमां और हौले से ले जाते हैं मुझे तुम्हारी प्रतीक्षा के द्वार तक।  मैं आँख बन्द कर  हो जाता हूँ  प्रतीक्षारत  जैसे कोई भक्त  करता हैं निर्जला व्रत  और फिर आहिस्ता-आहिस्ता  बजने लगती है  तुम्हारी पायल जैसे मंदिर की घण्टियां  मैं अंतर्रात्मा से&n ..read more

  Photo: Unsplash I found this interesting bookish questions post on Twitter, and picked a few questions to answer. Here it goes... Top 3 books read in 2023 Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi, translated by Anita Gopalan Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, translated by Jerry Pinto Woman to Woman by Madhulika Liddle I'd like to mention a horror novel, 'Let Him In’ by William Friend. Favourite romance 2023 None, actually. And I'm surprised. Re-read my two favourite romance books (I'll mention later). Best mystery/thriller 2023 The Boy from the Sea by HL Macfarlane Rereads 2023 Aalampanah ..read more

I'm very fond of delightful love stories. But, I believe, romance novels can be really boring if not handled well (involves many factors). One of the things that really pisses me off is 'insta love' or love at first sight. Maybe because I don't believe in the theory of love at first sight. I like to see the protagonists growing in a beautiful relationship; to see them fictional characters falling in love.  If you ask me about my favourite fictional characters falling in love, I'd say Leo and Emmi from Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer (and Every Seventh Wave, the sequel). They are epi ..read more

  So, here's the second part where I'm introducing you to the writers of The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers (that I am part of), published by Readomania. Also, let me tell you a little about the featured stories as they appear. Request you to check the first part HERE. One Night by Tarang Sinha: It's about a young, depressed boy who happens to be wandering at night when he meets a girl in a weird situation.  Tarang Sinha is a bilingual writer, translator and self taught artist. Her stories and articles have been published in various magazines like Good Housekeeping India, Child I ..read more

  In my last post, I shared about this really cool Blogchatter (a wonderful community for writers and readers) anthology that I'm part of. It's called The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers, published by Readomania. If you enjoy thrillers or mysterious stories, you will like it. You can get it HERE or HERE. Today, I'm happy to introduce the talented writers of this anthology! Also, let me tell you a little about the stories (as they appear in the book). Against the Windowpane by Dr. Rehana Sultan: This story is about a young doctor's struggle to save her child against the evils she couldn ..read more