Magic Square Salini Vineeth 2018 Amazon Asia Pacific pp. 62 Magic Square is a novella about search for a mysterious gentleman. A young scholar finds a poem written in a discrete mathematics book and can’t stop herself from finding about the owner of the book. As events unfold, she also finds a sense of purpose…
Hot Love Inferno Nicky Blue 2018 Amazon Asia Pacific pp. 144 This is the second book in the Prophecy Allocation series. A short and quick read, it can be finished in one sitting. And I think if you do choose to pick it up, you wouldn’t be able to leave it unfinished. The book, I…
Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf 1925 (this print 2017) Fingerprint pp. 208 Mrs. Dalloway is the story of a woman who throws a party and in the process reminisces about her life. The entire book is set in one day that culminates in the party. The protagonist is best described as an upper class woman who…
Masala Chai Divya Prakash Dubey 2014 Hind Yugm pp. 206 Masala Chai is a collection of short stories by Divya Prakash Dubey. It is exactly what the introduction claims it to be, stories that you share with your friends over a cup of tea. Most stories are simple, based on everyday occurrences that characterise life…
A Horse Walks Into A Bar David Grossman (Trns. Jessica Cohen) 2014 Penguin pp. 194 The book is about a stand up comedian in Israel. The book runs through one of comedians acts. The narrator is an old friend, a retired judge who the comedian invites to his act. The act turns away from comedy…
Three Men on Motorcycles Ketan Joshi 2017 Amazon pp. 216 The book describes the bike ride of three men to Ladakh. It is every bullet owner’s must ride to place so the destination was no surprise. The descriptions of the places visited are thus predictably stereotypical. What is refreshing is the style of writing. Joshi…
Ghachar Ghochar Vivek Shanbhag (translation by Srinath Perur) 2015 Harper Perennial pp. 124 Ghachar Ghochar is a psychological, family drama that traces the rags to riches story of a family. Narrated in the voice of a young man who gets embroiled in everything that is happening around him in setting up and success of the…
Last Train to Istanbul Ayse Kulin (translation by J W Baker) 2002 (reprint 2013) Amazon Crossing pp. 396 Set in wartime Turkey and France, the novel revolves around the lives of a Turkish family. The younger woman in the family has married a Turkish Jew. The family refuses to accept their marriage and the couple…
Unladylike: A Memoir Radhika Vaz 2015 Aleph pp. 217 Unladylike, like the name suggests, is a memoir of Radhika Vaz. The title couldn’t be more apt, given the way she is living her life. Unladylike breaks away from stereotypes. But on a deeper reading you would feel that almost every girl and woman in India…
Vikram Betal (The 24 Riddles and the Origin of Betal) Sooriyakumar Sivakumaran 2017 pp. 58 The legendary tale of Vikram and Betal captured my imagination as a child. Despite having seen the televised series, I have never got the answers right. I liked the moral fibre,wisdom being imparted through the stories. I also love the…
