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…
Cracking the Code- My Journey in Bollywood Ayushmann Khurana & Tahira Kashyap 2015 Rupa pp. 158 I am not a movie buff and I am not an aspiring actor. I do not get inspired to read biographies of famous people. Yet, I picked up Khurana’s (& Tahira’s) book. This should be an indication that I…
Mothering a Muslim Nazia Erum 2017 Juggernaut pp. 220 The book is a non fictional account of the lives of urban Indian Mulsims. The book presents anecdotes from the lives of young children and their parents from various cities, with a predominance of NCR based incidents. The author shares her concerns and feelings over raising …
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ckMark Manson2016Harper Collinspp. 224One of the few books in the self help genre that I have ended up reading and liking. My experience of reading in this area is limited and had not been for the Extraordinary Reading Challenge by The Curious Reader, I probably wouldn’t have read…
Adopted Miracles: The Story of Our Family Anamika Mukherjee 2014 pp. 200 Harper Collins Adopted Miracles is a first person account of a young woman who discovers that she cannot have children by natural childbirth. The ordeal of tests, and of the umpteen people asking for “good news” is described in a straight forward…
Autobiography of an Autism EntrepreneurMythili Chari2017 Amarabharathi pp. 175 As the title suggests, the autobiographical writing by Chari details out her experiences in the field of educating children with autism, and her initiative of setting up her own institute. The anecdotal account begins with her childhood experiences and reminisces about what she considers are significant…
Mumma ki DiaryAnu Singh Choudhary2015Hindyugmpp. 159Mumma ki Diary is exactly what it claims to be. A non-fictional account of the life experiences of a young mother. Written in everyday Hindi, the book presents an episodic account of a young journalist, the author, from the time of her decision to have a child to her present…
The New Indian Middle ClassPavan K Varma2014Harper Collinspp. 101This non fiction book is a prelude to the now history 2014 elections. Varma analyses the collective conscience of the ever growing middle class and the active role it has chosen to play in Indian politics. At times silent, at times violently vocal, at times clueless, yet…
The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the UniverseStephen Hawking2006Jaicopp. 120The Theory of Everything is based on a collection of lectures by Hawking. The brilliance of Hawking in the concepts that he talks about and the way he talks about them is unmatched. Like his other book, A Brief History of Time, he…
The Book of Laughter and ForgettingMilan Kundera (tr. Aaron Asher)1996 (this edition of English translation, original 1978)LondonFaber and Faberpp. 312The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a collection of seven narratives that cover a range of issues but have subtle underlying common themes. Part satire, part humour, part realism, the book is best understood in…
