It's when I make lists like this that I realise how many books I read each year. It makes me deeply conscious of how privileged I am to be able to devote so much time each year to reading. Year after year, I read more books. More often than not, I don't buy them - it's impossible to buy every book I want to read - but libraries, online platforms like StoryWeaver, Kindle Unlimited ... These are a great source of stories. Many of these stories were not published in 2018; they're just books I read last year. It was difficult to make this list, but here goes, in no particular order ...Lion Goes for a HaircutAuthor: Swati ShomeIllustrator: Sayan MukherjeeWhen a lion walks into a salon for a haircut, what happens? Here's a story that shows you why lions don't go for haircuts! I enjoyed it tremendously.Ammachi's Amazing MachinesAuthor and illustrator: Rajiv EipeThis … [Read more...]
Invisible People
How does one begin to write about a book as powerful as Invisible People? Stories of hope and courage - that's what the cover promises, yet I did not expect to be moved as much as I was. I knew I would come across extraordinary stories because I have faith in the fact that there are extraordinary people in this world. But Invisible People? Each story moved me so much that I had to look away, swallow a gulp in my throat, and just feel all those thousands of emotions that make me human, before I could read on.In the preface, author Harsh Mander says that none of the stories in the book is fictionalised. At most, names have been changed to preserve confidentiality; other than that, the stories are true to reality.And every one of these stories shows us one thing: that when human beings are at their cruellest and most brutal, there emerge other human beings who redefine what … [Read more...]
Bhigwan 2018
It was 8 in the morning. We'd woken up at 4:45 and driven over a hundred kilometres to Bhigwan. We waited a long while for our boat, and as we waited, we looked at terns, gulls, storks and stilts around us. And then, eventually, we boarded a boat and made our way across the waters towards the flamingoes.As we sat there, watching geese and ibises, I looked at the water around me and thought about what draws me to Bhigwan year after year. Why do I wake up in the pre-dawn hours and travel before light to a place two hours away?(Incidentally, when we went this time, my great-aunt had an interesting question, "Do flamingoes stink?" That was one of the questions I pondered as I sat and gazed at the pink-legged flamingoes in the distance. I still cannot answer that.)I looked at the painted storks, which look like old men walking with their hands behind their backs.I gurgled with … [Read more...]
Carthick’s Unfairy Tales
Have you ever thought of Cinderella from the point of view of the mouse? No, not one of the sweet singing mice in Disney's version. Instead, from the point of view of a hapless mouse who becomes a steed for one night. What happens to the mouse after Cinderella gets her 'happily ever after'? Does the mouse get its own happily ever after?Carthick's Unfairy Tales had me chuckling more than once. Full of wit, with surprises lurking at every corner, each story was thoroughly enjoyable.Yes, I did get annoyed in places because of Indianisms that, for me, jarred with the retelling of European fairy tales. Even so, the book was so much fun that I kept reading, curious to know what would happen next and what new turn a well-known story would take.From "Goldilocks" to "Jack and the Beanstalk", Carthick twists seven familiar tales into new stories that resonate with anyone who has … [Read more...]
Tilly and the Time Machine
Just thinking about Tilly and the Time Machine makes me chuckle, even though I finished reading it a couple of days ago. It's been a while since I read such a lovely book written for seven-year-olds.Tilly's father is a scientist who works for the government. Unfortunately, it seems as if his work is below expectations, so they have to let him go.The way Tilly sees it, letting him go seems to be a good thing. He has more time at home, he doesn't have to go to work, and Tilly can do lots of fun stuff with him (like jumping out of her window for him to catch her) - particularly important because Tilly's mother died not so long ago.When Tilly's father invents a time machine, of course Tilly knows how far back she wants to go. Sure, she is supposed to be presenting the Victorian age in her school project, but the Victorian age pales in comparison with what Tilly has in mind. … [Read more...]
Unique Flavours
Wanderlust. I write about it so often. Yearning is lovely.But sometimes, the joy of travelling is not in the yearning; it's in the humour. It's in the crazy things that happen all the time, all around us.When I travel, I try to eat things that are typical to the place I'm visiting. It was Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna, though I dislike pork. Fishy things in Calcutta, though I don't like fish. You know.But sometimes, local food is unaffordable, or just inaccessible. Then, I try to get something that I can finish on my own - and roti sabzi does not fit the bill. I can never finish it.In Chandrapur, about 150 km away from Nagpur, I was at a hotel that served nothing typical of the region. So, I came to the second option. What could I finish? Lasagna! Why not? Chinese food in India is uniquely Indian-Chinese, and has regional variations. Lasagna in a small town could be fun … [Read more...]
Big Books at the Writers’ Club
Aren't lit fests delightful? Last week, I was invited to St. Mary's School's first lit fest, and it was lovely. We walked into books like this one ...And we had a panel discussion where we spoke about stories, poems, writing, dancing and music. We then visited classrooms and saw the work the children had put together through the course of the year - book reviews, poetry, charts, models ...And we saw eight big books that the tenth standard girls had made for the prep school children. I saw those books and knew I had to share them with my Writers' Club, so I invited Remanika and Riya to talk to the girls and share their books with us.Here's one of our favourites - Mr Banana Climbs a Tree.Mr Banana wants to meet a lady bird, who lives on top of a tree. He begins to climb, but there are all kinds of obstacles - bats, a noisy crow and monkeys.The monkeys are the … [Read more...]
The Peculiars
Kieran is one of only two male Reception class teachers on the Isle of Wight.His days mainly consist of singing nursery rhymes, tying shoelaces, trying to locate who has had an ‘accident’ by sense of smell alone, and vast, endless mountains of paperwork. Author profile on GoodreadsAren't you interested already? Writing good author bios is an art. I remember the first one I had to write. I spent a day agonising over it and then asked my father to do it. He was much amused - I never ask for writing help - and he did it in three minutes.The Peculiars intrigued me for many reasons. The cover, of course, is lovely. Secondly, I do like Chicken House as a publisher. I like the fact that at the back of the book, they tell you which page to read to give the book a try. (I never do it, but I like the idea anyway.) And I love the three words they choose to describe the book. Hot Key books … [Read more...]
Our Own Voices
I just skimmed through yet another article about how, growing up, we associated 'white people doing white things' with 'people doing people things'. This is an idea that I have to confront all the time, for racism is everywhere.It has forms that we unwillingly perpetuate too. For instance, I have an Indian friend who is studying in the US, and she is not working on South Asian writers. This is something she repeatedly has to defend. "Why don't you work on your own culture?" everyone asks.In the beginning, this is a seemingly harmless question. In fact, it is a relevant question, even an important one, when we look at representation and diversity. Yet, very soon, this begins, insidiously, to translate into the idea that brown people must write about brown people.Must I write about my own culture? How is this a duty that I must fulfil while western writers may write fantasy … [Read more...]
Paradise End
Especially when I'm struggling with my writing, I find myself wondering all kinds of things. What makes a good book? What keeps me reading? When do I roll my eyes at melodrama, and when do I have to swallow a gulp in my throat? Where are all these boundaries?Also, I'm a picky reader. I used to beat myself up about not finishing books, but I think somewhere along the line as a literature student, I realised that it was impossible for me to read everything I wanted to read. There were books I actually enjoyed but could not finish. Middlemarch comes to mind, but there were many others.When I started reading Paradise End by Elizabeth Laird, I was overly critical. There were parts where I got thoroughly annoyed with the protagonist Carly, but then, I warmed to her and to her story.And I realised yet again that for me, the greatest stories are stories of … [Read more...]