The year is 1539. King Henry VIII is King of England. All three of his wives, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour are dead. He has three children: […]
How Green Was My Valley
I read the book when I was eleven or so. It was among the very few books that made me feel I was too young to tackle that kind of […]
Available worldwide!
Just discovered that The Story-Catcher is not available just in India and the US! It’s available in the UK too! (And perhaps elsewhere in the world that I have not discovered yet!)
Reading is Fun! – A Workshop at the British Library, Pune
Workshop Overview: Television, tablets and internet have changed the face of childhood. When you can watch a movie, why read a book? Teachers say it’s educational. Improve your English; improve […]
Dragonfly
Some pacy books are formulaic, and this one is one of them.Prince must marry Princess – it’s a political alliance. Prince and Princess hate each other; they have all kinds […]
Asylum
For once, the amount of time I’ve taken to read this says nothing about the book. I remember reading Bloom of Youth. I was faintly unhappy with it. I then somehow […]
Encyclopedias
I remember a time in school when a teacher asked what we liked to read, and one child replied, “Encyclopedias.” I inwardly rolled my eyes and thought, “Oh my God! […]
The Peculiar English Language
Of course we know that language is peculiar. And English? Any new speaker finds it ridiculously bewildering. I’m reading a book by Rachel Anderson called Asylum. More about that will […]
The Haunting of Hiram
Yesterday, when MJ Shubhra asked me to recommend books at the ‘Book Club’ show, I was tongue-tied, somehow. I could think of nothing. On my desk lay an Eva Ibbotson, […]
Surprise Interview
I never have call waiting turned on. Yesterday, somehow I did. An unknown number was calling me as I spoke to a very dear friend – a landline number. At […]
Radio One!
Tune in to 94.3 FM Radio One – Maximum Music, Maximum Choice! Immediately! Surprise interview about The Story-Catcher and its author!
Hyperbole and a Half
LOOK AT MY BOOK. LOOK AT IT. IT IS VERY NICE. I AM VERY IMPORTANT. 15 July 2013 at 07:30 I have been told that I need to promote my […]
I can’t quite believe this . . .
The Story-Catcher has been long listed for the Crossword Book Awards! So what if the long list is loooong? If it needs votes, I’m banking on lots of people!
The Lost Years
When I first read Mary Higgins Clark, I remember how amazed I was. All Around the Town remains one of the most powerful books of all time in my memory. Yet, when […]
Stormswift
Madeleine Brent, ah, Madeleine Brent. So many of your books are based on the same thing – an English girl in a foreign land, falling in love with an Englishman […]
Walkabout
Unbelievably moving. Two English children in the middle of the Australian desert – what are their chances of survival? But they come across a bush boy. A naked dark-skinned Aborigine. […]
The Moneylender’s Daughter
I often shy away from thick books. I’m not quite sure why because I have read (more than once) and enjoyed (tremendously) books like Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre […]
Magical Mail
‘Dear Sir or Madam,My name is Thor. I would like to work for the council recycling department. I think I would be good at this as I have lightning for […]
The Poison Garden
I finally finished reading The Poison Garden only because I forced myself to. I turned page after deliberate page, skipping sections, skimming over larger sections and wondering who would read […]
Ideas and Institutions in Medieval India
Paperback ISBN 978-81-250-5174-9 Hard cover ISBN 978-81-250-5175-6 Author: Dr. Radhika Seshan (Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Pune) Publisher: Orient BlackSwan