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!)
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 of adventures; then they love each other; then they get married.This fits in exactly. Yet, Dragonfly warmed me. There are some books that, like Disney movies, touch […]
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 ended up reading Grandmother’s Footsteps and was so bored with it that I decided never to read Rachel Anderson again. Thankfully, despite what the proverb says, […]
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! What an unimaginative sycophant!” (Well, maybe not those words, but you know . . .) Today, I apologise. In the library, I opened a volume […]
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 come in a book-review soon, but it brought me to laugh aloud at the ridiculous English language. We learned similes in school. As fresh as […]
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, so I said ‘Eva Ibbotson’. My favourite by her remains Journey to the River Sea, but I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by her. The Haunting of […]
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 first, I ignored it. I got another call. I was puzzled. And another. So I took it. “Varsha Seshan!” said the voice at the other […]
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 book so that people will know it exists and maybe some of them will pre-order it. My first inclination was to accomplish this by sitting […]
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 I read this, there was the sense of something artificial. As craft, detective fiction shines. I enjoyed the intricacy of the narrative. Romance within a […]
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 under impossible circumstances. How is it that I love them all? The power of the narrative just gripped me right through the book. A sense […]
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. They cannot communicate to one another, but they have to because the ‘darkie’s’ attitude towards them is simple. He will not judge. Everyone is together […]
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 and Pride and Prejudice. Maybe, somehow, classics escape my prejudices. But books like The Moneylender’s Daughter ought to as well. As I began the book and got […]
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 melting and a big hammer for those items that are difficult to crush. I have passed an exam in art and I am also a […]
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 the book. And then, I had a rather startling thought. I understand where the inspiration comes from. I understand a fascination for plants and power […]
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
The Harry Potter Phenomenon
“You must read Harry Potter,” a friend of mine told me when I was in the eighth standard. I glanced at the book lying on her desk and nodded. The book she was so impressed by was not yet available easily in India. A relative had given it to her and she was passing it on. I […]
The Great Gatsby
Is it fair to compare a book with a movie? Especially a book with such a strong narrative voice? I was a little put-off by the idea of Nick talking to the doctor. But then, that was one way of getting the narrative voice loud and clear, I guess. It was exactly like the book […]
The Life of Pi
I like to get involved when I watch a movie. I like to feel with the character, hold my breath during moments of anticipation and cry during moments of sadness and joy. That did not happen with The Life of Pi. Not because of the movie itself but because of the cinema hall. First of […]