Starting with @FaizaYousuf , I recommend "We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates. A stunning portrait of an American family, in the wake of a tragedy. Tragic, and hopeful. A must-read!
This one is for @CrookedBong "Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line" by Deepa Anappara.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is wondrous. The story is dark, and will bring you down, but will also make you smile and maybe make you a little hopeful. #vivekismsrecommends
And a recommendation for @vyatikram188 "The Diary of a Social Butterfly" by Moni Mohsin. A book that should be read right now - it is hilarious and laugh out loud funny. A social butterfly in Pakistan and a great one at that. #vivekismsrecommends
This one is for @oomang_j Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth by Audrey Truschke. A well-written biography of a misunderstood man and ruler. Interesting to the boot. #vivekismsrecommends Hope you like it.
And the last recommendation of the day is for @MeeenCurry I think you might like this one: Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star by @chhabs . An extremely easy-to-read biography of an actor of many talents and empathy. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. #vivekismsrecommends
Books recommended today:
We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
The diary of a social butterfly by Moni Mohsin
Aurangzeb: the man & the myth by Audrey Truschke &
Irrfan Khan: the man, the dreamer, the star by Aseem Chhabra
Starting book recommendations for today.
This one is for you @thebooksatchel if you haven't read it already. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I'm reading it right now and thoroughly enjoying it. I know you will love it. How Shakespeare came to write Hamlet overcoming personal grief.
Hey @radzzzzster ! I think you will really enjoy this graphic novel if you haven't read it already. Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá. It is about death, hope, and extremely heartfelt.
Knowing you, I know you will enjoy this @TheRadiowala The Sixth River: A Journal from the Partition of India by Fikr Taunsvi is heartbreaking and unlike anything I've read on the Partition. In fact, I will reread it soon.
Hey @shinysuraj30 for you, I recommend This Side, That Side : Restorying Partition (if you haven't read it already), curated by @VishwajyotiG ! A stunning compendium of graphic narratives about the Partition, loss, and what home means to you.
And the last recommendation of the day to @KelvinAroza - A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham. About three people, varied lives, and what it takes to raise a child together. Beautiful prose.
Books recommended today: 27/03
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Daytripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá
The Sixth River by Fikr Taunsvi
This Side, That Side: Restorying Partition. Curated by Vishwajyoti Ghosh
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
Hey @serenavora My recommendation to you is I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir by Malaka Gharib. There are a lot of books like these – on identity, migration, immigration, the need to belong, and yet there is something about this one that struck home and stayed.
Hello you @shirinmehrotra I recommend When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt. Translated from the Danish by Denise Newman. Naja’s book made me see how I deal with death. How I manage my emotions, what I feel, & how I communicate.
Hey @panktimehta I strongly recommend The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor to you. The Dragonfly Sea is the kind of book that will keep you enthralled, and make you wonder about the Kenyan landscape – more than anything else it will leave you wanting more of Owuor’s writing
Hello @srijandeep , I think you will enjoy this one a lot: A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There by Krishna Sobti. Translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell. A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There is a book that juxtaposes the past & the present, with nostalgia and loss at its core.
And the last recommendation of the day is for @ItemMom I recommend this book to you: Hide by Matthew Griffin.
“Hide” is about love between two men – the companionship, the marriage, the need to be with and want each other.
Books recommended today, 28/03/2020:
I Was Their American Dream -Malaka Gharib
When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back - Naja Marie Aidt. Translated by Denise Newman
The Dragonfly Sea -Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
(continued).
Books recommended today, 28/03/2020:
A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There by Krishna Sobti. Translated by Daisy Rockwell.
Hide by Matthew Griffin
Hey @wolfmomz my recommendation to you is Bossypants by Tina Fey, if you haven't already read it yet. Hilarious and just what you wanted. Hope you like it (or have in the past).
Hey @MrNarci Here's my recommendation for you: Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. Norma Jean behind the Marilyn. The human being behind the star. A stunning fictional account.
And for you @shobhit_kanpur , for you, I recommend Justine by Lawrence Durrell. Second World War. Alexandria. A cast of characters who fall in and out of love, passionately, and with madness. A brilliant portrayal of love and so lyrical.
Hey there @kadwikalicoffee for you, I recommend Armour - a book about love and lovers, all real, all only too human, a coffee-table book at that, with stories that would want you to hug someone (from afar though).
And the last recommendation of the day is for @dhan_fulloflife - To you, I recommend Crowfall by Shanta Gokhale. A beautiful book on art, madness, identity, and the city of Bombay as seen through a bunch of friends.
Books recommended today, 30.03.2020:
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
Justine by Lawrence Durrell
Amour by Stefania Rousselle
Crowfall by Shanta Gokhale
Hi @kaur_yaaaar , I recommend City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. A great read about women in theatre in New York in the 40s. A fictional take and a great one at that.
Hello @paintedverse , for you I recommend Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie, chronicling the rise and fall of the Romanov dynasty, with a beautiful and all-consuming love story at the heart of it.
Hey @PennyLooney For you I recommend, The Worm and the Bird by Coralie Bickford-Smith. A beautiful children's book for adults on finding and discovering beauty in the world. Left me wanting more.
Hi @lime_walls here's my recommendation for you: Things in Jars by Jess Kidd. A kidnapping of a child in Victorian London, sets in motion some detective work, and a whole lot of adventure. Hope you enjoy it.
Hey Sai @ZanyAnomaly Here's your recommendation: In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi. A daughter's attempt to get to know her parent who has undergone a sex reassignment surgery, through images, dark histories, and empathy.
Books recommended today, 31/03:
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
The Worm and the Bird by Coralie Bickford-Smith
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi
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Since everyone is doing their top 100 books lists and such, here are my top 100 Indian reads of 2021.
1. The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro. A stunning read of how patriarchy works in the country and what led to the death of two teenage girls, children really.
2. Midnight's Borders by @suchitrav . This book left me thinking so much about borders, about the lines we draw, and how people who have no say in it suffer on a daily basis because of geo-political problems. A must-read.
3. Song of Draupadi by @mukhoty . I am wary of different perspectives being presented of the Mahabharata but this one was refreshingly different, full of agency and might, and beautiful in its prose. @AlephBookCo
100 books by Indian women in Translation. There are so many of them and I can’t wait. So here we go. So many languages. So many books.
1. A Life in Words: Memoirs by Ismat Chughtai. (Urdu title: Kaghazi hai Pairahan). Translator: M. Asaduddin. This book is an honest account of a writer’s life – from childhood to youth to old-age. Chughtai speaks of women’s liberation to class differences with great intensity.
2. Hangwoman by K.R. Meera (Malayalam: Aarachaar). Translator: J. Devika. Twenty-two year old, Chetna is the first lady executioner of India and with a family tradition to take over. Of course, that is where the title comes from, but there is more to it than the obvious. Layered!
My first Murakami. I doubt he was that well-known then in India. Date of delivery: 23rd of May 2001. 19 years ago. I read the book in two days. I reread it immediately. I lost my father to death six days later. (1/6)
Murakami’s writing got interconnected with the death of a parent. With a loss that one can’t recover from. You just learn how to hide those wounds, smile, and before you know it, you see people with their fathers or a set of parents and it stings. Hurts even after 19 years (2/6)
Murakami showed me love. In his own way of missing cats, women who wanted more, men who were lost, and unusual stories that made an impact. Between 2001 and 2003, I read most of Murakami, or what was available to be then. (3/6)
I remember like it happened yesterday. 25th of August 2006. I met my friend K at Prithvi Theatre and that is when I would first hear of Ismat Apa. He had booked tickets knowing how much I would love the play. I hadn't heard of her before, and yet he was confident. He was correct.
It was a play of 3 of her stories. Each of them enacted better than the other. I was mesmerised. I was angry at myself for not knowing of her before. This progressive writer. This writer who wrote her mind and heart. This writer who said what she had to, and with great passion.
It has been 14 years. Ismat Apa has been rediscovered and discovered & read and known by so many. Lihaf was ahead of its time. It continues to give so much hope. Tedhi Lakeer speaks of resilience, of not giving up. Kaghzi Hai Pairahan (my personal favourite) chronicles her life.
Happy Birthday, Madonna! The queen of pop and performance. Thank you for giving a young gay boy so much hope, drama, style, campiness, and above all courage to be who he was. Will always be crazy for you.
The best, and the supreme gay icon there is. Here's to the Queen!
No party is a party till Madonna is played, IMO. She may not be a great singer, but boy did she break those rules. She showed them all how to do it, and more importantly to own themselves. Every. Single. Time.