Hello Loves!
April has whizzed on by and it's time to talk about all the books I read this month and my thoughts and opinions on said books.
I try to read mostly Bengali books in April for my annual celebration of all things Bengali in honour of Bengali New Year, some years I read only Bengali books and don't stray off topic, while others I do find myself reading books from other places..and that's OK. I never want my reading to be so rigid and constrained that I can never have any wriggle room.
Reading is something I do for pleasure and joy and reading what I want and when I want is something I stick to at all times.
OK.
So this month I read some 11 books in total.
7 from Bengal and by Bengali writers.
4 from elsewhere.
I had a little bit of slow reading month (by my standards) and it's OK. I did other things and really slowed down with my reading and read some serious and heavy books that I had to slow down and sit with.
It was a good reading month.
Read a classic.
Read two debut novels.
Read a lot of Lit Fic.
And a few thrillers.
Sounds perfect to me.
OK, let's jump right in and get into everything I read this month!
I will first talk about all the Bengali Books and then talk about the rest.
:)
BOOKS OF APRIL 2023:
1. Four Chapters by Rabindranath Tagore: Started my month with the OG, the King of Bengali Literature- Tagore.
I haven't read a ton of his work, pretty much all of his poetry is unknown to me. I have heard it being recited by various family members and I am fairly well versed with his music, being Bengali Tagore is an indelible part of our lives. I want to read more of his writing. This slim little novella was something I enjoyed quite a bit. I enjoyed this fairly modern and it's very relevant point of focus. A hyper nationalist leader who expects undying and total loyalty from his followers and often leads them astray for his own selfish interests. A love story in part and a story of three very strong and memorable characters. A very strong woman, who chooses to serve her nation and forsake marriage and any traditional role for women in her day, and I especially loved how Tagore wrote his very flawed and grey antagonist.
Very very good stuff.
There have some film adaptations that I am curious to watch.
4/5
2. Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose: From Tagore's Bengal to modern day Ireland. This book is set in a tiny village in Ireland and talks of modern motherhood and how three different women approach mothering and female friendship. It shows three very different kinds of mothers, a social media mommy blogger and a self-proclaimed expert, an Earth mother, crunchy type mom and an Indian immigrant (a Bengali woman from Calcutta) who is just a mom trying to do her best. And then there is murder.
I loved how this book looks at motherhood and the very different approaches to it and how toxic social groups and cliques can be. A lot of what you read here is immensely relatable, and more so if you are mother and mingle in with other moms. No one here was perfect and pretty much a lot of the characters were deeply unlikable, but it didn't put me off.
I enjoyed this quite a bit and flew through it.
4/5
3. An Element of Fog by Boudayan Sen: This book set in an elite boarding school in the South of India in the 1990s and a part of it's split narrative is set in the same region in 1870-ish. We see a British Pastor making his way through India, trying to find his flock and we see a lonely Bengali teacher and school administrator in the 90s trying to find love and companionship and lasting friendship.
This is a moody and slow and atmospheric read.
The thing I found most interesting is that it's very rare for me to read a book about a man's inner life and loneliness. I read so many women authors and I am more inclined to do a deep dive into a woman's mind and life, so this book felt like such a different experience for me. I really should pick up more books about men and them being vulnerable.
That personal epiphany aside, I did enjoy it's writing and the gentle journey of this tale.
Perfectly enjoyable.
3/5
4. Not Quite a Disaster After All by Buku Sarkar: It's funny how I first heard of this book. I saw it on Zoya Akhtar's IG. And it looked and sounded like something I would enjoy. From the very start, maybe because of the cover, this gave me some very strong Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri vibes. And you know your girl loves all things JL! So I promptly got my hands on it.
This book is told through a few vignettes, a few little snippets and glimpses into the lives of two women, well mostly one woman. It shows her at various points in her life, childhood, young adulthood and proper womanhood.
I liked this, not equally and not throughout it's short run but I did enjoy it. But this is the kind of book you have to be in the mood for and pick up at the right time and I also think this perhaps not something that will be universally loved.
Pick it up if you enjoy books that are move vibes than plot.
I liked it.
I don't think I loved it.
3/5
5. One Small Voice by Santanu Bhattacharya: Some books you read at just the right time. And some books feel like they were written for you. This one right off the bat had me so invested and hooked. It's set in two cities I have called home- Lucknow and Mumbai. And set in time periods I have very strong memories and associations with.
Lucknow in 1992 and Mumbai in the early 2000s and then on out. It talks of India and it's changing social and political climate and how that affects people and communities and relationships.
Pick this up if you want to read something sharp, well-observed and well-written.
I really enjoyed this book and I have a lot of thoughts and I will do a full review of this one. So stay tuned for that.
3.5/5
6. A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee: My second book by the author and one I enjoyed so very much. This one is a book told through linked stories, not very obviously interconnected but tenuously so. And I really liked that about it. The connections between the stories and the characters weren't very in your face obvious. Set in rural Bengal, Calcutta, Mumbai, Jharkand and in homes of middle-class Indians and those struggling to eke out a living, this book takes into worlds and homes we know and those we know exist but perhaps don't think too much about.
This is a heavy read. Parts of it will make your heart heavy and sad and angry and so much of what you read here, you will want to mull over and sit with.
I loved it. Even the parts that made me uncomfortable.
4/5
7. The Adventures of Feluda Vol. II by Satyajit Ray: Ah! A thing of joy. I started re-reading this volume on Nobo Borsho, I couldn't think of a better Bengali book to spend my special day with. I had intended to read a story or two but once I started I just couldn't stop. I have been reading this every night before sleeping and honestly, it's a been such a good way to end the day.
5/5
Always a good time.
Now for the non-Bengali reads.
8. City of Incident by Annie Zaidi: I read and loved Prelude to a Riot and ever since this book came out I know I wanted to read it. And this slim little book packs a punch.
12 stories.
12 people.
6 men.
6 women.
1 city.
Mumbai.
These gingerly inter-connected stories were such a love song to this city of mine. It showed us pretty much every strata of society, was fairly diverse and showed this teeming city in all of it's beauty and brokenness.
I loved it.
4/5
Now let's talk about the three thrillers I read this month.
9. The Angel Maker by Alex North: I read this in the very beginning of the month and I went into this with such high hopes. I have read two books by this author and loved them both. He writes a mix of thriller-mystery + supernatural shenanigans and I am a big fan of these genres come together. Give me a good dose of spooks and murder and I am all in. So I felt like this would be a good time.
Alas, that was not the case.
I really, really didn't enjoy this.
It wasn't good.
1/5
10. Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti: This one is a YA thriller. Told entirely through Police Interrogation, this was a unique way to tell a story.
5 teens to camping and one of them dies and the rest are all suspects.
Fun. Interesting and very, very entertaining.
3.5/5
11. The Donut Legion by Joe. R. Landsdale: This one was a fun ride, a little bit about a small-town, a missing ex-wife and a cult. Fun. Buddy read this one with my sister and we both enjoyed it.
3.5/5
💜💜💜💜💜💜
Ah!
11 books.
Mostly all good.
I had a good month of reading.
Hope April was kind to you too.
:)
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