The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Started my All Bengali books in April with an old favourite.  The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh is a book I read over 15 years ago and loved ever since. I've never re-read it, so I figured it's high time I revisit a beloved book.  I am a hundred odd pages in and I remember why I love it as much as I do and why this is my favourite Amitav Ghosh book.  I can't wait to spend the next few days wrapped up in this tale.  If you haven't read it before I cannot recommend it enough.  It's set in 1885 Burma and it's about Colonialism, exile, a plucky orphan and a little about love. 

Hello Loves!  January comes to an end now and with that it's time to wrap-up my reading for this month.  My Reading Life in January was rather nice.  Slow.  But nice.  I read only 8 books and I say only because I read some 15 books in January last year.  But this month I took my time with my reads and didn't rush through any of my books.  Something I want to do through the rest of the year too.  I read four physical books.  & Four ebooks.  I read some kid lit.  Some literary fiction.  A spot of translation.  Some world literature.  Lots of short stories.  Verse.  Young adult.  A very mixed bag and I hope and pray that the rest of the year follows suit.  :)    1. The Magic Moonlight Flowers and Other Stories by Satyajit Ray: I started my year right and with one of my favourite writers- Satyajit Ray. These stories were delightful and warm and a fun and full of magic and wonder and good...

  Book: Jungle Nama  Author: Amitav Ghosh  Illustrator: Salman Toor  Publisher: Harper Collins  Read On: Hardback Edition  How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 Day  Plot Summary:   Jungle Nama   is Amitav Ghosh's verse adaptation of an episode from the legend of Bon Bibi, a tale popular in the villages of the Sundarban, which also lies at the heart of the novel   The Hungry Tide . It is the story of the avaricious rich merchant Dhona, the poor lad Dukhey, and his mother; it is also the story of Dokkhin Rai, a mighty spirit who appears to humans as a tiger, of Bon Bibi, the benign goddess of the forest, and her warrior brother Shah Jongoli.   The original print version of this legend, dating back to the nineteenth century, is composed in a Bengali verse meter known as dwipodi poyar.  Jungle Nama  is a free adaptation of the legend, told entirely in a poyar-like meter of twenty-four syllable couplets that replicate the caden...

Hello Loves!  How is your weekend going?  Mine is fulllll of books.  My day started with some very happy book mail and I spent my morning reading on the terrace with my sister.  My sister finished a book this morning and started a new book too.  This is what we are reading this weekend.  :)    A stack of our Weekend Reads.  Our current reads.  My sister is reading Daura by Anukrti Upadhyay.  Unforeseen Desires by Anil Chopra: I t is the 1970s and the Emergency is at its peak. Arun, an idealistic young man, is a medical intern in Dehradun whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is accused of losing a senior doctor’s wedding rings. As he begins his search for the rings, he meets Victoria, an older English missionary, who has made India her home. Arun persuades her to rent him a room in her compound, and, slowly, over shared meals and games of Scrabble, the two form an unlikely bond. In Victoria, Arun finds a patient listener and ...

Hello August & Hello Reading only Indian Writers all month long.  August is one of my favourite months ever and my reading theme for the month has a lot to do with it.  :)  I hope August is good for you and me.  I know things are tough and with  no end in sight, but all we can do is power through.  I plan on getting my reading on and really keep my mind and eyes off the News and only focus on the good things for a change.  INDIAN BOOKS IN AUGUST: For the last 7 odd years August has meant reading only Indian books to celebrate all things India in the month of her Independence. I also pick up a few books from Pakistan and Bangladesh to honour how important this month it to our entire subcontinent.  This month I plan on perusing my bookshelves and keeping a pile of books I want to read this month.  I will share my TBR once I have made a comprehensive list.  To kickstart my month, I started with a favourite ...

Hello!  I don't usually make elaborate TBRs anymore. For a while there, a couple of years ago, I was a pretty diligent TBR maker and then I kinda just stopped. For no real reason, I just stopped making TBRs. I read books as and when I feel like them and it works for me just fine.  But for special occasions or to adhere to a reading theme, a TBR is a good idea be.  So for this month and for reading only Bengali books all month long, I figured I take a good look at my shelves and make a TBR to guide my reading and make life a little easier.  So here is everything I hope to read this month.  APRIL TBR///  1. The Circle of Reason by Amitav Ghosh.  2. The Song Seekers by Saswati Sengutpa.  3. A Life Less Ordinary by Baby Halder.  4. A Life Long Ago by Sunanda Sikdar.  5. In the Name of the Mother by Mahashweta Devi.  6. Sister of my Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. (RR)  7. Wonde...

Hello!  Book Hauls have been pretty scant in my corner of the world and it's OK. Since September I've been buying only a handful of books here and there. And even this month, I haven't bought one physical book!  Who am I? Jokes apart, my shelves are full of books that I need to read, so I am more than OK slowing down with my incessant book buying. But..February is my birthday month and I might just throw all caution to wind and buy myself some amazing books.  Only time will tell!  For now I want to share some books I picked up in December.  This is my December/Christmas book haul and I got all of these from a Book Fair in my hometown and paid 30% off for all of these!  :)   I read this book already and I really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure of what to expect going in but it was fun and interesting to read about the man behind the legend.  Started my year with Tagore and it was a good decision. Read all the short stor...

Hello!  Today I want to share some sights and scenes from my local Boi Mela,  Boi Melas or Book Fairs are a winter staple in West Bengal. From big cities to small towns, Boi Melas pop up all over. I have always wanted to go to the Book Fair in Kolkata. My cousins have raved about it forever. Sadly, I've never managed make it there during the right time.  I used to be summer visitor in Kolkata.  So I was so happy to find out that my hometown- Jalpaiguri,  also has a Book Fair and this time I was here for it!  Yay!!!  So, on a cold winter evening, Maa, me and my sister walked to the book fair and spent over an hour browsing the many stalls and taking in the scenes and seeing people mulling over books and coming back with bags full of stories.  Most of the books, as expected were in Bengali.  These books were so beautiful. Sadly, I can't read Bengali, so I obviously didn't buy any of those.  People all bundled ...

Hello! This little blog of mine, this little labour of love turned 6 this year.  6!  In June to be specific, my blog turned a year older. Every year, for my blog birthday I like to treat myself to some special books. Books that have been on my radar for a while, books I have been dreaming of and so on and so forth.  This year the beginning of June saw me sick with the flu. I was so out of it, I completely forgot that it was my blog birthday. I realised on the 4th of June and then went on to feel like a guilty mother or some such.  I wondered what I'd do to treat myself?  Then the answer came to me in a blinding flash.  Famous Five.  These books are my childhood in a nutshell.  The first books that I read on my own and ones I eagerly sought out in my school library. But ones I never owned. I think we, sister and I, own only two out of the 21 books. Those were bought with my sister's General Proficiency money and are so preciou...