Hello Loves!
March is nearly done and it's time to talk about everything I read this month.
March was all about reading women's voices and words for #FemmeMarch
I read only women and women translators all month long and it was wonderful.
Let's jump in shall we?
1. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri: I started my reading month right with one, if not the top favourite book of mine. I love this book. I read it back when it first came out and it honest to God changed my life. This is easily my most recommended book.
Seriously, if you haven't read it please do.
It's incredible.
5/5
I will always, always come back to this book for multiple re-readings.
2. A People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian: A book I started reading in February and put it aside to pick it up in March.
A story about a group of feisty girls from a slum in Bangalore who are growing up, finding themselves, fighting for their rights and forming a kinship.
I really enjoyed this book and it's world and especially it's women.
4/5
3. The Secret Life of Debbie G by Vibha Batra and Kalyani Ganpathy: A fun yet deep story about being a teenager in today's world or social media and popularity. I read a graphic novel after a long time and it was so nice to get back to them. Arya is sixteen and her life seems to be falling apart, her parents are divorced and they are both moving on in life. Her friends are busy and life is sad.
I loved how real and relatable this book felt, even for someone like me who was a teenager back in the days before social media.
3.5/5
4. Pilgrimage by Ira Singh: A story told in three parts.
Three incidents in a woman's life and three peeks into her world at pivotal parts.
A full review is up.
4/5
5. A Spoonful of Curds by Bharati Jagannathan: A collection of short stories set in Tamil homes and families. A lovely bunch of stories about families, loves, marriages and lives.
3.5/5
6. The Good Girls by Sonia Faleiro: A non-fiction read after a while. Centred around the Katra Case of 2014, this book does a deep dive into the lives touched by the tragedy that claimed the lives of two young girls and the media circus and the controversy that followed. Hard to read in parts but so important and so well written and researched.
4/5
7. Saira Zariwalla is Scared by Shabnam Minwala: A fun mystery with spooky vibes.
Full review is up already.
4/5
8. The Gopi Diaries Finding Love: by Sudha Murty: Love love love.
Also reviewed this one.
5/5
9. The Guru Who Came Down from the Mountains by Roshen Dalal: The story of a nefarious Godman who's on his death-bed. Told from his perspective and that of one of his former loyal disciple. This is a story of a man's rise as spiritual guru and then his downfall. Interesting premise but overall a bit of a letdown.
2.5/5
10. Shyamchi Ali by Sane Guruji, Translated by Shanta Gokhale: A sweet story full of wisdom and a mother's love. A Marathi classic that I am so glad I finally read this month. Sweet, simple and full of nostalgic wisdom and love.
4/5
11. You Can't Go Home Again by Sarvat Hasin: A collection of inter-connected short stories set in present day Pakistant. We follow a group of high school friends from their senior year in school to the next few years. We see them getting married, falling in and out of love and even a hint of a supernatural something. This was a quick read that I read in under a day. Nicely written, with characters that seem real and relatable.
3.5/5
Then we have a few books I inhaled from Story Weaver, an incredible place to read a whole bunch of darling children's books and that too for free and in a whole bunch fo languages. I only recently came across it and I am smitten.
I read a handful of books and I am sure I will spend a lot of my time enjoying these adorable stories.
Do go check them out and read some adorable kidlit.
Great for littles.
Great for grown-ups.
12. The Case of the Missing Water by Shalini Srinivasan, Art by Upamanyu Bhattacharya: Such a wonderful and important book about the importance of water and how so many rural communities have to leave their homes just because they no longer have easy access to water. A must read and a great way to talk to children about the importance of water conservation.
5/5
12. Ammachi's Amazing Machines by Rajiv Eipe: An amazing book about an amazing Ammachi (grandmother) and her simple but very useful machines that make tedious tasks fun and so much simpler. Lovely art and so much to learn as well.
5/5
13. The Little Red String by Madhumita Srivastava: The art is this little book was so beautiful. A simple little tale about wool and it's many nifty uses.
Cute. Cute. Cute.
5/5
14. The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena: Hmm...this might be my least favourite book I've read all month. It wasn't exactly bad, just incredibly predictable and low key boring. A teenage love story.
A good girl and a rebel boy.
Family dynamics.
Coming of age.
Falling in love.
And the immigrant experience.
Meh. I don't know maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind of for, but somewhere in the middle I was quite bored.
2/5
15. A Night With a Black Spider by Ambai, Translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan: My last book for this month and my current read. I am about half way through and I am really enjoying these stories. I've read Ambai before, a set of detective stories which I thoroughly enjoyed. These stories are quite lovely too.
15 books read.
Not bad at all.
It's been a good, solid month of reading incredible books!
Thank-You More Please!
Hope you've had a good reading month too.
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