Hello Loves!
How have you been?
Safe I hope.
Well I hope.
These days nothing feels real.
Nothing feels good.
April didn't go according to plan.
April kicked our ass.
My reading took a beating.
I planned on reading a whole lot of Bengali literature this month and read a lot.
Well, from April 11 onwards my sister fell sick.
On the 16th I started showing symptoms.
Then everything went for a toss.
My books kept me sane and kept me company.
I read a fair amount and let's talk about my April Reads.
Oh, I didn't read all Bengali books. I dipped out of my chosen genre and read some other books as well.
Here's what I read in April.
1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri: Started my month perfectly with the perfect book. I re-read this book after a long time, for the third or fourth time. And it was just as exquisite as I remembered. This book will break your heart and sink into your skin.
A lovely, lovely book.
4/5
2. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl: A bit of a disappointment really, I had some high hopes going in and when I figured this was a YA groundhog day sorta deal, I was very put off. This trope is not my favourite at all.
So I kinda switched off mid-way.
Well-written but just not my cup of tea.
2/5
3. That Bird Called Happiness by Nabendu Ghosh: A collection of short stories, set mainly in the 60s and 70s, these stories about love, longing, film stars and relationships and life. These stories were so good. I am so glad I randomly picked up this book.
4/5
4. The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain: I did a full review for this one already.
It's already up on the blog.
5. Restless Waters of the Ichhamati by Bibhutibhushan Bandyapadhyay: I am still reading this book. I am only 75 pages in and I need to hunker down and read it. I am really enjoying it, I was reading it right when I fell sick, so I took a break from it. I will get back to it soon.
6. The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh: Another re-read of another favourite book after years. Loved it. Cannot recommend it enough. A brilliant book. A perfect book to read if you've been meaning to read some Ghosh.
7. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas: A prequel of sorts to to THUG that I didn't even know about. It took me sometime to figure out this was the same world, but in the late 90s. I loved this book, this world, it's people and the sense of kinship and community in this story.
4/5
8. One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi: I love books set in Afghanistan, even if they break your heart and make you weep buckets. It's a place I love being back in. I've read a few books by Nadia Hashimi and really enjoyed them. This one is a her first foray into young adult fiction and about the phenomenon of Bacha Posh. Which basically means turning a young girl child into a boy for practical and superstitious reasons.
I enjoyed this book. For most part. I did feel like it dragged a bit in the middle but it was a heartfelt and moving read.
3.5/5
9. First Light by Sunil Gangopadhyay: This book at over 756 pages is a little beast!
:)
In the best way possible.
This was my Nobo Borsho Read. I started reading the book on the 15th of April and I am only 555 pages and have so much left.
I am taking my time with this book and taking it nice and slow and savouring it.
I am in no tearing hurry to finish it up, I will read it a slow pace and finish it whenever I do.
10. Satyajit Ray in 100 Anecdotes by Arthy Muthanna Singh and Mamta Nainy: Read, Loved and Revised as well.
Next I read some absolutely delightful books from Story Weaver when I was in desperate need of some comfort and cheer. And I found just that and then some.
I read some 15 odd books in one sitting and came back smiling and comforted.
If you want something to take your mind off things and if you have a child in need of some stories and distraction, this is an incredible resource for lovely books.
:)
Here's what I read, I loved them all!
11. Around You: States of Matter by Sukanya Sinha
12. Rani's First Day of School by Cheryl Rao
13. Hide and Seek by Dropti Sharma
14. Bed-Time Stories by Kanchan Banerjee
15. The Race by "
16. My Sister and Me "
17. A Butterfly Smile by Mathangi Subramanian
18. The Girl Who Could Not Stop Laughing by Meera Ganapathi
19. Manikantan Has Enough by Anil Menon
20. There's a Hole in my Galaxy by Ananya Dasgupta
21. Arya in the Cockpit by Nandita Jayaraj
22. Raju's First Flight "
23. A Helping Hand by Payal Dhar
24. Behind The Lie by Asha Nehemish
25. Only Fools Go To School by Charuta Rao
26. Who Stole Bhaiya's Smile? by Sanjana Kapur
A good reading month.
Not the best.
But not the worst.
:)
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