The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Hello Loves!  August is Women in Translation month and a time to read and talk about the incredible stories that exist in languages other than English.  There is such a treasure trove of stories and characters written in various languages (regional languages in India and many international languages) and I am so so so grateful for the work translators do to make these stories accessible to all of us.  I've been meaning to compile this list all month long, but it's taken me forever to sit down and get this written.  I will split this post in two parts,  Part I is All Indian Books.  Part II is Books from All Around the World.  So let's get Started.  First here are some Indian Women Writers you need to/ have to/ got to Read.  INDIAN WOMEN IN TRANSLATION: BOOKS TO READ 1. Matchbox Stories by Ashapurna Devi (translated from Bengali) 2. The Kept Woman and Other Stories by Kamala Das (translated from Malayalam)  3. Lifting the Veil by Ismat Chughtai (translated from Urdu) 4. In

  Book: Dirty Women  Author: Madhumita Bhattacharya  Publisher: Role Books  Pages: 324  How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days  Plot Summary:   When four-year-old Tara disappears from her own home in Calcutta one night in 2002, the ensuing media circus zeroes in on the private life of Drishti Sengupta, a singer of note and a single, unapologetic mother. Far less attention is paid to the investigation into the incident, which occurred in an upmarket neighbourhood, in a secure apartment complex. The police seem to have no real clue as to what happened – is it a real crime or fake? Is it a kidnapping or murder? Told in two timelines – one in 2002, and one a contemporary ‘true crime’ book-within-the-book written by Ahana, a young journalist who is thrust into the heart of this case, Dirty Women is also the story of two tragedies: that of a missing child, and that of a city that joins hands to bring down a woman who wishes to live life on her own terms. Hope wears thin as everyone obsesses

  Book: We Were Never Here  Author: Andrea Bartz  Pages: 306  Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours Plot Summary:  On holiday in Chile with her best friend Kristen, Emily is having the time of her life. Until one night, she finds their hotel suite covered in blood. Kristen claims a backpacker attacked her. She shouted, but no-one heard. She struggled, but he was too strong. She had no option but to kill him. With no evidence of the assault, Emily must help her hide the body. . . Back home, Emily tries to forget what happened, but a surprise visit from Kristen forces her to confront the events of that night. As the walls close in, Emily asks herself: can her closest friend be trusted? Things I Liked:  1. Complicated friendships- male or female- always make for interesting stories. Add to it, a friend, who is a bit of a liar.. a  gaslighter.. not who she seems to be... and that makes for a very interesting premise.  2. The depiction of the power dynamics between Emily and Kristen is nicely

  Book: 56 Days Author: Catherine Ryan Howard  Pages: 432 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  56 DAYS AGO Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores. 35 DAYS AGO When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who - and what - he really is.  TODAY Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.  Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime? Things I Liked:  1. The premise of this book was very interesting. A couple that meets just before the pandemic and starts dating. When the Lockdown gets announced in Ireland, they decide to move in together and one of them ends up dead. Nice, right? And totally  believable, right?  Afte

  Book: Shyam- Our Little Krishna  Author: Devdutt Pattanaik  Publisher: Puffin  This is such a great little book for not only kids but also adults! It was beautiful little stories from Krishna's childhood. Plus, it has beautiful art and has the option to colour said art as well. A total win-win!  Look at some of the pages!  Yashoda Maa dressing up little Kanha in flowers. Love the note of gender positivity in this anecdote, where Yasodha Maa and Kanha didn't care about dressing Kanha in gender conforming styles!  Krishna's role in the Mahabharata is one of my personal favourite parts of the great epic! Stories about how Krishna divided his support between the Kauravas and Pandavas, his sage counsel to Arjun in the form of the Bhagavad Gita and many big and small miracles performed by him are some of the highlights of the Mahabharata.  The stories about Kanha's relationship with the Gopis are the stuff of legend and their friendship has been explained so beautifully in

  Book: China Room  Author: Sunjeev Sahota  Pages: 256 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~2.5 hours  Plot Summary:  Mehar, a young bride in rural 1929 Punjab, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. She and her sisters-in-law, married to three brothers in a single ceremony, spend their days at work in the family's china room, sequestered from contact with the men. When Mehar develops a theory as to which of them is hers, a passion is ignited that will put more than one life at risk.   Spiralling around Mehar's story is that of a young man who in 1999 travels from England to the now-deserted farm, its china room locked and barred. In enforced flight from the traumas of his adolescence - his experiences of addiction, racism, and estrangement from the culture of his birth - he spends a summer in painful contemplation and recovery, finally gathering the strength to return home. Things I Liked:  1. A historical literary fiction set in rural Punjab seemed really interesting to

Happy Independence Day Loves.  75 Years of Freedom. A freedom that took blood, sweat and tears to achieve.  This year and every year I can only wish we always value the sacrifice that went into building this country and that we always uphold the values and ideals that this country of ours was built on.  :)  My way to honour this day is to make a megaaaa list of book recommendations of 75 Indian Books that I love best and think everyone ought to read.  This list is also a great place to start if you've always wanted to read Indian writing but didn't know where to start.  This list is a mix of writing in English and translated works.  A mix of literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, thrillers, and classics and contemporary fiction.  I think there is something here for everyone.  I hope you enjoy it and I hope it helps.  So let's just jump into it..oh and this is in no particular order.    75 INDIAN BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:  1.  The Adventures of Feluda Vol I and II  by Sa

  Book: Dying Day  Author: Vaseem Khan  Pages:  437 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4.5 hours  Plot Summary:  A priceless manuscript. A missing scholar. A trail of riddles. For over a century, one of the world's great treasures, a six-hundred-year-old copy of Dante's  The Divine Comedy , has been safely housed at Bombay's Asiatic Society. But when it vanishes, together with the man charged with its care, British scholar and war hero, John Healy, the case lands on Inspector Persis Wadia's desk.  Uncovering a series of complex riddles written in verse, Persis - together with English forensic scientist Archie Blackfinch - is soon on the trail. But then they discover the first body.   As the death toll mounts it becomes evident that someone else is also pursuing this priceless artefact and will stop at nothing to possess it . . . Harking back to an era of darkness, this second thriller in the  Malabar House  series pits Persis, once again, against her peers, a changing India, an

  Book: Midnight at Malabar House Author: Vaseem Khan  Pages: 336 Read on: Kindle  Read in:  4 hours  Plot Summary:   Bombay, New Year's Eve, 1949 As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city's most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India's first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift. And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country's most sensational case falls into her lap. As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world's largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility th

Hello Loves!  I feel like being at home for over a year has made all of us into Plant Ladies. I know so many people have turned to plants and caring for plants for comfort and a sense of belonging.  Plant Lady is the new Cat Lady! And that is not a bad thing at all.  I don't know if I have a green thumb or not, but I do come from a long time plant loving souls.  My Mother loves her plants.  As does Baba, who is a natural with plants. A happy perk of growing up on a farm.  I do like plants.  But I LOVE flowers.  Someday, when I live in a house with a balcony again, I can't wait to have a thriving plant family.  For now I get my plant fix from my parent's plant babies.  And some plant art.  :)  Like these bookmarks!    These beauties from Painted Petunias were love at first sight.  I love her art and this was our second purchase from her.  Sonali makes some beautiful art and I am glad I own some of her creations.  We previously bought some minimal floral bookmarks and this t

  Book: A Plate of White Marble  Author: Bani Basu  Translator: Nandini Guha  Pages: 328  Publisher: Niyogi Books  Plot Summary:  First published in 1990 in the original Bengali, a plate of white marble tells the tale of the ‘new woman’ of the post-Independence an era that just witnessed the independence of a nation bandana, the protagonist, though grieves over her husband early death, never conforms to the social connotation and ideals of ‘widowhood’, thanks to her uncle. She dares to begin her life afresh in every possible sense. But naturally, the road proves to be full of thorns as she gradually faces bitterness from many quarters of the society. The only thing she clings to is her son, but once that anchor too is lost, she leaves behind the safe concrete walls of what she used to consider ‘home’, only to work for a far greater cause—she joins a children’s home to work for those who need her the most. This first translation brings this significant Bengali novel with important socia

  Book: Vanara  Author: Anand Neelakantan  Publisher: Penguin India Pages:  320  How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days  Plot Summary:   Baali and Sugreeva of the Vana Nara tribe were orphan brothers who were born in abject poverty and grew up as slaves like most of their fellow tribesmen. They were often mocked as the vanaras, the monkey men. Sandwiched between the never-ending war between the Deva tribes in the north and the Asura tribes in the south, the Vana Naras seemed to have lost all hope. But Baali was determined not to die a slave. Aided by his beloved brother, Sugreeva, Baali built a country for his people. The capital city, Kishkindha, became a beacon of hope for emancipated slaves from across the world. It was a city of the people, by the people, for the people, where there was no discrimination based on caste, creed, language or the colour of skin. For a brief period in history, it seemed as if mankind had found its ideal hero in Baali. But then fate intervened through th

Hello Loves!  Would give anything to go somewhere beautiful and fun.  The hills.  The Tea Gardens.    Oh to be surrounded by flowers again!  Blue skies.  The mountains.  Trees.  A mouthful of sky and feeling calm.  I would love nothing more than an old fashioned picnic.  Like the ones from our childhood and storybooks?  Yummy food, games and laughs!  These flowers make me so happy.  I am beginning to feel a little bit stir crazy and would honestly give anything for things to be better and hit the road and find myself in a new place.  Once I get the second dose of my vaccine, I am hoping to run off to Darjeeling for a few days.  I cannot wait to be back.  Walk and people watch at the Mall.  Shop for curios.  Watch the fog rolling.  Feel cozy and happy being bundled up.  I hope it happens soon because I am *this* close to losing my mind. 

Hello Loves!  Time for another Stationery Sunday and another set of beautiful bookmarks to share with you guys.  I bought these beautiful bookmarks from Srinanda of Glee Art as part of her Covid Fundraiser.  We got these unique painted bookmarks to support a good cause and get something lovely.  The Starry Nights one especially had our hearts.    Love the loose watercolour effects in this bookmark. Something very dreamy about it!  This Hobbit House is so cute!!! Such a dreamy little picture.  Starry Night but in monochrome with a touch of gold. So lovely!  Aren't these bookmarks so lovely?!  We feel so fortunate to be able to support artists like Srinanda who donated all the proceeds from the sale of these bookmarks to charities working to help families impacted by the pandemic.  Hope you have a great week ahead! 

  Book: Not a Happy Family  Author: Shari Lapena  Pages: 320  Read on: Kindle  Read in: 3 hours  Plot Summary: In the quiet, wealthy enclave of Brecken Hill, an older couple is brutally murdered hours after a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children. Who, of course, are devastated. Or are they? They each stand to inherit millions. They were never a happy family, thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of them is more disturbed than anyone knew. Did someone snap after that dreadful evening? Or did another person appear later that night with the worst of intentions? That must be what happened. After all, if one of the family were capable of something as gruesome as this, you'd know. Wouldn't you? Things I Liked:  1. The premise of this book is quite interesting. A dysfunctional family, an Easter dinner fraught with tension and three grown-up children, who don't quite like their parents. Then these not-much-liked parents are found br

  Book: The Lost Girls  Author: Jessica Chiarella  Pages: 336 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  When her true-crime podcast becomes an overnight sensation, a young woman is pulled into the web of a case that may offer a surprising connection to her own sister's disappearance years earlier. It's been more than twenty years since Marti Reese's sister, Maggie, disappeared. Only eight-years-old at the time, Marti can't remember what happened, just that Maggie got into a car and never returned. After years of grief and countless false leads, Marti is coping as best she can: abandoning her marriage, drinking to forget, and documenting her never-ending search via a true-crime podcast. But when the podcast becomes an unexpected hit and Marti thinks she's finally ready to put it all behind her, a mysterious woman calls with new information that could lead her down a dangerous path.  For years, Ava Vreeland has been fighting to overturn her brother's murd