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Book Haul: Books of January 2023 + Mini-Reviews.

 Oh Boy! 

This post is sooo super duper late! 

I don't even know why?! I love book hauls, I love watching people haul books and you know I love buying books! And 2023 has (so far) blessed me with some happy little book buying moments. 

January was especially bountiful and full of books. 

Quite unexpected but lovely. 

I bought two books to kick start my New Year. Both Bengali. Both classics. Both gorgeous. 



These are my first book buys of the year. 

I like starting my New Year with a spot of book buying to herald in a year of books and reading. 

These two are classics and you can't go wrong with them.

I read Four Chapters earlier this month, to kickoff my All Bengali Books in April and I really liked it. It's short but sharp and wonderful and still so relevant. I think a film adaptation or two exists and I am quite keen on finding it and watching it. Hopefully soon, will report back on how we get along. 


Next I went to town and hit two bookshops and hit them good. 

So here is my Haul from Kitab Khana and Bargain Book Hut. Two old faves of mine and ones I always pop into when I am in that part of town, aka South Bombay. 



I've read two books by this incredible writer and I am excited to read more of his work. This one set during the first War of Independence, 1857 sounds incredible. I am going to read this in May. I think I am going to love it. It's also a slice of history I know about and know a lot about and I am always interested in reading more and leaning more. 


Another addition to my Greatest Stories Ever Told collection. 

I have the Bengali, Odia and Urdu stories and I want to get more. Getting the Marathi one makes sense, since I was born and raised in Maharashtra and I do know the language, so reading the translation will read better...you know. I hope to some day have all the books in this series. 

This is another book I am keeping aside for May. 


Bought two books by Stephen Alter. A writer I've read before and loved. 

I've already read and LOVED Death in the Shambles, it's the perfect cozy murder mystery set in the hills and I cannot recommend it enough. Pick it up if want a comfort read with a solid mystery to boot. 

Good fun. 

Read a non-spoiler Review HERE. 

Birdwatching will be read soon, maybe on a hot summer day when I need to escape the Mumbai humidity and heat and run to the mountains. 



I have read everything Anukrti Upadhyay has written and I have enjoyed all of them. This collection of short stories was very good. Odd, strange, moving, sharp and very well written. I love how she writes women. 

I enjoyed all the stories and some more than others. 

If you've never tried her writing before, this is a great way to sample her craft and get introduced to her style. 

You will not be disappointed. 

(This book was a review copy from the publishers. Thoughts and opinions are all mine.) 


The great thing about browsing in the book shop is coming across books you've never even heard of. This book is one such case. I stumbled upon this and it sounded interesting and I picked it up and started reading it pretty much immediately. I went in expecting a thriller or sorts, a literary thriller but what I got was so different, yet something I am glad I read. 

This is a story set in a village in South India, a well loved teacher is accused of brutally killing a local bigwig. We then hear about her (the teacher) and her life from numerous people, her parents, her grandmother, her best friend, her husband and her brothers. We even see her...in glimpses in the before and after. 

This is story we've all seen in headlines and on the News. An unthinkable crime and no one believes the victim. 

This was moving and unsettling and thought provoking. 

TWs for SA and Violence. 


A Sudha Murty is always a good idea. 

Picked this, read this and loved it.

Reviewed it too. 



Another great read. I had my eye on this one for a while and I am glad I finally found my way to it. 

It's a great way to brush up on my favourite period in history and learn about the new-ish discoveries made in this arena. 

I also bought a collection of Shirley Jackson's short stories...I don't think I snapped an individual picture. 



This is everything I bought in January. 

Some amazing books. 

BOOKS BOUGHT////  

The People of the Indus by Nikhil Gulati with Jonathan Mark Kenoyer 

The Devil's Wind by Manohar Malgonkar 

Birdwatching by Stepher Alter 

Death in the Shambles " 

The Greatest Marathi Stories Ever Told Edited by Ashutosh Potdar 

Where the Mayflies Live Forever by Anupama Mohan 

The Magic of the Lost Story by Sudha Murty 

Pather Panchali by Bhibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay 

Four Chapters by Rabindranath Tagore 

Dark Tales bu Shirley Jackson 

The Blue Women by Anukrti Upadhyay (gifted) 

🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄

I've already read six books out of this bunch. 

Go me! 



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