From new releases to books as old as time, this was an eclectic reading year.
End of the year is a time for cheer and celebrations; it’s also time to catalog another year of our life. What you achieved (staying alive and not catching COVID), places you travelled to (nowhere, because COVID), things you ate (loads of home-cooked meals, because COVID) and books read (so many, coz what else were you gonna to do because COVID!!)
So here are my obligatory ten-books-of-the-year list that literally nobody asked for. It was hard to whittle it down to ten from the 54 books I read (as per goodreads.com), …
Keep your friends close and your friendships timeless
I will not claim the pandemic cloud we are all collectively suffering under has a silver lining. But things would have been gloomier were it not the presence of some good friends. Whether one is living with a family or alone, a conversation with a friend has often provided much-needed relief. It has given me the opportunity and time to reinvest relationships that had fallen by the wayside in the business of living.
Rarely as celebrated as other filial or romantic relationships adult platonic relationships form a huge part of our well-being. …
Such a wonderful review and welcome to the 'suffering-from-Daevabad-withdrawals' club ....if you don't feel it yet, you may soon. Chakraborty is busy writing a pirate trilogy that I am looking forward and I think a selection of 'deleted/extra scenes' from Daevabad is coming out next.
In a slightly terrified kind of way
It’s that season of the year. Snowy evenings, foggy mornings, and early sunsets. Shadows on the streets.
The quiet in the house with the radiator buzzing in the background. The quiet outside as everyone stays in avoiding the cold. The quiet everywhere.
Winter is the time for ghosts to come calling. I know Halloween month is for spooky stories, but where is the fear in silly costumes and golden autumn light. No, it is the ominous grey cloudy wintry days that set the perfect stage for us to crawl into the pages of ghost stories.
So here we go —…
‘The Turn of the Screw’ still giving the chills over a hundred years later.
If there was ever an award for a book that builds fear just by its atmospheric set up, then Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw would be a strong contender.
Old Country house manor -check. Angelic, golden-haired, creepy children- check. Conspiring servants — check. Floating shadows — check. Unhinged potentially misunderstood heroine–check.
The Turn of the Screw fulfills all the horror tropes; in fact, I wonder if this is where tropes come from. So what makes this novella such a classic?
(Note–This review is full of spoilers but if a book is over 100 years old, does it even…
Award-winning movie is a coming-of-age film, political satire and feminist tale all rolled into one
Once upon a time there was a girl in Iran and Persepolis is her story.
Based on the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, this quirky animated movie is about the coming of age of young Iranian girl amidst the volatile political climate of the country in 70s and 80s.
In 1979, at the start of the Iranian revolution, Marjane was living with her parents in in Tehran. Her grandfather was in prison for being a communist and unsupportive of the Shah regime. Her family supported the underground movement to overthrow the Shah’s rule.
As the Islamic revolution takes place, and Ayatollah…
Summerscale writes a riveting account of the famous Road Hill House murder and its influence on detective fiction
It may not be a total exaggeration to claim that the British have cornered the fictional murder mystery market. Some of the most popular British television imports are long running detective series like Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, and countless adaptation of Agatha Christie novels. Even the most popular fictional detectives that live in our modern conscious are British — Holmes, Poirot anyone?
What is the obsession of this tiny island nation with crime? And when did it begin?
Historically, certain true crimes have caught the imagination of the country and their influence has made its way into the popular culture…
The Queen of England falls in love with reading in Alan Bennett’s charming novella
Alan Bennett is most famous for his Olivier & Tony Award-winning play, The History Boys, a dramedy on the trials of high school boys heading to college. With The Uncommon Reader he veers into lightweight literary territory, distinct in his charm but low on gravitas.
In The Uncommon Reader, we enter the royal household of England, where the Queen has just discovered the joy of reading on a visit to a mobile library. To accept a plot based on the premise that a monarch and diplomat, with all her fancy education, has not discovered literature requires a significant level of…
Billy Wilder’s 1957 Courtroom Drama Is A Timeless classic
The pandemic has forced us all indoors, and the best way to avoid the piling house work is to curl up in front of the television. We are surely spoilt for content, and sometimes it is hard to pick up what to watch from the new releases every week. Sometimes it’s easier to just rewatch an old classic.
The 1957 movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s short story “Witness for the Prosecution” ends with the following message before the credits roll:
“The management of this theatre suggests that for the greater entertainment…
Almost decade-old Argentinian movie still resonates in today’s digitally connected yet isolated world
Sidewalls (Medianaras) is a quirky indie Argentinian movie that explores the explosive and divisive nature of today’s metropolises on our lifestyles. Directed by Gustavo Toretto, the film uses Buenos Aires, as the setting of the general delineation of the human culture.
At the center of the movie are two millennials, Marian, an architect and Martin, a web designer, leading lonely lives in the megapolis. It is through their eyes we see the beauty of the architecture of Buenos Aires. …
Vipula Gupta
California based culture blogger, obsessive & compulsive reader, globetrotter. Day job in technology. Writes at https://shadesofwords.com/!
