In On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Little Dog writes a letter in English to his uneducated Vietnamese mother at a time when he is in his late twenties. He documents the history of his family that begins much before he was born, with the story of his grandmother Lan. Like many Vietnamese families of that era, their story too is rooted in war. It starts with the war and it is the war that dictates what eventually becomes of them.
The Push | Ashley Audrain | Book Review
The Push is a deep and dark psychological drama about a mother who hopes that she will be a very different mother than what she got. While she hoped for all the great things in motherhood but what she got was something else altogether.
Blythe Connor wants to be a devoted mother, something that her own mother never was. But just when she was in the most nascent and exhausting phase of motherhood, she realizes that there is something wrong with her daughter Violet.
It Ends with Us | Colleen Hoover | Book Review
Lily is a small-town girl with big dreams who decides to leave her small-town life in Maine and move to Boston. Before long, Lily stumbles upon the handsome and charming Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon making the big bucks. Even though everything is going great with Ryle, Lily seems to hang on to thoughts of Atlas, the guy who was her first love; the guy who really understood her.
And now, when Atlas seems to have magically reappeared in her life, the carefully built relationship that she has with Ryle seems threatened.
The Ardent Swarm | Yamen Manai | Book Review
Darkly humorous, distinctly witty, and terribly sarcastic, The Ardent Swarm is a fictional novel translated from French by Lara Vergnaud. In this novel, Yamen Manai weaves a tale of awe and thrill against the backdrop of the socio-political upheavals and transition in a region that has been synonymous with instability and unpredictability in its public policies.
Qabar | KR Meera | Book Review
Originally written in Malayalam and translated to English by Nisha Susan, Qabar is a one-of-a-kind reading experience. Phenomenal and evocative, this novel thrives through subtlety in a state of multiple paradoxes. This is particularly true of the constant tussle in the novel between the real and the imaginary. Deeply rooted in contemporary Indian society, the novel is set in Kerala and abounds in the frequent references to iridescent myths of the only man who returned alive from Kashi and the levitating twins.
3…2…1…Jump | Niharika Nigam | Book Review
The storyline revolves around the character of Nanki and her husband Dhruv who reside with Nanki’s maternal grandfather, Nanu, in urban India.
Set in the days of the Covid-19 pandemic, 3…2…1… Jump is a tale of resilience that is bound to attract attention and inspire readers who will resonate with the awful times that we have been through together as the human race in the recent past.
The Naani Diaries | Riva Razdan | Book Review
I love drama, and what better way to serve drama than an entertaining, contemporary, and light-hearted story that revolves around three generations of Indian women? If this doesn’t get you curious enough, then there is also lots of ambition, a sad heartbreak, a heart-warming love story straight from the 1960s, an impromptu relocation to Bombay, and a dangerously sexy young man Zain Rajan. Now that I am sure that I have your attention, let me present to you Riva Razdan’s The Naani Diaries, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I am sure you would too.
When I am With You | Durjoy Datta | Book Review
Aishwarya, at twenty-eight years old, wants to be a single mother rather than fit into a traditional family structure. It’s not that she hasn’t tried but just so far it hasn’t seemed to work for her. Smart, highly intelligent, and equally ambitious, she has her eyes on two goals, both of which she wants to achieve at all costs. Enter Dhiren who takes up the 1st floor of Aishwarya’s building. A chance coincidence forces them to work closely with each other until a dreadful accident ruins everything that they have done so far.
The Loyal Wife | Natalie Barelli | Book Review
When young Tamara ends up marrying Mike Mitchell, she never believes her luck. Having come from a humble background and with no decent education, Tamara could have never imagined that someone as rich, handsome, and sophisticated as Mike would ever become her husband. Mike is not just the perfect gentleman but also the perfect husband, the most caring, loving, and kind. But Tamara’s steady and guarded world is shattered when she discovers that Mike is cheating on her.
Carrie Soto Is Back | Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review
Carrie Soto is the best tennis player ever to walk this planet, She retired after having won twenty Grand Slam titles, but now six years later, as she is sitting in the stands to watch the 1994 US open and her world record being broken by the stunning and magnificent player Nicki Chan, she can’t help but feel a tad disappointed. Now at 37, she decides to come out of her retirement and play for one last year so that she may reclaim her record.
A Thousand Kisses Deep | Novoneel Chakraborty | Book Review
Pallavi is a flight attendant who after being rejected by Haasil goes on a self-destructive path seeking one thrill after the other, and in return mentally destroying a lot of lives. A Thousand Kisses Deep takes you on a thrilling ride where not only emotions but also destiny plays a big part in deciding the characters’ life outcomes.
I Remember Abbu | Humayun Azad | Book Review
Translated from the Bengali edition titled ‘Abbu K Mone Pore’ into English by Arunava Sinha, I Remember Abbu is a soul-stirring tale, told from the perspective of a little girl who used to share a deep bond with her father, but who hasn’t seen her father for 16 odd years. It is a story that unravels the tale of the birth of a nation and its many children who have met with a similar fate.