Really liking it. Awesome art work.

Simple but sweet story.

Can't wait for the series to launch in BBC. Thinking of finishing it before watching it.

Easy to read yet so powerful.
Definitely five stars

Illegal is a story of refuguees. It‘s about a young boy in Africa who‘s determined to catch up with his brother and meet up with his sister, both of whom have set out to make a better life for themselves in another country.

Currently reading!!!

explores what the self is and what it isnt. Baggini is a philosopher who wrote his PhD on personal identity and has written this related book. The book explores how a curious chunk of matter can house a self, how self changes over time and the nature of our own view of ourselves.

First Colleen Hoover book. Not that great as expected. The ending was twisted but wanted to know more what happened after that. 4.5 🌟

Reread this masterpiece again. Hats off Rohinton Mistry for creating such wonderful charecters. Dina, Ishvar, Omprakash, Maneck. They will all stay with me for the rest of my life. I know I will be reading it again and again. Such a great book.

LOL🤣🤣🤣🤣

Reareading A fine balance.
One of my all time favourite.
"Stories of suffering are no fun when we are the main characters"

This book explores the lives of ordinary Indian Muslims. While the title story is an exquisite invocation of a vanished world, the others deal with contemporary, commonplace issues.

Oh boy, was this intense. Drnaso‘s characters are minimally sketched, emotionally sparse and non-manipulative. The characters do not give into sensationalism, and primal emotions of grief and outrage are understood through deafening silences and pauses in the panels. Five 🌟

Set in a remote desert village of Baghdad, the story is told through an unnamed narrator. Drops out of University due to America invasion. But the war is soon brought home to him in a series of violent incidences, which challenges his psychological foundation and brings out the fundamental in him.The book is a tough read, because it‘s so damn depressing.But it‘s a worthy, edifying read that leaves one deeply unsettled.

A brute is still a brute, even when he smiles; the eyes are where the soul declares its true nature.

For all bookworms out there.

Currently reading. Yasmina khadra is one of my favorite author.

The capacity to be alone is "linked with self-discovery and self-realization; with becoming aware of one's deepest needs, feelings, and impulses."
Worth your time.

Currently reading

An evocative, engaging novel about a Hindu-Muslim alliance, the story is set during the time of pre-Independence, Independence and Partition. The novel moves from India to America and then to Pakistan, a remarkable blend of music, politics, romance and commerce that involves trade in opium, silk and fish. It is a period of extreme animosity.

This is a reread for me. This novella gave me goosebumps the first time I read and did not fail to give this time either. Set in the backdrop of India Pakistan partition. It's considered to be a masterpiece of Urdu literature.

“The last name on the dying man‘s lips was God‘s, and on the lips of those who killed was God‘s other name. And if there was an Almighty – somewhere far away, far above the killer and the killed – indeed He was a cruel tyrant.

Quote from book Traitor by Rakhshanda jalil

Why do we assert the superiority of our civilization? Why do we shy away from acknowledging our sins? These unformed, immature civilizations hide so many unfathomable darknesses within them.So much horrifying darkness, so many bottomless depths are hidden in them! They only talk of their beauty and grandeur and majesty. If one finds the courage to push away the beautiful outer raiments to look deep inside, he is considered a traitor.

Not book rated. However this trip to Wayanad, Kerala was refreshing.

I know, i know. I may be in minority. This one was a little weird. Kind of fairytale fantasy, which is not my forte. However, writing is very good. Giving it 3.5 🌟

Currently reading
Silk, fish, opium by Jaina Sanga

This is a coming of age novel of our protagonist Ib. His quest to figure out life and understand himself has to confront the roadblocks set by family, religion, love and death. With its playful prose and insightful characterisation, this debut novel is a poetic meditation on loneliness.

Currently reading
This is the shortlisted book for JCB prize for literature.

Loved the writing.

He would be in this womb forever and ever and ever. He must remember that. He must never expect or hope for anything different. This was his life from now on every day and every hour and every minute of it. He would never again be able to say hello how are you I love you.

He had no arms and no legs.

He threw back his head and started to yell from fright. But he only started because he had no mouth to yell with. He was so surprised at not yelling when he tried that he began to work his jaws like a man who has found something interesting and wants to test it. He was so sure the idea of no mouth was a dream that he could investigate it calmly. He tried to work his jaws and he had no jaws.

Incredible and moving Anti-war novel. Here we have a protagonist who lost both his legs, arms, eyes, nose, tongue, and ears on a war. The only sense remain is touch. Novel uses third person limited stream of consciousness narrative techniqu. The whole story is happening inside the brain of our protagonist, who is stuck in his vegetative of body, as he goes through this consequences of war. Highly recommended. 10 🌟

Memoir of Nawazuddin Siddiqui. One of the finest actor of Indian cinema. Main highlights of this book is about his struggles to become a successful actor. Loved it. If you are new to Indian cinema, try Gang's of Wasseypur movie. One of his best performance.

This one was weird!!!
The story consists of several vignettes, each following an unnamed adolescent narrator, and Simone, his principal sexual partner. They begin an affair of exploration, both physically and metaphorically, but soon began to explore new avenues.
It‘s much more than a book about sex. It‘s a story of eroticism in its most exquisite forms.

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who want to be desired, and people who want to be desired so much that they pretend they don‘t.”

When messianic hacker Neo kick-boxes the Matrix's virtual-reality dream-prison, he is really struggling with some of mankind's biggest conundrums: the nature of truth and reality, the possibility of free will, the mind-body problem and the alienation of labor in late-capitalist society. The tacit goal here is to make philosophy fun for the general reader by orienting it to pop-culture reference points.

Currently reading!!

we are constantly explaining and excusing ourselves; life itself, that inexplicable complex of being and feeling, demands explanations of us, those around us demand explanations, and in the end we ourselves demand explanations of ourselves, until in the end we succeed in annihilating everything around us, ourselves included, or in other words explain ourselves to death.

I long ago abandoned myself to a blind lust for the written word. Literature is my sandbox. In it I play, build my forts and castles, spend glorious time. It is the world outside that box that gives me trouble. I have adapted tamely, though not conventionally, to this visible world so I can retreat without much inconvenience into my inner world of books.

Currently reading

Chandar Pahar is a book originally written in Banali langauge. Set in 1909-10, this is the story of a young Bengali man, Shankar. His cravings for a life full of adventure and excitement brings him to the Dark Continent Africa. From a small village in Bengal to Uganda to Salisbury, his journey is a veritable roller-coaster which takes him through many intimidating forests, mountains and deserts. Loved it.

Loved it.

Currently reading this Bengali masterpiece.

Currently reading!!

Disappointed. Heard a lot about this book for being a good thriller. A big let down. Almost all characters were flat, Simple plot, no big twist in the end. Almost predicted the end. This was a pan for me.

Currently reading. It's great to know that there are books explaining the philosophy of popular culture.

The story revolves around the protagonists Ashwin Jamwal who aspires to serve his country and make it better and Hades, who desires to become the most powerful man (amongst other characters who play important parts in building the story). Characters sometimes feel like 2 dimensional. Nothing more to say.

The protagonist David Lurie is an English language professor who lives his life on his own terms. Being a Romantic he doesn‘t believe in compromising with his principles. However, as the story progresses, David Lurie is revealed increasingly to be human - with his reverence for Wordsworth and Byron on the one hand and the objectification of women on the other.

Started it. Love his writing.