HarperCollins Books - Comfortably Numb

Book review: Once Upon a Summer by Manjul Bajaj

Once Upon a Raj time In her fourth book of fiction for adults, Manjul Bajaj has once again created a delicate spindrift of forbidden love, this time in the times of the British Raj. The wonderfully descriptive story moves between New York, Rannpur, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Nainital, flows gently over every pebble, every path, every emotion…

Book review: Nautch Boy by Manish Gaekwad

Bittersweet memories Nautch Boy is a companion piece to the author`s affecting 2023 memoir of his mother, The Last Courtesan. Here, while still training focus on the formidable Rekhabai and her life after retiring/giving up the career of a tawaif, he opens a door into his own life and growing up feeling unloved and unwanted…

Book review: How to Forget by Meera Ganapathi

Just finished reading the most delightful book of ruminations made while taking short as well as long walks, HOW TO FORGET by Meera Ganapathi, HarperCollins Books. This book resonates, how it resonates! The reader matches step with the poet-author, accompanies her down her route, takes in the sights that float into her ken: a still-silver…

Loal, Kashmir by Mehak Jamal; The World with its Mouth Open by Zahid Rafiq

Just finished reading two books from Kashmir. Mehak Jamal`s beautiful ode to Kashmir, LOAL KASHMIR, 4th /HarperCollins Books. Loal in Kashmiri means love, longing, and Jamal has transcribed 16 accounts of love in a torn land. It makes for heart-breaking reading. We know the path of true love has never been smooth but here …

Book review: The Baby Dragon Cafe by AT Qureshi

Love amidst dragonfire Adding to the growing pantheon of easy, breezy reads is the New York based AT Qureshi`s love-and-dragons book. Be warned though: it reads young. The protagonist Saphira runs a café for people who wish to bring their baby dragons in while they relish a cuppa chai or coffee, or something more exotic…

Book review: Too Good To Be True by Prajakta Koli

Much ado about nothing Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane, wears many hats and apparently wears them adroitly: she is an uber-popular digital content creator/actor/fierce advocate for social causes. And now that she has written her debut fiction, a rom-com titled Too Good to be True, you can hear the cheering from fans loud and clear. The…

Book review: The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi By Sidharth Singh

Rock and rollercoaster This book will hold instant appeal for those who grew up listening to Elvis, The Beatles, Santana, then graduated to The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. Who did drugs like tomorrow would never come. Who read JS…except, in this book it`s not the iconic Junior Statesman but a popular magazine called the…

Book review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Meditations on murders Asako Yuzuki was inspired by the sensational real-life case of the `Konkatsu Killer` when she wrote up this study of a suspected killer, of the possible motive behind the killings if killings they were, and of several things that ail Japanese society in modern times, spreading disaffection and maybe violence, too. Manako…

Book review: Goagr@m by Bina Nayak

When influencers come of age Author and graphic designer living close to the Dear Zindagi road in Parra, Bina Nayak has painted us a very detailed picture of Goa — the Goa where people actually live and not just beachbum at. The authenticity runs through every page of the book showing the locals going about…

Book review: City on Fire by Zeyad Khan

This is a memoir, a political novel, a coming-of-age story. In his debut work, journalist Zeyad Khan casts a largely dispassionate eye at his hometown Aligarh; the gaze kindling to warmth and affection as the book progresses. Look at the way he introduces us to Aligarh, a city of a million people in western UP,…