We recommend taking your time with each of these titles
May calls for lazy summer days tucked away in an air-conditioned room (unless you’re back to the daily grind of #workfromoffice), a bowl of fruits at hand, mango pickle and rice for lunch, and ice cream soon after. It is also arguably the best time to catch up on reading, given that most social gatherings we’ll be expected to attend will start after 7 pm and wind their way down well after midnight.
If you plan to finish reading the books lying by your bedside table, may we recommend a few titles to tide you over? Our May reading list is diverse—from another masterful read from one of South Korea’s most widely read and acclaimed novelists to a collection of eight stories written with words marked by light and shadow, sounds and silence, which stalk a bunch of unruly actors performing roles that take on lives of their own.
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The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar
Rajasree Variyar has delivered an emotional and powerful debut novel about India’s infanticide and the generational trauma that has sprung from it. The thinking of the traditional villagers seems so backward that we frequently had to remind ourselves that the story was taking place in the 1990s, not centuries ago. We loved the two perspectives that you can alternate between and how you understand exactly who Nila is from the very beginning but have to keep reading to find out how her life became the way it is. A super important piece to understand more of the world we don’t normally talk about.
Publisher: Hachette India
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Filmi Stories by Kunal Basu
The eight stories in this collection are about unforeseen terrors and adventures, surreal comedies, apocalypses and the sublime poetry of everyday life. A disgruntled trucker sets out to kill his rival, becoming the saviour of migrant workers trapped by a pandemic. A novice jailor breaks the law only to learn nothing is beyond pardon. A corpse dressed immaculately in a suit is discovered on a beach, the trail of the suspects stretching across continents in casinos and cruise ships. The nude paintings of a dead artist set the stage for a murder in a gallery. Hunt for a terrorist leads to a dangerous game of luring prey out of its lair using human bait. A man finds himself as the sole passenger of an airplane flying from one deserted airport to another. An innocent shopkeeper learns the wisdom of the Mahabharata on the verge of losing his innocence.
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
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Rooh by Manav Kaul
The English translation of Manav Kaul’s book Rooh is both a physical and an inward journey back to his roots. Written against the backdrop of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, of which Kaul and his family were also a part, the multi-layered narrative alternates between the past and the present. The novel’s stream-of-consciousness style is peppered with people he meets on his current journey and those he seeks from his childhood memories.
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
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The Body of a Woman by Aaliya Waziri
From important contemporary issues like the changing landscape of marital rape laws to the inadequacy of the current cyberbullying laws, from historical milestones such as the women who helped draft the Indian Constitution after Independence to examining religious laws and international obligations, Aaliya Waziri writes a deeply researched, informative and powerful book. Her attempt addresses the many questions that a layperson or lawyer might have about what lies at the intersection of law, gender and society.
The novel focuses on gender justice and pivots on the idea that feminism is contextual. There may not be any straightjacket formula to fix all the woes of women, but we can start by strengthening our institutional responses and not treat half the country’s population as second-class citizens.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster India
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I Went to See My Father by Kyung Sook-Shin
This lovely novel is a gift from a daughter to her father, a gift of remembrance and acknowledgement. The protagonist also seeks atonement for taking so much for granted. When she spends time with her father, she transforms into the child her daughter was to her–loved, adored, and missed. She also sees her father in a new light as she learns about his difficult childhood in a war-torn country.
Kyung-Sook Shin brilliantly blends a place's history and how it shapes its people with personal histories, and how we eventually reconnect with the lost halves of ourselves through memories.
Publisher: Hachette India
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