There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book while sipping a hot cup of tea.
After the rather tepid last read of 2022, Frank Baker's The Twisted Tree, which ended on a disturbing note, I wanted to start 2023 with something much more cheerful. LO had borrowed this book from the library and I read it today. The book features some of the most well-known and loved authors of India: … Continue reading First Read of 2023: The Puffin Book of Funny Stories (2005)
Usually when I read a mystery, I want the criminal to be punished and the moral-order restored. Usually. Because at times, I find myself rooting for the criminal and hoping that he escapes the long-arm of justice. In this anthology of short stories, all the criminals escape justice (or rather not but I will come … Continue reading Short Story Wednesday: Rogues’ Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction (ed.) by Ellery Queen (1945)
Every passing moment makes us suffer, though differently with different people. The very act of passing through life entails some bruises which nobody else can see. Though I had heard of Indian Punjabi author Ajeet Cour I hadn't read her work till LO brought her book from the library, thinking that the title: Dead End, … Continue reading Literature of India: Dead End and Other Stories by Ajeet Cour
Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore is one of the foremost poets and philosophers of India. However, he was an excellent author of prose too. This collection of his contains ten stories, and virtually all of them showcase his genius. The collection begins with his most famous and anthologized story, Cabuliwallah, where an Afghan seller of dryfruits … Continue reading Literature of India: Stories from Tagore (1918)
This week in Top Ten Tuesdays hosted @That Artsy Reader Girl, we have been asked to name top ten (or more or less) new authors whom we discovered last year. Well, last year I read a host of new authors from those whom I made a special point to read like Reginald Hill and Shelley … Continue reading Top Ten (+4) Tuesdays: New Authors 2021
@ Hindustan Times Cinematic legend, Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) is renowned all over the world for his filmmaking skills, especially for his Apu trilogy. Not many people know that he was also a very keen reader of detective stories and that his own creation, Prodosh Chandra Mitter [more famously known by the sobriquet Feluda] is one … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Adventures of Feluda by Satyajit Ray (1988)
Much before the Wall came down, at the height of the cold war, four youngsters cross check-point Charlie to explore the eastern side of Berlin... Read author Mathew Paust's real-life experience here.
a hot cup of pleasure 