Reviews of the Last Few Books I’ve Read

Once a reader, always a reader. No matter how hectic life is, I have always found time to read books. Even if it’s just two pages before bedtime, or a couple of paragraphs while waiting at a doctor’s appointment, reading is my preferred form of escape and will always remain so.

In that spirit and following on the heels of my last books update, I’m here to share a round-up of the books I’ve recently read. I’m not one to follow reading trends or pick books merely because everyone is talking about them. Mostly, one book a month is my book club pick, another is for Project Poirot and the rest I pick randomly after browsing through my TBR. I also try and include a non-fiction book between every 3-5 works of fiction.

A few things I would like to point out – this round-up doesn’t include any of the children’s books that I have read to my son, nor does it include the Agatha Christie’s I’m re-reading as part of my Project Poirot. Two recent reads – “Time Shelter” and “Marple: Twelve New Mysteries” were summarised by me in my August recap post, so you can read about them there. Here are six other books that I haven’t mentioned on my blog as yet.

ZIKR: IN THE LIGHT AND SHADE OF TIME BY MUZAFFAR ALI

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

Internationally renowned, Muzaffar Ali has donned many hats in his lifetime. The scion of the princely house of Kotwara, the boy Muzaffar was shaped by a changing post-Partition India. Having studied science at Aligarh University, he started his career in an advertisement agency in Calcutta, worked with the nascent Air India and then ventured on a journey that produced cinematic masterpieces like Umrao Jaan. Along the way, his path collided with many – from Satyajit Ray to Faiz Ahmad Faiz – and he has cultivated many a passion, whether for cars or couture.

His autobiography is a peek into this wealth of experience – a close look at Ali, prince, poet, philosopher, filmmaker, automobile aficionado and artist. Zikr is also a rich interior portrait of an artist, as Ali takes us behind the scenes of films like Anjuman and Gaman, speaking of the sensibilities that shaped them and the influences on his work. Above all, this is a book that resounds with a deep love for life.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, seeking to venture off the beaten track of Bollywood or wishing to bite into a slice of erstwhile Awadhi culture, Zikr has something to offer all.

My Review: 3.5/5 stars

Muzaffar Ali is an artist before he’s a writer. His strength lies in painting vivid pictures (through his words) of an interesting and well-lived life. But he tends to veer off topic frequently, before returning to the subject at hand. This habit threw me off.
Overall, however, it’s an interesting book and I enjoyed it. The Urdu poetry is interesting and may appeal to some people, but my favourite parts were learning about his filmmaker’s mind.

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3RW8JVo

THE LIBERATION OF SITA BY VOLGA

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

Valmiki’s Ramayana is the story of Rama’s exile and return to Ayodhya, a triumphant king who will always do right by his subjects.

In Volga’s retelling, it is Sita who, after being abandoned by Purushottam Rama, embarks on an arduous journey to self-realization. Along the way, she meets extraordinary women who have broken free from all that held them back: husbands, sons and their notions of desire, beauty and chastity. The minor women characters of the epic as we know it – Surpanakha, Renuka, Urmila and Ahalya – steer Sita towards an unexpected resolution. Meanwhile, Rama too must reconsider and weigh out his roles as the king of Ayodhya and as a man deeply in love with his wife.

A powerful subversion of India’s most popular tale of morality, choice and sacrifice, ‘The Liberation of Sita’ opens up new spaces within the old discourse, enabling women to review their lives and experiences afresh. This is Volga at her feminist best.

My Review: 4/5 stars

The book focuses on five female characters from the Ramayana, who interact with Sita and make her aware of the importance of being a woman. Through these interactions, Sita liberates herself from Rama and the shackles of society.
It’s a very fast and easy read, and I really liked it because it made me see the Ramayana in a new light. Please bear in mind that I haven’t read much on the Ramayana beyond the absolute basic story when I was a child. For that reason, and for others like me who aren’t so well-versed in Ramayana-themed literature, I highly recommend this book.

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3Q49hau

A FULL LIFE BY SABIRA MERCHANT WITH MITALI PAREKH

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

Sabira Merchant is a name you associate with sophistication and good taste. A trendsetter, she added sparkle to Mumbai’s performing arts scene with her presence.

Bold, beautiful and brilliant, Sabira is India’s beloved thespian, celebrated quiz queen, and renowned grooming and etiquette expert. From bringing disco to the city—her nightclub Studio 29 ushered in a new era in Mumbai’s nightlife, causing a frenzy among partygoers in the ’80s—to training beauty queens such as Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta before they went on to win their crowns, Sabira’s legacy can leave anyone green with envy.

For a suburban Muslim girl who got married in her teens to the love of her life and had three children one after the other, the feats Sabira has accomplished are astounding and inspiring, given how difficult it was for women back then to balance personal life and career, that too in theatre, radio and television. In her memoir ‘A Full Life’, Sabira recounts her eventful journey—her triumphs, setbacks, joys, fears and hopes—and through her journey, a rare glimpse into Mumbai’s glorious past.

My Review: 4/5 stars

This was a fun, easy and engaging read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Merchant was a theatre, radio and TV icon in the last century but more than her professional achievements, it was interesting to have a glimpse of her privileged life as one of Mumbai’s elite. She does share a few risque stories, but I feel she also leaves much unsaid. An interesting book, nonetheless!

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3rxZZKJ

SAVAGE HARVEST: STORIES OF PARTITION BY MOHINDER SINGH SARNA, TRANSLATED FROM PUNJABI BY NAVTEJ SARNA

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

‘The season of sickles and scrapes had passed; this was the time of axes and spears … it had been a strange harvest.’

A brave father prepares to sacrifice his son; a poet returns to his home across the border to find his books intact among strangers; a young man challenges the neighbourhood rogue to a horse-riding bet to rescue a captive girl; a middle-aged man outs a murderer from among his well-behaved guests at a social gathering; a wife’s faith destroys the hatred in her husband’s heart; and, when humanity is under threat, a dog lays down his life to protect his mistress. The stories in this powerful collection, by one of the most respected names in modern Punjabi literature, record epic moments of survival in the sea of violence that overwhelmed north India in 1947.

Translated by Navtej Sarna, these stories illustrate the truth that hate and violence have no religion, and that courage and compassion, too, are to be found among people of every faith. A harrowing record of the horrors of Partition, Savage Harvest is also a poignant tribute to the human spirit—to men and women who will wage their all in defence of humanity.

A poignant collection of stories by one of the greatest names of Punjabi literature. Starkly illustrates the pain and trauma experienced by both sides during Partition. Also describes instances of friendship and goodwill between Hindus and Muslims in the midst of all the violence.

My Review: 4/5 stars

Full disclosure: Mohinder Singh Sarna and his son Navtej are my mother’s relatives. That may have been the reason I picked this fantastic book up, but it became a great matter of pride after reading the book, to know of this amazing literary connection in my own family. “Savage Harvest” is a collection of partition themed short stories translated from Punjabi to English. There is a wide range of stories to choose from. Some are traumatic, some hopeful but each one is poignant and moving.
It’s interesting that apart from the events of the partition, the stories also touch on later events shaped by it – the ‘71 war, the ‘84 riots, nuclear testing and more. I highly recommend it.

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3LRWq97

THE PLOT BY JEAN HANFF KORELITZ

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

My Review: 3.5/5 stars

It’s a very well-written crime novel with a unique premise, where a failed writer steals the idea of a story and writes a best seller novel with it. Then someone who knows about the theft comes after him.
The book is a good one but I did find it quite easy to predict what was going on and I also felt it was too far-fetched to be believable in any way. It was a good time-pass read nonetheless.

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3F3Qw0K

THE COVENANT OF WATER BY ABRAHAM VERGHESE

Book Blurb on Goodreads:

A stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life. All of Verghese’s great gifts are on display in this new work: there are astonishing scenes of medical ingenuity, fantastic moments of humour, a surprising and deeply moving story, and characters imbued with the essence of life.

A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

My Review: 4.5/5 stars

This was a book I read for my book club. Though I was initially daunted by its vast length, I’m glad I decided to read it because I thoroughly enjoyed it! This epic covers a family’s saga in Kerala from the early 1900s to the 1970s. It’s very well-written, draws you in completely, has very compelling characters with interesting storylines and beautiful descriptions.
It’s a tad too long and some stories don’t stand out as much as others but still a very well-crafted and informative read nonetheless.

LINK TO BUY: https://amzn.to/3F87jQk

So, this was my recent book review round-up. Have you read any of these? Or are you looking forward to reading them? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

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This post is part of the Bookish League blog hop hosted by Bohemian Bibliophile.

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