pen.books.and.scalpel

BOOK NAME: OPEN WATER AUTHOR NAME: CALEB AZUMAH NELSON GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION PUBLISHER: PENGUIN BOOKS BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/iZWHDqT BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Another book under 150 pages that managed to floor me with its lyrical prose and poignant narration. It is a story of two young people of colour falling in love in an unknown land and finding a home in each other, only to be reminded that home is a concept that can differ from person to person. He, a photographer and she, a dancer, meet under normal circumstances but fall for each other under totally unacceptable conditions. While exploring love, they also explore the right and wrong and the ones that don’t fit in either. This is a love story layered with complexities like racial discrimination, living through traumatic experiences and the concept of masculinity and belonging. I managed to finish this book in three hours, and it took me on a journey that divested me from reality. The story was narrated in

BOOK NAME: WHITE NIGHTS AUTHOR NAME: FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY GENRE: SHORT STORY, CLASSIC  PUBLISHER: PENGUIN CLASSICS BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/4aQdZQw BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW I have now officially gained access to the heartbroken Dostoevsky reader club with this novella. I still can’t believe I didn’t read this earlier in life. I have been seeing it all over Instagram and misjudged that it would be one of those overhyped books. But thanks to my cramped reading time and the slump, I picked it up, wasting no time, only to realise that the book was worth the hype. Written from an introvert’s point of view, the nameless protagonist living in St Petersburg talks about the night he crossed paths with a strange lady - the love of his life he fell for at first sight - and the nights that follow. Honestly, I don’t believe in love at first sight. But I believe in intuition at first sight- how a person makes you feel at the first meeting and makes you predict a forever together. Dos

BOOK NAME: A TOUCH OF SALT AUTHOR NAME: ANITA AGNIHOTRI (Translated from the Bengali by ARUNAVA SINHA) GENRE: BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/e1Neujp BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW There’s always been a debate about who writes history - the historians or the victors, as Winston Churchill said. While there can be no single correct answer to this, it’s also true that whoever chooses to write it definitely tends to miss the ones who were the mighty mites. One such forgotten and unrecorded history in the Indian freedom struggle is the story of Tribhuvan from the Rann of Kutch, who was an Agaria (the salt harvesters). Influenced heavily by the Mahatma, he left home in silence to join the Dandi March (the salt protest) alongside Gandhi and his followers.  Though happy that he toiled his way to freedom alongside his favourite national leader, Tribhuvan also realised that none of it would change anything for the Agarias much. The story of how th

BOOK NAME: THE BIG BOOK OF ODIA LITERATURE  EDITOR NAME: MANU DASH GENRE: POETRY, SHORT STORIES PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA  BOOK BUY LINK:  https://amzn.in/d/gQhsbf6 BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW When in Rome, be a Roman. But wherever you are in the world right now, you must read this translated Odia literature. Very well curated and wonderfully edited, this monumental book is a collection of poems, essays, short stories and plays translated from Odia from the fifteenth century to the modern time. The book is a mix of literary fiction, mythology, spirituality, drama, humour and social commentary. It is divided into 4 sections for ease of reading. Section 1 contains 82 brilliant poems translated from various languages like Odia, Sanskrit, Sambalpuri, Sandha, Santali, Kui, Oraon, Mundari, Kisan, khadia, Sadri, Kondh and Paraja. Section 2 features two interesting plays filled with wit and drama. Section 3 is my favourite featuring 30 short stories from across centuries. Section 4 is a fe

BOOK NAME: GHACHAR GHOCHAR AUTHOR NAME: VIVEK SHANBHAG (Translated from the KAANNADA by SRINATH PERUR) GENRE: DOMESTIC FICTION PUBLISHER: HARPERCOLLINS INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/aTYqGZY BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW This is a story of how a tight-knit family, which rose from rags to riches because of their collective efforts, becomes ghachar-ghochared (one must read the book to understand its meaning). A righteous father with his dry humour, a chikkapa (paternal uncle) with an aura of power surrounding him, an amoral son who will overlook everything for his family, a belligerent daughter, and a headstrong mother who would do anything to maintain balance are what make their family. A family that stays together against all odds, a secret that binds them together, and the comfort they enjoy in their safe space is threatened by something as inconspicuous as the mere infiltration of ants that suddenly show up. And how will they accept a menace larger than life, meaning to

BOOK NAME: ANGRY JUNGLEE BOSSES AUTHOR NAME: CROSS ( AKA GAURAV) GENRE: SPECULATIVE FICTION PUBLISHER: SELF PUBLISHED BOOK BUY LINK:  https://amzn.in/d/iWqUzZy BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Time has been racing, and everything’s been a blur around me recently. I was also down with a slump and had picked this new creative, quirky read for a change. And I must say, this book has been helpful to a measurable extent.  The story, as depicted, is a speculative fiction in which animals have taken over the world after humans became extinct due to the coronavirus pandemic. The protagonist, Fox, is a new employee in the ‘We feed ya’ office and is desperate to make an impression. Even animals, like humans, are not immune to corporate politics and are challenged by workplace drama and chaos. Fox is constantly backstabbed, nagged, gaslighted and betrayed. Fox needs to find a way to navigate through corporate life. But it comes with a heavy price. It’s been a long since I read a lighthearted book

BOOK NAME: GLASS BOTTOM AUTHOR NAME: SONALI PRASAD GENRE: ECO-FICTION PUBLISHER: PANMACMILLAN INDIA  BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/gmBsOOz BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Glass Bottom is a book that tries to portray eco-fiction through the lives of the women in its story in parallel. The fates of four women living on a coastal land are changed the day a dead whale washes ashore. Luni, Himmo, Gul and Arth have unique personalities and are exploring lives from their point of view. However, what changes in the environment also changes their lives, unfolding in this 200-page book. I would be lying if I said the book is as breezy and straightforward as it sounds. Because clearly, I read 100% of the book and only understood 30% of it. While I could comprehend that the mother-daughter duos - Luni and Himmo, Gul and Arth - are the centre of the story and their lives are intertwined with that of nature, I couldn't see what really changed in their lives all of a sudden.  If anything, t

BOOK NAME: THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE FIRST AUTHOR NAME: KARUNA EZARA PARIKH GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION PUBLISHER: PANMACMILLAN INDIA  BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/7QsShpH BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW My God! God bless this book and the hands that wrote it. The moment I saw this book in a bookstore, I knew I had to read it. I had no idea what it was about, but still, I wanted to read it so badly. And I am glad I trusted my instincts and picked it up. Honestly, we don't pick the books we read. It's them who pick us and I trust it now. This book is about three young immigrants in the UK and their forbidden relationship that simply cannot be. Daya, an Indian ballet student in a British dance academy, meets Aaftab, a young Pakistani lawyer, by chance. Wasim, Aaftab's roommate and a fellow Pakistani friend joins their mess to be caught in a series of misfortunes that arise due to their identities. A love that transcends borders, a friendship that dissolves religious diff

I am immensely honoured and elated to be a part of the Blogchatter anthology yet another time, the genre this time being around love. After getting my name on a book I coauthored last year ( The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers ), I was eagerly looking forward to the next instalment. I was slightly desponded that the genre was about love because I am neither a romance reader nor a writer. I was dejected and almost gave up until the team announced that the story could be about any or all shades of love and that it need not necessarily only be romantic. My happiness knew no bounds, and I grabbed my pen and diary the same day. Yes, I am old school, and I still write my first draft on paper before typing!  When the selection list came for the anthology, I was surprised to find my name among the 18 writers out of the 90 submissions because it made me realise that if I could write on love, then I may be able to write on everything else, too. It was no less feeling than the first time this happe

BOOK NAME: VINEGAR GIRL (BOOK 3 OF HOGARTH SHAKESPEARE) AUTHOR NAME: ANNE TYLER GENRE: DOMESTIC FICTION  PUBLISHER: VINTAGE BOOKS   BOOK BUY LINK:   https://www.amazon.in/Vinegar-Girl-Hogarth-Shakespeare-Tyler/dp/178109019X BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler is a modern-day retelling of the Shakespearean classic, The Taming of the Shrew. The protagonist, Kate, is 29, single, strong-headed, and outspoken. She lives with her father, Dr. Battista - a scientist who spends his time in his lab - and her teenage sister, Bunny. Kate is a teaching assistant in a preschool, and there is no other purpose to her life than caring for her family and tending to her garden, or so she is made to believe.  Dr. Battista has finally found a useful assistant to his ongoing research, Pyotr. But there seem to be problems with his immigration. If someone can make Pyotr stay with Dr. Battista, that would be Kate because she has to marry him to secure him a green card. But can someone so