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I had fun trying out books from different genres than what I normally read. What would you pick up if you wanted to experiment with reading out of your comfort zone?
My reading is (or rather was) genre specific. I love reading contemporary women/romance and earlier couldn’t go beyond that. But, recently I have experimented with different genres, and was pleasantly surprised. How different and interesting it could be, I realized, reading different genres.
However, I have also realized that I find women authors more fascinating than male ones. That is something I am not willing to experiment with yet.
So here are 5 fiction books that I have really enjoyed in 2015.
The Palace of Illusion by Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee
Like every Indian child I’d religiously watched Ramayana and Mahabharata on television. Yet I was not much into reading mythology. But, The Palace of Illusions worked wonderfully for me! Didn’t know reading mythology can be so intriguing and engrossing.
This book is beautifully crafted, and the best thing about this book is it’s ‘what next?’ factor, even though we all know what has actually happened. The lingering effect of this book filled me with a sense of loss and fulfillment at the same time. A mesmerizing read!
Reviewed here.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
It is an excruciating story that encounters harsh realities and supreme unfairness of life, that has strong elements of a love story. And I loved this love story! It has a woman as a central character but Will Traynor, the male protagonist, will stay in my heart…perhaps forever.
It’s a poignant tale that evokes a sense of loss.
Even though the book started a little slow, and didn’t turn out the way I’d expected, it touched me in a very personal way. I loved this book for this particular reason.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I am not a fan of suspense thrillers. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins is a suspense thriller, so I was a bit sceptical while picking it up, but I loved it! Because it’s different. Not just a typical thriller – tense, dark, packed with unending action.
To me it felt like a cozy drama about family, marriage and love. The story flows interestingly. With a tormenting memory-loss and psychological tricks, it unravels chapter by chapter, that keeps you going, playing the guessing game.
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
You can easily connect with Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories and her writing style.
The Lowland, nominated for the Man Booker Prize, has a naxalite background, but the story has little to do with that. This story is about two brothers Subhash and Udayan, so close yet so far. It’s about a strange woman, Gauri, failed by her husband Udayan, who gets involved in naxalite activities. It’s about a daughter, Bela, and her estranged mother. It’s about family and delicate relationships.
It was a beautiful engrossing read!
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This was my first read by the author, and I’m glad I read this book.
“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roof Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”
I really liked this quotation!
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a heart-breaking tale of two women from different generation, different backgrounds. Their struggle for happiness and love. Their inexplicable togetherness. It’s about loyalty, so pure that it goes beyond life.
I must say that the author is a master in creating heart-breaking scenes that evokes a sense of pain effortlessly.
What’s your best reads last year? And what do you plan to read this year? Please share, would like to know!
Image source: reading a book concept by Shutterstock.
Tarang Sinha is a Delhi based writer, translator and painter. She's the author of We Will Meet Again. She has translated a book titled 'Don't You Quit' published by Westland Books. Her articles read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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