Culture

As part of my Around the World in Books Reading Challenge, my pick for Albania was the Man Booker International Prize winning novel by Ismail Kadare.  The General of the Dead Army is a dark and depressing work of fiction. It chronicles the journey of an Italian general who goes to Albania with an important mission. He and a  priest travel across Albania exhuming bodies of dead Italian soldiers who died fighting in Albania during…

Spend this thanksgiving weekend cooking and binge watching the Harry Potter movies. At the end of the seventh movie, I decided to re-read the books. Although I have re-read all seven books several times, it really amazes me that these are still as engaging as when I first started with the series. In this post I will attempt to analyze the first book and why it works. After all, fantasy fiction genre has a lot…

Winter is here. As temperatures plummet across the northern hemisphere and people scurry inside warm houses, it is the perfect time to settle into that recliner, grab a cup of hot cocoa and read a book. What else are you going to do?   (Yes, you can always binge watch Netflix, but is that what you really want to do with your life? What I read is  determined by how my day was, what I am…

Marcus Didius Falco is a private informer and the protagonist of Lindsey Davis‘s mystery series set in Ancient Rome. Emperor Vespasian has come into power and good imperial agents are required to hide royal crimes, curb corruption and sniff out political scandals. This detective series starts with ‘The Silver Pigs‘ where Falco accidentally stumbles upon an imperial minting fraud. The investigation begins with the death of a Senator’s young and impressionable niece. Falco’s inquiry takes…

An inspired variation of the famous Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, Spinning Silver is a tale about a young, poor girl who learn to spin silver into gold and all the trouble of the world that brings her. There are fire demons and winter lords, not one but three strong female leads, dodgy romances and enough plot points to keep you interested. 

Revolutionary Road is not a movie that you watch for entertainment. Based during the 1950s, this story of the suburban couple April and Frank Wheeler hits you below the belt. Revolutionary Road is based on a novel by Richard Yates that did pretty well for itself on the award circuit. I saw this years ago but stumbled on it again on Netflix recently and I decided to rewatch it. The Plot April Wheeler, a desperate housewife, yearns to run…

Not entirely sure if this post qualifies for a ’round-up’ as I read only two books in October. I was travelling half-way across the world to India, busy visiting family and friends, and was jet-lagged for half that time –  I could only squeeze in very limited reading. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan This one has made all major award circuits this year and it’s not hard to see why. Spanning several years and continent,…

No trip is complete without trying to hit a local bookstore, especially now that they are a dying breed. This also gives me a good excuse to buy books by local writers! When you are in Boston, the one bookstore that you have to check out is the Brattle Book Shop. Brattle Book Shop is an American treasure and a must-see for any book lover. It’s located at 9 West Street, Boston MA 02111. Established in…