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During the pandemic, literary guides seemed quite the rage or at least that’s what seemed to be the case in our local library. I discovered a few gems myself, notably Sarah Baxter’s Literary places. A beautifully illustrated book, where Baxter Sarah Baxter, a travel writer, compiles a list of famous books that are defined by the places they are set in. Baxter’s list touches upon both traditional yet global collection of classics, acting as literary…

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the two movies ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ and ‘Flags of our Father’, the most horrific battlegrounds of WWII from both the American and Japanese perspective. Letters from Iwo Jima” tackles the Japanese perspective and is a deeply thought-provoking film that delves into the horrors and complexities of World War II. As someone who has always been fascinated by WWII, I approached this movie with great anticipation, and it did not disappoint.…

Do we question mortality only when faced with imminent death? A literary memoir by a dying man raises questions on the very meaning of living. Most of us go through life without contemplating about our existence. Death is inevitable, but it doesn’t feature largely in our daily thoughts. We spend our time thinking about what our day is going to be, what our year is going to be, and our hopes and dreams. Paul Kalanithi…

When I picked this book from my local library I missed “A Novel” part of the title. I thought these were actual journal diaries or letters of Jane Austen. So I was a tad disappointed when I realized that was not the case. The Lost Memoirs Of Jane Austen joins the large pool of professional fan-fiction that has sprouted around Austen’s life and works.  I have read and enjoyed few of those, here and here,…

  I have put this in its own section as you could spend an entire day exploring the street markets or just an evening. There is a lot of opportunity for shopping, eating, and photography. One could also spill out the market exploration over multiple days as something to unwind in the evenings.  For a three-day itinerary, I recommend covering the markets in one day or over two evenings. We made a walking tour of this and…

Of all the books that I read this quarter, the two that I want to shout out about from the rooftops are two detective noir crime novels. Easy Rawlins Reluctant Detective in Devil in The Blue Dress In Devil In The Blue Dress, we meet our Black protagonist, Easy Rawlins hanging out in a bar in Los Angeles. Recently unemployed, chucked from the Boeing factory in El Segundo, Rawlins is contemplating his next steps when he…

The latest novel by Ann Patchett is an intimate character study of a brother and sister, abandoned by their parents and their fate often tested by life. One day the Conroy siblings find themselves motherless, as Elena Conroy leaves them for a higher calling without ever bothering to say goodbye. This abandonment by their mother, and her picking the needs of strangers over her own kids, leaves a permanent bruise. And it all started with…