When most people think of the Taj Mahal, they think of love. They think of a grieving emperor who built the most beautiful monument in the world for his dead wife. It’s a story we’ve heard so many times that we accept it without question. The marble, the symmetry, the reflection in the water. All…
There are some books that arrive quietly, without fanfare, yet carry within them questions that refuse to leave you alone. The Legend of Virinara is one such book. It does not shout. It does not rush. Instead, it unfolds like an old story told beside a fire, where the flames cast long shadows and the…
There is something powerful about watching someone ordinary become extraordinary. Not because destiny handed them a crown, but because circumstances forced them to grow beyond what they thought possible. The Immortals of Meluha captures this transformation in a way that feels immediate and real, even when wrapped in the language of myth and legend. This…
Kiran Desai’s Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is a small book with a lot of noise. Not the heavy kind that demands attention, but the cheerful, chaotic kind that sneaks up on you and makes you grin. It’s a story about a man who climbs a tree to escape the world, only to find the…
I finished reading Pen Yen Adimaiyanaal by Periyar last week. I’m still thinking about it. Not because I agreed with everything in it. But because it made me question things I had never thought to question before. This is not a book that asks for your approval. It demands your attention. What the Book Does…
Most spy thrillers give you car chases, shootouts, last-second escapes. Big moments designed to make your heart race. Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett does something different. Something quieter. And somehow more terrifying. This is a World War II spy novel where the danger comes from precision, not spectacle. From patience, not action. From…
Some books are about good people versus bad people. Heroes fighting villains. Clear moral lines. Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga is not that kind of book. This is about what happens when money enters a shared space and morality becomes negotiable. Not dramatically. Not all at once. But gradually, almost reasonably, in ways…
Some characters arrive fully formed. Brilliant from page one, flawless in execution, never stumbling. Arsène Lupin isn’t one of them. Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc is a collection of nine short stories introducing one of literature’s most famous thieves. But what makes it interesting isn’t watching a master criminal pull off perfect heists….
Let me be clear from the start. Poonachi by Perumal Murugan is not a cute animal story. Not a heartwarming tale about a pet goat. This is allegory. Sharp, unflinching social commentary disguised as a simple narrative about a goat’s life. It’s about power. About control. About how we treat the vulnerable. About systems that…
Let me be clear right up front. Killing Time in Delhi by Ravi Shankar Etteth is not a proper mystery novel. Not the kind where you follow clues and figure out who did it. Not the kind where everything makes logical sense at the end. This is what you might call a masala mystery. Fast,…
Most murder mysteries work the same way. Someone’s dead. You don’t know who did it. The detective follows clues, interviews suspects, and eventually reveals the killer in a dramatic final scene. Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino doesn’t work like that at all. You know pretty quickly who probably did it. The police know…
Some books are love stories. Some are political novels. The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore is both, and that’s exactly why it’s so unsettling. On the surface, it’s about a love triangle. Bimala, a traditional wife. Nikhil, her gentle, educated husband. Sandip, a charismatic revolutionary who stirs something in her she didn’t know…