Deep Ties

 Sutapa Basu comes out with an immensely readable novel that reveals a dangle at many a juncture, created so skilfully that the reader is pulled into the intricacies of the beauteous Ipshita's mind. Dangle tugs at the heartstrings at times, and stirs up the emotions at others. The language is so harmonious and stylish that one pauses to reread parts of it. The twist at the end shocks, and yet, once the tale is done, one can think of no ending more apt.  This is a book that needs to be read at leisure so that its  myriad nuances can be savoured.                                                     DANGLE   by  SUTAPA BASU           Blurb Stunning, svelte, smart Ipshita is a globetrotter. She treks across the world to gather bytes for the travel chats she designs and hosts f...

The cover of Readomania’s ‘Cabbing all the way’ by Jatin Kuberkar gives the reader a hint of what the journey ahead is going to be like – whimsical and eye-catching, with regular nuggets of humour along the way. When twelve people with varying mindsets decide to share a cab from Dilsukhnagar area to their “out-of-civilization” workplace, it starts off as a joyride. It is a relief not to have to think of ways to commute every day, as Chandrahas aka Chandu kick-starts the process, introducing the others to the popular and disorganized “share auto transport system” in Hyderabad. They have to travel 40 kilometres one way. “It was like doing a car-pool without owning a car.” Jatin Kuberkar forte lies in his penchant for describing people and he often juggles reality with humour. If the child-like Raghav is “a treasure trove of funny Hyderabadi taglines”, Vijaya is a traditional married woman. “The dark circles around her weak black eyes were silent witnesses of all the hard w...

                                                 “If you trust your shadow, the future can’t be a beautiful story.” The dashing Andy Karan is back, in Kulpreet Yadav’s new thriller ‘The Girl Who Loved a Pirate’, a book that lives up to the promise of its unusual title. Against the backdrop of the love story of Ba-Qat, ‘The Pirate of the World’, and the beauteous Dao- Ming, the thrilling story unfolds, with Andy playing a pivotal role in the action that follows. Ba-Qat is all set to perform his last mission, after which he wants to retire and chart a new chapter in his life with his Dao-Ming, so that they can enjoy “the kind of silence she loved, the kind of silence that was a beautiful story.” A parallel story is played out as Andy Karan is assigned a task by his boss, Angela Singha, to investigate the murder of his colleague, Peter Fernandes, in Go...

The prolific romance writer, Sundari Venkatraman, does it once again with her second book in her series 'Marriages are Made in Heaven'  with Book 2 titled 'His Drunken Wife'. Marriages Made in India Book #2 HIS DRUNKEN WIFE by Sundari Venkatraman Blurb The badass Shikha is startled when the nerdy Abhimanyu proposes marriage. She loves... herself, and Abhimanyu doesn't figure on her list anywhere. For Abhimanyu, however, it was love at first sight when Shikha walked into RS Software, where the two of them work. When Abhimanyu shows her that he just might be rich enough for her, a pleasantly surprised Shikha accepts his marriage proposal and moves into his swanky apartment. But it looks like the love is all from only Abhi’s side as Shikha continues to drink herself crazy. Yeah, even at their wedding party. And then Abhi sets out on a honeymoon to Thailand with His Drunken Wife... *MARRIAGES MADE IN INDIA is a five-novella ...

Sharmishtha Shenoy is a true aficionado of Agatha Christie, as she proves, not only through the title of her novel ‘Vikram Rana Investigates’, but also in the writing style she adopts. There are two thrilling episodes set in Hyderabad, both of which draw the reader into “a web of deceit, lies and murder”. Vikram Rana, the ex-cop turned private investigator, is macho and handsome with a soft corner for gorgeous women. He and Inspector Gopi Reddy (reminiscent of Christie’s Inspector Japp) work on parallel investigations, working together harmoniously to solve murder mysteries. The first story titled ‘The Mysterious Affair of the Lohia Mansion’ revolves around the murder of socialite Richa Lohia, the wife of the hard-nosed businessman, Gaurav Lohia, who dominates his younger brother, Rohan, more drawn to the arts and theatre. Rohan calls in his childhood friend, Vikram Rana, to solve the mystery of his sister-in-law’s murder. Numerous characters waltz in and out; the man...

                                          Shamsuddin’s Grave by Paromita Goswami Paromita Goswami in conversation with Deepti Menon Paromita, welcome to my blog. What was your main motive in writing this book? Thank you so much, Deepti, for this awesome opportunity to connect with your readers. My main motive in writing this book is to let people know about a community that is still awaiting justice since the Indo-Bangladesh partition. Many Hindus still live across the border and face discrimination at the hands of the majorities. However, people who chose to remain in this country or took refuge in Assam (erstwhile Bengal) after partition are still bearing the bruises, sometimes at the hand of ethnic violence, political instability or natural disasters. They are bound to migrate, leaving behind their homes and loved ones in search of their livelihood, to the ...

There is a sense of hope in the title itself. ‘Her Resurrection’ by Soumyadeep Koley narrates the story of Maya, the girl-child who  senses that she is a burden to her parents from the day she was born, but strives to break away from tradition when she decides to study and destroy her fetters. At boarding school, Maya meets Audra, the Lithuanian girl, who becomes the first friend to “rearrange the broken pieces of her life”. Audra ignites Maya’s thirst for knowledge further, along with a desire to wield a camera some time in life. Once back home, “no one understood this girl who had small wings, but dreamed and dared to soar high, high up in the limitless skies, beyond the blueness and into the world of stars”. The patriarchal mindset is rocklike in its inflexibility, and even a sympathetic Kshitij Master, a teacher in the village Primary School, finally washes his hands off her, breaking off her engagement with his son, Shittuppam, as he does not approve of girls b...

I am the willing and happy victim of a case of masterly deception. Readomania’s The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance, a deceptively slim volume, with a wonderfully childlike cover and engaging illustrations within, is no ordinary book about a simple library. As one browses through its pages, one fathoms the boundless talent that nestles in the mind of the young philosopher-writer, Niranjan Navalgund, as he lets his imagination run riot in the Lively Library where books come alive in a magical world that parallels the world of humans. A reluctant Nayan inherits his father’s library, but vows to honour his memory through a re-launch with great fanfare. He conducts a guided tour of the library and the visitors are “intrigued by an aura of mystery and delight” within, an aura that lingers on throughout the narration of the book. For a person who starts off as a disinterested librarian, Nayan puts forth some unique ideas – the white board, the Librarian’s Desk and the Read...