reading habit
Books Editor’s Note
Welcome to the last month of the year! The cold has truly set in, and mulled wines and hot chocolates have finally become a part of an everyday diet. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the fact that it feels like it’s 8 pm when it’s merely 5 pm, I’m grateful for the opportunity to simply turn into a blanket-burrito and read my books. Here are a few new ones for you to check out.
A list of new releases
Fiction:
Dava Shastri’s Last Day: by Kirthana Ramisetti. Family dramas of billionaires aren’t always a Succession-style cutthroat race to the throne. In this highly entertaining debut, dying matriarch Dava Shastri decides to leak news of her death to the press while she’s still alive, expecting to be showered with praise and honour. Instead, she and her four children, summoned by her to her private island, are in for a shock as secrets are revealed and a large, eventful life as a billionaire is reckoned with.
You'll Be the Death of Me: by Karen M McManus. McManus’ ‘One of Us is Lying’ was a bestselling thriller, and this one promises to be no different. Three high schoolers having their own iterations of a bad day run into each other and decide to turn their day around. When they notice another student skipping class, they follow him. . . to his own murder. All three have a connection to the victim, all three are hiding secrets, and their coming together on this random day might not be random after all.
Wish You Were Here: by Jodie Picoult. A COVID novel by Picoult is probably the only COVID novel I’d be interested in. Diana O’Toole has her perfect life fully planned out: she’ll get her dream job in NYC and marry her doctor boyfriend, whom she’s just about to take a trip with to the Galapagos. But then COVID hits, and as her boyfriend gets busier than ever, she decides to take the trip solo. . . where she, along with the rest of the island, is put under lockdown. Isolated, she forms slow friendships with the residents, and finally gets a chance at introspection. I’m ready for the tears in this one.
Village of Eight Graves: by Seishi Yokomizo, tr. Bryan Karetnyk. The third installment in the highly popular detective Kosuke Kindaichi series follows an ominous legend from the 16th century about the murder of eight Samurais by the inhabitants of what’s now called the Village of Eight Graves. When centuries later a newcomer arrives, he brings with him a spate of deaths by poisoning. But is there a connection between these two events?
Perestroika in Paris: by Jane Smiley. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is back with the story of Perestroika, a racehorse who wanders away from her stable to Paris, where she meets a boy, Etienne, with whom she strikes an unlikely friendship. A heartwarming story of animals and humans coexisting, told by Smiley in her charming, loving style.
Poetry:
Call Us What We Carry: by Amanda Gorman. America’s Youth Poet Laureate shot to deserved stardom after she recited her moving poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. This new collection includes that and a number of other poems, all lyrical and hopeful, exploring themes of identity, grief and memory.
Non-fiction:
Mothers, Fathers, and Others: Essays: by Siri Hustvedt. In this collection, the Booker-longlisted author writes about her own mother, grandmother and daughter, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and more, contextualizing the meaning of maternal in the broader, societal concepts of misogyny and patriarchy. A thought-provoking volume about family, humanity and the transformative power of art.
Watershed: How We Destroyed India’s Water and How We Can Save It: by Mridula Ramesh. An urgent study of how India is fast hurtling towards a future where it won’t be able to meet half its water demand. This deeply researched volume takes into account the last 4000 years to determine how we landed ourselves in these dire straits. Read for the informed thesis on the subject, the clarity of prose and the actionable solutions the author provides.
Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home: by Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen. Books and essays on the ideal work structure in the face of an unprecedented international crisis have recently abounded, and this one takes into account both the pros and cons of work-from-home and endeavours to come up with a system (or systems) that can be satisfactory to everyone. Combining fresh reporting and personal experiences, the book “aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office.”
Pure Evil: The Bad Men of Bollywood: by Balaji Vittal. There’s a strange excitement attached to this book for me, having grown up on all the villains that grace its cover. A deep-dive into the evolution of the Hindi film villain, from Gabbar to Mogambo and more, it promises to be a fascinating study of the most hated men, some of whom have attained cult status, from the most popular movies in the world.
Quick fixes, aka a few varied recommendations
My current read: I just finished ‘The Guest List’ by Lucy Foley, which seems to be universally beloved, giving very ‘And Then There Were None’ vibes. It was gripping enough that I finished it in two sittings, but I saw all the twists coming from miles away. I’ve now picked up ‘Bluebird, Bluebird’ by Attica Locke, a mystery set in Texas against the backdrop of racial justice, featuring a fresh new detective.
A bookish adaptation to watch out for: I also recently finished ‘Smaller and Smaller Circles’ by Filipino author FH Batacan, set in 1990s Philippines. There has been a slate of brutal killings, all of boys from an extremely poor part of the city, but the police are refusing to believe that there could be such a thing as a “serial killer” on the loose, believing it to be a purely Western phenomenon. The poverty these boys come from is another excuse for the authorities to not investigate properly enough. However, two Jesuit priests, one a forensic anthropologist and the other a psychologist, are determined to see the culprit behind bars. I’m extra thrilled because there’s a movie adaptation, which is now on Netflix!
An underrated author to read: Rachel Hawkins has a wide range of novels to her name, from magic and romance to teenage witches to thrillers—and she does all of them equally entertainingly and deftly. My introduction to her was ‘Rebel Belle’ in which a Homecoming princess finds out that she comes from a line of ancient guardians, with powers to match. It’s written from the POV of a high schooler suddenly faced with an impossible lifestyle, making it hilarious and thrilling in equal measure. In addition, check out her Hex Hall series, and her take on Jane Eyre, called ‘The Wife Upstairs.’
Note: Reading Habit is curated by our books editor Anushree Kaushal. Want to send along recommendations, feedback or just say hi? Email her at kaushalanushree@gmail.com.
