reading habit
Books Editor’s note
The weather is turning, which is excellent news, but it has also brought me down with a throat infection, a side effect I’m willing to bear for more rains. It does, sadly, mean no Quick Fixes from me today, but I do have a list of amazing new releases for you to hunt down. Happy reading!
A list of new releases
Fiction:
Harlem Shuffle: by Colson Whitehead. For all intents and purposes, Ray Carney is a furniture salesman with a loving wife and a second kid on the way. What people don’t know is that Ray comes from a long line of crooks and thieves. Ray just wants to keep his legal life together, but since money is tight, he sometimes hustles little pieces of jewellery on the side for his cousin Freddie. But when Freddie offers up Ray’s services to a crew planning to rob the Hotel Theresa, Ray’s carefully constructed world of legitimacy begins to crack. What is Ray going to do?
The Man Who Died Twice: by Richard Osman. The eagerly awaited sequel to ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ sees septuagenarian Elizabeth receive a letter from an old colleague. The missive tells tales of stolen diamonds, mobsters and the sender’s life being in danger. Elizabeth rounds up her trusty gang of Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron to find the murderer and recover some diamonds. Isn’t that exciting? But this killer will not stop at killing four innocent elders to get what s/he wants.
Cloud Cuckoo Land: by Anthony Doerr. I am especially excited about this because I LOVED ‘All The Light We Cannot See.’ Set in three time periods, this one sees 13-year-old Anna, living in Constantinople and enthralled by the story of Aethon, who crosses paths with Omeir, a village boy and part of the army that’s invading the ancient city. 500 years from then, octogenarian Zeno preps some children for a play adaptation of Aethon’s story in a library where a bomb has been planted; and in a not-so-distant future, Konstance, living on a spaceship and having never visited our planet, writes the story of Aethon down on scraps of paper as told to her by her father. This promises to be as magical and sweeping as Doerr’s usual work.
Beautiful World, Where Are You: by Sally Rooney. Arguably the most sought after new book of the year, Rooney is back with a story of young people and the many things about life that plague them. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are young but rapidly growing older. “They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in.” Rooney writes about the inner workings of youth like no other, and this one seems to already be a winner.
The Earthspinner: by Anuradha Roy. The Booker Prize-longlisted author is back with a story switching between Sara, a student at a British university trying to battle her loneliness through pottery, a craft she has honed since a young age; and Elango, Sara’s former pottery teacher, a Hindu who fell in love with a Muslim woman. Jumping through time, this searing novel takes us through themes of immigration, prejudice, art and love, and shows us the eternal struggles between ideas of East and West, fanaticism and reason, creativity and destruction.
Non-fiction:
The Nature of Middle-Earth: by JRR Tolkien. Edited by Carl F Hostetter. A companion reading to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Silmarillion and other writings by Tolkien, this one is a treat for the fans. The writer famously created and went on to write more and more about Middle-earth, decades after LotR, until his death in 1973. Covering topics ranging from Elvish immortality and reincarnation to the geography of the Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, this new collection is a treasure-trove for those who want to remain immersed in the incredible world Tolkien birthed.
Spy Stories: Inside the Secret World of the RAW and the ISI: by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark. The authors are famous for their engaging investigative writing, and this one is no different. In this unputdownable account of the relationship between India and Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, we see a snapshot of their complicated history from the 1960s to the present day. From the Parliament attacks to Pulwama, 9/11 to Osama bin Laden’s assassination, and the undeniable impact of CIA’s interference, the book covers key themes and events that have shaped the region, told from both points of view, and based on the authors’ unprecedented access to both agencies.
Regrets, None: by Dolly Thakore with Arghya Lahiri. The witty, candid memoir of veteran theatre personality Dolly Thakore follows her life and career—growing up in Air Force stations, shooting for Gandhi, involvement with social issues—and brings to life another era, equally full of glamour and struggles. She’s honest about love, sex, infidelity, motherhood and more, and isn’t afraid to show the world the strong, empowered, vulnerable woman she is.
Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living: by Robert A Jensen. This one is fascinating. Jensen is the owner of the world’s largest disaster management company, and has spent most of his adult life responding to tragedy. He was present in the aftermath of numerous international disasters, including the 2004 South Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Grenfell Tower Fire, among others, “assisting with the recovery of bodies, identifying victims, and repatriating and returning their personal effects to the surviving family members.” He is also involved with the emotional recovery of disaster-afflicted families. In this book, Jensen takes us through his life and work, how he started in this line, and the toll it takes on him. Eventually, it is an uplifting, inspiring story of caring for someone after the worst has happened to them.
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.
