reading habit
Book Editor’s Note
Hi all, I really hope everyone is doing as well as possible. I seem to have lost all track of time in terms of where my life is, on a large, more overarching scale. How do you reconcile your idea of where you thought you’d be and where you presently find yourself? I’m finding it difficult, but in the meantime I’m just grateful for the health and time that I do have. Please stay safe.
A list of good literary reads
One: Opening with something that instantly lifted my litany of groundhog days: Guardian does a delightful, enthralling deep dive into the century-old tradition of honkaku in Japanese detective fiction. Its most endearing quality? All the “clues and suspects [are] woven through the plot, giving the reader a fair chance of solving the mystery before the detective does.”
Two: In Electric Lit, a bookseller tries to tackle an age-old dilemma with care: should ‘Mein Kampf’ and similar books be shelved for sale at bookstores? She touches upon banned books, preservation of history, the business of publishing such books, and more, leaving you with some necessary follow-up thoughts.
Three: May 4 celebrates more than one giant, long-running fandom: it is the day Sherlock Holmes falls to his alleged death in a dramatic, off-screen combat with his arch-nemesis and villain extraordinaire Professor Moriarty. Hence, obviously, a ranking of some of the Reichenbach Falls there are, in Book Riot, for you to agree or disagree with.
Four: In spite of—or maybe because of?—the somewhat heart-wrenching subject, this helped me a lot personally, and is poignant for the times that we are in. Vox looks at C.S. Lewis’ ‘A Grief Observed’, a transcript of his journals written upon the death of his beloved wife, Helen Joy Davidman: “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. . . It gives life a permanently provisional feeling.”
Five: Sandip Roy in the Hindu writes about the art of letter-writing, which we lose bit by bit as we move to an almost completely online world. He tells the wonderful story of the epistolary feud between filmmakers Satyajit Ray—whose centenary was May 2—and Mrinal Sen and how the month-long exchange reflects their intellect and wit, among other personal recollections. Joy.
Six: Atlas Obscura takes a look at Soviet-era books that were loved by children in India. Numerous small to mid-sized publishing houses in the country translated a number of Russian children’s classics to whet the enormous appetite of Indian kids in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. A fascinating insight into the little-studied relationship between India and Russia.
Quick fixes, aka a few varied recommendations
What I’m reading: I’m ashamed to even admit this, but I’m only just (but finally!) getting into ‘A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara. I will not be taking any questions as to why-the-delay and other angry comments at this time. So far, it has lived up to its epic status, as I take this astonishing, moving journey with Willem, JB, Malcom and Jude. Yes, I have tissues at hand.
A childhood fave: I love doing this section because I get reminded of all the smashing things I read as a child which lit my imagination on pure fire. 'The Secrets of the Droon’ is a fantasy series by Tony Abbott about friends Eric, Julie, and Neal who discover an enchanted stairway in Eric's basement, which turns out to be a portal to the magical, mysterious, troubled world of Droon. It was hugely popular: it ran for eleven years and had over forty volumes, and is perfect for 7-10 year olds.
Book-adjacent rec of the week: This is such a cool project which I discovered only last week. Tabatha Leggett is on a mission to read one book from every country. She records her reading experience and reviews those books on Bookmarked, which is just about as inspiring as it could get for us to kickstart the expansion of our own reading lives.
Underrated author of the week: Peter Clines writes sci-fi with really refreshing twists. His range of subjects is wide, and includes everything from mysterious apartments to zombies vs. superheroes. You should begin with ‘The Fold’, where a machine which allows you to basically travel through time to reach a faraway destination in an instant has… something fishy happening to it. As it should.
Bookish adaptation to watch out for: I watched ‘Moxie’ on Netflix and I really liked it! Based on the novel of the same name by Jennifer Mathieu, it really fired me up, and is about teenager Vivian Carter who is done with the sexist double standards at her high school and decides to start a feminist zine called Moxie to basically release some of her frustration. Little does she know that she might just have sparked a revolution.
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.
