reading habit
Books Editor’s Note
The publishing house, Westland, shutting down is terrible for its amazing range of books and writers, its fantastic editors and publishing in India in general. I’m sure most of you have already seen the conversation around it in the news or on Twitter, but for those of you who haven’t, do consider looking at their incredible list and buy as many of their books as you can. Here is a note on the situation, and a shortlist of books, from Deepanjana Pal to start us off.
A list of good literary reads
One: Octavia E Butler was not only a master of her genre and an all-round legend, she was also uncannily prescient in the plots of her books. The Atlantic takes a look at her 2005 novel ‘Fledgling’ which might be the novel for the era of the pandemic, but in its own unique way.
Two: In the Nib, one comic book creator—the artist behind John Lewis’ classic ‘March’—solemnly ponders over the recent book bans across the US and how, as readers, we can fight against suppression by reading more and more.
Three: Care to widen your reading horizons geographically and cross off task #1 from the Splainer reading challenge? Check out these crime novels by Filipino authors over on CrimeReads. I can personally recommend ‘Smaller and Smaller Circles’ and ‘Jar of Hearts’.
Four: Also on CrimeReads, a look at how women in crime fiction make impossible decisions, and seven novels that illustrate this dilemma perfectly.
Five: On Book Riot, one reader pays tribute to dark humour—and how it got them through the last couple years—through nine fantastic books.
Six: A podcast for you, if you will: 99% Invisible has a delightful episode on one of the only cookbooks to exist in the Soviet Union. Officially titled ‘The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food’ it was also a way for Stalin to show how he’d got the country out of a long hunger. It’s all kinds of fascinating.
Seven: Continuing on the food theme, the Guardian has the top ten cooks in fiction. #3 will forever have my heart.
Eight: Everything Agatha Christie has done is timeless, including the fabulous, iconic cover arts for her books. One fan pays tribute to the “psychedelic references,” “surrealist collages” and “literary kitsch” of the ‘60s and ‘70s Christie covers.
Quick fixes, a.k.a. a few varied recommendations
Bookish adaptation to watch out for: I recently binged the charming series ‘Fresh Off the Boat’, which is on Hotstar, which is based on a memoir of the same name by Eddie Huang. There’s something about the 90s that’s highly endearing, and the show captures the best of the decade perfectly. One of those rare shows that left a little hollow in my heart once I was done.
Book-adjacent rec of the week: One of my favourite people to follow across platforms is Liberty Hardy, a velocireader, whose capacity for reading and knowledge of books is basically encyclopaedic. She is an unparalleled trove of books of old and new; one of her recent posts is a love letter to Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History,’ which she has read every year since its publication, making this one the 30th.
Current Read: I am super late to the party, but no worries: I am finally beginning ‘Fingersmith’ by Sarah Waters. Ready for my life to be changed!
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.
