Book 8: The Idiot by Elif Batuman Right off the bat, I wrote a 3000 word essay because of this book and thankfully, a literary magazine published my essay, as well. It would seem as though it has been a lucky book for me. But was it good? One way to find out is to... Continue Reading →
Book 7: There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak Outside in the courtyard, the pine trees tower over him, silvery and needle-sharp, as if a giant seamstress has used the green hillside as her pincushion. Shafak, Elif. There are Rivers in the Sky (p. 302). (Function). Kindle Edition. Whenever I post about Elif... Continue Reading →
Book 6: The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy The first time I read Deborah Levy was when I was doing my world reading challenge in 2016. She came up as my writer for South Africa, somehow. Now that I think about it, I could have read something else for South Africa. At the time,... Continue Reading →
Book 5: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles But Fate would not have the reputation it has if it simply did what it seemed it would do. Towles, Amor. A Gentleman in Moscow (p. 80). (Function). Kindle Edition. I'm wary of book blurbs who exclaim loudly, and by that I mean, both in superlatives... Continue Reading →
Book 4: The Railway by Hamid Ismailov I've read The Railway in two different periods of my life -- one when I was reading "world literature" for a year and this book was my pick for Uzbekistan, and second is this year when I was trying to take my literary reading seriously, or so I... Continue Reading →
Book 3: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut I picked up this book because of many recommendations on Reddit and because the title describes the current situation of our planet. This is a fictionalised non-fiction book that paints a picture of the lives of eminent scientists (physicists, chemists, and biologists) who... Continue Reading →
Book 2: Us Against You by Fredrik Backman As someone who has read Backman's entire oeuvre, I found this book underwhelming and lacklustre. At 448 pages, this is a long novel, even longer than its page count. The second instalment in the Beartown series, this book follows the story of Beartown's hockey club and its... Continue Reading →
Book 1: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy After having abandoned Instagram for posting my book reviews, I have found a new home for them here on my blog. While book-hopping a stray Internet comment recommended this Tolstoy novella to whoever might be reading to reconsider what it meant to be alive. I... Continue Reading →
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