As you pick up a plate of bhajjis and piping hot tea and comfortably sink into your couch while listening to the sound of rain pounding outside, consider having a book or two at hand. After all, books are said to be your best companions, besides humans, of course. With the pitter-patter of rain outside, here are some recommendations to while away your lazy monsoon afternoons.
1. Collected Short Stories by Ruskin Bond: Beyond the slightest doubt, Ruskin Bond is one of India’s favourite authors. His stories are universally enjoyed, from ages eight to 80 and beyond. If you want some light reading filled with vivid, lively descriptions and the mischievous, curious nature of carefree childhood days, have no second thoughts about laying your hands on this book that runs into over 600 pages. The book features some of the short stories Bond has written in the course of his career, including Tribute to a Dead Friend, The Kitemaker, A Face in the Dark, A Tiger in the House, My Father’s Trees in Dehra and Grandfather’s Many Faces. The stories not only offer reminiscences of the author’s childhood but also open for the readers a wide window to view India’s picturesque hill stations, forests and countryside.
Genre: Children’s fiction
Age group: 8-plus
2. Life’s Amazing Secrets by Gaur Gopal Das: In this book, the spiritual leader and motivational speaker teaches readers “how to find balance and purpose in life”. This Penguin bestseller contains chapters dedicated to personal life, relationships, work life and social contribution where the author discusses the practicality of “growing through gratitude” “speaking sensitively”, “correcting cautiously”, “forgiveness”, “competition crossroads”, among other pearls of wisdom. This book is a wonderful guide to life and takes one through a lot of learning and unlearning.
Genre: Self-help
Age group: 18-plus
3. The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali: If you are looking for romance with some historical and socio-political context, this book is a good choice. It’s a love story based in 1953 Tehran in which 17-year-old Roya falls in love with activist Bahman, “a boy who wants to change the world”, at the neighbourhood stationery shop that has “books and pens and bottles of jewel-coloured ink”, run by Mr. Fakhri. Their romance blossoms as they desperately seek glimpses of each other in that little “Stationery Shop” and bond over Rumi’s poetry. The book lends readers a unique perspective of this love story that blossoms in a conflict-ridden country and the destiny it meets.
Genre: Fiction/Drama
Age group: 15-plus
4. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: This smoothly-paced, well-written book takes a plunge into the curious world of time-travelling. Readers are taken to a café in Tokyo that has the effect of helping them go back in time. Yes, it’s about a café “that transports you back in time”. Four visitors to the cafe go on this incredibly phenomenal journey of returning to the past, each with their respective desires — to confront a lover who left in the past, to receive a letter from the Alzheimer-affected husband “whose memory had begun to fade”, to be able to meet a younger sister one last time and to meet an unborn child. But do they actually get to undo certain past circumstances or make things happen their way? Read this mind-boggling book to find out.
Genre: Fiction
Age group: 18-plus
5. Circe by Madeline Miller: This book promises to be quite a treat for lovers of Greek mythology. The plot revolves around Circe, the daughter of Helios, the god of the Sun, and “the mightiest of the Titans”, and Perse, a naiad. It’s an overtly complicated novel, as would any from the vast genre of fantasy fiction. According to a Greek legend, the sorceress Circe possesses some strange occult powers. Miller, in her novel, sketches a fresh portrait of one of the most compelling characters of mythology and presents a modern twist to events in Circe’s life.
Genre: Fantasy fiction
Age group: 15-plus
6. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson: This book offers pearls of wisdom. Sectioned into various categories like “wealth” (building wealth and building judgement) and “happiness” (learning happiness, saving yourself and philosophy), with numerous subcategories, the book that refuses to be called a ‘how-to book’, throws up some pertinent questions about wealth management and explores answers to “why is owning equity in a business important to becoming rich?”, “what is the most important thing to do for younger people starting out?”, “how important is networking” and “how do you make sure you are dealing with reality when you are making decisions?” The book is available on Navalmanack.com, and it states that Naval has no business interests in the book.
Genre: Personal development
Age group: 18-plus
