Editor's Pick : August 2020

“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled.”

― Sue Monk Kidd

August is here and we’re still sizzling, struggling with the pandemic all around the world. Reading seems a leisure at times, all other work overwhelming our days and gaping up our time. Yet, readers are hopeless in the fact that they never abandon a book. 

August is ‘Women in Translation Month’ as well and I’m pretty excited to pick up more translations of women, by women. More voices by women need to be discovered from over 7000 languages remaining in the world today. Only a handful of them are written in, spoken about and churned into literature by women. 

Cheers to new discoveries, new books every month! 

Daughters – By Lucy Fricke (German), Translated by Sinead Crowe (English) 

A special mention for ‘Women in Translation Month’. Daughters is a novel by Lucy Fricke in German and is a story of two women on a road trip across Europe. Can’t be more interesting, especially because we can’t travel now. 

Kintsugi – By Anukrti Upadhyay 

At the risk of sounding naive, the cover art is minimalistically amazing for this one. I hadn’t heard about the concept of Kintsugi before – a beautiful Japanese art of mending broken things with gold. A novel set across Japan and Jaipur sounds exciting as well. 

When Love Came Calling – By Preeti Shenoy

Here’s our favourite Indian author with another fresh romance that is bound to get you contemplate about life and decisions. Preeti Shenoy never disappoints the readers with her choice of protagonists and plots. I’m sure this one is going to become another favourite soon. 

Wild – By Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah is the bestselling author of ‘The Nightingale’. She builds up another intriguing story here about a child from the forest and her interactions with a child psychiatrist. Will Julia be able to find out about Alice’s past? 

Chaturanga – By Anand Neelakantan

Second in the Bahubali series, Anand Neelakantan takes forward the story of Mahishmathi along with the queen Sivagami and tussle between her two sons for the crown. Explore the fantastic stories from Mahishmathi even if you have already watched the movies. 

Women in the Kitchen – By Anne Willan 

Not a cookbook, but one on culinary history tracing the origins of American cooking from 1661 till today through twelve essential women cookbook writers. Anne Willan is a culinary historian and she has penned and compiled this important book, also including fifty original recipes. 

Mohini – By Anuj Chandramouli

Mohini in Hindu mythology has always been viewed as the elusive temptress. But there’s much more to her, as illustrated by Anuja Chandramouli in this sprawling saga of love, lust, war and gods. Anuja has always picked up extraordinary protagonists for her books and I’m sure Mohini will be an equally enchanting read. 

The Plague Upon Us – By Shabir Ahmad Mir

Since we just celebrated our 74th Independence Day, let’s go back to Kashmir in the 1990s and take a look at the stories there. Penned by debut author Shabir Ahmad Mir from Kashmir, the novel is sure to be intriguing. 

The Alphabets of Latin America – By Abhay K

With a dazzling cover and promise of some beautiful poetry from Latin America, this book is a winner already. Abhay K is the author of eight poetry collections and has received the SAARC literary award in 2013. 

Goner – By Tazmeen Amna

Tazmeen is a visual and literary artist and this is her first novel, a mystery thriller dealing with pertinent contemporary mental health issues. We need more such books inspired by stories from our surroundings and make them reach to all kinds of readers.