Inside the Boardroom - How Behavior Trumps Rationality: R Gopalakrishnan and Tulsi Jayakumar

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I recently saw R Gopalakrishnan as a speaker at an HR conference in Bangalore where I work. He was an engaging speaker and the book was given out as swag. 

In this book, the authors dig into behavior and how it affects boards, decisions made by those boards, and the impact of certain behaviors on decisions. For someone who doesn't have insight into any boardroom, this was a fascinating peek into how that works. As an HR and Business professional, psychology is an interest of mine. This book was a perfect storm for me.

The authors did strike a rather paternal uncle lecture tone, which is understandable. He's an older gentleman. The book was also a little dry and I felt it could have been expanded out into even more areas than it covered. 

Even with those suggestions, it's still worth the read to educate yourself a bit on boards and mindsets. 

Read it!

~Becky~

50 Greatest Love Stories

Fiction short Stories

Verdict: Read it for the feels

As I've mentioned previously, I'm not that big on romance books. I decided to give this a try - perhaps I was feeling senti about my husband that day. 

I don't know about Greatest Love Stories, but the book delivered as promised. It's a series of love stories. As I don't go into individual stories when I review, I will say that the composition was so-so. Maybe a different order or flow would have worked better for me, but this was a little so so in my book. 

Read it for the feels and enjoy the love.

~Becky~

The Education of Yuri: Jerry Pinto

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I had read Em and Giant Hoom by Jerry Pinto, so when I saw this at the Bookshop I knew I must read it. 

The Education of Yuri is a coming of age book. One of the things that Jerry Pinto is brilliant at is making his characters real and oh-so-relatable, often times in ways that we wish we did not have to. The novel follows Yuri through his adolescence - an experience fraught with insecurity, learning, growing, and general angst that most of us have had. 

Watching Yuri wander through friendships, romance, sexual awakening, and eventual separation and adulthood is borderline painful. Because it's so relatable. That being said, Yuri is a likeable guy, even when he feels like an alien or a failure - I was cheering for him. Just give it time, this sucks for everyone. I think that was the point Jerry Pinto was getting at but he did it well. It's not a long or hard read, but I find Pinto to be a talented writer worth your time.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Newly Weds: Mansi Choksi

 Non Fiction

Verdict: Meh

I think I picked this novel up at the bookstore. I'm not a hardcore romance novel reader, but I like some occasionally. Not that this was a romance novel. I haven't read anything by Mansi Choksi before, so this was my introduction.

The author follows three couples in India through non-traditional marriage paths. That means non-traditional, non-heterosexual, and across religions. It's a tricky subject in India and one that people still have strong and sometimes unfortunate mindsets about. The outcomes aren't always good.

That being said, I believe people should love and marry whomever they wish. I don't believe families have the right to interfere, nor take revenge on couples when they marry outside of the traditional manner. 

The couples that Choksi highlights aren't all that out of the ordinary for today's world. There's nothing bizarre about them, which makes the circumstances more sad. The author seems to take pride in asking certain questions and forcing the reader to think. I'm all for asking questions and making the reader think, but trumpeting about it is a little offputting for me. I'm sure that Choksi doesn't have the answers for those three couples or society on how to reach a suitable compromise for everyone. The book ends without any solid resolution, which is to be expected, but left me wondering what the point was. This isnt' a new subject here. Everyone knows that these circumstances are still difficult inspite of progress, your questions are not new ones. 

It's a decent time pass and you want the couples to succeed and be happy together, but there's nothing here that hasn't been done before. 

~Becky~

The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told: Arunava Sinha

Fiction Short Stories

Verdict: Meh

I'm not sure if this book is related to the Series of greatest this and that stories ever told, but it had a definite familiar ring to it. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the stories in the state-related books. It might just be me, but they seemed rather generic. 

If you're new to Indian short stories, this isn't a horrible place to start, but there is definitely room for improvement after that. 

Read it....or don't.

~Becky~

Moth Smoke: Mohsin Hamid

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This too was a recommended read. I had previously read The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, so I was eager to read another of his works.  

The story follow the main character - Darashikoh Shezad after he has lost his job. His slow spiral into poverty, being dirty, and pretty much giving up hope of anything positive. He ends up seducing a friend's wife and getting deep into heroin. It's a pretty nasty spiral.

But there are some interesting things to observe. Being poor in Lahore and having jet setting friends leads to some interesting situations. And Darashikoh keeps finding himself in interesting situations but absolutely messing them up. I also thoroughly enjoyed Mohsin Hamid's portrayal of Darashikoh. I didn't hate him, I just got a severe case of the "ick" watching him spiral. It's easy to make someone love, hate, or be indifferent to a character. Giving someone the ick over a character is an art, and Hamid nailed it.

I believe the author was trying to illuminate how easy it is for a decently successful person to spiral out of control with a few bad choices and circumstances. He got the point across but the real winner of this story is the character development and portrayal. Brilliant and worth the read.

Read it!

~Becky~

Tomb of Sand: Geetanjali Shree

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This is one of those large books. The ones that take forever to read. At least it took me quite a while relatively. I was about a third of the way through before my interest was well and truely hooked too.I believe this was a bookstore find and the first I have read by Geetanjali Shree.

Long, but worth it. It's a 2022 Booker Prize winner, which usually means worth reading. This is another flavor of the partition literature that ranges from amazing to awful in India. I enjoyed the novel. It's also a bit of a soft-peddaled manifesto. The mother is done listening to other people and is going to do what she would like. Not in a hurtful way, but in an "I Need to do this" way. It examines intergenerational assumptions and turns some of them upside down.

I enjoyed the protagonist a lot. I enjoyed cheering for me and while she wasn't perfect, she was human, relateable, and I wanted her to achieve what she set out to do. That's a pretty brilliant win for an author. I feel that selling the main character is half the battle of getting someone to read your book. Take it on vacation, take the time to read some daily, but do read this - well worth it.

Read it!

~Becky~

Silent House: Orhan Pamuk

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

Orhan Pamuk is another name that has been bouncing around my pinterest like a superball. Remember those? So much fun.

Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish writer. This is the first novel of his that I have read. I came away with mixed feelings. He explores a complicated family with a very complicated (one would wonder narcissistic?) grandmother. The grandkids gather from different corners to spend the summer with her. Unlike her househelp, a little person named Recep, her grandkids won't be bossed around or cowed by her. I won't give away the ending because it's a surprise, but man was this book a ride.

Upon reading certain authors from certain backgrounds, one can notice a heaviness in the tone and in this novel, I was waiting for a huge shoe to drop. It didn't drop like I expected, but it wasn't your usual happy or resolved ending. I'm not sure if I like it or not honestly.

I'm guessing Pamuk draws on some of his own experiences from family and relationships, and watching these relationships unfold is an interesting and uncomfortable process. One sees how history echoes, certain experiences last (the grandmother's crazy is a result of a less than stable partner and being stuck her whole life), and how differently people from the same family become and cope with difficult situations. It's fascinating in a train wreck uncomfortable way. But you can't look away, you have to keep watching until the end. 

I found the pacing slightly slow in certain places, but that may just be my preference. I look forward to exploring more from Orhan Pamuk. Definitely worth the read for the cultural value and the unspoken family analysis.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Monkey's Wound: Hajra Masroor

Urdu Fiction Short Stories

Read it!

This I believe was recommended in the paper and I was lucky enough to find it in the bookstore. With such an eye-catching title, I had to indulge.

Urdu literature has it's own unique flavor the same way that other areas do. I know I repeat this a lot, but it's something that continually tickles my fancy. The Monkey's Wound is a collection of short stories from Urdu Literature. This is the first work from Hajra Masroor I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The stories are women-centric. They are relateable to most women (I feel) and portray an average life that can be stretched in a few different ways to include a lot of people. I won't go into each short story, but there is an art to developing a collection of stories. Tahira Naqvi has done a wonderful job translating this work and I'm not sure who decided what would go into this collection of stories, but they fit together beautifully. It's not a short book, but well worth the time investment.

Read it!

~Becky~

The power to Forgive: Avinuo Kire

Fiction Short Stories

Read it!

This book wasn't what I thought it would be from reading the back. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I did. Immensely. 

The North East of India has its own brand of writers and literature, a very distinct flavor that is different from mainland India. Different experiences and culture I guess. It's challenging for me to read, but I enjoy it. This book is written from a Naga viewpoint and was an interesting counterpoint from the army book in Mizoram I had mentioned in a recent post.

The stories are very reflective and abstract. They're also quite relatable on a human level and address basic human emotions. I feel that looking back and wondering if you handled a difficult situation in the best way is a very human experience.  There's not too much else I can say but this without getting into the individual stories, which I never do in my reviews. Definitely a good read.

Read it!

~Becky~

If I Have to be a Soldier: Nikhil Alva

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

This is the first book I have read by Nikhil Alva. I can't remember if I found this at the bookstore or in the paper. 

Nikhil Alva takes us through a war-torn North East India. The protagonist is a preacher's son on a mission from the army to interrogate the main rebel - a childhood friend. It's one of those books where it starts with clear good and bad guys but ends up a muddy mess by the end. Much like real life. Good guys have bad parts, bad guys have good parts. 

The book takes us through the hunt for the rebel and then the inevitable situation where they are stuck together and have to work together to reach civilization. During the trek, they discover some things weren't understood correctly in the past, the other guy isn't evil, etc. Yes, it's a bit tropy. But the pacing is good and the story line is solid. Aside from the obvious, in-your-face bit about everyone just being people, there are some interesting things to observe. 

I happen to love books that don't portray the army as a perfect or morally superior entity. It's not and should not be portrayed as such, even if the author is nationalistic. In a place as messy as the NorthEast of India, it was refreshing to see simple themes of humanity shine through. 

I won't say the book was perfect. As I said, tropy and a little preachy at times, but as far as army and war books go, not a bad choice. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Burning Roses in my Garden: Taslima Nasreen

Poetry

Verdict: Read it!

It appears I was on a poetry streak. I assure you, it wasn't intentional.  I've read other things that Taslima Nasreen has written and I like her work a lot, which led me to pick this book up. 

It's an easy book, I think it took me about an hour to read. But what an enjoyable hour that was. I was disappointed when it ended because I wanted to go on reading and wallowing in the experience. 

Poetry is such a subjective experience. These poems were very simple and relatable. I enjoy that immensely, but each reader must have his or her own preferences.  I don't expound much upon poetry that I read because I'm no expert. At best I'm an amateur dabbler and amateur dabblers should pontificate too much. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Feminisms: Arpita Mukhopadhyay

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read if you dare

I believe this was another newspaper recco from the same article. I don't run into too many feminist texts that are academically oriented. Most of the feminist books, rants, and manifestos that I come across are largely anecdotal and emotion based. 

Arpita Mukhopadhyay takes apart feminism like a dissection. It's a methodical, clinical, exacting approach. I did get through it, but true to most scientific works, I ended the book wondering what the point of the dissection was aside from defining. 

I'm a feminist in my own way. And I support anyone who cares to be a feminist in his or her own way, aside from fake feminism to confuse people - that sucks. After I read this, I felt that the soul of what feminism is was missing from this book. It's a journey that has been long, bloody, and diverse. Reducing it down to the clinical discussion of definitions, history, and dry examples robs it if the emotions it triggers for what it represents to so many. You can't separate feminism from emotion just like you can't separate sex from an interaction with another human being. Well, hopefully it's a human!

Arpita Mukhopadhyay's book is excellent from a clinical and academic standpoint. She's clearly very smart and very methodical. But I wondered what feminism meant to her. What are we to draw as conclusions from all this data? Perhaps that's the point. Science doesn't always tell us what to think, it tells us facts and sometimes certain conclusions are inevitable. I suggest you read this simply from an academic standpoint if you support feminism. You'll have to reach your own conclusions, which hopefully you've started developing anyhow.

Read it!

~Becky~

Restless Lives: Harish Bhat

Poetry

Verdict: Read it

I believe this was another newspaper recommendation. I haven't read anything by Harish Bhat previously. This is a collection of poetry meant to slow people down and calm them. I don't know if I personally believe that poetry can do that, or that this particular collection of poetry did that for me, but I enjoyed reading it.

Read it!

~Becky~

A Kashmiri Century: Khem Lata Wakhlu

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I've read quite a few novels and non-fiction works on Kashmir. It's a topic that continues to fascinate me. This book was a little different than the previous reads as it was more academic and stretched out into more angles than just the injustices done in Kashmire, which I found refreshing. 

It is very easy to see that the author is a Kashmiri and cares deeply about the people, not just the geopolitics of the region. It does get a little dry at the core, which I think is to be expected, but it's well worth wading through. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Three Women in a Single-Room House: K. Srilata

Poetry

Verdict: Read it!

I haven't read anything by K. Srilata before and I'm so glad I picked this up. I either love or hate poetry, depending on the subject matter and how it's done. This was so beautiful in its simplicity. 

It's a very short book with a series of poems about living with other women. I wouldn't say it's generic, but as a woman, it was very relatable. The theme is overall whistful and the author covers a variety of topics. I will definitely read it again.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Greatest Punjabi Stories ever Told: Renuka Singh, Balbir Madhopuri

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I will forever defend my love of short stories. Such a perfect mix of storytelling and not getting bored. I won't go into details about the individual stories, but if you like Indian short stories like me, I've not yet been disappointed by one in this series. 

*Edit*

The same goes for the Greatest Gujarathi Stories ever told!

Read it!

~Becky~

Tapestry of Women in Indian Mythology: Meenakshi Mohan

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Cannot Recommend.

This was another newspaper recommendation after an article on Feminism. I was pretty excited to read it. 

I understand that feminism means different things to different people. Especially between generations and cultural groups. India is not known for it's women-friendly environment. It's a downright misogynistic place to this day. I thought anything feminist coming out of India would be a good thing. My flaw was thinking that feminism meant through the lense that I see through. I won't bother you dear reader with a speech on my views of feminism, but let's just come to the conclusion that I was wrong. Dramatically wrong. 

India is a nation of apologists. Accountability and ethics are, well, let's say "flexible". If you look at the religious texts like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (and I have read both), you find texts with very sticky moral situations and the justifications around what is right and wrong. It's truly challenging to read with an open mind as cultural "rights" and "wrongs" are ingrained in us so deeply from a young age.  I'm getting to the point, I promise.

This text looks at books like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and attempts to translate the lessons of the books into feminist themes. By excusing or ignoring deeply harmful actions, or justifying the cultural correctness of the time. I found it disgusting. I know that's not very understanding of me, but washing the mud off of a pig doesn't make it a donkey. I have said many times that India will probably never change at it's core, and I believe it's because people like having the moral flexibility to do anything and defend it as tradition. Of course, that's trite. But it's correct at the core. 

As we travel through the 21st century, we hope for progress - both in infrastructre and mindset from the entire world. Equality of all people, be it women, LGBTQ+, backward castes, etc should be something we strive for, not just talk about. If people continually defend the actions of the past with no moral judgment relevant to the present, then change is not possible.

Look, practice whatever feminism floats your boat.....but please not this one. Do not be apologetic about equality anywhere. We all know the time past had a different culture, different mores, and different reasoning. That is irrelevant to today where we try to continue evolving in thoughts and deeds. If you rationalize mistreatment of women in the past, you excuse it today. Let's continue growing. Sermon over.

~Becky~

The Runaways: Fatima Bhutto

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

This novel was one I picked up in the bookstore. It was a long time ago! I'm not a collector you are! Ahem.

I haven't read anything from Fatima Bhutto prior to this. Layla runs away from her dead-end family in her dead-end town to find religion and adventure as a religious fanatic in a far away desert. She has a boyfriend, Monty, that she leaves behind. In an epic show of love he follows her and tries to save her from herself only to end up almost dying himself.

Pakistani authors always fascinate me as I'm deep into Indian literature and the flavor is definitely different. The reader is never completely sure if Layla ever loved Monty or he was just a piece of furniture in her life. The reader is also never let in on why Laila ran away to be an extremist. That drove me crazy for a long time after reading this book. I'm not a muslim, I've never leaned towards the extreme anything which makes it more difficult to understand. But I do understand running away. And sometimes that only makes sense to the person running.

Its a simple read. While the book is long, it doesn't take much digestion time. But it does leave you with questions and thoughts. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Grammar of My Body: Abhishek Anicca

 Non-Fiction

Verdict: Maybe

I can't remember at present why I picked up this book - I believe it was recommended in the newspaper. Those are always hit or miss for me. 

Abshiek Anicca explores a lot of themes around ability and the sense of self. To be completely honest, I struggled to relate to many of the things he was discussing as I don't have many of the same experiences that he does. I feel this might be a great book for someone who has struggled with ability issues in India. I support his premise, but just couldn't relate to his experiences. If it applies to you, by all means read it and let me know what you think.

~Becky~

The Forty Rules of Love - Eli Shafik

Fiction

Verdict: Maybe

Hello Interwebs. I know, I know, I'm hopelessly nerdy and cringy and out of touch....but it gives me a lot of joy. I've been off to other adventures than writing lately and it seems I'm a bit behind if we're going to judge by my 2 large stacks of books + Digital Books to review. My (suspected) ADHD brain would rather build a business and garden these days. I'm gonna start collecting blogs again and write about those too, just not right now, I need to finish this work first.

Ahem. On to the book. So I was binging Pinterest for new reads (the bookstore is expensive yo!) and I kept coming across Elif Shafak as a must read author. Ok cool. I'm up for trying just about anything. 

I'm not much for gimmicky writing, but this one slowly reeled me in. The novel is about a marriage that is falling apart. It's been a comfortable one (read, they thought they were happy), but they have reached midlife and are drifting slowly and inevitably apart. A parallel story runs about Rumi and his soul mate, Shams of Tabriz. Shafik examines relationships from a very multi-dimensional approach. But the theme continues to come back to love.

From a personal point of view (having had a marriage fall apart) it was a painful read. It was also difficult to watch Rumi and Shams have a relationship that was encompassing for both of them and exclusionary to everyone else. I have had some unfortunate experiences in that way too. But the way Shafik explored love was beautiful. There was no condemnation nor trying to shuffle things into the conventional way that everyone accepts and is comfortable with. He also made a point of relationships sometimes having a timeline - even when we want them to last forever they may not and it's painful. 

I think this book is worth it in spite of the kitch, but it requires some life experience and reflection. I personally find those some of the best. It's not a complicated story, but it's a complicated theme.

Verdict: Read it!

~Becky~