Skip to main content

Books I Read in May 2025—Banu Mushtaq, Arundhati Roy and More

Image
By on

May was a month of mixed moods and powerful stories. Some books were as comforting as a bedtime drink, while others cracked open bigger conversations about history, identity, and mortality. Here's a look at everything I read this month:

📘 The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A tender philosophical tale wrapped in a children's story about a young prince's journey through planets and people.
This may be a global favourite, but you don’t always have to love what others love. Still, it was nice,  wistful, and okay in the best way.

🧹 Kiki’s Delivery Service, Eiko Kadono

A young witch starts her own delivery business and finds independence and friendship in a seaside town.
Reading this felt like drinking a warm cup of milk. Pure comfort.

🌿 The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

A haunting, nonlinear novel about forbidden love, caste, and childhood trauma in Kerala.
I get why this is famous—and I totally agree. Roy’s language is lush, her story devastating.

🌀 Life of Chuck, Stephen King (from If It Bleeds)

A surreal and touching meditation on life, death, and memory told in reverse.
I listened to the audiobook for this one and only this one, from If It Bleeds. And of course, in my head, Tom Hiddleston was Chuck. That made it even better.

✈️ Flights, Olga Tokarczuk

A genre-defying blend of travel writing, philosophy, and fragmented narratives about motion and stillness.
I vibe with Olga Tokarczuk. Deeply. Her voice, her pace, her thoughts; yes.

⚖️ The Doctor and the Saint, Arundhati Roy

A nonfiction essay interrogating Gandhi’s legacy and contrasting it with B.R. Ambedkar’s radical politics.
The doctor is B.R. Ambedkar, and the saint is Gandhi. This is necessary nonfiction.

🕯️ Heart Lamp: Selected Stories, Banu Mushtaq

A luminous collection exploring grief, faith, and resistance through the voices of Indian Muslim women.
Winner of the International Booker Prize 2025. These stories burn.


Happy reading!
(^人^)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wake up, Wake up, Children of the Land!—Poem by Tombi

By on
Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! You hear and hear, yet turn a deaf ear. You see and see, yet close your eyes. You know, you know, but pretend not to know. Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! The world has seen the light of science. Has your time not come? Are you still chasing ghosts of old history? Have you forgotten? Do you not remember? Who are you? Where do you come from? To which place do you belong? Who are you to ignore the past that shaped you? Is your behaviour still human nature? Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! There will be rain. There will be flood. Does fear still dwell in your heart? A tiger does not spare a deer. Have you forgotten? Do you not wish to write a new history? Do you not wish to be brave? Be wary, even as you sleep, Your own blood has turned cold. Like seeks like, and power pairs with power. That history, written by the mighty, Do you wish to let it rule again? Do you not wish to end it? Do you not wish to become Our fath...
Post a Comment
Read more

October 2025 Reads—Toni Morrison, Arundhati Roy, Dervla Murphy, and More

By on
October, the month of Diwali and Ningol Chakouba. Not particularly enjoyable for me this year. The night of Diwali, I found myself curled up in bed, hands clutching my head as if that would stop the terrible headache I was having. All the noise, not to mention the obvious pollution, made me mad. Abemma, one of our dogs, had a terrible, terrible time. And why do Manipuris celebrate Diwali? Because the king of Manipur was influenced by a Hindu preacher, converting Meities to Hindus. Well, I reject that. The same week was Ningol Chakouba, initially cancelled (for reasons I won't get into here), but later we celebrated anyway. All that and other things happened, and I also read some good books in October. Here they are: 1. The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison 2. Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy 3. Enduring Loss—Stories from the Kuki-Naga Conflict in Manipur 4. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy 5. A Life of One's Own by Joanna Biggs 6. Welcome to the Hy...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

By on
"A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles begins with a map of Moscow, 1922, showing the Metropol Hotel and an epigraph, the poem "Where Is It Now?" by Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, 1913.  Published : 2016 Author : Amor Towles  Genres : Historical Fiction, Urban fiction, Political fiction Pages : 462 My rating : 3.5/5 The novel is divided into five parts and presents a unique premise: a gentleman under house arrest in a luxury hotel in Moscow. At first glance, this premise does not seem particularly compelling for a full-length novel (at least for me), but Towles manages to craft an engaging and elegant narrative. One of the novel's highlights is its prose, sophisticated and beautiful. Towles' admiration for Russian literature is evident throughout the book, and I couldn't relate more. I found the conversations between the protagonist, Count Rostov, and his friends—Mishka, Osip, Anna, and Nina—particularly enjoyable. It shows the author's talent for di...
Post a Comment
Read more