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

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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 Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum
7. Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

The Source of Self-Regard, Toni Morrison, is a collection of Morrison’s essays, speeches, and meditations on art, race, and humanity. Much to learn from her, but I'll pick one, two lines here. This one says: "We can begin by asking ourselves what is right rather than what is expedient. Know the difference between fever and the disease. Between racism and greed. We can be clear and we can be careful. Careful to avoid the imprisonment of the mind, the spirit, and the will of ourselves and those among whom we live. We can be careful of tolerating second-rate goals and second hand ideas."  

Another one: "The price of wealth, historically, has been blood, annihilation, death and despair." Think about that a little. Still happening as I write.

Mother Mary Comes To Me, Arundhati Roy's first work of memoir. An intimate account of how she became the writer she is and her relationship with her mother. I don't usually buy books (I mostly borrow), but I like to support authors I like once in a while. Went to the bookstore and bought this, even though I could have got it for less online. But you know the right thing to do is support your local bookstore and not shop from a giant e-commerce company that invests billions in an oppressor state.

While buying Mother Mary Comes To Me, I also picked up a tiny book called Enduring Loss, thinking it's about the Meitei-Kuki conflict. After reaching home, I read it carefully; it's "Stories from the Kuki-Naga Conflict in Manipur", based on personal interviews with the survivors. But doesn't matter whether it's Kuki, Naga or Meiteis—the stories are similar anyway, all about pain, loss and struggle for all parties. Why?

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy, is a fragmented tale of love and resistance set amid India’s social and political unrest. This may not be as popular as her Booker winner, but still worth reading. Not an easy read, though. I think I understand her choice of the characters and the events happening in the book. I could even relate one of the characters to her (quite evident after reading her memoir).

A Life of One's Own, Joanna Biggs is a blend of memoir and literary criticism exploring women writers’ quests for independence and meaning. Two of these women writers are Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison whom I like, so I didn't mind reading. After finishing, I admire most of them. 

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Hwang Bo-reum is a quiet, heartwarming story about finding solace, purpose, and connection in a small Seoul bookshop. This felt like a gentle and warm hug. I needed that after reading The Ministry of Utmost Happiness ( didn't I mention it was not an easy read?).

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, Dervla Murphy is a thrilling travel memoir of Murphy’s solo 1963 journey across continents, full of grit, humor, and adventures or rather misadventures. I am in awe. I am so happy she lived to tell the tale. Let me go and print a photo of her with her bicycle and stick on my wall. She's an inspiration. 🤍

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