Inane Murtaza

Title : Braised Pork Author : An Yu Genre : Contemporary Fiction I decided to finally expand my reading horizons this year by picking up books from different regions so as to gain more knowledge on newer topics everyday. So, when I got the opportunity to pick up Braised Pork by An Yu, I was pretty intrigued about the cultural importance of China and the knowledge it would impart and here is my take on the book. Braised Pork is the story of Jia Jia who one day suddenly finds her husband dead in the bathroom after his meal. Eventhough their marriage wasn't as happy as it used to be before, their mutual understanding of each other did not deter them from each other. It came as a shock to Jia Jia when her husband drowned himself. What was even more mysterious was the drawing of the fish man that he had been intrigued with since his visit to Tibet. The novel explores the story of Jia Jia and her journey to solve this mystery. I was pretty much attracted to this book because...

Title : A Curse So Dark and Lonely and A Heart So Fierce and Broken Author : Brigid Kemmerer Genre : YA Fantasy One of the books that had caught my attention last year was the Beauty and the Beast Retelling by Brigid Kemmerer 'A Curse So Dark and Lonely'. With fairy tale retellings that has stormed the market for last 2-3 years, this one promised a huge potential and apparently was well received throughout. With the second book coming out this year, I decided to pick both of them back to back and here is my take on yet to complete trilogy. Review on 'A Curse So Dark and Lonely': The book mainly moves forward with the help of our two central protagonists and we get their narration throughout. Harper who we see trying to save a girl from getting kidnapped is brought into another world, into the land of Emberfell where she meets the crown prince Rhen. Rhen is cursed for almost 300 seasons and has been surviving along with his commander Grey shut in his castle, trying to...

Title : Norse Mythology Author : Neil Gaiman Genre : Mythology Okay, for people who have never read a book by Neil Gaiman yet, what are you guys waiting for!!! Neil Gaiman has always been my go to author since the time I have read Coraline and I find him one of the most intriguing author of all time and here is my take on Norse Mythology on which has been on my TBR for quite a long time. If you are a fan of MCU, u guys must have already heard about Thor, Loki and Odin ofcourse. Norse Mythology is a take on their universe and we get to see various snippets and stories on their adventures and how ultimately the scenario reached Ragnarok which is the end of the universe. The book is divided into various chapters and each chapter is as quirky and interesting as the next. It's not a book that would be intense on you and the characters are given quite a light touch to them which will not fail to bring a smile on your face. I was though shocked to find out that about Loki's par...

Title - Suncatcher Author - Romesh Gunesekara Genre - Coming of Age Historical Fiction So this is my first venture with a book based in Sri Lanka and I must say this was pretty impressive. Most of the coming of age books that I have come across these days had been revolving around fantasy but hardly I have come across books that even revolves around the political turmoil in the country and Suncatcher is one of them. 'Suncatcher' by Romesh Gunesekara  is a story of bonding and friendship between two young boys Jay and Kairo during the year 1964 when Sri Lanka was under troubled times. The two of them are as different from one another as Chalk and Cheese and yet are bonded with each other as glue and paper. Jay, a born naturalist loves birds and fishes and dreams of a natural home for the birds across the country. Kairo, an introvert kid, has his life changed and his thoughts expanded when he meets Jay. This coming of age story talks about their evolving friendship and...

Title : Anecdotes of a White-Collared Slave Author : Aashish Gupta Genre : Humor From past few years, we have seen a high growth of Indian authors exploring various themes while presenting their books. From stories based in college to stories that talks about start-ups, the recent trend have caught up to them all. So, my expectation with this novel was quite different since this had been my first novel based on corporate life and here is my take on it. Anecdotes of a white - collared slave is a story written from the perspective of the author Ashish himself who has joined the corporate life after a brief stint as a failed entrepreneur. He talks about the different kinds of species (personalities) during his tenure at the company and how they apparently made his life miserable until the tables turned and he was made to supervise a new employee. Since I had been a part of a corporate life myself, there are many incidents within the book that I can actually relate to. The book is writ...

Title : You Beneath Your Skin Author : Damyanti Biswas Genre : Thriller It is pretty much surprising when you pick up a book and it exceeds your expectations to a great extent. I recently came across 'You Beneath your Skin' by Damyanti Biswas due to its intriguing plot and almost apt timing (with Delhi currently under smog) and this book did exceed my expectations to another level. Here is my take on this book. The story revolves mainly around Dr Anjali Morgan who lives with her autistic son Nikhil. On one fateful day, Anjali is attacked with acid who resembles her son and how her entire life comes crashing down. Her affair with Jatin Bhatt (the other central character) forms another vital part of the story and how their life gets involved with one another forms the rest of the plot. I was pretty much surprised by the book since I did not expect the book to be so good. A thriller with characters such immensely deep was way beyond my expectations. The plot kept giving bringin...

Title : Bone China Author : Laura Purcell Genre : Horror I came across Laura Purcell when she had launched her first book 'The Silent Companions' which was quite spooky for me. Her book gave me chills that many horror movies failed to do so and I couldn't stop myself when her third book 'Bone China' (I'm yet to read her second outing 'The Corset') was announced and I got my hands on it as soon as possible. This was my read for the Halloween month and here is my take on it. The story revolves around two main characters Hester Why who had arrived at Moroven House to take care of Miss Pinecroft. As the story moves ahead, we see Hester experiencing a certain spook around the house and she also tries to deal with her past before she arrived here. On the other hand, we also get to know about Louise Pinecroft and her father's experiment on five prisoners who were suffering from a terminal disease. In my opinion, though the book is pretty go...