Intriguing scholarly ideas presented through relatable, and often amusing, examples.

A review of The Palace of Illusions, where Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni presents the girl and woman behind the illusion of Panchaali.

In Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the fate of humanity rests on the ingenuity and efforts of a junior high science teacher with amnesia, lost in space. Yikes! Fortunately, problem solving seems to be his forte. Will he be able to rescue humanity from the sun gobbling microbes? The clock is ticking, so read on for a detailed review.

A poem inspired by A Mid Summer’s Equation by Keigo Higashino

As the two main characters engage in a riveting battle of wits, a rich and complex plot gradually unfolds, ultimately evoking an exquisite synthesis of unexpected emotions.

A well researched and unflinching account of the British Raj and its lasting effects on independent India.

A story of the rise of a truly unfathomable intelligent society, their interactions with a Human/Spider hybrid civilization, and their struggles to communicate with each other, while and external danger threatens to annihilate them all.

A review of The Only Story by Julian Barnes. This is a guest review courtesy Arati Luthra Pinto. She introduced me to creative writing, and I am thrilled to have her review a book on my blog.

A review of The Listerdale Mystery, a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie.

A review of The Remains Of The Day, by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, in which Stevens, a butler, who once served in a large aristocratic English household, reminisces and analyses the yesteryears, while trying to find his footing in a new world.

A review of The Martian in which, Mark Watney gets stranded on Mars during a NASA mission. At first that sounds like a death sentence, but being a resourceful engineer and a botanist, he comes up with a plan for survival. But will that be enough? Read on for a detailed review.

A review of a series of books exploring the adventures and exploits of Steerswomen, who are knowledge seekers, in a world like, and yet unlike our own. The protagonist Rowan gathers information, converts it in to understanding, using logic, to make startling discoveries, even while a powerful aristocratic class do their best to hoard and withhold their knowledge to maintain power over those they rule.

A story of the rise of a civilization of intelligent spiders, while humankind is on the path to annihilation. As odd as a civilization of intelligent spiders may sound, the author has done a great job of developing it, with intricate details of how things would work in such a world. At the climax is the inevitable clash of the two civilizations, but the outcome is likely to surprise you. Read on for a detailed review.

I was excited about reading this book, because Tanu is a blogger, whose posts I have been reading since my earliest blogging days in 2015. Tanu's blogs always stood out in the mass of parenting blog posts on the mycity4kids website not only because of a her progressive outlook and knack for zeroing in on important parenting issues, but also because of her writing style. Her posts are a pleasure to read, because the writing flows easily as she escorts you though a spectrum of emotions without getting dramatic. She has strong opinions and a dry wit tempered by sensitivity and empathy.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was intrigued. A political thriller entangled with midlife crisis sounded promising. I wasn't disappointed.

White Mughals by Dalrymple explores an interesting period in British Indian history, when the daily lives of the British officials and Indian people were often tightly entwined. This period has been, later, suppressed by both cultures as a result of hostilities, that developed soon after. Dalrymple's account is well researched, referring to, and quoting from, official documents as well as personal correspondences, to obtain a complete picture on both microscopic and macroscopic scales.