As promised, I took up reading again. In this post, I present the books I read in January 2023, in sequence.
When I started reading (after a gap of many years), I was in throes of medication withdrawal. Reading books made things easier.
I went to few of the biggest book stores in the city and was disappointed to see the slim selection of English books available, especially from Indian authors. I was also surprised to see how expensive English books were. Eventually, I decided to buy a Kindle instead.
I was a bit apprehensive and thought that maybe after so many years I may not be able to read after all. but to my relief, it all came back pretty easily. Below are the books I read in January 2023.
| Book | Author | My Rating |
| The Lowland | Jhumpa Lahiri | 9/10 |
| Interpreter of Maladies | Jhumpa Lahiri | 6/10 |
| The Namesake | Jhumpa Lahiri | 8/10 |
| Unaccustomed Earth | Jhumpa Lahiri | 9/10 |
| The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy | 9/10 |
The book I chose to start the year with, turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read. The rest of Jhumpa’s books all had common themes. Expatriate Bengalis in America, cheating Bengali wives, neglected parents, children adjusting to their new lives in America. Also, people who don’t seem to do “real work’ after moving to America, but studying for years, writing thesis and dissertations.
From there, I moved on to Arundhati Roy. Initially I found her writing more complicated and convoluted. The timeline was disjointed. Also I couldn’t keep track of the 20 characters introduced within the first 2 pages. But eventually the novel gripped me and I enjoyed reading it.
Be back next month!