Why is my Hair Curly? – Free eBook
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Defining Success: Yet
I was logged in to work, early for a Friday morning that is, when Laddu, also logged into her school iPad in the same room, walked up to me. Her face was serious. I removed my ear phones and gave her my full attention preparing myself to send a note to her teacher whatever the…
We Need Our Own Heroines
An article I wrote for Parent Connect appeared online today. It is about the need for diversity in literature.
Dakshin Literature Festival 2020
Join me at 9:00 pm IST/10:30 am EST December 24th. This was a fun, lively and engaging discussion. You can watch on The New Indian Express webpage and their social media channels.
Orange City Literature Festival Webinar
I was online middle of the night November 28, 2020 to participate in this online literary festival. Below is a link to the recording.
Book Review: Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Mira Jacob’s book Good Talk kept popping on my social media feed since it came out in March 2019. The term graphic memoir was strange enough for me to put away looking for it. Then, this week, while searching for something unrelated, this book popped up again. On impulse I bought it. I finished the…
Announcement: Book Deal!
Miracles happen. They do! In July this year, a publisher from Red Panda, a children’s imprint of Westland Publishing (an Amazon company) in India reached out through my blog. She asked if I was interested in writing children’s fiction. I hemmed and hawed and eventually jumped at the opportunity. For someone who primarily writes creative…
Book Review: A Fractured Life by Shabnam Samuel
I stumbled onto Shabnam Samuel by chance. A common FB group, a random conversation and then an intentional phone call had me ordering her debut novel on Amazon. I thought of it as good karma. Something I did for a fellow writer. Admittedly, the blurb of her book intrigued me and I would have looked…
Author Interview: L. Ryan Storms
I met Lorraine exactly two years ago today at a Writer’s Conference in Philadelphia. We met on the train to Philadelphia and have been friends since. I have rooted along the sidelines as she wrote and wrote some more. I have cheered her decision to publish her book and shared her gorgeous cover art when…
Amplifying A Voice I Admire
Please take 10 minutes of your time to listen to Samira Ahmed, author of an upcoming young adult novel Internment. Not only is this book needed, but it is also essential for our children to walk with their eyes open.
I Am Strength Anthology
A week after I got back from the Yale Writers’ Workshop, I meticulously went through notes I had made and feedback from my peers. I decided to focus on a piece I had written on motherhood called Motherhood, Cleaved. This essay was born out of the realization that the kind of love I feel toward…
Book Review: When Dimple Met Rishi By Sandhya Menon
I kept running into people on twitter raving about this book. They described it as cute and gushed over it. I am sucker for rom-coms especially the cutesy ones so I looked for it in my library and placed a hold. I finished the book in a couple of hours. It is an easy read,…
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The Mothers By Brit Bennett – Stunning Prose, Nuanced Storytelling
I picked The Mothers by Brit Bennett when it scrolled past me in my library’s newly added digital titles collection. Late one night, I started the book after the kids were in bed and stayed up until past 1:00 AM to finish it. I sat back in my chair letting the feelings wash over me…
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Book Review: With Malice By Eileen Cook
At the beginning of the year I told myself I would try and read at least two books a month and signed up for the Goodreads Book Challenge for 25 books. I am currently close to 80 books and we have a month left in the year. The other thing I told myself was that…
The Golden Son by Shilpi Gowda – A well crafted story
The book has been on my desk for a few weeks now. I follow the author and her agent on Twitter and won an autographed copy in a giveaway. Waiting for my laptop to finish updating, I picked it up and started reading. Getting to bed well past midnight, the thing that struck me…
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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
A book club I am part of picked this book for our next meeting. I was thrilled as it was on my TBR pile. Also, I follow @CelesteNg and love her take on most things related to race and diversity. I read the blurbs, the front and back cover synopsis and settled myself comfortably with…
Split – Swati Avasthi
I stumbled on Avasthi’s book by chance. Browsing my library’s YA literature, this came up as available. I checked it out and read it over two days. The story starts well enough but by the time I was mid way, my heart was racing and I was as jumpy as Jace and Christian. The pace…
Gifted – Poignant and strangely haunting
I grabbed Nikita Lalwani’s Gifted from my local library’s fall sale. The cover appealed to me and I checked the blurb at the back and it resonated. I added it to my list of books to read as I research setting my story partly in India and partly in the US. I read the book…
What She Left Behind – Cross generational tale well told
I started What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman after dinner. I settled in, a throw over my lap, the baby monitor humming by my side. The story hooked me, reeled me in and kept the pace up. When the monitor awoke with angry cries, I pleaded with my spouse to pick her up.…
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Luckiest Girl Alive – Stellar writing and a taut story line
My review of Luckiest Girl Alive is up here.
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Luckiest Girl Alive – Stellar writing and a taut story line
I pick my books the way I browse the grocery aisle. I scan, double back and pick things that call my name. I also scan the ingredient list carefully looking for markers that signal ‘that’s not for you’. I also hate to go shopping so I make sure I load my cart up when I…
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