The Mountains Sing by Nguyên Phan Quê Mai

"I realised that war was monstrous.If it didn't kill those it touched , it took away a piece of their souls, so they could never be whole again." 

The Mountains Sings is a multi-generational family saga set in Vietnam during 1950s and 1970s.It explores the journey of Diêu Lan through the decades fighting Great Hunger , impact of land reforms , french & Japanese invasions along with American war.

I loved the relationship between Grandma Diêu Lan and her grand- daughter Hu'o'ng.At times, Hu'o'ng was the only one who completely understood Grandma and realised the struggles she went through to keep her family safe.

I cried with grandma , felt happy when she managed to keep going , her determination to survive despite the hell she went through inspired me in many ways :')

"I would want nothing fancy , just a normal day when all of us could be together as a family ; a day where we could just cook , eat , talk , and laugh.I wondered how many people around the world were having such a normal day and didn't know how special and sacred it was."

The story of Grandma and Hu'o'ng felt too close to me as i share a great bond with my own  grandmother.She is strong , brave , religious , narrates stories to me and calls me by my nickname:)

Do pick this beautiful piece of Historical fiction to get educated about Vietnam's horrible past and how wars can have devastating impact throughout the generations! 

The devotion of suspect x by Keigo Higashino

"Your assumptions are your worst enemies , trust them too much and you'll fail to see what's right under your nose." 

Yasuko Hanaoka lives a quiet life with her daughter Misato, but one day , her world is shattered when when ex husband Shinji Togashi shows up at her house and certain events lead to Shinji being murdered by Yasuko and Misato. ( AND IT'S NOT A SPOILER) 

The real story starts after the murder, when Yasuko's neighbour , the highly intelligent mathematics teacher Mr.Ishigami involves himself in the picture and decides to protect the mother- daughter duo at any cost.

"Which is harder: devising an unsolvable problem, or solving that problem?"

This thriller has successfully changed my perspective towards the whole genre.It's different in a sense that the readers will know who is the murderer and why it was done from the very beginning but the real deal is the cat and mouse game between Detective kusanagi , Physicist (detective galileo) Yukawa and Mathematician Ishigami.

The author easily manages to keep readers gripped till the end , while you root for one to win,  you crave for another to make an intelligent step.

The twists & turns with an tragic end is what makes this a perfect crime- thriller and surely deserves much more hype! 

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about.But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back."

This is the story of Celie, a black girl born in poverty and segregation set in the American South.She is married to an older abusive man she never knew which resulted in her separation with her dear sister Nettie.Life becomes exhausting as Nettie was the only one Celie cared about!

"I'm poor, black , i may even be ugly, but dear god , I'm here! I'm here!"

Celie then decides to write letters to the God as it seemed the only way for her to be in a comfortable place until she found an unlikely ally in Shug Avery , who happened to be the long time mistress of her husband.

Shug helped make Celie realise importance of having a voice in the society full of treacherous men , eventually leading to Celie finding her unexplained feelings towards Shug.

This book has it all, strong plot, unforgettable characters ,sense of love ,loss, suffering and a true meaning of happiness.I devoured the story of Celie , boldness of Shug, Strength of Sofia. Alice has done a great job in writing these characters!

TW: Sexism , Sexual & Psychological Abuse, Racism

The God of small things by Arundhati Roy//Bookish Santa

"And the air was full of thoughts and things to say.But at times like these,only the small things are ever said.Big things lurk unsaid inside"

The God of Small Things By Arundhati Roy is one of the Indian Novels Which stays with you forever in a strange way.The characters and the storyline are so immense and unusual that one will definitely want to know more and more with each page.

So, the story is set in 1990's in small town of Ayemenem in kerala,India and basically revolves around the lives of twins Rahel(girl) and Esthappan(boy) who reunite with each other after so many years since their childhood after being separated and they still hold the memories of their dark past along with their mother who they call Ammu.Ammu's comes back to their native town Ayemenem after leaving her prude husband and falls in love with velutha who belongs to a low caste and just as the previous one, her love story is doomed yet again by the societal norms.

But the lives of the twins completely change after the death of their English cousin Sophie Mol.

I love how Pretty much every indian issues are covered in the book such as Indian politics and post British rule tensions, caste system , forbidden love mostly because of different caste or class, social discrimination because of it,Betrayal too remains a repeated element in the storyline and lastly the condition of women at the time clearly shows how misogynistic and patriarchal our society was.

Although,the story was set in 90's India depicting the problems of that time,but sadly, those problems remain rooted even today.

This book got a booker prize back in 1997 and was a huge hit not just in India but in foreign as well and it clearly deserves all the fame it got.

I read this masterpiece 1 year ago after getting so much requests and i never knew this story will always remain with me in a unsual way.The most suitable word i could find for the book was 'TRAGIC' and the ending explains it.It depicts how the laws of love or relationships can be changed so easily when one can't find the true meaning or motive behind a particular relationship.

The book also explores the post-colonial complex and attitude of many people about the former british culture.The mentioning of British Raj dominated most of the Indian books back in 20th century and somewhat even today.

The only problem i faced while reading this was a bit if confusing chronological sequences sometimes as it contained flashbacks and sidetracks.

Indian authors like Arundhati Roy needs to be appreciated every now and then for covering these kind of topics which are sadly, relevant nowadays too.

Overall i totally liked the book and surely recommend you to pick this one up.

MY RATING-4.5/5

Happy reading :)

https://www.bookishsanta.com/

Bookish Santa

Below is the link to get the book by Bookish Santa

The God of Small things

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

"For you, a thousand times over"

I have read this line again and again , everytime i read it , sad emotions start emerging inside me.

'The kite runner' is a book about two boys called Hassan and Amir.Hassan is a Hazara (a minority low caste in Afghanistan) and Amir is a Pashtun(a high caste in Afghanistan).Despite of these differences, hassan and amir bond pretty well, they have grown up together.

Their lives completely change after the kite flying competition which Amir definitely have to win in order to make his father proud and takes the help of Hassan.What hapoens that day , changes the life of these two boys completely.

What i love this book is it has the power to make the hardest of the hard hearts cry.One can feel various aspects of life like 'What is the meaning of a real friendship' , 'how it feels to be socially discriminated' , 'sacrifice' , 'Redemption' and many many more....

Apart from that, Hosseini never fails to give political insight of Afghanistan through his books.

I remember i was sad for weeks after reading this masterpiece and it's all worth it, reading this has been a emotional roller coaster for me and it's surely amoung the books one should read before he/she dies :')

MY RATING -5/5

The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

"The truth, however ugly in itself ,is always curious and beautiful to the seekers after it."

After reading some masterpieces such as 'and then there were none' and 'the murder on the orient express' , i picked up this book and as always , Christie never failed to shook me again.

So, as the name suggets , this book revolves around  the murder of a wealthy person in the village called king's Abbot named Roger Acroyd. Mrs.Ferrars, who was the lover of Acroyd kills her first husband and herself later on, all the secrets of she harboured were to be revealed in the evening post but sadly roger is murdered on the same day.

'What were the guilty secrets she hold'?, 'who had been blackmailing her'? , 'had it really driven her to suicide'? , all of these questions get answered in a very shocking way.

Also , king's abbot is surrounded by other people which includes acroyd's pretty neice Flora, his stepson Ralph Paton, the respectable Dr.Sheppard and his sister Caroline , the village gossip.

They all remain  in the circle of suspicion including some servants too.

I think , Christie never disappoints and this another masterpiece proves that ;)

MY RATING- 4/5

Stranger trilogy by Novoneel chakraborty

Stranger trilogy by novoneel is my top most favorite trilogy by any indian author in genre of suspence-thrill.

Marry me , Stranger

This is the first book , which introduces us to the protagonist of the series named Rivanah Bannerjee who is a very talented and ambitious girl living in Kolkata, loved by her parents and boyfriend Ekansh.But things start changing the moment she shifts to Mumbai for her job.

She feels that someone is following her everywhere and knows her every moves,as the days pass , the stranger(called by rivanah) gets the control of Rivanah's life.

All yours, Stranger

The second book continues the mystery surrounding the stranger, the police even fails to nab him.She misses her ex Ekansh after being cheated by him.Although she manages to find a great friend in her roommate Ishita.As her story proceeds , she meets new people , some become too close to her, but the fact that still haunts her is who is the stanger? Why did he come to her life? What does he wants from her? She gets calls from him but most of the times numbers are changed.

Forget me not, Stranger

As Rivanah's journey continues in Mumbai, her life becomes hell, the mystery man or woman gains complete control over her life, she is forced to commit things which she didn't want in the first place.

She gets only one clue about her ex batchmate called Hiya choudhary which connects her to the stranger, but the problem is Hiya's dead.

What binds her to dead hiya, how does stranger knows about her?why he has been following her,who is the stranger? All these questions are gonna get answered in this final installment of the series.

This series is surely a page turner and the ending is most unpredictable;)

MY RATING-4.5/5