Book shelf

My love affair with books started at a rather tender age. Since then, I haven’t been able to step into a bookstore without walking out with at least one book! Given that I’m always immersed in a book, I figured it would be a good idea to list out the books I read each month, loosely sorted by genre. All the books are starred on a scale of 1-4, and I’ve provided links to the books that I’ve reviewed here. If you’re wondering what to read next, why not take a look at the book list below and see if something piques your interest? Happy reading!

NOTE: As of 2022, I have moved my reading list to Goodreads. You can connect with me there.

Scale: * Thrash it! ** Bearable *** Interesting **** Engrossing


Literary Fiction

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood ****

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood ****

Against the Loveless World – Susan Abhulhalwa ****

Memories of my Melancholy Whores – Gabriel Garcia Marquez ***

All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr ****

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell – Nadia Hashimi ****

The Cellist of Sarajevo – Steven Galloway ****

The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christy Lefteri ****

Norse Gods – Neil Gaiman ****

Historical fiction

The Empress – Laura Martรญnez-Belli ****

The Silence of the Girls – Pat Barker ****

The Painter from Shanghai – Jennifer Cody Epstein ****

Nefertiti – Michelle Moran ****

The Dragon Queen trilogy – William Andrews **** (Daughters of the Dragon, Spirit of the Dragon, The Dragon Queen)

Madame Tussaud – Michelle Moran ****

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows****

The King’s Last Song – Geoff Ryman ***

Conqueror series โ€“ Conn Iggulden ***** (Conquerer, Bones of the Hills, Empire of Silver, Birth of an Empire, Lords of the Bow)

Pearl Of China – Anchee Min ****

General Fiction

The Kabul Beauty School – Deborah Rodriguez ***

Still Alice – Lisa Genova ****

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman ****

Ape House – Sara Gruen ****

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid ****

Sugarland – Martha Conway ****

Three Souls – Janie Chang ****

The Spy – Paulo Coelho ***

The Scent Keeper – Erica Bauermeister ****

Thrillers

Night Film – Marisha Pessl ****

The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair – Joel Dicker ****

The Light Between Oceans – M.L. Stedman ****

Time for Tanechka – N.A. Milliongton ****

Those in Peril – Wilbur Smith ***

Watch Over Me – Jane Renshaw ****

A Cure For Madness – Jodi McIsaac ****

Fantasy, dystopia and YA

The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern ****

The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden ****

Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters – Nikita Gill ****

Game of Thrones series – George R. R. Martin **** (Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow, A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Saenz Benjamin Alire ****

Beltane – Alys West ****

The Storm Witch – Alyst West ****

The Vine Witch –  Luanne G. Smith **** 

The Glamourist –  Luanne G. Smith ****

The Conjurer – Luanne G. Smith ****

The Golem and the Djinni – Helene Wecker ****

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer ****

The Gospel of Loki & The Testament of Loki by Joanne Harris ****

Indian/Sri Lankan/Pakistani authors

Mistress – Anita Nayar ****

Wind Horse – Kaushik Barua ****

Seahorse – Janice Pariat ****

Magical Women – Sukanya Venkatraghavan ****

Dark Things – Sukanya Venkatraghvan ****

The Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ****

The Merman and the Book of Power – a quissa – Musharraf Ali Farooqi ***

Peace Has Come – Parismita Singh ****

Romance & Women’s Fiction

Water for Elephants – Sarah Gruen ****

South of the Buttonwood Tree – Heather Webber ****

Roseheart – Catherine Dehdashti ***

Recipes for a Perfect Marriage – Kate Kerrigan ****

Kalopsia – Lucinda Lamont **

The Rain Sparrow – Linda Goodnight ***

Self-development & Spirituality

Blessed Are The Weird – Jacob Nordby ***

The Book of Ichigo Ichie – Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles ****

The Dalai Lama’s Cat – David Michie ****

Deep Work – Cal Newport ****

The Bullet Journal Method – Ryder Carrol ****

The Dance – Oriah ****

Biographies & Memoirs

Wild – Cheryl Strayed ***

Tawaifnama – Saba Dewan ****

Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert ****

Buck – MK Asante ****

84 Charring Cross Road – Helene Hanff ****

Becoming – Michelle Obama ****

Empire of the Indus – Alice Albinia ****

The Diary of Anais Nin Vol 1 & 2 ***

The Far End of Happy – Kathryn Craft ****

Graphic novels/comics

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen – Lucy Kinsley ****

Manga Classics: Les Miserables – Victor Hugo ****

Tintin and Herge ****