Beyond the Book

  In the age of the internet and the ever-increasing influence of social media in our lives, every once in a while the reader in me finds herself picking up a book that was unsurprisingly recommended to me through "Tik-Tok" exported reels. She goes to a bookstore with utter and all-embracing faith in the opinion of an individual living hundreds of miles away and usually, it ends badly for her.  The Secret History is a well-known celebrity on the internet which, unfortunately, did end badly for me. It starts off with the narrator Richard Pappin describing the one and the only story he can ever tell- the story of how Bunny got murdered. When Richard lands in Vermont, a thickly forested State in the northeastern United States, his attention is caught by a group of eccentric individuals obsessed with Greek and the riches of their respective families. Soon our narrator finds himself lying his way to become a part of something that ultimately leads him to be partly responsible for ...

  A reading slump often plagues one's life numerous times and a catchy title with a beautiful cover as this book is probably one that gets you out of it. A book reader unknowingly (knowingly for that matter) always has certain standards to judge a book and obviously, Sally Rooney set those for me. And to my sheer surprise (and extreme joy) Coco Mellors has done a brilliant job with her writing and characters. Cleo and Frank are funnily, two people who had similar experiences as children mostly characterized by absent parents and a traumatizing childhood but they are different in age and behavior. One would say age is just a number, but when Cleo, a British artist, marries Frank who is twenty years older than her and a man of success, things take a turn for the bad. I have to be honest, you really have to put some stereotypical notions on your side table as you turn the pages of the book. The story brings out the characters in Cleo and Frank's life and the tumultuous consequence...

  The Love Hypothesis is like any other book that has been labeled as a "Tik Tok sensation". There are certain expectations that one holds from a story that revolves around the same plot of a brooding man meeting the happy-go-lucky woman yet Hazelwood manages to strike a balance between the banality of the trope and the logic it follows. A romance novel is probably one of the most difficult genres to get right and I cannot help but appreciate a writer who can escape the rigidity of this trope to create something niche. The most striking feature probably is the fact that the author herself is an Italian neuroscience professor who writes romance novels (it's so bizarre that I write this sentence with a confusing smile on my face).  Olive is an extremely brilliant third-year Ph.D. candidate at Stanford who works like the world might end tomorrow. She loves science but her love for sugary drinks precedes it. Her rational thinking and the ability to reason only on the basis of...

  "Book-tok" has the ability to fit certain book titles in your head and you surely end up reading them because hello, fomo?? The Spanish Love Deception is one of those books that gives so much away from the title itself but you have to give it to Elena Armas for creating so much more with the simple and steaming trope of enemies to lovers. Armas has the capability of enriching the plot with her writing, especially with a trope that is so common and a big cliche which makes it an absolute gamble to play with.  Catalina or Lina is a hardworking Spanish woman who is unbelievably cheerful for an engineer (sorry but it's true). While all aspects of her life, and especially her career are absolutely thriving, her love life seems to be in the opposite direction and possibly moving towards a dead-end. What makes things even worse for her is the upcoming wedding of her sister where the best man is her ex with whom things ended on an extremely sour note. A call with her mother ta...

  All The Light We Cannot See is one of those books that gives away nothing about its plot and the sheer size of the book might make you want to keep it on your bookshelf for months while it gathers dust only to pick it up one day and have your mind blown by the tenacity, innocence, and faith of the characters.  Werner Pfennig, an orphan from Germany is a boy with curious blue eyes and hair as white as snow. His curiosity leads him to discover the workings of radios and transmitters which further nudges him into the world of the German elite and eventually being enlisted during the Second World War. Marie-Laure is a kind, extremely intelligent, and curious girl who is robbed of her eyesight at the age of six but her disability never stops her from learning about the world and what it has to offer. She lives in Paris with her father who works at the Museum of Natural History which exposes Marie-Laure to a wide range of specimens that intrigue her and only increase her appetite ...

  This is one of the few times where I stumbled upon a book thanks to the excellently made movie adaptation of it (there's Kate Winslet omg!!). The Reader made me bawl my eyes out like an angry crier while also making me susceptible to the inner workings of what exactly is moral behavior when it comes in conflict with feelings of love and adoration.  Micheal Berg, at the young age of fifteen, falls ill on his way home and is rescued by a woman named Hanna Schmitz who is not only kind enough to comfort him but also walks him home. After recouping from his illness, he finds himself immensely attracted to this woman who is twice his age while also fearing the chance of being reprimanded by her. Soon enough, Micheal is involved in an affair with Hanna which makes him forget about everything a fifteen-year-old should be doing (and not be doing). While talking about school, Hanna asks Micheal to read to her which goes on to become an essential part of their routine. As soon as the t...

  Holly Black has proven herself to be a prolific writer of the genre of fantasy by giving her readers the most spectacularly exhilarating experience in the last book of The Folk of the Air series. The Queen of Nothing i.e., the power-hungry and fierce protagonist Jude, is under exile and suddenly stripped of the power she once dreamt of acquiring.  Jude Duarte after successfully navigating through the treacherous waters of the High Court of the Faerie has managed to halt the conflict between the land and the sea but finds herself in a position of no power unlike before. Under exile in the human world, she despises herself for being too trusting which results in her losing her position as seneschal in the High Court of King Cardan as well as her unrelenting control over him. While she bides her time afflicted with feelings of betrayal and anger, she finally finds an opportunity to sneak back into the magical world of the Faerie when her twin sister, Taryn, is faced with deep t...