#Book Review : The Chowpatty Cooking Club by Lubaina Bandukwala

The Chowpatty Cooking Club is a thoughtful and quietly powerful middle-grade novel published by Duckbill Books, a publisher known for curating meaningful and well-researched children’s literature. The book is part of Duckbill’s special collection, Freedom Song, which brings alive the Indian freedom struggle through the voices and experiences of children across the country. Set in Bombay in 1942, during the Quit India Movement, the story is narrated through diary entries written by Sakina, a young girl who desperately wants to contribute to the fight for independence. Along with her friends Zenobia and Mehul, Sakina lives in a city buzzing with …

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Book Review: There’s a Ghost in My Room: Living with the Supernatural by Sanjoy K. Roy

I met Sanjoy K. Roy for the first time at the second edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, where I already knew him as a literary connoisseur. What I hadn’t realised then was what a beautiful and engaging writer he is. I must admit, I had my moments of doubt before picking up There’s a Ghost in My Room: Living with the Supernatural. I am not a reader who enjoys creepy, gory, or bizarre stories. However, while returning from JLF 2026, I noticed the book at the airport and managed to get a good deal on it. I remember thinking, …

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#Book Review: Abscond by Abraham Verghese

Abscond by Abraham Verghese is a poignant short story that explores loss, grief, shifting relationship dynamics, and the search for identity in the aftermath of death. In a brief yet powerful narrative, Verghese captures how a single loss can fracture a family and force its members to confront themselves in unexpected ways. The story centres around a small family of three whose lives are irrevocably altered when the father passes away. His death leaves behind a household overwhelmed by grief and emotional disarray. The son, struggling to process his loss, begins to define himself through the rituals he performs during …

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