THE DECEMBER LIBRARY

 

Like everyone else I too was grief stricken when I got to know that for the next few months I wouldn’t be able to meet my friends, go to restaurants for dinner, have after-parties in shady clubs and then get scolded at by dad for coming home late but most of all I would miss going out the house at my convenience. But quarantine made me do what I have been wanting to do for months but couldn’t due to college and exams, read books. There was this big list that I had made of books that I wanted read in 2020 and today I can proudly say that I have been successfully been able to strike off each one of it.

 

Here’s a list of 5 enthralling books that you might enjoy too!

 

1. Raiders Of The North:Empire Of Moghul by Alex Rutherford
 First in the compelling series of novels of the sixteenth century Mogul dynasty, Raiders of the north is an arduous story of the start of the most powerful empires in history. A journey of the first mughal emperor Babur from a naive young boy to the ruler of Hindustan. You read about Babur in the Indian history textbooks at school but can never really make sense of why he did what he did. You are also clueless about what made him successful, what sort of a leader he was and the background he grew up in. The names-and-dates-and-battles history that’s normally taught is one dimensional. This book delves deep into vast areas and historical situations in this part of the medieval world, it is colourful, realistic (enough) and full of real, memorable, meaningful characters. It’s surprising to see howo Babur the man lived and loved and survived: among the wins, losses, heartbreaks and betrayals. For a history freak like myself, this book was a delight to read and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. 

 

2. Lanka’s Princess by Kavita Kanè

  From childhood we have been reading and hearing stories in which Surpanakha was portrayed as a villain but were given no reason as to why. This book changes or rather broadens your perspective by proving the fact that a person should never deduce conclusions by hearing one side. Lankas’s princess is a fairytale gone wrong story of Meenakshi, whose only fault was to be born as Ravana’s sister and what were the circumstances that lead to her being called Surpanakha. Was she really just perpetrator of war? Or was she a victim? Was she Lanka’s princess? Or was she the reason for its destruction. This book kept me indulged till the very last page.

 

3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

  Honestly one of the best books I’ve read. Period. Based in Afghanistan, A thousand splendid suns is the story of Mariam and Laila and how their lives were affected by war. Mariam was a child conceived outside of a wedlock. The story tells us how she was shunned her entire life by her family after the death of her mother and married off to a guy much older than her and on whose hands she faces domestic violence. Her life is changed when her husband marries Laila. Laila has been a given a story line of her own, coming from a broken family and separated from the guy she loves but fights her own destiny to reunite with him and give her children a better future. The book has happy but a tragic ending. TOTALLY BINGEWORTHY!!

 

 4. The Palace Of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

  It is typically Draupadi’s story, the epic Mahabharata from her perspective. Taking you back to time that is half history, half myth and wholly magical, the palace of illusions is the story of Panchaali the fireborn heroine of Mahabharata. Married to 5 princes who have been cheated of their land and palaces, the book shows Panchaali’s adaption from riches to rag and then rag to riches. The book chronicles her dreams, her rebellion, her choice and her struggle. Mahabharata is a male centred story but this book gives life to the female characters. It is a contemporary and timeless portrayal of Draupadi and a must read for all fiction lovers.

 

 5. Who Killed Shastri? by Vivek Agnihotri

 We read murder mystery’s and watch them too. But this was reality. The Prime minister of one of the largest democracies in the world dies a mysterical death. No one knows what caused his death, no autopsy or postmortem report, no one raises suspicion over how India’s prime minister who was in perfectly good health breathes his last. The narrative is simple but one finds it hard not to get touched by the author’s effort to seek the ever elusive truth. It is almost as if you are living the struggle of the author. A monologue investigative story which tempts you to turn page after page.

 

*book number 1 was recommended and borrowed from the library of my great-grandfather. I told him I was borrowing a book on the last mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zaffar when he budged in said that I should start at the very beginning and acquaint myself with the founder of the Mughal Dynasty. My choice of books has been majorly influneced by him and the magnificent forewords given by him*