All the amazing Books I read in November 2022

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There have been so many interesting books this year and not just fiction, but the non-fiction genre has also been very interesting. In case you are interested in the genre, here I give you the 13 non-fiction books I read this year, including the ones read in this month.

Readers of my generation are, I believe, very lucky that we are spoilt for choice among so many amazing releases every year and so many books already in the back list TBR. I hope this trend never ends and we continue receiving the many fascinating works through brilliant minds.

Let’s get to the wonderful works I read this month.

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Recent Reads November 2022

The Little Book of Hygge : The Danish way to live well by Meik Wiking

Several International researches and surveys have shown that the happiest country in the world, year on year is Denmark. How, even when they have summer only few months of the year and are given gloomy, rainy and cold weather most of the year, can the Danish still be the happiest in the world. What is their secret?

The Danish accord this happiness to just one thing: Hygge. So what is this Hygge? And how do we manifest it in our life? Read this book to change your life.

I thought all the things discussed and suggested were pretty every day and there was nothing ground-breaking about Hygge. A cold country like theirs will definitely benefit from candles and coffee and blankets, but this concept would not be applicable to tropical countries.

Shehla Masood : The Murder that shook the Nation by Hemender Sharma

Shehla Masood, an RTI activist and an environmentalist, was shot at point blank range on 11^th August 2011. Shehla was on a mission to expose corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

A beautiful Muslim girl, from a humble background, who chose to raise her voice. The Bhopal police automatically labeled that she might be of a loose character and that would have made her commit suicide. There was no headway in the case.

Then the matter was handed to the best team in the CBI. How they put the pieces of the puzzle together is a story worth recounting and reading about.

From Shehla’s past life, right upto the sentence meted out to the perpetrators, Hemendar Sharma takes us through the maze that is life and unfolds the many layers of the murder.   

Wise and Other Wise by Sudha Murthy

Sudha Murty shares her experiences in life through yet another book. The language is simple and easy. Even Older kids can read these stories.

The stories vary from light and funny ones (about dressing sense) to those on more serious topics like dowry. Some of them narrate the integrity of tribal people and some of them show the hypocrisy of city life.

Few of them are based on Murty's past life and childhood while most of them dwell on her experiences while working as a social worker and businesswoman.

Overall a read-worthy collection for anyone wanting to indulge in quick stories about life's lessons and morals..

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

After reading the blurb of this book I anticipated it to be a 5-star for me and I was wrong! This book deserves more than a 5-star rating. I think it’s going to be my number-one favorite read of the year.

But don’t be misled, it’s not a happy book. In fact, it’s very dark and disturbing, but the writing is so powerful and brilliant that I hope Danya Kukafka plans to write many more books.

This is the story of Ansel Packer who is sentenced to be executed in the next 12 hours for committing murder. The chapters are divided into hours and we are given Ansel’s thoughts in the second person. These hourly chapters are interspersed with chapters narrated by three women who were affected by Ansel. One is Lavender his mother, who tells Ansel’s birth and childhood story, how she had to forcefully abandon him to escape an abusive relationship.

Then there is Saffy/ Saffron who was with him in foster care and who grew up to be a police officer and is now working on his murder trial. And then there is Hazel, who is the twin sister of Ansel’s wife Jenny.  I’ll leave the synopsis at that because any more and I might be giving out spoilers.

In the end, the author leaves us with much to think about Ansel and that is the best part of the book I think. Nothing is coerced onto the readers, and all the characters have different feelings about Ansel.

I recommend that everyone, whether you are a mystery fan or not - read this book.

Uttara : The Book of answers by Arshia Sattar

The original text of the Ramayana consists of seven books. The first and the last books, Bala Kanda and Uttara Kanda, the author believes, were later additions to the remaining five Kandas. The text is narrative and uninspired while the middle five texts have poetic language and are poignant and imaginative.

The word Uttara has many meanings, among them, ‘after’, ‘epilogue’, ‘ultimate’, and ‘answer’. The Uttara Kanda performs the functions of all those meanings, the most important of it is to provide answers to all the questions that remain unanswered in the preceding texts.

Although the translation seems accurate the content in itself is unappealing. But the analytics presented by the author of the major incidents and their consequences on all the characters involved seem fitting, although the original text does not include any reasons whatsoever. 

Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh

We are running through the story of Dokkhin Rai, a demonic presence in the Sunderbans who manifests himself as a tiger to prey on Humans. In the story we encounter Dhona a rich merchant the uncle of Dukhey, a fatherless boy, poor but contently living with his mother. Dhona tempts Dukhey with the promise of riches and leaves him at the door of Dokkhin Rai in return for a treasure.

The plot is captivating no doubt, but the poetic narration is absolutely spell-binding and yet very easy to grasp. You are fully absorbed in the tale and are worried for Dukhey, and the dark illustrations by Salman Toor only further emphasize the sordid tale.

The poetry ends with a moral for all, I only wish it was longer.

Next up we have the last month of the year and I have plans of some exciting posts and some equally exciting books to read. So stay tuned and till then keep reading!