Dear Reader,

Welcome to Kritikal Reading. 

Reading books can be many things: an escape, a lifestyle, an exercise, an entertainment, a regimen, or an education. For me, it’s all of these things and more. 

Reading books is how I often make sense of the world. 

You know those moments when you’re reading a story, and suddenly you see a part of you in a character? A speck of imperfection suddenly comes to light, and you think, “Oh, I thought I was the only one!” Such moments make me giddy. I LIVE for these moments. Like real people, characters endear themselves not because they are flawless but because of their quirks. 

What a privilege it is to be privy to the innermost thoughts of a fictional character and feel less alone. It is also a privilege when a person shares anecdotes of their real life and lessons learned across nonfiction (memoirs, biographies, journalism). 

As I set out to write this newsletter and send an edition each week, I hope you see this space as an homage to all the wonderful worlds that books have introduced me to. I hope you find some of your new favourite places and people, too! 

Tip: Bookmark/Star this email if you want to return to it later in the week (or in life!)  

What’s Lit this week?

In this section, I gather all the fun, juicy, and news-y updates related to books and publishing.

• And the Pulitzer goes to…

The novel James by Percival Everett, a retelling of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved Black man, won the Pulitzer Prize (very well-deserved! James was also on the Booker shortlist last year, ICYMI). I love retellings like these because they’re a testimony to the duality of classic literature: it stays relevant while also evolving.

We’re all finding the coverage by the NYT (I’ve shared a gift link) rather distasteful. No one likes to know how the sausage gets made. 

• May I interest you in some translations? 

Vivek Shanbag’s latest novel, Sakina’s Kiss, is out in the UK this week (published by Faber), and I am currently reading it. Vivek Shanbag’s previous book, Ghachar Ghochar, was translated almost a decade ago. And reading that novella shifted something inside me. It had all the enthralling elements of a quirky Indian family combined with the unsettling demonstration of human behaviour through fortunes and misfortunes. And a banger cover. 

It’s great to see all the love translations are getting these days. The International Booker awards translations and their longlists always bring new books and imprints to my radar. I’m reading Solenoid, Under the Eye of the Big Bird, and Heart Lamp from this year’s longlist. The winner will be announced on May 20th!

• Dua Lipa announces Still Born as her Book Of The Month! 

On a mini-bookshop hop with a dear friend in December last year, I bought us both copies of Still Born by Guadalupe Nette. Lately, I’ve been spotting a theme I am very intrigued by: women contemplating the meaning of motherhood. Is this something they want? Are they good mothers? Do they subscribe to the idea of motherhood society has imposed on them, or are they making this decision out of free will? How does the experience of motherhood vary across women? So I am keen to get into Still Born, a book that dives so meaningfully into these themes. 

Earlier this year, I read So Thrilled for You by Holly Bourne. The book featured a group of friends dealing with their varied realities: one struggling with the postpartum upheaval, one child-free with no intention of changing that status, another pregnant, and one struggling to conceive. When you juxtapose these realities, it has a dizzying effect, but one that leaves you feeling seen.

(Coincidentally, it's Mother’s Day today! Huzzah!)

As far as celebrity book clubs go, Dua Lipa’s Service95 is my favourite. She engages with the themes and text of the novels she reads in such depth, and then she asks savvy, thoughtful questions to the authors in her interviews. Her interviews with authors are a delight to watch (or hear, if you’re multitasking). It’s clear she’s running the book club for the pure joy of reading. 

And I’m not the only one! The whole world is talking about how adept an interviewer Dua is. See? Reading makes you better at so many things. 

• An Independent Press for … male authors

And from the publishing world, UK novelist Jude Cook has started Conduit Books, “an independent publisher that champions literary fiction by men.” 

At first, it felt like…a whiplash? A whirlwind? I don’t know how to describe what I felt when I first heard about this, but when you scratch the surface, the reasoning seems sound enough. So, yes, we are getting an indie publisher focusing on male writers. 

Just getting started on your reading journey? I’ve got you covered.

Maybe you resolved to read more this year, or you want to read a book before the movie is out, or you are about to join a book club. For whatever reason you set out on your reading journey, I couldn’t be happier for all the possibilities you’re about to unlock.  

But instead of doling out starter book recommendations, I urge you to ask yourself the following questions.

• Read for your inner child

  Is there a book or story from your childhood — recall any school library or textbook reading — that you remember loving? Is there a story that you still remember? These stories can tell us a lot about your preferences, what you choose to remember from all the texts you read. (It was Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice for me!)

• Read with abandon

  Where are you finding book recommendations? Friends with similar tastes? This newsletter? On your social media feed? Are you visiting a physical bookstore, browsing, and asking the staff for recommendations? Take all the recommendations and let yourself be influenced as long as there’s a solid reasoning behind the recommendation. At this stage, you are figuring out your tastes, so you need to read without being cautious. Which brings us to the next point.

• Read widely

  If you’re just starting out, don’t worry about the technical questions: what genre should I read? Which author will I like? Should I read books that talk about modern issues only? Should I be a serious reader? Should I only learn from self-help books? (Spoiler: you will learn a lot from fiction, maybe even more than most self-help books, no offence to the genre). These are limiting questions. I read at least 10 genres in any given year, more than 30 authors, discover at least 10 new authors each year…all of this can’t happen if I restrict myself.

  And there’s another good reason.

• Read for all moods

  Don’t get me wrong—I am always in the mood for reading, but some days, I want light reading, some days I want to be consumed by a thriller, other days I want to sob my eyes out over contemporary fiction, then there are slow reading days when I want to re-read an old classic, and now and then, I want my mind jumbled by a weird literary fiction. It’s how I ended up with a “Currently Reading” list of 10+ books, but a big reason I am able to read all the books I do is that I never force myself to finish a book right away. I respect my moods. Think of it as a balanced diet, but for words.

Bookings of the week

This is the section where I discuss my book escapades and adventures from the week. 

• Bookstore adventures

Last week, I stopped by two bookstores in Chandigarh. I knew Bahrisons would be a blast (after all, Blue Tokai Coffee is right on the premises), but I was pleasantly surprised by this little indie set-up next to it called The Browser. They had a fantastic collection, including some hard-to-find titles. 

Highly recommend chasing local and independent bookstores whenever you visit a new city. These bookstores have character. 

• Recent Recommendations

Are you a fan of throwbacks? Do you like a dose of nostalgia in your stories? Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley might be the book for you. Set in the early to late 2000s, this novel follows Percy as she navigates the world from college, to some landmark moments in history, like 9/11 and the recession, through her one true love: music. 

Deep Cuts is a story meant to be adapted to the screen. The book has all the best parts of some recent favourite books: the musical landscape similar to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six, the coming-of-age sentiment of Lily King’s Writers and Lovers, the second chance trope like Elissa Sussman’s Funny You Should Ask, the complicated dynamic of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, and Zoe’s existence in the trio reminiscent of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. (That’s Comp Titles for ya! Comparison title is a term used in the publishing world when authors/agents pitch their books based on existing books similar to their own in terms of genre, style, themes, or target audience.)

Coming Up Next

I am creating a section (work-in-progress) where you can ask me for specific book recommendations. Think of it as an advice column, but for reading. I will test it on my friends (my adorable beta testers for all hijinks I pull off) first, then launch it.

Soon you’ll be able to get some curated recommendations. How does that sound? 

In the meantime, stay connected with me on my Instagram. More fun updates to follow!

Thank you for signing up for Kritikal Reading! It’s a pun! On my name! 

A small introduction: I am Kritika. I have been writing and talking about books online since 2013 (when personal blogspot blogs were a thing; I am ancient!) Professionally, I am a freelance content marketer for tech companies and nonprofits. 

I’m as hooked on coffee as I am on books. I’m doubling down on my book advocacy because I firmly believe that “I’m not a reader” is a temporary phase; you just haven’t found your perfect book. Kinda like love? I hope I can introduce some people to their book-lomls.