Book Challenge 2026

This challenge is an attempt to finish reading my overflowing stack of (un)stacked books! So, I will read atleast 1 book a month.

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June 2026 - Once Upon A Town

Such a warm, comforting, hug and a throwback to nostalgic childhood memories. You can literally smell the aroma of the filter coffee and hear the dosas sizzling in ‘The Famous Indira Bhavana’, the tangy mango slices with salt and chilli in ‘The Platform Below the Mango Tree’ and the lull of a lazy afternoon in ’Tea Time Before Dusk’.

These collection of short stories, set in a small town, bring out the small-town atmosphere perfectly - imperfections included. I like how the stories are interconnected, making it read as a cohesive whole. The beautiful illustrations suitably bring out the small-town vibe. Each story has something which reminds you of your childhood and makes you chuckle. For example, I still remember what ‘adjusting the antenna on top of the TV’ in ‘The Nine O’clock News’ meant, or the excitement and waiting for a brand-new, ‘imported Walkman’ in ‘The Purchase That Never Was’ was, and the thrill when ’the Walkman’ finally appeared in my house.

All the stories deliver moral values through narration of simple, ordinary everyday life events, making it a valuable read for children too.

In today’s fast paced world, where small-town experiences and relationships are becoming increasingly rare, these stories leave the heart warm, yet longing for a time that has long gone and for a slower-paced life.

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April 2026 - Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

My first Japanese book, and I'm already in love with Japan! 

The Morisaki Bookshop brings back nostalgic memories of Blossom Book House in Church Street, Bangalore, India - I loved that store...time does stand still at bookstores, especially the older, secondhand ones, not so much the fancier, coffee-style ones. 

Jimbocho Book Town, Tokyo, the secondhand book district where the Morisaki Bookshop is located, gives somewhat similar vibes to Church Street - busy, crowded, narrow lanes filled with busy, crowded stores and cafes. Also, the Kanda Used Book Festival, to which the author refers to - an annual event held in Jimbocho, might also seem similar to the Kala Ghoda Festival in Mumbai, India...I totally dig those vibes!

The book somehow evoked a sense of calmness and peace when reading it, especially Part 1, not so much Part 2. Part 1 totally fits the description, Part 2 - not so much. Part 2 seems like a part of a regular novel, not much tied to the Morisaki Bookshop itself; it should have focused and continued more on Takako's new life in Jimbocho. 

It is a charming and simple book; the charm is in the simplicity itself. Simple but thought-provoking. For example, consider these excerpts from the book:

"We live our lives trying to find our way." - says Satoru to Takako

True - while on the way to finding our way, life gets lived...when you near the end of the way, you realize - oh, life just slipped away...so don't do too much finding, start LIVING!

"That’s when I finally realized it wasn’t just a question of where I was. It was about something inside me." - says Satoru to Takako

So true. We may travel the world, live in different places, have different experiences, which may alter our perspectives, way of thinking and living etc..but at the very core, you ARE what you ARE INSIDE of you.

“I don’t think it really matters whether you know a lot about books or not. That said, I don’t know that much myself. But I think what matters far more with a book is how it affects you.” - says Wada to Takako

Bingo! And this book seemed to have a serene, tranquil, thoughtful effect on me. All in all, a good, peaceful read. Slightly off putting is that sometimes, the translation seems a bit off and choppy and the sentences seem to lack depth - I don't know if this is the author's intention or a translation problem.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next Kanda Used Book Festival, what about you?

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March 2026 - NIL

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Sorry guys, no book review this month, as I was having bouts of sickness, which made reading difficult.

Yes, challenges are hard indeed, and very sad when you cannot completely finish them due to sickness :(

I'm doing much, much better now, look out for April's book review.

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February 2026 - The Raj on the Move, by Rajika Bhandari

I loathed History in school - I don’t think I need to mention the reasons why. However, now, as an immigrant abroad, books about the history and culture of my home country India have started to fascinate me.

I had only vaguely heard about Circuit Houses/Dak Bungalows; I have never visited one, so for me, this book was an eye-opener and definitely a page turner! This is a well researched book about the history and current state of Dak Bungalows, built during the British Raj, to accommodate the officers and their memsahibs (and their tortuous travels), as they toured the country to perform their administrative jobs.

I like how the author touches upon the architecture, food, and the Anglo-Indian community; although I would have preferred more detailed, in-depth chapters about them. The stories about the crazy khansama, the romantic setting described by a Lady Lawrence in a Dak Bungalow in a remote forest in Astoli, the furniture and the entries in the visitor book - all describe an era long forgotten.

I do have a small recommendation for the flow/structure of the book - I prefer if the author had interspersed her travel accounts with the historical narratives, rather than bunching them together in sections at the end of the book. However, all in all, a must-read for those interested in non-fiction books during the British Raj.

Now, I want to visit atleast one Dak Bungalow, especially in Madhya Pradesh, on my next visit to India!

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Jan 2026 - City Adrift

I love books about cities, and this one does not disappoint. I was expecting a book romanticizing Bombay or it’s mafia world, but this book presents a no-nonsense view of it, peppered with personal accounts and wit. The book gives an overarching view of Bombay, from it’s birth, it’s history, the present times and ending with a grim view of it’s future. The genesis of Bombay is novel, the end times not so much.

Never having truly lived in Bombay, just a visitor though the decades, even I can tell the difference, the changing tide of the city. The ‘spirit of Bombay’ that the author refers to, seems more like apathy

today. The same ‘spirit’ which built the city up and carried it through adversities, is now the same ‘apathy’ which might bring it down, make it adrift. The ‘worker class’ definition too has changed and is no longer ‘looked up to’ (is what I feel), given the rise in today’s work from home culture, different types and cultures of work and rise in solopreneurship. Like the author says - it is not the Bombay of the movies, of course! Nowadays, one doesn’t necessarily have to migrate to a ‘big city’ to make it ‘big’. The author is concerned about townships and real-estate sharks eating up old cottages; one gets a sense of longing for a past slowly vanishing - sad but true, and it’s not happening in Mumbai alone (the switch from Bombay to Mumbai comes naturally to me, a non-Bombayite).

The author feels the sea link will increase the gap further between the rich and poor. But, in a city where often times the boundary between the rich and poor is just a boundary wall (or lack of it), will a sea link really increase the gap? Or is this an example of the Bombay ’apathy’?

Food for thought, indeed.