I don't live in a grand house with the kind of home library you see in magazines and movies. Every part of my home seems like a good place to read a book—a comfortable chair by the window, a side table with a cup of tea, the couch in the living room or even my bed just before I fall asleep. Looking back over the decades, I have realised that it isn't the furniture or floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that matter. It's the simple and delightful habit of settling down with a book,

I can never guess the culprit in Agatha Christie novels until Hercule Poirot lays it all out at the end. Likewise, I didn’t see the twists coming in The Silent Patient (2019), even if at times they might have seemed obvious. Just not to me. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention; so absorbed was I in this cleverly crafted psychological thriller. Alex Michaelides’ debut novel, to use a cliché, pulls you in from the start with an unsettling theme: thirty-three-year-old Alicia Berenson

Happiness means different things to different people. Some see it as contentment and inner peace, others as intense joy and exuberance. Whatever the name, everyone wants happiness or a sense of joy in their lives. Yet, the irony is that those who could be happy if they chose to, often don’t; whereas those who chase happiness desperately find it elusive. And then there are those who simply don’t know how to be happy. That’s where books, among other things, help lift our spir

Whenever I’m out and about in Mumbai, or travelling to another city, I instinctively look for a bookstore first. It doesn’t matter whether it’s new, secondhand or a thrift store as long as it’s a place that sells books, where I can spend a couple of hours browsing and buying. Books, and especially comic-books, bring me joy. Sometimes, these literary literary excursions make me want to open a bookstore. It has been my dream since my twenties, when I became a serious reader.

Who wouldn’t love receiving a book as a gift for special occasions like Christmas or birthdays? Anyone who enjoys reading would agree that books are among the best gifts ever. I definitely do. My family often gifts me books, and even comic-books . And sometimes, I gift them to myself. It’s the one indulgence I allow myself freely, almost without a second thought. Festive seasons like Christmas are perfect for gifting books, including timeless classics like A Christmas Caro

Sukhakarta Dukhaharta, harbinger of light and dispeller of darkness, is one of the most popular aratis, or devotional songs and hymns, in...