Reading, ah the joys of it. The sheer tranquillity of sitting in a corner, unbothered and aloof, while you sip your beverage of choice. In this fast-paced and digitally dominated world, the outright privilege of being able to afford the same is a huge rarity and so, our Goodreads goals have themselves given up because of our infrequency to honour them.
But a trend that’s cropped up recently, is the rise of Bookstagram accounts on Instagram. Bookstagram is one of the surprisingly sane sides of the platform which has managed to retain a semblance of what I call a utile content offering. Don’t get me wrong, the very act of literary recommendations has always been at the core of social media. But what’s different now, is the trend of maintaining an ‘aesthetic’ and colour scheme by opting for a selective set of presets or shooting in probably the poshest cafe with the costliest mahogany table for the ~aesthetic.~ There are several such accounts which may or may not do the mahogany trick, but they sure do have an impressive list of recommendations.
Here’s a list to get you started:
1. Spoonful Of Pages
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Aamna recommends Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian and the title plus the cover design is reason enough to convince me that this is going to be my next read. Marriages in the South Asian diaspora are a SAGA and this book discusses the good, the bad and the ugly.
2. Pretty Little Bibliophile
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Nayanika coming through with her desi dark academia fantasy recommendation titled Sisters of The Snake. If the newfound family trope and forbidden romances rock your boat, this is the one.
3. Books & Teaa
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Shumaila’s pick for you is Daughters Of Partition by Fozia Raja. This tale does a fantastic job of unearthing the gruesome terrors of the partition and preserves oral history via a medium that has now been immortalised.
4. Reader Viddh
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Vidhya Thakkar wants you to read: What We Pass On To Our Daughters. It explores family dynamics and a mother-daughter relationship and questions generational practices that often get swept under the rug. On my way to buy a copy.
5. Chai Books & The Moon
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Shiva Shanti, the force behind this account recommends Rising Like A Storm by Tanaz Bhathena. It’s an Indian fantasy novel inspired by our mythological history and is a second and final installment in The Wrath Of Ambar.
6. Read A Day Club
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The account is jointly run by Amreen Dhurue & Ayesha Dhurue along with a Youtube channel that discusses the books in great depth. Here, they’re recommending a collection of short stories by Satyajit Ray which is best devoured alongside a cup of chai or coffee!
7. Nupur Flip A Leaf
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Nupur recommends Jhumpa Lahiri, need I say anything more? This book emphasises on the love affair between the author and a language foreign to her, i.e., Italian and the obsession that follows- great plotline to get anyone hooked!
I also wrote about mothers and rebelling daughters here!
