A casual enquiry into what some friends were reading threw up interesting names. You may like to try them too.

Journalist Shiny Varghese  says she is reading Rushdie’s latest, and is not completely enchanted by it. “At some point he stops telling the story, and then it’s only craft that carries you through the pages”. She is more enthusiastic about The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, about how a girl of 16 seduces a king. “Awesome and a page turner,” says Shiny who is now waiting to read a translation of the Tamil Zero Degree, by Charu Nivedita.

Some must reads…

Galileo’s Daughter – Dava Sobel

Apricots on the Nile –  Collette Rossant

Unaccustomed Earth – Jumpa Lahiri

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

Zero Degree – Charu Nivedita

The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco