Magic Moments

Ismat Chughtai is a very renowned name in Urdu literature. Since the last few years I have come across reviews and recommendations of her works, especially her short stories revolving around female characters from different spheres of life and societal status. I am grateful for the different translated versions available, that I am able to read her works. Translated literature is just so important to delve into the essence of a culture, the ethos of its people and learn more about the world that it encapsulates. This particular collection is selected and translated by M.Asaduddin. As the 14-pages introduction to the collection goes, Ismat Chughtai is ‘ Urdu’s most courageous and controversial writer ’. Her pieces expressed female desires like no other during her times, they thwarted patriarchy, took real life socio-political observations and made a commentary out of it through stories and fictional characters, which showed the society a mirror. Doesn’t that intrigue you enough to read

I have been reading a lot recently - fiction of course- novels of mystery and suspense. For when the real world is in chaos and devoid of good news and we are cocooned inside the safety of our houses, what else can one turn to but fiction. Fiction soothes, gives solace to the mind agitated with the current times and news and social media updates.  Mystery is my go-to genre in novels. I am always hunting for awesome thrillers, that build up the suspense and revelation towards the end is just mind-blowing. But when you read a lot in one genre, books tend to disappoint most of the times. So now-a-days I rely on the bookstagram community - I save the posts as 'to-read' for future reference. And following are the three of them that I read recently. 1. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson I cannot swallow anything too dark, even murder mysteries. Crime fiction do not suit me, unless it is just about solving them - the investigator's point of view instead of the killer's. I