Indian Readathon Wrap Up

Welcome to another post! Today, I’m going to be writing about the Indian Readathon that took place from Saturday 15th August to today, and everything I read/watched/listened to. Thank you so much to all the hosts for creating this readathon! I’ve learnt a lot and I have tons of Indian books and authors to add to my TBR list now. 

The Books

The Namesake: 3.5 ⭐

→ read the group book

→ contemporary, adult

→ 305 pages

The Namesake follows the Ganguli family as they move from India to America. It starts off from the perspective of the mother, Ashima, and her struggle in adapting to America. Then, the story follows her son Gogol Ganguli as he grows up and wrestles with his name and dual culture, which affects his identity and relationships.

Although I rated it 3.5 stars, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. That’s a 6/10! It’s still a very important book for giving me a new perspective. I also enjoyed the exploration of Gogol’s name and his reflections on it as he grew up, as well as the different perspectives in their family about their heritage and culture. However, I just wasn’t interested in the romances and some of the characters felt a bit flat? At times it did feel like a 500 pages book not a 300 page one as well, but if you’re okay with reading something quite slow I would definitely still recommend it.

The White Tiger: 3⭐

→ read a book set in India

→ contemporary, adult

→ 336 pages

The White Tiger is a social commentary on India with the story of Balram Halwai, who leaves his village on the River Ganges for a chauffeur job in Delhi. But Balram wants to be more than just a driver, a servant. He recounts how he tries to escape the class system and becomes a murderer on the way.

I’m not a big fan of this book. Adiga definitely succeeds in his job of criticising India, and while it might be necessary, it got tiring and the book dragged on a bit. I also didn’t really feel much for Balram, and although I sympathised with him, his actual character and voice felt artificial. Still, I rated it 3 stars because I did like the writing style (it’s very readable) and it wasn’t as slow paced as I was expecting.

Aru Shah and the End of Time: 4.5⭐

→ read a book based on Indian mythology

→ fantasy, middle grace

→ 320 pages

Aru Shah accidentally frees an ancient demon, the Sleeper, from a lamp, while proving her classmates wrong. Now it’s up to her to save the world from the Sleeper, with the help of a pigeon, her ‘sister’, and a few gods.

I loved this book! I haven’t read middle grade for ages and I wasn’t disappointed. The humour was everything and while it was light-hearted and fun, there were some deep moments. I felt really connected to the characters and the incorporation of Hindu mythology felt so natural- there wasn’t any information overload but I learned so much. It did feel almost rushed at the start though? I’m not sure how to explain it but everything happened very quickly. However, as I got more into the story I got used to it’s fast pace and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Sea of Poppies

I’m not going to rate or review this book, because I DNF’d it. I listened to it by audiobook after I realised I still had a lot of time left, but I rushed through it when I really wasn’t in the mood. I only remembered parts of what happened before, and forgot who all the characters were, so I’m going to go back to it another time and get a physical copy from the library or something. I think I’d like it if I pay attention!

The Movies

I didn’t watch quite as many films as I wanted to, but from recommendations I’ve got a lot to watch in the future! Here are a few I did watch this week:

Game Over

Game Over is a thriller (maybe?) about Swapna, a video game designer with PTSD, who is dangerously connected to a victim of a serial killer.

Firstly, I would say be careful watching this. There are lots of potential triggers, like sexual assault, murder (and decapitation…) and attempted suicide. While it is very gory at times, it was also very emotional. The film focuses around Swapna: her struggle with PTSD and processing the aftermath of sexual violence. This is not a light film at all but I did really enjoy it.

Shaandaar

After watching Game Over, I wanted to watch something stupid and fun, which is exactly what I got from rom-com Shaandaar. I don’t really like rom-coms but if you do you’d probably enjoy it more than I did. I didn’t know what was going on half the time, and I didn’t like the portrayal of insomnia but apart from that it’s just a weird, silly, cute? film.

The Music

I also listened to Indian music throughout the week, especially this recommended spotify playlist of Hindi songs. Definitely not what I’d normally listen to, but surprisingly I really liked it! I’ll keep this playlist saved.

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Thanks for reading! Did you take part in the Indian readathon?

—ella♥