#1// free books + excellent movies to make stay-at-home better

Reading in Isolation...

Dear Reader,
Still in the midst of a pandemic, aren’t we? Are you able to read at all? I couldn’t. Neither the comforts of old favourites nor the new titles would excite me at first. After rather long weeks of Bollywood gangster movies and K-dramas, I finally warmed up to books. If you were in a slump like me or if you are new to reading because of the turn of events, this list of Books to help you defeat reading slumps that I wrote for Huffpost India might come handy. Those on a budget, worry not. I have compiled a list of 10 places to get free books for quarantine reading. Grab them hot before they are gone. Spoiler — some excellent translations and audiobooks to indulge in + how to get free subscriptions to Mubi, Curiosity Stream and more.
 

Books I wish I’d read sooner

Necessary People by Anna Pitoniak (2019)

My goodness! This is everything I hope a good novel could be. I read Necessary People earlier this year and immediately regretted not having picked it up sooner. It is pacy, thriller-like about two bffs in a classic rich-girl-poor-girl twist. The rich, beautiful Manhattan blonde (Stella) and the responsible, hardworking girl on a scholarship (Violet) are best friends. Post-college, Violet struggles her way up her dream media job while Stella skates in smooth with her charm and family name (and pretty face).  You will be vaguely reminded of Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton, but Necessary People is much more wholesome, campy, deceptive and thick of drama (sibling rivalry, professional rivalry, trying family situations, love triangles). It is also thought provoking about ambitions, privilege and career oriented women. So good! I rated it 5 stars because it had been a while since a book consumed all my living thoughts.

Everything Under by Daisy Johnson (2018)

Daisy Johnson’s Sisters — a horror novel (currently reading it; fantastic so far) — is published in a few months. It would be a wise idea to read or re-read her Man Booker shortlisted debut novel, Everything Under (which made her the youngest nominee in the history of the prize). It is broody, gloomy, and rhythmic (“clicks and cracks in the night”, “endlessly, excavate, exhume what should remain buried”). Tarot readers meddling with fate, an invented language between a mother (Sarah) and daughter (Gretel), Marcus who was Margot first, abandoned daughters, adopted children, memories and forgetfulness bind together this Oedipal retelling set in and around Oxfordshire. There’s a scene where Sarah, appears behind Marcus while he is playing beside the river. I shrieked as if a strange hand had touched my shoulder  — that’s how absorbing the words and atmosphere of Daisy Johnson are. 

Reading in Isolation

Health before everything else! Since bookstores are closed and delivery by online retailers is paused because of Covid, I suggest reading from your own shelves or binge-ing on e-books and audiobooks.
 

For audiobooks, magazines and e-books, I have been using Scribd for many years now (here is an old post about the good and bad). I've been happy with Scribd because of the access to new releases (especially some that are too pricey in India), books by small press and of course cookbooks! Don't go by what I say — You can try it out for free and decide. And if you use my Invite Link, you'll get two months of the service for free! Of course, you can simply cancel the subscription after your free trial if you don't like it at all. But do give it a try. It really amped up my reading. You can read UNLIMITED books every month. A few books are region specific, but Scribd has still been very useful for me. There are added benefits like access to curated movies (Mubi), excellent documentaries (Curiosity Stream), ConTV+Comics and more. So a free trial is a win-win I think.
(PS: My link gives me points for a referral but comes at no extra cost to you)

Sign up for TWO months of FREE Scribd using my Invite Link. 

On the blog

It has been a busy time on The Book Satchel since its redesign and launch. Here are the latest posts:
- 10 places to get excellent books and translations to read for free

- Two Japanese Cozy mysteries by Seishi Yokomizo — Agatha Christie meets Sherlock Holmes for pure vintage-y fun. Yokomizo wedges a socio-economic commentary between big mansions, rich families, secrets, heirs (a tad too many), curses and bloody murders. Perfect if you’ve been craving Christie mysteries. 

- For movie night, Stream these 9 Malayalam movies that deserve more attention. My heart is full from messages of those who loved the films they picked from here. Excellent movies I say (again)!

- Book Review : The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan. Set in Japan, with a strong Murakami-esque vibe — lost cats, strange men, and ghosts — and featuring a well written trans character, this one was a 5 star read for me.

- The Best book covers from India 2019 features book cover designs that you cannot stop staring at! I want Rheaa Mukherjee’s The Body Myth framed.
 

Other amazing links on the internet

We are One - A ten-day global film festival on Youtube co-curated by 20 film festivals around the world. It runs from May 29 - June 7, 2020.
New short story ‘True Love’ by Daisy Johnson (Aitken Isolation series) made me go OHHHH
Megha Majumdar in Conversation with Margaret Atwood on ‘The Science of Storytelling’. There’s also Atwood’s quarantine diary (The Guardian)
Rethinking productivity in a pandemic by Neerja Deodhar (Firstpost)
Read a cookbook like a book-book by Amanda Shapiro (Bon Appetit) 
Love in the time of a pandemic by Pritika Rao (Soup)
Funny looping animations of life under quarantine. Design by Clim Studio (Behance)
Best Cartoons about Quarantine and Self Isolation (Time Out)

This letter was drafted at a happier time. We lost two great actors, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, in a span of two days. May their souls rest in peace. Yesterday I broke down hearing about Irrfan Khan's death. To me, he will always be Saajan Fernandes, the stand-offish Bandra man (The Lunchbox). I loved this tribute to Irrfan Khan (The Wire) , Mira Nair's friendship with him (The New York Times) and this interview published in April where he asks us to be kind.

That’s all for now. If nothing interests you, neither movies nor books nor those free classes you signed up for, let it be. We aren’t on vacation. You are allowed to not do anything at all. And just be.
Remember Anne Enright’s wise words,
 
“Honestly, there is a lot to be said for tooling about all day, looking up recipes and not making them, not bothering to paint the living room and failing to write a novel. In the middle of the messy non-event called your mid-afternoon, you might get something – a thought to jot down, a good paragraph, a piece of gossip to text a pal. Boredom is a productive state so long as you don’t let it go sour on you. Try not to confuse the urge to get something done with the idea that you are useless. Try not to confuse the urge to contact someone with the thought that you are unloved. Do the thing or don’t do it. Either is fine.”
(From Writers on Lockdown life - The Guardian)

Stay safe.
Until next time,
Resh x


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