(Image Credit: Penguin.com) Greg Heffley, a teenaged boy is sandwiched at home between his three-year-old brother Manny, who has an uncanny knack for prying open Greg’s mischief before his parents, and Rodrick, a bully of an older brother who drives the entire household nuts with his heavy metal drills and drums. Part of a band … Continue reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – Jeff Kinney  

(Image Credit: http://www.netgalley.com) With exquisitely aesthetic illustrations by Ruby Taylor, "Freddie Mercury" by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, is a breezy introduction to the melodies and magic of one of the greatest ever legends to have graced the domain of rock music. The book is an enticing appetiser to the musically minded young teen who is … Continue reading Freddie Mercury – Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

(Image Credit: http://www.goodreads.com) 172338. A number not just tattooed on the skin of a human being, but a travesty indelibly seared in living memory. Abraham Salomon Jakubowicz a.k.an Eddie Jaku, was prisoner No. 172338 in the now infamous Auschwitz concentration camp which was established by Hitler’s Nazis to first strip a teeming mass of humanity … Continue reading The Happiest Man on Earth  – Eddie Jaku

(Image Credit: Kalachuvadu Publications) First published in 1970, Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (“Certain Human Beings in Certain Times), not only won Jayakanthan a Sahitya Academy Award, but also ensured that his name endures in perpetuity in the pantheons of Tamil Literature. A blisteringly unsparing exposition of human character, Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal  is a peek … Continue reading Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal  – Jayakanthan

(Image Credit: Vanathi Pathippakam) A compendium of short stories, written in the thirties (with the exception of the concluding story that was penned in 1948), Sirippum Kanneerum, in addition to laying bare the exemplariness of Kalki as a master storyteller, also provides an insight into the visionary thinking of an author who was way ahead … Continue reading Sirippum Kanneerum – Amarar Kalki

(Image Credit: http://www.amazon.com) Visceral, like a river in full spate, Abitha is an ode to a craftsman who products come alive in his magically dexterous hands. The writings of Lalgudi Saptarishi Ramamrutham, simply known as ‘La Sa Ra’ were introduced to me by my uncle, who also happens to be a voracious reader. While recommending … Continue reading Abitha – Lalgudi Saptarishi Ramamrutham

(Image Credit: goodreads.com) Saa Viswanathan, popularly known as “Saavi”, once witnessed a group of foreigners attending the famous Thayagarajar music festival in the town of Thiruvaiyyar before finding himself besides with laughter within the confines of a movie hall that played Walt Disney Productions’ “The Absent-Minded Professor”. These two mutually exclusive events inspired in combination … Continue reading Washingtonnil Thirumanam

(Image Credit: Thirumagal Nilayam) Interspersing his magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, the Sahitya Academy Award winning Alai Osai, and the magnificent Sivagamiyin Sapatham, are a few small gems that lend an insight into the versatility of Kalki as a formidable writer of the contemporary in addition to being a maestro of historical fiction. Kalvanin Kaadhali (Burglar’s … Continue reading Kalvanin Kaadhali

(Image Credit: noexitpress.co.uk) The year is 2016. The results of a tumultuous Presidential election have just been announced in the United States of America. A 115-year-old Sam Cunningham, who also happens to be the last surviving combatant of World War I is hours away from a peaceful death in a Chicago nursing home. As though … Continue reading Late City – Robert Olen Butler