nonfiction review

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Confronting cultural silence on IPV in Bangladeshi communities

Proverbs, short and profound, often sum up wisdom passed down through generations. Bangla, one of the world’s most spoken languages, is rich with such gems. One such saying in the language—”manush ki bolbe?”—is central to Intimacies of Violence, a debut book by Dr Nadine Shaanta Murshid, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo.

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Taking folk melodies of Bangladesh to the world

Folk Melody of Bangladesh: An Anthology of Bangladesh Folk Music in Standard Notation is a music anthology that compiles 204 carefully chosen folk songs of Bangladesh that date from the 16th century.

BOOK REVIEW: NON-FICTION / An exploration of the history and panoply of Indian Subcontinental cuisine

Review of ‘Forgotten Foods: Memories and Recipes from Muslim South Asia’ (Picador India, 2023) edited by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Tarana Husain Khan, and Claire Chambers

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Is the antidote itself a virus?

During the 53 years of Bangladesh’s existence, its people have had to endure and take down two autocratic regimes; not only did they oust an autocrat in July 2024 through a mass uprising, but 1991 also saw the downfall of the autocrat, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, through another rebellion.

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / An enigma amongst nations

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Exploring The Rebel’s call to revolution

Review of ‘Bidrohi Puran’ (Pendulum Books, 2024) by Arif Rahman

BOOK REVIEW: POETRY AND NONFICTION / Poetry for our times and a poet’s new frontier

Inevitably, Kaiser Haq’s The New Frontier and Other Odds and Ends in Verse and Prose is about the poet, his poetic predilections, and situatedness at this time of human existence. In many ways it is typical of the verse we have come to expect from our leading poet in English for a long time now, but in other ways it articulates his present-day concerns in new and striking poetic measures. 

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / It’s ‘Mean Girls’ meets ‘Heathers’ meets ‘The Craft’

The best part of this book is perhaps the fact that all the weird, bonkers cultish stuff just happens with no rhyme or reason to it.

December 13, 2024
December 13, 2024

Confronting cultural silence on IPV in Bangladeshi communities

Proverbs, short and profound, often sum up wisdom passed down through generations. Bangla, one of the world’s most spoken languages, is rich with such gems. One such saying in the language—”manush ki bolbe?”—is central to Intimacies of Violence, a debut book by Dr Nadine Shaanta Murshid, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo.

November 14, 2024
November 14, 2024

Taking folk melodies of Bangladesh to the world

Folk Melody of Bangladesh: An Anthology of Bangladesh Folk Music in Standard Notation is a music anthology that compiles 204 carefully chosen folk songs of Bangladesh that date from the 16th century.

November 2, 2024
November 2, 2024

Unravelling Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Nexus’

Review of ‘Nexus’ (Random House, 2024)

October 16, 2024
October 16, 2024

An exploration of the history and panoply of Indian Subcontinental cuisine

Review of ‘Forgotten Foods: Memories and Recipes from Muslim South Asia’ (Picador India, 2023) edited by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Tarana Husain Khan, and Claire Chambers

August 15, 2024
August 15, 2024

Is the antidote itself a virus?

During the 53 years of Bangladesh’s existence, its people have had to endure and take down two autocratic regimes; not only did they oust an autocrat in July 2024 through a mass uprising, but 1991 also saw the downfall of the autocrat, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, through another rebellion.

June 27, 2024
June 27, 2024

An enigma amongst nations

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

June 8, 2024
June 8, 2024

Exploring The Rebel’s call to revolution

Review of ‘Bidrohi Puran’ (Pendulum Books, 2024) by Arif Rahman

May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024

Poetry for our times and a poet’s new frontier

Inevitably, Kaiser Haq’s The New Frontier and Other Odds and Ends in Verse and Prose is about the poet, his poetic predilections, and situatedness at this time of human existence. In many ways it is typical of the verse we have come to expect from our leading poet in English for a long time now, but in other ways it articulates his present-day concerns in new and striking poetic measures. 

May 4, 2024
May 4, 2024

It’s ‘Mean Girls’ meets ‘Heathers’ meets ‘The Craft’

The best part of this book is perhaps the fact that all the weird, bonkers cultish stuff just happens with no rhyme or reason to it.

May 3, 2024
May 3, 2024

(Re)visit to the alleys of contestation, narratives, and memories that the Partition left behind

The book discusses the lack of sensitivity among policymakers in acknowledging the distinct socio-cultural differences and linguistic and community identities of the refugees that often got merged. It explores how different categories of refugees received different treatments.