They say, three is a crowd, if so, I am quite proud to have a crowding of books in my 2024 book shelf. As promised, I am back with a list of four books you ought to get your hands on this quarter. To try to be fair to each of my favorite genres, you have books representing Fiction, Realism, Mystery and Romance.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you…
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
Genre: Women’s Fiction/Romantic Comedy Date of Publication: July 2nd, 2024
If finding your one true love has been elusive in life and you meet a tragically funny end, will the afterlife be kinder to you & offer a second chance at love? “The Love of My Afterlife” explores this whimsical idea through the journey of Delphie, an unremarkable protagonist who finds herself in Evermore after choking on a burger.
In Evermore, Delphie meets Merritt, her Afterlife Therapist, who shows her life as a slideshow, leaving her filled with regrets for not living fully. In the waiting room, Delphie encounters a handsome and kind man who smiles at her. Just as she realizes this could be her soulmate, he is sent back to the living world. Through Merritt’s intervention, Delphie gets 10 days to find him and secure his kiss to return to the land of the living.
This story sounds similar to ‘Enchanted’, but who doesn’t like to root again and again for star crossed lovers to unite. Since the book is already out, I have got this as an audiobook and will share a review soon.
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Mystery/Thriller Date of Publication: Aug 8th, 2024
House of Glass is the second book in the list as it comes recommended by one of my favorite fast thriller authors, Frieda McFadden, her recommendation terms it as a page turner, so here it stays. House of Glass is about family secrets and childhood trauma.
The key protagonist here is 9 year old Rose Barclay who witnessed the unnatural death of her nanny and, consequently, stopped speaking. Her parents are embroiled in a bitter divorce battle and she may have a savior in a reluctant attorney, Stella Hudson. Stella has her own childhood demons to slay, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes she is the only one who can help.
I enjoy stories that weave together childhood trauma and murder mystery, so this one is definitely on my reading list.
The Semiotics of Rape: Sexual Subjectivity and Violation in Rural India, Rupal Oza
Genre: Non Fiction- Cultural Anthropology/Gender & Sexuality Date of Publication: Jul, 2024
This book is a must-read to understand the social makeup of rape culture. Rape is not just an act of aggression but a tool to perpetuate patriarchy, used to subjugate and keep us imprisoned in fear. In India, rape comes with additional layers of bias and bigotry, defined by the fault lines of caste, class, religion, and regionalism.
Rape is a tool to dehumanize and victimize the oppressed, stripping them of their bodily, civic, and societal autonomy. However, the book also features several victims and survivors of rape who have reclaimed their autonomy by refusing to see themselves as defined entirely by the act of violation.
Oza shows how rape cases become arenas where bureaucrats, village council members, caste communities, and the police debate women’s sexual subjectivities and how these varied understandings impact the status and reputations of individuals and groups.
We Will Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
Genre: Fantasy/Fiction Date of Publication: Sep 3rd, 2024
It is no mystery that cats have a positive influence on their humans’ lives. I found my first cat when I was 28, and the little baby made me a better human in every way.
Cats are therapeutic, so it comes as no surprise that there is a book dedicated to them, albeit with a fantasy twist. Kokaru Clinic, a mysterious psychiatric clinic in an obscure location in Tokyo, Japan, prescribes therapy cats as medication to its hapless patients.
What’s interesting is that the psychiatrist has a way of talking to the cats being prescribed.
This promises to be the perfect book to revisit my first few months with the first cat I fostered- a handsome, scared and forever hungry tuxedo who taught me to love unconditionally.
So, this brings us to the end of the third quarterly book list of 2024, I have thoroughly enjoyed discovering all the books in the process. This is also a reminder that 2024 is only a quarter away from its conclusion. If you, like me, have a an unending list of books to read, fear not, as books are eternal. If you are already through with your reading list, let me encourage you to discover some new books to read in my first and my second quarterly book lists.
Happy Reading!!!
Fingers in symphony 