As a kid, I loved reading children’s stories and fables, and that was largely due to those exquisitely illustrated books. My mother would get me all these storybooks – from the stories of Akbar and Birbal to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to Aesop’s Fables and whatnot. However, I could not stand the books that Read more…
I got my reading genes from my mother. Whether it was putting me to sleep after dinner, or killing time on a long flight or train journey, she would invariably read me something. By the time I was a teenager, I was already familiar with some of the best works of celebrated authors like Sidney Read more…
I had no idea that our recent move to a big city would turn out to be such a pivotal moment in my life. To put things into perspective, I had been brought up in a quaint town, where people were warm and friendly. However, the new and unfeeling city environment made me feel lost Read more…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and still remains, the best-selling mystery writer of all time. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. Christie is also credited with the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap. Her books have sold over a billion copies Read more…
Books have been my best friends since the time I could read. My very first book was my aunt’s gift to me on my fifth birthday. It was a fairy tale book. Of all the gifts I had received in my childhood, that book was – and still remains – my favorite. The very evening Read more…
Many a time in life I regret not having pursued a fine art. Then, the very next moment, I offer myself the consolation that perhaps all my creative energies were meant to be channelized into playing, not with the strings of a violin or the reeds of a harmonium, or with the lines of portrait Read more…
I joined the navy as a boy recruit when I was 16. I had not really read anything other than textbooks and Archie comics until then. I was more into sports than books during my school days. I continued my obsession with sports in the navy as well. When I was transferred to a naval Read more…
I never had a knack for reading books. Even during my school days, I used to cram reference books and then sit exams. For me, reading a book was equivalent to taking sleeping pills, the moment I opened a book, my seemingly endless voyage never quite made it past the very first page. Somehow, I Read more…
Books have been my companions since childhood. My parents and teachers encouraged me to read as much as I could. Amar Chitra Katha comics, Chandamama and Champak; soon gave way to Readers’ Digest, mystery novels by Enid Blyton; Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery novels; followed closely by the mushy and romantic, Mills & Boon Read more…
Since the fateful day when Johannes Gutenberg pressed the first book, the fate of the whole world changed for the better. Now, fast forward a few centuries and you’ve got a quintessential middle-school girl being forced to read a book in a hobby class tailor-made to make some troublesome and hormonal kids read for fun. Read more…
