Jan to Jun - Non-Fiction

I read 12 books in the span of January to June - 7 Fiction + 5 Non Fiction!

Here are my thoughts on the non-fiction books:

Book 1 - AZADI: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Short: Compilation of essays on aforementioned topics in India

·       Started Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things and paused two chapters in bc idk man, I’ll get back to it - it’s staring at me accusingly across the room

·       anyhow, wanted to understand her politics bc I admire her takes on Gaza

·       it was a bit self-referential to her literature but I learnt quite a bunch about rise of Modi as a politician, the state of Kashmir - definitely things I should look further into and read for myself

·       ^ she cites all her essays which is v nice to connect and read

·       sometimes I think what’s the point of someone left leaning as myself just reading left scholarship- the fear of echo chambers but welp

Book 2 - Introducing Philosophy  ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Short: Simple summaries abt diff western philosophies

·       this is one of those short illustrated books that work as a launchpad onto your own research and learning

·       id read about one philosopher every other lunchbreak

·       it was fun to cut the doomscrolling routine

·       lots of interesting ideas - alr knew a bunch from jurisprudence class but I enjoyed it regardless

·       not smth I always reached for or finished at a stretch

·       did not cover many female or alternative thinkers sadly and the book itself acknowledges this and recommends other books so its ok

Book 3 - Annihilation of Caste ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Short: Deconstruction of the logic of caste (or lack thereof)

·       brilliant. every Indian should read this. esp every Hindu

·       depressing that it’s already not part of mandatory curriculum

·       short essay form, and had reply to Gandhi’s rebuttal

·       overall, I’m going to read more of Dr. Ambedkar’s essays

Book 4 - Gods and Godmen of India ⭐️⭐️

Short: essays about - you guessed it - Gods & Godmen of India

·       Kushwanth Singh is pretty famous, and my mom brought this home so wtv I read it

·       while it was interesting to read about a bunch of phony godmen and godwomen - it was quite repetitive

·       like the book is a compilation of articles published at various points - so it gets a bit cyclical and not coherent (the way a properly edited body of work would be)

·       also the sort of casual misogyny was just too uncomfortable for me to tolerate - he keeps commenting on how attractive a woman is or well-bosomed (yikes)

·       but tbf he also calls men handsome and attractive etc so it’s weird but diverse ?

Book 5 - Why I Am An Atheist & Other Works ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Short: Compilation of Letters and Speeches of Revolutionary, Bhagat Singh

·       Bhagat Singh was pretty much the same age as me when he wrote this - which is a real doozy to think about

·       v inspired by the level of conviction, moral clarity and strength he demonstrates throughout

·       once again, v saddened that we didn’t learn about him in detail in school

·       v interesting to think about his revolutionary methods and perspectives when we (or at least I) I have been fed w a very non-violent or glossy image of independence struggle

·       the translation and print of the particular version I had was dismal but great read regardless

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-samjam originally a substack post, i edited this to feature in my blog as well.

for reference, here's how my star rating works-

• 5 stars = loved it unequivocally

• 4 stars = immensely enjoyed it, save for few irks - and recommend it

• 3 stars = good, might recommend in specific circumstances

• 2 stars = not for me, bothered me at many instances

• 1 star = im usually gracious with my rating so if you ever see one of these, run for the hills

thanks for reading, toodles <3