The book in my hand

A weekly column on what well-known personalities are reading and planning to read. This week, it is Gursimran Khamba and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

A weekly column on what well-known personalities are reading and planning to read.

This week, it is Gursimran Khamba and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

Gursimran Khamba

The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon

Next I want to read

The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson. I bought it at the airport as everyone has been saying it is as good as Jonasson’s last book — The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared . Right now, I’m reading only work-related mails.

Gursimran Khamba is a comedian and co-founder of AIB.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I last read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I was particularly interested in the form of this powerful, unforgettable book about lives rushing towards ruin, since it is a novel in stories. I am currently reading Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife and enjoying her fresh metaphors, and her blend of myth, magical events, and the gritty horror of war and post-war conditions in Eastern Europe.

I want to reread Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies . I remember enjoying the sweep of history, the meticulous research, and the striking way in which human lives are changed by forces they may not even be aware of. This time I will read it as a writer, looking for things to learn and use. I’ve moved almost exclusively to e-books now — my small effort to save trees. It also makes travelling with books a lot easier.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an author. Her most recent novel is Before We Visit The Goddess.