JSPF Recommends — Books for the Summer of 2020 — Part 1
If you are reading part 1 of this article, we hope you are staying safe and healthy, wherever you are. And in case you’re getting bored and looking for ways to kill time, it is a great time for you to kickstart your reading habit! If you’re an avid reader already, some new books definitely wouldn’t hurt :)
So we, at JSPF, have a few recommendations for you to read this summer. Happy reading!
Becoming
Michelle Obama
Genre: Memoir, Non-fiction
Recommended by: Sivaranjani Subramanian, JSPF Executive Director
“Everyone on earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”
An honest, hard-hitting, yet graceful meditation on an extraordinary journey — the journey where Michelle Obama goes from a discriminated neighbourhood to the Ivy Leagues to the White House. Some parts of this journey were by choice, some were thrust upon her. But Obama gives an authentic glimpse into the unexpected twists and turns, and her resolve throughout. The entire book has at its core one simple message, the same message she was reinforced with since childhood — a message that made all the difference: “You matter”. Non-partisan for the most part, Michelle Obama’s story is inspiring and her narration good-humoured, making it a must-read for all ages.
Discrimination By Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-made Environment
Leslie Kanes Weisman
Genre: Non-fiction, Public Spaces
Recommended by Lakshmi S, JSPF Mentor 2018–19
It is easy to read but an academic and thought-provoking book about how spatial experience (experience of and in different places) is a very different experience for women. The author also talks about how this discrimination is consciously or sub-consciously designed into spaces.
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank
Genre: Non-fiction
Recommended by Swedha S, JSPF Scholar 2017–18
A child’s voice that talks about how Nazi life had snatched away from her childhood. Her family was in hiding for 2 years and due to our own current situation, we would be able to empathise with her a little better. Being a teenager, she went through a roller coaster of emotions that all of us can relate to. In the end, she always has the will and determination to contribute to the world and live beyond her death. Certainly she has, through her diary.
Life of Pi
Yann Martel
Genre: Magic realism
Recommended by Ayushi Tiwari, JSPF Mentor 2019–20
Adult Pi Patel: So which story do you prefer?
Writer: The one with the tiger. That’s a better story.
Adult Pi Patel: Thank you. And so it goes with God. I suppose, in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.
This book will literally take you through the pure journey of a lifetime of a boy, the highs and lows of his life, his character growth, and the story behind it. This book is not only a genre of magic realism, but it captures philosophy and psychology of life in an utmost manner. I definitely felt this book will be amazing to deeply understand for a fresher student at university. Movie depiction is brilliant as well, but the book has its own inner joy. You will literally travel from India to Canada with the boy to a grown-up man in this journey, and all his beliefs behind it. My beliefs changed and knots untied after reading it and I hope everyone who reads feels the same.
2019: How Modi Won India
Rajdeep Sardesai
Genre: Politics, Non-fiction, Strategy
Recommended by Sai Karthik K A, JSPF Finalist 2018–19
The book is a riveting read about the strategies that went behind winning an election in the world’s biggest democracy. I really loved the way the book demystified both the dark and the bright sides of every major move, along with the personalities of the Modi government in the 2014–19 term, while also talking about the rise and fall of Congress during the same. As someone new to this genre, the book kept me engrossed thanks to a streamlined narration of the ups and downs, in what was a game of winning people’s hearts and votes.A good read for those who love strategies and Indian politics, irrespective of your political inclinations.
Of Human Bondage
William Somerset Maugham
Genre: Coming-of-age, fiction
Recommended by Anagha Sethuraman, JSPF Finalist 2018–19
Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman around the corner.
It beautifully captures the life of Philip Carey, from childhood through teens to adulthood. He’s born with a deformed foot, and Maugham captures the way he comes to terms with it and manages the ridicule flung at him by others. A sensitive, intelligent soul, he travels to various countries, trying his hand at different careers. How he creates his lot in life forms the rest of the book. I recommend it highly because anyone who’s confused about their life can relate to Philip and his ideas. Also, this book mirrored my questioning of the importance of religion and morality, taught to me by others since I was born. It helped me carve my own view of the world, coloured by my past experiences but not wholly dependent on them.
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure
Recommended by K. S. Abhishek, JSPF Finalist 2019–20
If you’re a person who used to play all those video games like Pac-Man, Adventure, Space Invaders, etc., or if you’re a big movie buff or if you’re digging for a good fantasy read, then this book is a gold mine. It’s about a hunt to inherit the world’s biggest company(a video game company) through a complicated set of clues and events after its creator dies heirless.
It’s loaded with pop-culture and video game references from the 80s and 90s that you could list out for pages. It is set in 2045 with the Earth caught in an energy crisis and where people try to outlive their problems instead of dealing with them by playing this immersive virtual reality game so much that they don’t really care about the real world as much. The way the author links pop-culture to a treasure hunt is so beautiful and can be felt when the story unfurls. It is like a super cool fantasy that all of us would want to be real.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Recommended by Lakshmi S, JSPF Mentor 2018–19
Though this is extremely popular and a part of the famous HP series, it stands out as an exceptional piece of writing. It’s not often that you see an author categorising aspects of her fantasy fiction into a textbook that is surprisingly, very engaging. This book not only brings in humour but is also a testament to the author’s ability to bring in folklore from across the world and weave it into the vocabulary of her story. Also, it’s a reminder to take our imagination and fun very seriously, especially during times of a world crisis.
