THE SHELF / 6 books that I read at the end of last year… I hated 5 of them

In a particularly American but artsy, cinematic production depicting the friendship between David Lipsky and David Foster Wallace,

Shortlisted for the JCB Literature Prize 2021, Name Place Animal Thing (Zubaan Books, 2021) by Daribha Lyndem evokes feelings of nostalgia in a reader merely with its title—it is a popular game among kids. Now, as I hold the novella in my hand, my heart is in a strange turmoil.

Winter was slowly taking off, with the February breeze following through, with the falling of the Debdaru leaves, with the advent of a new season.

In “Mother’s Milk”, a short story by Tahmima Anam which appears in Our Many Longings: Contemporary Short Fiction from Bangladesh (Dhauli Books, 2021), an unnamed narrator gives us brief snatches of her life as she attempts to endure…something. One can’t really call it an incident; it is, seemingly, more a state of being that requires her to keep joy at bay. Consciously, deliberately.

Edited by Kudret Bulbul, a professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Turkey, Md Nazmul Islam,

Too often, the representation of Muslims in arts and culture has been tainted by the shadow of “extremism”.

In a book launch held at the capital’s Bengal Shilpalay today, Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Foundation and University Press Limited held a discussion session on Professor Razzaq’s Political Parties in India, his 1950 PhD thesis for the London School of Economics, published now for the first time in book form. 

A designer and illustrator whose work focuses on human rights, feminism, and South Asian identity, Pakistani artist Shehzil Malik has just created an artwork based on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's novella Sultana's Dream (1905).

What comes to your mind when you encounter a graphic novel called Shapod Shoney (Graphic Bangla, 2021), which translates to ‘Along with the Beast’, the cover art showing a man holding a rifle under the dark sky?

On a particularly slow day, all I have to do is sit down with a Nonte-Phonte comic book, and my troubles will lay forgotten to one side. I imagine it’s the same for most people who are fans of Narayan Debnath and his fictional characters from the small town of Paschimpara, West Bengal.

A designer and illustrator whose work focuses on human rights, feminism, and South Asian identity, Malik has just created an artwork based on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s novella Sultana’s Dream (1905), which imagines a feminist utopia where women dominate the world of science, labour, and their homes. 

Logo Land  (Lecturis, 2021), a new book by Bangladeshi author Amit Biswas, takes a look at the origin and meaning of logos, exploring the depths of shapes, colours, and forms in the municipality logos in the Netherlands. 

A week or two ago, I came across an article by Hassan Munhamanna on Daily Star Books in which he talked about his struggles with reading books in their entirety.

In a live YouTube broadcast, The University Press Limited (UPL) launched their book, An Internal Matter: The U.S., Grassroots Activism and the Creation of Bangladesh, written by Samuel Jaffe, at 7 PM on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Spanning nearly three decades and moving back and forth between Communist China and the United States, Linda Rui Feng’s debut novel, Swimming Back to Trout River (Simon & Schuster, 2021), follows a family fractured by physical and emotional distance. 

In a live YouTube broadcast, University Press Limited (UPL) launched their book, An Internal Matter: The U.S., Grassroots Activism and the Creation of Bangladesh, written by Samuel Jaffe, at 7 PM on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

I love it when Paulo Coelho’s books start with a challenge or a quest, and The Archer (Penguin Random House, 2020), accordingly, does not fail to open with an intriguing pursuit.  Upon reading the prologue, I thought I was in for a good read; it was rich and humorous, and in line with the writer’s usual mystical tone.

Haruki Murakami is perhaps one of the most celebrated and well known writers of not only Japan but all of contemporary literature. His writing is humorous, hypnotic,

Read an extended version of this list on The Daily Star website and on Daily Star Books’ Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Certain identities can strip people of their right to identify as humans. These people find their existence undesired, their rights, freedom, choices unguarded.