LETTERS FROM EVERYWHERE

FROM THE TEA ESTATES OF ASSAM

This Assamese story collection is a perfect example of how there can be a concerted effort at translating unknown voices from regions that are not heard…

Sep 21 • 

Kalpana Mohan

3

3

August 2025

UNSURE ABOUT ALL THAT'S WHITE

Han Kang's meditation on loss and grief became a little heavy-handed for me but I'll always want to read this Korean writer's sentences. Of that there…

Aug 20 • 

Kalpana Mohan

4

July 2025

A SHORT STORY TITLED ELIAS

Read this short story by Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse at your own peril for this Norwegian writer sucks you right in and doesn't let you go.

Jul 27 • 

Kalpana Mohan

3

BUILDING SOMETHING OF VALUE

A post from a reader makes my day and makes me ponder how sustained weekly reading has built something of value while teaching me a thing or two about…

Jul 24 • 

Kalpana Mohan

3

3

KANNADA STORIES BURN BRIGHT

A Booker winner from India gives me pause and makes me wonder about awards.

Jul 13 • 

Kalpana Mohan

5

6

June 2025

COMPACTING BOOKS INSIDE A BRAIN

A late Czech writer moved me so much with his art and craft that I would love for my readers to look for his work. Too Loud A Solitude is yet another…

Jun 22 • 

Kalpana Mohan

2

3

THE MELANCHOLY OF A FRENCH CLASSIC

This 1954 French novel by Françoise Sagan caused a sensation around the world at the time of its publication.

Jun 15 • 

Kalpana Mohan

3

A NEW LIFE BEGINS

In what has been a stressful week, I needed to make ample space for our grandson while also stealing time to finish this German book by the late…

Jun 8 • 

Kalpana Mohan

3

2

May 2025

WHAT ABOUT THE MISSING YEAR OF JUAN SALVATIERRA?

Pedro Mairal's fiction about the mystery of a missing year in the life of a painter is a gorgeous tribute to the arts.

May 25 • 

Kalpana Mohan

2

1

TRANSPORTED BY CELEBRATION

In Celebration, the evolution of a human being is traced with unusual powers of observation and sleight of hand by Croatian journalist Damir Karakaš.

May 18 • 

Kalpana Mohan

5

A JOURNEY WITH THE SAMURAI

First published in 1980, this Japanese novel by Shūsaku Endō tells a fictionalized story of a 17th-century diplomatic mission to "Nueva España," Mexico.

May 11 • 

Kalpana Mohan

4

1

April 2025

AN ENGLISH PICK FROM MY TRAVELS

During a road trip through the southeastern states, I picked a book published in 1861 by Harriet Jacobs, a former slave girl.

Apr 13 • 

Kalpana Mohan

2

1