Anu Recommends #54
Anu Recommends #54
A chat with Booknerds founders Rohan and Neha Raj, mid-year favourites, two new releases, and a new piece
Dear reader,
Mid-year already, how is that possible?! Though it’s a good excuse for me to look back on the stories I’ve read and loved in the first half of 2024 😉 Today, I also have two new release recommendations, and I’m excited to share a lovely chat with the book couple behind Booknerds, a wonderful Dehradun-based company and community that I got to know thanks to Bookstagram (book instagram).
So settle in, this is a longer-than-usual issue!
On Football and India: A Conversation with Sunil Chhetri
I’m excited to finally share this piece that I loved working on in June. I chat with the legendary Sunil Chhetri himself about his life, international football retirement, Indian football, and more for Football Paradise. Hope you enjoy!
Link: https://www.footballparadise.com/on-football-and-india-a-conversation-with-sunil-chhetri
Sunrise Nights by Brittany Cavallaro and Jeff Zentner (July 9, 2024)
Publisher’s blurb:
Two young artists have a chance meeting on the last night of summer arts camp in this YA novel in verse and dialogue cowritten by acclaimed authors Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro.
Jude loves photography, and he’s good at it, too. Between his parents’ divorce and his anxiety, being behind a camera is the only time his mind is quiet.
Florence is confronting the premature end of her dance career as a degenerative eye disease begins to steal her balance. She’s having a hard time letting go.
The two meet at Sunrise Night, their sleepaway art camp’s dusk-to-dawn closing celebration, and decide to take a chance on each other. Their one rule: No contact for a year after the sun has risen. Over the course of three Sunrise Nights, will Florence and Jude find a deeper connection and learn who they are—and who they could be together?
I loved the narrative concept (three nights over three summers and the brief, individual "betweens")—it was executed enjoyably, even though the alternating verse and dialogue format took me a while to get used to. For me, the emotional resonance of Sunrise Nights, which was inspired by the film, Before Sunrise, stemmed from how easy Jude and Florence were to adore and hold close to your hearts, these two separately defined and independently realised teens who find in each other a deeply kindred spirit. Their friendship and bond which is developed over the course of the nights they spend together makes their eventual “finding their way to each other” all the more satisfying.
Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal (July 2, 2024)
Publisher’s blurb:
A bighearted page-turner, set on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, about love, community, and what it means to come home.
Passionate about conservation and fleeing an argument with her mother, newly qualified London vet Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro to study the endangered gold coin tortoises in the jungle interior. She can claim the best of reasons for this year in paradise—What better motivation than to save a species?—but the reality is more complex. For Charlotte has secretly come to believe that she has her own connection to this remote and eccentric community, and she is finally determined to solve the mystery that has dominated her life.
But she will have little time for any of her declared or covert investigations. She is inconveniently attracted to the new island doctor. And not only do Tuga’s tortoises need attention but so too do the island’s dogs, goats, and donkeys—not to mention the islanders themselves, determined to win Charlotte over with cake and homemade jam until she relents and becomes vet to all their animals.
A complete, vivid world unto itself, Welcome to Glorious Tuga is a bewitching combination of warmth and humor. Immersive and uplifting, it transports the reader to an island that time forgot, bringing to life a cast of flawed, loveable people, like a contemporary James Herriot beneath the coconut palms.
I had no idea what to expect when I requested this; just that it seemed to be a story I'd enjoy reading. I got that and so much more! This was a delightful mix of old-world charm and humour, character-focused writing featuring a huge and diverse host of island folk, lush world-building, and dramatic narrative storytelling. I didn't realise until about halfway into reading this ARC that the book was the first in a series. My expectations and perspectives changed after this knowledge (for the better) and made the reading even more enjoyable. This turned out to be a refreshing gem and I cannot wait to return to this world in the next book!
Anu Reads 2024: mid-year standouts
I’m going to save last year’s wrap-up style for the end of the year, but for now, sharing a line or two about each book I’ve really enjoyed my time with in the first six months of 2024, and include hyperlinks to issues where I’ve reviewed them.
(In order of reading)
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: While this is more grey academia than light, the cosy, whimsical, wintry, and magical vibes from Book 1 wane not one bit. The higher stakes make this a higher-octane adventure, one in which it takes a while to settle into the comfort-excitement-peril rhythm, but once you find your footing, it’s a warmhearted treat to be reunited with this world and these characters.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino: This nostalgic literary fiction with undertones of (very mild) sci-fi was a surprise delight of the first half of 2024. One I’m so glad I stumbled upon. “We are not alone,” says Beautyland, titled after a local cosmetic store. It’s not a groundbreaking earth-shattering epiphany, but the journey it takes us on to get there is, for the most part, tender, earnest, funny, and quietly hopeful.
Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou:
Even if it Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn: Erin really knows how to craft complex, human, teens (and yes, that means showing that they can be level-headed and mature, among all the other things). This book felt raw and honest, and both characters' struggles as well as their slow friendship that later blossoms into something more reads authentic.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden: Utterly stunning and haunting. This is a WWI-set historical fiction with dark shades of the otherworldly and even darker shades of humanity. But there are, among these ruins and in this desolation, shoots of beauty, love, and the frailest but also most stubborn hope—against all odds.
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton (look out for a full review and India Holton’s return to the Storyteller’s creative chats series in the July 21 issue): A heartwarming, witty, swoony, soft, fizzy, magical, irreverent light academia historical fantasy romance to kick off a new series titled Love's Academic. It has all the author's hallmarks from the Dangerous Damsels series: madcap shenanigans, the wittiest of banter, lots of clever literary references, allusions, and puns, well-developed, immediately engaging characters to wholeheartedly root for.
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune: Set largely on Prince Edward Island, this is as much a narrative about place, belonging, found family, and home, as it is about the five-summers-spanning love story between Lucy and Felix. A definite 2024 summer-read pick!
The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang: Gripping, brutal, brilliant, and devastating. I’ll hopefully be able to form more coherent thoughts soon!
Here After by Amy Lin: Written in the aftermath of the sudden, shocking passing of her perfectly healthy 32-year-old husband, Kurtis, this nonlinear narrative composed of vignettes is as much an unflinching, intimate look at young widowhood as it is an act of remembrance, a celebration of him, his life, and their love; as it is an acknowledgement of everything lost.
Tin Man by Sarah Winman: It begins and ends with sunflowers. Freedom. Beauty. Possibility. Hope. But also loss and love and longing and pain and friendship.
Paula by Isabel Allende: As much a raw representation of a tragedy, of a sudden illness and eventual loss of a child as an unconventional autobiography as a record of the story of a specific time in Chile as a tribute to the life, light, and love of, by all accounts, a remarkable young woman. A celebration also of the “ineradicable vice of telling stories” that will continue to be Isabel’s (and our) salvation.
Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal: See above! I look forward to this book being adapted for the small screen in the future, there’s so much to work with!
The End Crowns All by Bea Fitzgerald: I sped through this fresh, inventive, heartrending, but also beautiful and hopeful take on the Fall of Troy through the POVs of Cassandra and Helen. Lots of nuance and depth in even the supporting characters and their situations. A sapphic love to defy the Gods, and how!
Alibis—Essays on Elsewhere by André Aciman: A deeply sensory linked essay collection filled with the kind of slow, ruminative narratives about place, time, memory, art, and identity that demand your full concentration, spark ideas, memories, and leave a lot to think about.
The Storyteller’s Creative Chats: Rohan and Neha Raj
Anu: Can you share a bit about yourselves and your individual reading journeys, as well as the one you’ve been on together?
Rohan: My reading journey is like that of many kids growing up in the India of the 90s reading Hindi comic books by Pran and the action-filled Nagraj, Super Commando Comics, on rent of course! The comic book rental culture was thriving and I was obsessed by them. Saving every penny to get comic books from my neighbourhood comic book rental guy. Doga for breakfast, Chacha Chaudhary for Lunch and Parmanu for Dinner!
The first proper book that I picked up was Sunny Days by Sunil Gavaskar, which I feel is still one of the finest sport autobiographies. I read it at least 10 times before I turned 10. The storytelling and detailing of events by a guy who was still playing active cricket was staggering! I evolved to classics in school and then have always read all genres. A huge influence has been my mom who was an English teacher and a quintessential booknerd! We lost her recently but her influence shall always remain.
Neha: I am a late bloomer when it comes to reading fiction and non-fiction. Rohan’s passion for reading rubbed off on me and then I developed a reading habit by starting with Ruskin Bond (we live in the foothills of the Himalayas near Mussoorie, home of Mr. Bond, so it was pretty natural) I then evolved to everything under the sun, but my favourites are Colleen Hoover and books about lifestyle and fitness.
Anu: How did Booknerds come about? I’m sure readers of the Storyteller would love to read about its inception, its evolution, and the journey it’s been on from then to now, including the podcast and the book club, and the many illustrious names you’ve worked with.
Rohan and Neha: We have been married for 10 years. Back in 2015, we were looking to solve a problem that had been eating at us for a while. In short, we wanted to connect readers and authors like never before using our expertise in tech, arts, design, literature, and community building.
We started by building an offline community in the quaint town of Dehradun, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas, which is in the vicinity of the amazing author Ruskin Bond (he resides in Landour, Mussoorie). Slowly by using technology, we were able to reach out wider, the community is now 25,000 strong! Now our team of 15 book crazies also creates some amazing book content like book recommendation videos, podcasts, book reels and so much more.
The book club started with easy-to-read books which are not overwhelming, but have graduated to the more complex Murakami, Dostoevsky and others.
The podcast has been a learning and invigorating experience—our vision was to showcase not-so-known authors and books, and we have been lucky to unearth some amazing authors like Puja Changoiwala, Sarbpreet Singh, Shubha Sarma and so many more. Of course, celebrity authors like Sudha Murty, Kabir Bedi, Samir Soni, Devdutt Pattanaik, and Jugal Hansraj have also been featured on the Booknerds Podcast, and the conversations have benefited readers to better understand the psyche of these authors and learn more about writing, while being regaled by their stories.
Anu: Rohan, as a follow-up question, how do you curate the people you invite onto the podcast, and what’s your approach to interviewing like?
Rohan: Our team does not put too much science behind curating the guests, we mostly go by how exciting and intellectually stimulating the book is. I feel getting too much into the science behind it is counterproductive for the content of the podcast.
One of my favourite podcasts is one where 10 featured authors discussed an anthology published by The Punch Magazine. The podcast featured authors from different backgrounds and with different literary pedigree—it was satisfying!
My approach is pretty simple: read the book front to back, get between the lines, make wholesome notes, and curate questions which are food for thought for the author and readers. I try not to send the questions beforehand to keep things super organic, but do provide them if the author is more comfortable knowing them beforehand.
Anu: What have been some of the greatest takeaways or lessons from co-founding and running Booknerds?
Rohan and Neha: The biggest takeaway is the power of community and consistency. We could have easily given up on continuing to build the community when there were hiccups like people not showing up at 3 consecutive offline book club meetups. But we reassessed how we were curating the sessions and then there was a turnaround. The community has been a huge part of our success. They want us to succeed in our promotion of a reading culture resulting in a better society.
Anu: Neha, how did The Book Marketing Girl come about? You’ve also recently launched the Booknerds Author Agency. Can you elaborate on that?
Neha: I had always stayed in the shadows, working silently with authors to promote their books. After working with more than 250 authors, I realised that this had more potential than I thought, so I decided to create my personal brand ‘The Book Marketing Girl’, and then created another entity under the Booknerds Umbrella, aka the ‘Booknerds Author Agency’ which will provide the most out-of-the-box author branding and book marketing services going ahead.
Working closely with authors is the best job in the world: from onboarding them via Topmate to constant brainstorming sessions to witnessing their success is a process which is soul-enriching!
Anu: If you had to share one thing any budding writer should know about marketing their work, what would it be?
Neha: It is just three words “Go All Out”. A longer answer: create your newsletter, feature on relevant podcasts, create your podcast, be relevant and active on socials, book club interactions…there is no quick or easy substitute for creating a wholesome author brand!
Anu: This is a question for both of you. What are your top tips for building and growing a literary community?
Rohan and Neha: A literary community is propelled by its members, don’t encourage non-serious members, use social media to get more book lovers onboard, select moderators and lead discussants with precision, curate venues with deep thought. Creating a thriving book community shouldn’t be such a tough gig.
Anu: Rohan, how do you pick books for the Booknerds newsletter? Are you a mood reader or more of a planned TBR sort of guy? How has your taste changed or grown over the years?
Rohan: Most of the time it is books that I find at bookstores when I am randomly roaming through the aisles. I am a mood reader. One day I love a good graphic novel like Persepolis, another day I’m enamoured by Geetanjali Shree. I have become much more forgiving towards all genres and this has enabled me to become a complete reader. I have become less judgemental as a person and as a friend because of reading!
Anu: What's in the works going forward? If you're allowed to, and want to, share, of course.
Rohan and Neha: The most exciting development is that Neha is coming up with her book which talks about how to create an awesome author brand. We are also revamping our website and making it more engaging for our community to discuss books. Recently we conducted our first Bombay Fiction Hangout which was well received—we’ve started to conduct book events in multiple cities now which is exciting!
Anu: Can you share a recommendation or two for the readers of this newsletter?
Rohan and Neha: Oh that is a toughie, but our current favourites are Knife by Salman Rushdie and What You are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama.
Thank you, Rohan and Neha, for sharing your story with the Storyteller community today 😊
Hope you enjoyed that chat! You can read more about their work or keep in touch via their respective Linktrees - Rohan | Neha
Please feel free send in recommendations—books, movie, TV shows, authors to interview, ideas of what you’d like me to write on. Let me know what you’re currently reading and watching, send me rants/ramblings/excited monologues, GIFs and memes (especially them) and more. Just drop me a line and turn this into a conversation, even if just to say hi and let me know what you thought of the latest issue. Or share this with someone you think might enjoy it. I always enjoy hearing from you 😊.
Take care and I’ll see you next on July 21!
Anu
You can find me on Twitter at @AnuNande (follow for all the football chatter) and on Instagram at @booksinboston.