1. How did your journey as a book reviewer begin? 

 

Book reviewing is only a fraction of the writing that I do. I did not set out to be a reviewer. I started my career in journalism during my college years. At some point, along the way, my training as a literature student nudged me in the direction of writing about books for a living. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when other work opportunities began dwindling, I started to devote more time to reviewing books. Reading and writing could be done safely from home.
 

2. Tell our readers what the book review landscape looks like in India.

It is a vast and varied landscape, consisting of many like myself who earn their livelihood from writing about books for newspapers, magazines and digital publications. It also includes people with domain-specific expertise who are invited to write about books that they can offer special insights on. These could be diplomats, historians, sociologists, lawyers, environmentalists, human rights defenders, etc. Several publications get authors to review books by their peers. The book review landscape also includes people who use platforms like Goodreads, Instagram and Amazon to share their thoughts on books they engage with. We cannot afford to leave out reviewers who are often dismissed as “mommy bloggers”. This term does not fully capture the intellectual and emotional labour that mothers put into championing children’s and young adult literature and driving book sales through word-of-mouth publicity that carries significant value for other parents building a collection.

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3. As a freelance journalist, do you typically approach publications with your review pitches or do they reach out to you? 

It works both ways. Editors reach out to me when they think that a particular book aligns with my areas of interest or when they think that I might have a valuable perspective to offer. I approach publications when I think that a book is really worth writing about, and it might be a good fit for their target audience. Editors and reviewers get publicity material about upcoming books from publishing houses, so almost everyone knows what’s new in the market. I like to think that my role as a reviewer includes drawing their attention to titles that have something special to offer but are not backed by huge marketing budgets. I take a special interest in books by independent publishers, children’s literature, books about unsung heroes, books that promote interfaith dialogue as well as peace between India and Pakistan.
 

4. How do aspiring reviewers get started?

There is no standard route to follow. Instagram, blogs, college and university magazines, literary journals are some entry points worth exploring. One can approach editors of books pages or books sections of publications with samples of previous work. Before approaching an editor, it is always advisable to familiarize oneself with the kind of reviews that they publish. If their mandate is restricted to publishing reviews of non-fiction books, it may not be a good idea to pitch them novels, poetry books, and collections of plays. Editors are inundated with emails. Reviewers need to respect their time to get a positive response.

 

5. When you review a book, what is your primary goal? Are you aiming to excite readers about a new book or provide reflections/analysis on the style and writing quality, or is there something else? 

My goal is to help readers make an informed decision. With the massive number of books being published, people are confused about what to buy. Glamorous covers and smart titles can be misleading. Blurbs written by friends and colleagues of authors can create too much hype around a book without substance. My reviews aim to help readers decide whether a book is suitable for them, and worth their time and money. I like to give them a flavour of the book by sharing what it evoked in me, and backing that up with examples from the text. Sometimes, I list out the kinds of people who might like a particular book. I do provide reflection and analysis but with the awareness that I am not writing an assignment for a literature professor so there is no need to use jargon or flaunt my brilliance. Self-indulgent reviews end up being more about the reviewer than the book itself. That’s avoidable.
 

6. Is there a difference in your reviewing process for fiction and non-fiction books? 

There is one key difference in reviewing fiction and non-fiction. It important to give the reader a sense of the plot while reviewing a novel but one should not give away spoilers. Usually, this issue does not arise in the case of a business book, a travelogue, a biography of a sportsperson, a self-help book, a monograph about biodiversity in a particular region, etc. 
 

7. When reviewing fiction, what key elements do you focus on? 
 

I do not have a template for reviewing fiction but I tend to look at elements like plot, characterization, setting, vocabulary, emotion, pace, the research that has gone into a book, the author’s sense of humour, point of view, and representation of marginalized identities.

 

8. How do you balance personal taste with thoughtful critique when writing a review? 

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I am not sure if a balance is always achieved but I do try to foreground where I am coming from instead of pretending to be objective. I imagine that that readers want me to share my perspective instead of giving them some banal fluff that artificial intelligence could produce. That said, if a book disappoints me, I tend to make a special effort to find something good to say about it. My meditation practice teaches me not to get too carried away with personal taste. If one does not like a particular aspect of a book, there is no need to exaggerate it. One can make one’s point gently and move on. One could also suggest how future editions of the book can address certain gaps. This has taken me a while to learn.
 

9. Can you tell us about some of the books you’ve most enjoyed reviewing? Is there a particular set of themes that consistently draws you in and makes for a more rewarding review experience?
 

I loved writing a review essay called “The rare Indian foreign correspondent’s view of Pakistan” for Himal. It gave me an opportunity to offer a comparative reading of three books—Kesava Menon’s Never Tell Them We Are the Same People: Notes on Pakistan (2023), Meena Menon’s Reporting Pakistan (2017), and Sameer Arshad Khatlani’s book The Other Side of the Divide: A Journey into the Heart of Pakistan (2020). I enjoy reviewing fiction and non-fiction from Pakistan because it gives me an opportunity to engage with narratives from our neighbouring country. We have wasted too many years fighting. I believe that literature can play an important role in breaking stereotypes and melting hostilities. 
 

Some of the other books that I have enjoyed reviewing are Andrew Whitehead’s The Lives of Freda: The Political, Spiritual and Personal Journeys of Freda Bedi (2019), Devaki Jain’s The Brass Notebook (2020), Namita Gokhale’s The Blind Matriarch (2021), Nawaaz Ahmed’s Radiant Fugitives (2021), Sunita Dwivedi’s Buddha in Gandhara (2021) Nandita Haksar’s Forgotten Refugees: Two Iraqi Brothers In India (2022), Priya Kuriyan’s Beauty is Missing, Vikas Khanna’s Barkat (2022), Sarbpreet Singh’s The Sufi’s Nightingale (2023), Lavanya Karthik’s The Boy Who Built a Secret Garden (2024). While this is a wide range, there are connecting threads of hope, resilience, kindness, faith, and spiritual sustenance. 
 

I wrote these reviews for print and online publications such as Teacher Plus, Business Standard, Firstpost, OPEN magazine, Telegraph, and Hindustan Times. 
 

10. I have noticed that your reviews go beyond just discussing the plot and characters—they also provide readers a sense of the context. Tell us more about the process of exploring the broader social, cultural, or historical backdrop in your reviews.
 

Books do not exist in a vacuum. They are social, cultural and political artefacts. They expose gaps in our understanding. They hold up a mirror. They help us learn new things. They inspire change. They scare people who want to stifle freedom of expression. Therefore, it is important for reviewers to be aware of the context they are published in.
 

11. You have been actively engaging with artists, educators and writers across the Indian subcontinent. In your experience, what role does literature play in fostering peace and bridging cultural or political divides? (One usually thinks of sports diplomacy) 
 

Literature can offer an alternative to propaganda fed through biased textbooks and media representations. It has the capacity to move us, make us feel things, expand our hearts, and question our prejudices. It invites us to walk in the shoes of the people we read about. We laugh and weep with them. We make a personal connection. This is what literature can do.

12. What are your thoughts on our website www.citiesinfiction.com? 
 

I appreciate the fact that an initiative like this exists because knowledge production about urban life ought to include how cities are imagined in written and oral literature, and not remain confined to how cities are built by urban planners, builders and architects. Amitav Ghosh’s excellent novel The Shadow Lines (1988) captures what I mean to say in the best possible manner: “A place doesn’t really exist…it has to be invented in one’s imagination.” I wish you all the best, and hope that your work continues to grow and benefit more people.