Daily Star Books
The shelf / 5 feel-good books to get you in the mood for fall
Speaking of Gilmore Girls, the first addition to our list is a hearty romantic novel by Laurie Gilmore. This book is a written rendition of Stars Hollow itself—starting from the quirky characters to its eternally golden atmosphere.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / It’s summer, it’s New York, and the girls are dressed up (and broke)
Happy Hour greeted me like a warm hug. This is definitely one of the sweetest books I’ve read this year, and possibly one of the sweetest books I will ever read.
ESSAY / The boundless possibilities of books
Books are often staple travel companions. But as the reader leafs through its pages, they are blanketed by the warmth of its faint-yet-familiar scent, and submerged into a linguistic hinterland hiding infinite possibilities. As pages and letters metamorphose into a world unfettered by human limitations, books become much more than mere companions we literally travel with. Rather, they are transfigured into vehicles through which we embark on a more figurative journey—one of the intellect and the imagination.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Mermaids are real: A story of the Haenyeo
Dear readers. I want you to do something with me. Take three long breaths—as deep as you can. Now hold it for two minutes! How long did you hold? I only survived one minute and 23 seconds. And I’m used to spending time in the water.
BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / Balancing the act of oneness and being one with oneself
Kiriti Sengupta is an award-winning poet, translator, editor, and publisher based in New Delhi, India. Oneness is his latest collection of poems. The seemingly unassuming thin volume does not prepare readers for the multi-sensory experience that is in store for them as they open the book. Even before one’s mind and eyes get used to reading, the poet jolts readers as he writes “I rived my eyes / for inditing poems. / Would you reckon them / by their length?”
REFLECTION / Whispers of history: Revisiting ‘Rajmohan’s Wife’
The history of the novel being published, too, is surprising, as the author himself neglected the existence of the novel. Despite being Bankim's debut novel, it wasn't published as a book before the author passed away
BOOK REVIEW : FICTION / Riding the early years of motherhood through ‘Soldier Sailor’
While reading it, one might feel that they are reading a mother’s confessions while she takes care of her son.
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / 'Thrice born': The journey of Bangladeshi literature in English
Bangladeshi Literature in English: Critical Essays and Interviews, edited by Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan, focuses on critical essays on Bangladeshi literature in English—both from Bangladesh and its diasporas (US, UK, and Australia).
THE SHELF / Diverging perspectives: Exploring Bangladesh’s history through controversial narratives
When it comes to the history of Bangladesh both pre-and post-Liberation War, certain aspects have either remained hidden from the public or been deliberately obscured.
EVENT REPORT / ‘Rebels with a cause’: In-Zine event celebrates the importance of self-published zines that challenge oppression
The experience was hands-on, intimate, and vulnerable, as many paid tribute to the lives lost in the July Revolution, as well as writing and creating art dedicated to their own personal struggles.
INTERVIEW / Into the world of speculative fiction: An Interview with 'Small World City'
This past August, Dhaka’s speculative fiction magazine 'Small World City' enjoyed their first anniversary. The magazine, over this last year, has published some of the more striking works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry coming out of the country
'Joli No Udim Hitte': 5 Books to read on International Indigenous People’s Day
The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, observed each year on August 9, serves as an important reminder of the many injustices that take place in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
About romances ever-appealing
Irrespective of the ambivalence that marks Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century, Selim marvels us with his choice of words and precision of utterance.
6 essential Rabindranaths you should read
One does not need to remember Rabindranath on the occasion of the anniversary of his death—22 Srabon or August 7 to be precise.
4 books I was grateful to read this year
It's true, I feel differently about books that I previously disliked or enjoyed reading and books that I want as a physical presence in my life
Witnessing the Turkish century
In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.
Poetry collection that traverses the world of Tagore
The poet says that since her childhood, Tagore’s poems and music have been resounding in her heart and soul and that she murmured his lines even in her sleep
Otherness and invisible identities
'The Hippo Girl and Other Stories' holds up a mirror to a society that judges and ridicules those that do not adhere to its shortsighted vision of a homogenised culture.
6 books that shed light on student movements in Bangladesh
One of the movements which helped accelerate the Liberation War of Bangladesh was the Mass Uprising of 1969.
‘I don’t want to go to Dhaka University anymore’
“There is only one life to live— In this lifetime, why should Rajakars have to be seen again?”
4 summer romances of 2024
For when you want a book that makes you laugh out loud while also making your stomach go woosh with butterflies