Early initiation
I got into reading during my childhood. I would pick up a book and get instantly transported. I remember my mother taking me to bookstores where I would get lost in the ocean of words.
Fave list
Mahabharat, And Then There Were None, A Tale of Two Cities, The Alchemist, Angels and Demons, A Feast of Roses and poems by Eliot are some of my absolute favourites. They all have impacted me in their own way and that reflects in my writing.
Favourite authors would be Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, O’ Henry, Kafka,
R K Narayan and Devdutt Patnaik. I love the stories they create and the way they narrate.
I love thrillers, horror, murder mysteries, mythology and history. The list of my favourite books above reflects this.
A time to read
These days it has become increasingly difficult to take time out to read. I am either writing my next book or scripting for the screen. But I still try to squeeze in a book or two. These days one is increasingly pressed for time but I try to read at least two books a month.
Varied sources
I get book recommendations from my friends and online book reviews. Online portals like Goodreads and Amazon are great sources for that.
I love physical books
There’s something sensory about them. The touch and smell of paper is something else. Dog-eared pages or using a book-mark is a different high.
Special memory
My grandmother buying me fairy tale books. I still treasure some of those.
From word to motion picture
I loved the adaptations of Gone With The Wind, A Passage to India and The Colour Purple. The films capture the very essence of the books beautifully. I want to see
Mahabharat being made into a film. The epic has everything. If someone can do justice to it on the big screen, it will be extraordinary.
Haven’t read but claimed to have Crime and Punishment.
Vintage/first editions on my book shelf
Lee Child’s signed first edition of Past Tense.
Price no bar
The Hitchcock series of scary short stories available on Amazon and eBay. They are quite pricey, but I keep indulging.
Best of three on my shelf
Mahabharat, Kafka and poetry of Eliot.
Currently reading
The Forest of Enchantments.