Our Monsoon Reading List - We Asked Readers What They’re Curling Up With For The Season

So here we are, another typical Mumbai monsoon around the corner. As much as we may dread the water-clogged roads, flooding and traffic jams, there is a certain magic that draws you to this city during the rains. When the sky broods with the all so familiar grey clouds, it’s the perfect time to call in sick, grab a blanket, hot cup of chai, some seriously deep-fried food and get lost in a book as the rains wash away your worries.

It may be because of the power outage that results from heavy rains, leaving you with nothing else to do but pick up a book, but there is a certain romantic notion that goes with reading on a rainy day. Perhaps it’s the petrichor lulling us into a sense of comfort that goes perfectly with the musty, toe-tingling smell of books.

Monsoon reading has a mystical charm to it, but finding that perfect book to curl up with while the pitter patter of the rain drowns out the honking on the streets can be tricky. But not to fret, while we’ve been compiling our own reading lists for this seasons, we’ve got some wonderful suggestions from our readers on Instagram to add to your very own.

I. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, recommended by @nehaaparanjape

II. The Girls by Emma Cline, recommended by @harini.a12

III. Powder Room by Shefalee Vasudev, recommended by @preppypc

IV. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, recommended by @shikapai

V. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, recommended by @dilseray

VI. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, recommended by @sarianaz

VII. Brida by Paulo Coelho, recommended by @nandini_tambi

VIII. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, by both @_dascobar_ and @abhiieeeeee

IX. The Beautiful and the Damned by Scott F. Fitzgerald, by @wanderingcoffeewriter

X. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, recommended by @empatheticbadass

XI. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, recommended by @mehekravidassani

XII. The Best of Ruskin Bond recommended by both @rocheryl and @shah_saheb