Well, I could be partial because it has my story, but each story is different from the other and equally enjoyable. Some sweet, some bittersweet, but all a part of life.

This is quite similar to the previous one but has more comments by kiddos. Aren't they cuties with wonderful imagination? :)
Of course, some adults make us wonder about how stupid one can even get.
But hey, it's still a fun book to read and takes 30 minutes or so. Pick it up as a breather between intense reads.

4.5 stars

It's a funny little book that makes you laugh and want to kick an odd (read rude) customer at times. The illustrations were super cute and added to the book's charm.

I avoid non-fiction for many reasons. But when someone recommended this one and said it was a collection of letters between a writer and a book shop, I couldn't resist.
I'm so so happy to have read this. After a long time, I've rated a book full 5 stars. Love it.

It is a useful book for writing who are into the field for a while. Can get overwhelming for those with no experience (even when most of it is simplified).
Definitely more useful to journalists, but short story writers can benefit quite a lot.

I'm wary of translations as these tend to filter out the essence of the original. But this book looked like it did retain the tone, feel, and flavor of the original.
The narrator is dispassionate and is not sure if he is even suffering from an identity crisis or if he cares enough about it. He makes you want to hate (detest) a lot of people in his family, except for his wife Anita. Or, it would be the other way round, and you'll end up feeling sorry for him and his family (less likely).
The ending left me disappointed because I wanted to know more and see the narrator change. It doesn't happen. I guess the story is more real than reality in that way. It doesn't take away anything from the story, rather emphasizes that some people can live their entire lives feeling passionate about things but don't bother to act on it as it takes too much effort.

Two friends of mine suggested this book and one of them sent me a copy to read. I'm happy to have read it. Gave me pointers to handle subdued and less worthy narrators in a story.

Many facets of life and society are meticulously observed and tactfully presented to us. From the heartbroken bride in The Last Promise to a Broken Nest echoing with unbearable silences, from the quest for The Root of her existence to unspoken words of routine in The Tea Story, we see what life does to men and women.

Questions, taunts, silences, turmoil, anguish, hatred, and hopelessness- we live them each day and somehow find solace in the very pain that hurts us. Oh, there are moments of smiles and laughter. Still, it's a bittersweet tinge of loss in various forms that lingers long after we close the book.

Beautiful and heartwarming stories.

These are words, emotions, and lives of people who had to flee; escape, run away, hide, and try their best to survive when 'some higher authorities' decided to divide their land. A land that was theirs belonged no more to them.
Tears, pain, agony, uncertainty, questions, betrayal, depression, murder, death, and venom ruled the land that was ruthlessly broken into two.
Amidst the overwhelming darkness were rays of light- friends who defined the relationship, families that provided a helping hand, strangers who became family.
Thousands of families perished; thousands survived, barely. Disjointed, destroyed, and desolate, they picked up the wrecked pieces of their lives in a feeble attempt to move on.
Some made it big, some lost it all. Either side cried for their misfortune even as the governments assured things would be better.
How can things be better? Relocating wasn't a choice. It was a compulsion. It was an order.
Years later, when they talk about the partition, tears fill those eyes. Voices choke with burdened emotions. Hands tremble as the memories of those dreadful days rake up the old wounds that never healed.
The book has 24 stories- of the past and present. Most with a hopeful ending; the rest dealing with the harsh realities one cannot, should not deny.
As long as one lives and even after, the stories have to be told. Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren show know.
Read them when one gets old enough to realize what had happened. Read them again to understand how a single word was more than enough to destroy lives.
It has been long since I read a book that moved me as much as this one did. The partition has occurred long before I was born. But, somewhere in the corner of my heart, I cried for what had happened. The tears made their way back to my eyes when I started reading Hiraeth.

Shivani, thank you for writing the book. She is a friend and a fellow writer I admire. Her stories don't hit readers in the face. Instead, the words silently creep and crawl, filling the reader with unexplainable emotions. Hiraeth is no exception. It is proof of how simple words can break your heart.
The book uses regional languages to retain the authenticity of the stories. Each of those words and phrases has been explained in the footnotes of the same page. Hiraeth is a book I would recommend others to read.