THE SHELF / 5 books to rescue you from brainrot

My love for the Percy Jackson series transformed reading The Odyssey from an academic obligation into an act of curiosity.

Akhteruzzaman Elias needs no introduction. Khoari is an anthology of four short stories by the prolific writer of novels like Chilekothar Shepai (1987) and Khwabnama (1996). In this collection, the writer explores not only universally resonant and time transcendent themes like sexuality, old age, lust, and death but also postcolonial ones like race, occupation, displacement, and sense of belonging.

The world only began to experience notable economic growth in the late 19th century. Even then, it was the reserve of heavily industrialised nations. Thanks to the mercantilist policies of Europe’s empires, this meant that territories like the Bengal weren’t merely prevented from industrialising, but deindustrialised.

Each year, one writer contributes a text that will remain unpublished and unread until 2114.

I have become the smoke .In someone’s teacup at 8,.The quiet breeze that flickers a candle–.before the call to prayer..Dhaka, you burned me to ash.And tried to mold me like Hephaestus .As if I were your forged blade,.Your myth-woven metal..But stil

Winters feel less like winters, the sun burns on my fragile skin. December. Tell me it’s

Always a voice against the ruling class, Badruddin Umar was a fierce critic of the post-1971 regime of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In the year 1025, a fleet of warships set sail from the Coromandel Coast of southern India on a mission of conquest.

If Dante Alighieri were a frustrated PhD student with a caffeine addiction and a strong disdain for university bureaucracy, he might have created Katabasis, as R.F. Kuang did.

The launch brought together literature, art, and reflection, marking the arrival of Breaking Dreams as a work that speaks both to individual lives and to the wider social realities of Bangladesh.

"The Secret of Secrets", which runs to nearly 700 pages in English, marks Brown's return eight years after his last novel, "Origin".

What do you carry in your heart’s bundle? A lineage?

Before returning to Australia, I felt a quiet urgency to visit my elderly and ailing relatives in Dhaka. Not just a social obligation—it was something deeper, a whisper from within. I heard such visits were acts of virtue, but for me, it was more about connection, memory, and respect..A fe

One of the memoir’s most striking elements is Westover’s refusal to paint her family in simple black and white

In a recent conversation I had with a well-regarded photographer about his longitudinal study on a subject, he talked about Sufism and the structure of the raagas in classical music where a single refrain being repeated was actually an inward search for deeper meaning.

"You have done an excellent job. People who know English tell me that your translations are better than the originals," said the late Sunil Gangopadhyay to Aruna Chakravarti on her translation of his writings.

The memoir situates Roy’s personal story alongside her public life as an outspoken critic of state power, globalisation, and inequality.

Ami chiratare dur-e chole jabo.(I will go far away forever).I’ll go far away forever—.yet I won’t let myself be obliviated..I’ll turn air to knot your hair.when the bun gets loose..Immersed in your tune.when the sky dozes, wind weeps,.with teary ey

I was born too late for CBGB’s, too offline for MySpace and too far away from dive bars. I came to all of it two entire decades late so The Strokes wasn’t exactly the soundtrack to my reckless twenties but a band I happened to stumble into during a mid-pandemic spiral.

Being a musician who grew up singing and listening to Kazi Nazrul Islam’s songs, I was quite familiar with his writing, particularly his diction, figures of speech, and sundry themes.