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I watched Spy × Family on Netflix a year ago. I wanted to read the books first as I had heard great things about Tatusuya Endo’s artwork but I couldn’t find the manga anywhere in Kathmandu. The online bookstores, which generally have titles I can’t find anywhere, didn’t have the books either. I was contemplating asking a friend who lives in Japan to get the book series for me when, lo and behold, Bookverse stocked them. I bought six volumes in one go. The manga series has 12 books. I’m hoping the bookstore will bring the rest soon.

The manga series has great artwork. You can get lost in a page for several minutes. The expressions of the characters will blow your mind, and make you laugh out loud. Though the story is simple and engaging, you will want to take your time with it as it’s entertaining and each page has something or the other you will want to look at for a while. For those of you who are new to manga, it might take some getting used to as you have to read it from right to left—the reverse of English which is read from left to right.

The plot is convoluted, crazy, over-the-top, and so much fun. Twilight is a spy. He works alone and he is great at his job. But for his next mission, he has to create a family as he has to infiltrate a school. So, he needs a wife and a child. Enter Yor and Anya. They are meek and thus the perfect candidates. But Twilight doesn’t know that Yor moonlights as an assassin and Anya can read minds. The fake family now consists of a spy, an assassin, and a mind reader, all of whom are keeping their real identities a secret from one another.

Then there’s the issue of Twilight (or Anya) still having to pass a rigorous interview process at the school to gain access to another student whose father is his target. For that, he must train his fake/temporary wife and daughter how to act like the perfect family. All of it leads to some hilarious and heartwarming moments. Twilight, Yor, and Anya are strong and lovable characters, each with backstories of their own. You will identify with at least one of them.

Spy × Family is a laugh riot. It’s also a wonderful tale of a found family. There’s a lot of suspense and intrigue to keep you hooked. The Netflix adaptation has two seasons with a total of 37 episodes. Each episode is 23 minutes long. It’s as good as the manga series. The characters come alive before you and it’s such a pleasure to watch. Read it or watch it, the choice is yours. But don’t miss it. Better yet, do both. You won’t regret it.

Manga/Graphic Novel

https://www.goodreads.com/series/265020-spy-family  

Spy × Family

Story & Art by: Tatsuya Endo

Translation: Casey Loe

Published: 2020

Publisher: VIZ Media, LLC

Pages: 12 book series, Paperback

Gyanu Adhikari’s ‘Sambedanako Samayog’ is a collection of essays. Divided into seven chapters the collection has a variety of essays ranging from personal experiences of the writer, her memories of teaching elderly women in her village, the life of students in Kirtipur, raises issues of females, her travel experiences, and her sources of becoming a writer, among many others.

Written in a simple language, the essays evoke nostalgic memories of the past. Use of sentence structures to make the readers feel the event and sequences, vivid description of the place and events give a reader an appeal to sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

Making a comparison of the writer with the other women in the society, Adhikari aptly explains the problems and challenges of the working women, struggling to balance the work and family life. ‘Asamyak Sparsha’ is about the personal experience of being a mother and her difficulties in taking care of the child. Her question “Did I become a successful mother?” is not only the question of Adhikari but is a question that many mothers might ask themselves when they leave their child home and go to work. It depicts the problems of women not being with the child in his/her needs despite them running to make a living for the family. Her essays advocate women empowerment.

The essayist in her experience of residing in Kirtipur has come up with fun filled memories of the place. She depicts the life of the students who have rented the rooms in the houses in Kirtipur. She perfectly narrates the life of the students’ struggle of living in Kathmandu—how they are struggling to make a living, living their life in limited income, water, their struggles to prepare for the examinations to enter the government jobs, the limited number of items in their rooms and their techniques for interior designs.

She narrates about the Tribhuvan University and also satires on how the university itself is looking for its history. She says that the central departments in the university have not been functioning properly. She compares the university with a surrogate mother who cannot love the child she has given birth to. The university too is like a surrogate mother—people come here to study, they study, get the degree and go away, never to be seen back in the premises again.

She explains about the historical importance of the old city.

She describes the change of the tenants in the households after the change of the curtains on the windows and also describes the people living there in the rents. Some are serious, while some are lazy. She unwillingly has to listen to the conversations of the students. Use of dialogues in the direct speech in the text has given the essays a real feeling. She too hears the conversations of the students expressing their happiness after them receiving their visas for abroad studies/jobs. She narrates how the students cook at midnight, wash the dishes and sing when Kathmandu is sleeping. She concludes that we can know about the person from the daily activities that s/he does. She narrates the stories that take place inside the rooms of the students in a lively and vivid manner.

Seema Bhanda Para Failidai is a travelog. She narrates about her first experience of seeing a sea, her excitements after being in the see, watching Kanchanjungha mountain her dissatisfaction about the maltreatment of Nepalis in Jaggannath Puri in India by the pandas (the priests around the temple), and her experiences of being in a group of drunkard colleagues. The selection of words and formation of the sentences in the essay ‘Ramailoko Paribhasa’ gives you an exact image of the situation where one who does not drink becomes the onlooker rather than being a participant of the group. The feeling of nationality emerges when one sees and crosses the Tista River in India. Being grown up listening to the song with words ‘Paschim Killa Kangada, Purvama Tista Pugetheu’ the feeling of nationality is overcome when one reaches the river. The writer has aptly portrayed this sentiment in her essay ‘Tista Nadi Matra Hoina Rahecha’ and she is right about it.

She pens downs about the literary figure Shivahari Adhikari. She raises her concern on how the new generation is unaware about the literary figures and their contributions in literature. She unknowingly advises the government and the concerned bodies to save the works of the writer. Her essay in the chapter ‘Shabda ra Aksharharuma’ is about how reading is a spiritual act. Two essays on this last chapter is a research work on which talks about the use of reality and realism in Nepali literature. Those who are not the students of Nepali students are likely to feel the part is boring as it is more technical and is a research based article.

There are a few errors and typos in the text. Though the essays are written in simple sentences there are multiple questions. It seems the writer is trying to seek the answers. Use of multiple questions in the essays though are thought provoking, the use of more questions makes you why there is a question again. The reader finds it unnecessary.

Cooking always felt like a chore. Till it didn’t. I don’t remember when I started enjoying cooking. Perhaps, it was during the Covid 19 lockdowns when my husband and I didn’t have the option to order from different restaurants or go out to eat, depending on what we were in the mood for. All of a sudden, I was making biryanis, butter chicken, a variety of soups and salads, etc.

As much as I enjoy indulging in my newfound hobby, one thing that puts me off is the amount of waste. From onion peels and lemon rinds to vegetable scraps and chicken skin and bones, there’s just so much I have to throw out every time I step into the kitchen to prepare a meal. My mother composts but I’m too lazy to do that. So, I wallow in guilt every time I throw out a trash can full of scraps.

I came across ‘The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook’ by Arina Suchde at Bookverse in Civil Mall, Kathmandu, while hunting for some new cookbooks. I confess I bought it without even reading the blurb because the cover was so interesting. It had images of watermelon rinds, orange peels, corn husks, and such on a pastel-blue background. The cover also proclaimed that there were 75 recipes to begin your zero-waste journey. I was sold.

The book offers many ways in which we can reduce wastage of resources in our kitchens. It provides the readers with tips on how we can grow our own herbs. There are also recipes for basic pantry staples that can be made at home—this reduces the need to buy different condiments while ensuring our food is as preservative-free as possible. Suchde gives you 75 vegetarian recipes across seven sections. They are not just food recipes. You can also learn to whip up some mean cocktails. She also shines the spotlight on composting.

Some of my favorite recipes from the book include ‘Leftover Subzi Pav Bhaji’, ‘Carrot Peel Pasta Sauce’, ‘Wilted Lettuce Dressing’, and ‘Banana Peel Sleepy Tea’. These recipes drastically reduce kitchen waste as everything can be salvaged. You can throw every vegetable that is about to go bad as well as scraps and peels into the pot to make the Leftover Subzi Pav Bhaji. The Carrot Peel Pasta Sauce puts all the peels to use and the sauce is delicious. For a household that consumes a lot of carrots daily (our dog alone needs a carrot after every meal), this recipe is such a lifesaver. I don’t feel bad about having a banana daily because the peel can be saved to make a great-tasting tea. (Earlier, I would rub it on my face but I would still eventually have to throw it away. Not anymore.)

The book highlights the importance of sustainability in the kitchen and the author shows how simple steps can go a long way in achieving it. But she also talks about how it’s not possible to go zero-waste overnight and neither should we aspire to do that. We must be consistent in our efforts to manage the resources that are available to us. The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook arms us with many ways in which we can make small changes in the kitchen that can, in the long run, drastically reduce waste.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199364564-the-no-waste-kitchen-cookbook  

The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook

Arina Suchde

Published: 2023

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 157, Paperback

A secret line of people lives out on the Yorkshire Moors in England. These people eat books. They retain the book’s content after eating it. They eat maps to remember the routes and the destinations. For dessert, they sink their (book)teeth into romance. Children, when they have to be punished, are forced to eat dictionaries, which are considered mundane. Devon Fairweather is a part of an old, reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brother eats stories of adventure while she is fed fairy tales and cautionary stories.

Then she has a son. He isn’t a book-eater like her. Instead, he feasts on the minds and souls of people. Devon flees with her son, Cai, as she doesn’t want him to be turned into a weapon for the family as most mind-eaters are destined to become. Devon must figure out how to cure her son or risk losing him forever while dodging her family. Every soul Cai consumes makes him lose a little of himself so Devon doesn’t have a lot of time.

Almost every other BookTuber I have subscribed to on YouTube mentioned ‘The Book Eater’ by Sunyi Dean in their videos last year. The story—about a clan of book-eating people if you can call them that—sounded intriguing. But I couldn’t find the book anywhere. Then I came across a copy at Bookverse in Civil Mall in Kathmandu. Despite the tiniest font size ever, I bought it. My friends said I’d probably go blind by the end of the book. Having heard so much about it, it was a risk I was willing to take.

I must confess I wish the font size was better but I have no other complaints with the book. The story is fascinating. The writing is gorgeous. The characters are lovely, complex, and interesting. The events line up beautifully. There is always something happening, you are never bored, and the story moves forward at a comfortable pace. I could conjure the scenes in my head as Dean has masterfully crafted her world, paying attention to even the most minor detail.

The narrative alternates between the past and the present but it’s not difficult to keep track of what’s happening in the two timelines. The past and the present chapters complement one another, making it easy for the readers to figure out the intent behind the protagonist’s actions. The story deals with some important issues like trauma and patriarchy. I had to put the book down to think about things several times. Dean makes you contemplate quite a lot.

If I’m honest, the story takes on a dark, sinister tone at times. A five-year-old devouring people’s minds and adopting their personalities feels a little disturbing. At one point, having devoured over 25 people, he acts like an adult. His words and actions don’t suit him. It quite literally gave me the chills. Dean uses this opportunity to ask some provocative questions about how our minds define us. It was insightful but creepy nonetheless. All in all, I enjoyed ‘The Book Eaters’ and I would highly recommend it.

Fantasy fiction/Horror

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58724745 

The Book Eaters

Sunyi Dean

Published: 2022

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Pages: 298, Paperback