Kolkata stars celebrate the joy of reading

Prosenjit Chatterjee, actor

What three books are you currently reading or recently read?

I recently read Kafka’s Metamorphosis for the fifth time now, as it gives me a different perspective of life each time. My current read is Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s Bhuture Ghari , as I wanted to read something light-hearted after Metamorphosis and I also love the way Sirshendu writes ghost stories. I am planning to read Chokher Bali after this as I watched the film recently.

The top three books you would recommend to a friend, for any reason, from any genre.

My top three recommendations have to be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. While Harper Lee’s book explains racism from a child’s perspective and is a must read for all generations as it teaches us the importance of kindness, A Thousand Splendid Suns describes the lack of women rights under the Taliban regime. It beautifully narrates faith, love, loss, violence, fear and hope. The third book is an in-depth analysis of everything around us starting from agriculture, science, history to the evolution of humans.

Anupam Roy, musician

What three books are you currently reading or recently read?

Currently I am reading Rabindranath Tagore’s Chinna Patra. I love revisiting this book, time and again. On the other hand, I just completed reading Utpal Kumar Basu’s Sreshtho Kobita and Rachana Samagra by Basudeb Dasgupta. I think both the books are brilliant and take you to a different world.

The top three books you would recommend to a friend, for any reason, from any genre.

If I have to choose three out of a plethora of recommendations, they would be India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy by Ramchandra Guha, The Stranger by Albert Camus and On The Road by Jack Kerouac. While the first brilliantly narrates the post-independence era in India and the lives of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, the second traces the journey of a French man Mersault who navigates life in isolation. On The Road has a completely different essence that highlights the joy of travel and freedom.