Babel by R. F. Kuang
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
Babel is set in an alternate history, where Britain has been using magic to maintain its colonial supremacy. Without getting spoiler-ey, this world is built on the idea that languages are magical resources and there is actual power in the act of translation or meaning making. And so, Britain robs its colonies, not just of material wealth but also children, who speak the different languages that are harnessed to work magic and usher in a magical industrial revolution. The book opens with Robin, a Cantonese-speaking orphan in plague-ridden China. He is whisked off to Oxford to be a scholar at B ..read more
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House Number 12 Block Number 3 by Sana Balagamwala
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
The second read for January was part of my self-challenge of reading more books by South Asian authors this year. The author, Sana Balagamwala, is Pakistani and apparently grew up in Karachi, where the book is set. I like the idea of a house narrating a story. The house in question is a bungalow located in Karachi. House Number 12 Block Number 3 tells us about the lives of its inhabitants, Haji Rahmat, his wife Zainab and their two children, Nadia and Junaid. The story spans the four months after the patriarch of the family is dead. But, of course, the house remembers all the years leading up ..read more
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Best Books of 2022
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
I haven’t read as much as I wanted to this year, but I’ve miraculously loved almost all the books that I’ve read. So, quality matters, right? It’s been a good year. Here are the highlights: Biggest Comfort Read: The Ship of Magic (The Liveships Trilogy) by Robin Hobb Robin Hobb made my year this year! The Liveship Trilogy by Robin Hobb was the greatest source of warmth, love, and adventure. The incredibly immersive writing made every 900+ page tome a breeze to read. Robin Hobb’s writing has such a cinematic feel. Every character brought their own charm, and I just wanted to keep reading and se ..read more
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The Snow Leopard and the Goat: Politics of Conservation in the Western Himalayas by Shafqat Hussain
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
One of those obscure books that I can’t tell you why I picked up, but I can assure you I’m glad I read it. We (urban animal-loving folk) tend to talk about conservation in black and white terms devoid of socio-political content. The book questions this tendency. It reminded me of a quote from Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.  “Who are these people, I wondered, who love animals so much that they are willing to kill us for them? …This whole world had become a place of animals, and our fault, our crime, was that we were just human beings, trying to live as human beings always have, from the ..read more
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Books With Adjectives in the Title
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
This upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topic was too cute to leave for next month. So I chose to fast-forward to it right away, just so I could post this. Check out today’s topic and other posts over at That Artsy Reader Girl. You know how books follow similar title patterns? The Adjective Noun like The Silent Patient, or The Noun of the Noun like The Call of the Wild. Here’s a quick and fun grammar practice lesson that you can conduct in your classroom or school library, or even virtually. All you need is a bunch of books! Place buckets or racks across the room, or virtually, folders or other organise ..read more
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Ten Surprising Reads of 2021
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
Here is a list of ten books I read this year that really surprised me. These are not books released in 2021, by the way. Writing a post for the ‘freebie’ topic for Top Ten Tuesday. Here goes my list – 1. Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb – The book (and the Rain Wild Chronicles series) is the story of the first dragons returning to a society that has long lost these beasts. What surprised me was the intense first person narration of the dragons. I didn’t expect a fantasy book to be so lyrical. 2. You Took The Last Bus Home by Brian Bilston – A book of poetry like no other I have ever read. Each of t ..read more
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
I was so looking forward to this book! The premise is excellent – it’s exactly my kind of Faustian story. A young woman makes a deal with a dark god – she wants to be free… escape her village and her marriage… and live forever… The devil answers her prayer. Except, no deal is quite that straightforward. And so, while she escapes from her small life, she is cursed to remain alone, forgotten. No one remembers her, and anything she says, writes or makes is wiped from the world, from memory and history. She is not only out of the grasp of time, she’s cut out of life itself. Three hundred years of ..read more
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Instagram Poems For ESL Students
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
2w ago
Here are some of my favourite poems found on Instagram that I have shared, or would want to share, with my students – and I recommend you share them with yours. I’ve added ideas for discussion questions right below the poem. 1. Unnamed Poem by Diana Levy https://www.instagram.com/p/CRR2XRFnuJ-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link How has the poet personified nostalgia? How has the poet used the five senses to create evocative imagery? Describe the memories of your childhood. Which sensory images would you use to capture your country? 2. Have You Ever Noticed by Rudy Francisco View this post on In ..read more
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House Number 12 Block Number 3 by Sana Balagamwala
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
1y ago
The second read for January was part of my self-challenge of reading more books by South Asian authors this year. The author, Sana Balagamwala, is Pakistani and apparently grew up in Karachi, where the book is set. I like the idea of a house narrating a story. The house in question is a bungalow located in Karachi. House Number 12 Block Number 3 tells us about the lives of its inhabitants, Haji Rahmat, his wife Zainab and their two children, Nadia and Junaid. The story spans the four months after the patriarch of the family is dead. But, of course, the house remembers all the years leading up ..read more
Visit website
Best Books of 2022
Tabula Rasa
by tabularasablog
1y ago
I haven’t read as much as I wanted to this year, but I’ve miraculously loved almost all the books that I’ve read. So, quality matters, right? It’s been a good year. Here are the highlights: Biggest Comfort Read: The Ship of Magic (The Liveships Trilogy) by Robin Hobb Robin Hobb made my year this year! The Liveship Trilogy by Robin Hobb was the greatest source of warmth, love, and adventure. The incredibly immersive writing made every 900+ page tome a breeze to read. Robin Hobb’s writing has such a cinematic feel. Every character brought their own charm, and I just wanted to keep reading and se ..read more
Visit website

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