There is a particular kind of afternoon that exists only in the monsoon and now that I am in Mumbai, I am beginning to understand it in a way I hadn’t before. The sky turns old pewter by three o’clock. The rain falls in soft curtains. The whole city breathes differently.
On afternoons like these, I don’t want to read something that demands too much of me. I want a book that fits the weather the way chai fits the morning, without effort, without explanation. Just warmth, and the right kind of company.
So here, for the monsoon, are three books for three moods. And since no monsoon is complete without a cup in hand, I’ve paired each one with a chai to match.
When the rain just begins and everything smells of earth
For the mood that is soft, unhurried, and a little hopeful
📖 Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop
Some books ask nothing of you except your company. This is one of them. The stories here are quiet and separate: each character arriving with their small weight of longing, each one departing a little lighter. It is the kind of book where nothing explodes and everything resolves, and you close it feeling, inexplicably, that the world is a decent place after all.
I picked this up without expectations and found myself lingering over it. Each character’s story feels like a breath of fresh air; the literary equivalent of that first green smell when the rain starts.
🍵 Chai pairing: A mild ginger lemon chai. Light on the spice, gentle on everything.
When the afternoon has gone grey and you are in the mood for something stormy
For the re-read you have been meaning to get back to
📖 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
I will be honest: I do not re-read often (the Harry Potter series is an exception). But there are books that belong to the monsoon so completely that returning to them in the rain feels less like a re-read and more like a reunion. Wuthering Heights is one of those.
Heathcliff and Catherine make no more sense on a second or third reading. If anything, they make less. But Brontë’s moors – all that wind and wildness – somehow match a Mumbai downpour in a way I cannot entirely explain. Read it on a grey afternoon, when the sky is the colour of iron and you have nowhere to be. It will hold you.
🍵 Chai pairing: Strong, dark masala chai. No compromises.
When the thunder starts and you want to stay up past your bedtime
For the mood that is tense, a little breathless, and entirely irresponsible on a work night
📖 The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
I reviewed this on the blog last November, and my opinion on Dan Brown’s writing style has not changed. But here is what I will say in his defence: the man knows how to keep you turning pages when you absolutely should not be. And there is something about a storm outside and a conspiracy thriller in your hands that produces a very specific, very guilty kind of pleasure.
Pick this up when the lightning is doing things and the lights have gone uncertain. You will not sleep. You will not regret it.
🍵 Chai pairing: Adrak chai. Strong ginger, strong tea, enough to keep your eyes open.
That is my monsoon reading list, for this year and perhaps for every year after. Three moods, three books, three cups in hand.
Tell me what are you reading this monsoon? And more importantly, what are you drinking while you read?
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