Adults and children alike will love this first book from the series by Cressida Cowell. We follow the (mis)adventures of Hiccup as he tries to train his dragon, Toothless, in order to pass the initiation to become a full-fledged member of his Viking tribe. Not your usual dragon taming hero, Hiccup is the son of the current chief, but a rather un-Vikingish Viking who possesses more brains than brawn. After successfully capturing a sleeping baby dragon with his friends, the boys have a limited amount of time to train it to obey their commands. But not only is their bounty the smallest of all the dragons caught, it is completely toothless!—which leads Hiccup to name him Toothless.

Toothless won’t follow any of the commands Hiccup gives him. In desperation Hiccup even seeks out a book written specifically for dragon training, but even that doesn’t seem to do much good. What follows next is a series of hilarious, rib tickling events. As the unlikely pair start to forge a bond between them, they learn to trust and believe in each other. In the end, Hiccup and his toothless garden dragon end up saving the village from a dangerous attack thanks to his brain and quick thinking.

Cowell, who is also the author of  the Emily Brown stories, has created another masterpiece with this series. Set against the backdrop of a goofy, over- the-top surreal background, the book has all the trademarks of a contemporary teen novel. With broad and plentiful humor Cowell deals with issues of growing up such as being a social outcast, unpopular friends, bullies, and having demanding parents. Filled with interesting facts, drawings and extremely likeable characters, this is a book sure to leave readers awaiting the next installment.

Recently made into a Dreamworks feature, the on screen adaptation is out now in theatres across the city. Created as an epic re-telling of the first book in the series, the animated version has subtle differences from the book. A new plot, character changes etc. However, the author has stated in her blog that she felt approvingly that the film remained “true to the spirit and message of the book.”

Rent, purchase or gift a copy of  How To Tame Your Dragon available at the INDIAreads Online Library.

When Kunal Basu’s book of collected short stories inspires a leading movie director to make a film based on the title story, the end result is a lilting fairytale. Adapted from Basu’s novel ‘The Japanese Wife’, Aparna Sen’s new movie of the same title creates a haunting tale of love between two characters played by Rahul Bose and Chigusa Takaku. These are two people who have never seen each other but fall in love through exchanging letters and even survive a 15 year old marriage. They share a relationship filled with warmth and compassion, and their undying commitment to each other over the years is touching.Their physical absence in each other’s lives never comes in the way of their sense of belonging as a couple.

However, complications arise and their beautiful relationship is put to test when one day a young widow comes to live with her son in the house where Snehamoy (Bose’s character) stays. Soon Snehamoy finds himself torn between two women: one, a long standing intimacy devoid of domesticity — and the other, an undefined relationship that offers a comforting domesticity without any possibility of intimacy. So in the end, will it be the widow who finds her solace with Snehamoy?  Or, just as in their letters, will life finally unite Snehamoy and his Japanese pen pal as husband and wife?

If you liked the story and can’t wait to know how it ends…read the book, and then go watch the movie. That’s possibly the best way ever to enjoy both Basu’s refined prose and Aparna Sen’s artful rendition on love which can exist without consummation and togetherness that can be attained despite spatial and cultural distances. The Japanese Wife is a tribute to man-woman relationships mapped out over a landscape distanced from all accepted and recognised notions of love and marriage. It also celebrates the lost art of letter-writing by raising it to a level of unparalleled beauty in redefining relationships.