Stories, reviews & literary ideas

Book reviews, reading guides, author interviews, and community highlights from the Newbooks team and our members.

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Baring Faith to Uproot Belief: Agenda for Religious Reversions
9 min

Baring Faith to Uproot Belief: Agenda for Religious Reversions

That the jihadi Islam, to paraphrase in Telugu, has become the chaapa kinda neeru (stealthily spreading water under the mat) and its fidayeen lurk in every nook and corner of the globe, is a common knowledge for long. But yet, the non-Muslim world, despite the outsider advantage, remains clueless to confront, much less contain, this unremitting scourge. That is in part, geopolitics apart, is owing to an inadequate appreciation of this debilitating Islamic phenomenon, and this is but an attempt .

My maiden 'Novel' blues
4 min

My maiden 'Novel' blues

When, in an absorbing story, these and other inimitable characters began to come alive in an intricate plot, I could sense that my maiden novel was turning out into a work of art on the Indian literary stage, and so I was desperate to live up to its completion in its poetic prose. Oh, how I feared death then, and what a relief it was as I lived to keep up with the muse to complete 'Benign Flame'!

Baring Faith to Uproot Belief: Agenda for Religious Reversions

That the jihadi Islam, to paraphrase in Telugu, has become the chaapa kinda neeru (stealthily spreading water under the mat) and its fidayeen lurk in every nook and corner of the globe, is a common knowledge for long. But yet, the non-Muslim world, despite the outsider advantage, remains clueless to confront, much less contain, this unremitting scourge. That is in part, geopolitics apart, is owing to an inadequate appreciation of this debilitating Islamic phenomenon, and this is but an attempt .

BS Murthy Oct 18, 2026 👁 13 💬 0
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My maiden 'Novel' blues

When, in an absorbing story, these and other inimitable characters began to come alive in an intricate plot, I could sense that my maiden novel was turning out into a work of art on the Indian literary stage, and so I was desperate to live up to its completion in its poetic prose. Oh, how I feared death then, and what a relief it was as I lived to keep up with the muse to complete 'Benign Flame'!

BS Murthy Sep 23, 2026 👁 15 💬 0
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7 min read

My ‘Novel’ Account of Human Possibility

Who would have thought that life held such literary possibilities in English language for a rustic Telugu lad in rural Andhra even in post-colonial India? The possibilities of life are indeed novel, and seemingly my life has crystallized itself in my body of work before death could dissipate it.

BS Murthy Sep 21, 2026 👁 15 💬 0
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