Just when I thought I’d be stuck nursing my The Summer I Turned Pretty hangover forever, a new obsession came crashing in. The Ba***ds of Bollywood. I binged the show over an evening, and let me tell you, Aryan Khan did not come to play. The show is sharp, messy, and ridiculously watchable. From winking references to that infamous roundtable to throwing shade at the very headlines about his own arrest, Aryan’s basically proving he grew up with a front-row seat to Bollywood’s drama class.Â
And when I wasn’t glued to the TV, I was deep in the kind of book that makes you want to keep the lights on. ML Wang’s Blood Over Bright Haven feels like it was written to kick off spooky season (yes, I know India doesn’t do fall, but I fully insist on living like it does). It’s got everything: a brilliant, underestimated mage, a broody assistant with secrets, and a city built on magic that might just eat itself alive. For me, it’s giving peak dark academia vibes with just enough menace to make your chai feel extra comforting.
Oh, and speaking of books, the 2025 Booker Prize shortlist just dropped. Kiran Desai is back with The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, her first shot since winning in 2006. She’s in stellar company with Susan Choi’s Flashlight, Katie Kitamura’s Audition, Ben Markovits’s The Rest of Our Lives, Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter and David Szalay’s Flesh. You can read her interview here for all the behind-the-scenes magic.
