Greetings from Kolkata, India. My name is Arpita and I love being stuck in the middle of a good book.

Not the beginning-when the characters and scenes have a newness and sense of unfamiliarity. Not the end- when farewell  is an imminent certainty. I enjoy the middle- when you can savor the beauty of being in a far-off place from the comfort of your armchair.

I see the world through these books. When I look at a map of North America I see Anne of Green Gables in Prince Edward Island, L.M. Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Wisconsin Woods, Huck Finn in the Midwest and Hemingway’s house in the Key West.

Similarly the English Lake District is synonymous with Arthur Ransome and Corfu belongs to a boyish Gerald Durrell. When I look at an Indian map I think of Seth’s -A Suitable Boy, Roy’s The God of Small Things and with great pride and love I look towards Tagore’s poetry for reminders of my hometown Kolkata.

I’ve spent my life living in different places around the world, including the UK, India and the US. But now it’s time for some armchair travel via the books I read.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at bagfullofbooksblog@gmail.com