If you’ve found your attention span shrinking thanks to endless (and mindless) scrolling, you’re not alone. The good news? You don’t need to complete a 600-page novel to get back into reading. Check out these short, compelling South Asian reads as an attempt to get your attention span back!
1. His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light By Mimi Mondal
28 Pages | Indian Literature | Fantasy Fiction
A short yet powerful tale of magic, genies, and circuses. Perfect for when you want a full story under an hour.
2. If They Come For Us by Fatimah Asgha
106 Pages | Partition | Poetry
A poetic reckoning with partition, queerness, race and survival; on inherited loss and defiant joy.
3. Shikhandi: and Other Tales They Don’t Tell You By Devdutt Pattanaik
198 Pages | Queer Theology | Myth Retelling
Reimagined stories from Hindu mythology centring gender variance and queerness.
4. Swimming in the Monsoon Seal by Shyam Selvadurai
274 Pages | Queer YA | Coming of Age
Set in 1980s Sri Lanka, fourteen year old Amrith grapples with grief, identity and desire.
5. The Devourers by Indrapramit Das
306 Pages | Historical Fiction | Horror
Werewolves, Mughal history and queer desire – all in one book. A dark, ambitious read for lovers of genre bending fiction.
