Book review: The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan

On the day he retires two things happen to Inspector Chopra. The first is that a young man is found dead, his death dismissed as an accident by Chopra's colleague. The second is a little more unusual - Chopra gets home to find he has inherited a baby elephant from his uncle. And so begins The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan.

A lively, dark novel, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra is hugely fun to read and full of charm. At its centre is a murder mystery, with Chopra finding himself in more and more danger as he gets closer and closer to the truth. But it's not the crime element, as brilliantly executed as it is, that makes this novel such a joy. It's the way Khan explores what a man does with his life after the thing that takes up most of his time - work - is no longer taking up that time. Khan shows the fear Chopra has of going from respected police inspector to irrelevant old man, and he does it with humour as well as sympathy.

Part of the humour comes, of course, from Chopra's relationship with the baby elephant - Ganesha. But Ganesha is no comic sidekick. Instead, the relationship between Chopra and Ganesha is touching, and the two teach each other things - the elephant teaches Chopra he is still needed and valuable, and Chopra shows Ganesha how to trust and love. It sounds strange to be talking about a man and an elephant, but the relationship is as strong as any detective and their human sidekick.

Book review: Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik

Sofia Khan has had it with men. She thought she'd found the one, but it turned out he wanted her to move in with his parents (sort of, next door but with a hole connecting the two houses) after they got married, so now Sofia has given up. Or she thinks she has - when she accidentally pitches a book about Muslim dating to her boss, Sofia finds herself having to examine love, life, family, and go on a few weird dates all in the name of research.

Ayisha Malik's Sofia Khan is Not Obliged is brilliantly funny, and put me immediately in mind of Bridget Jones, albeit a more up-to-date version with a Muslim protagonist. Malik's book is full of fun, and if I wasn't smiling with Sofia, I was usually laughing with her. The first truly laugh out loud moment came just pages in, when Sofia, after being called a terrorist by a Tube passenger, leans out the doors to shout: "Terrorists don't wear vintage shoes, you ignorant wanker!" It's the kind of comeback that is both clever and a bit silly, and Sofia Khan is Not Obliged strikes a balance for its protagonist between both those qualities.

Best books of 2015

So many books, so little time. Luckily, I did have time to read these 12 brilliant books, my favourites of the year...

Book review: All the Rage by Courtney Summers

I have struggled and struggled with this review - I started writing it weeks and weeks ago (months actually) and I've written and rewritten paragraphs, deleted sentences and whole sections, and given up many a time only to come back a few days or weeks later.

Because how do you review such a brilliant and brutal book like Courtney Summers' All the Rage?

Romy Grey wouldn't stand out from any other teenagers in her town if it wasn't for the fact that she accused the sheriff's son Kellan Turner of raping her. No one believed her, so now Romy takes refuge at her after school job in a diner where no one knows about her past. When a girl from her school goes missing, Romy suspects she knows what has happened, and she has to decide whether to take action to help, at the risk of becoming even more of an outcast.

Consent, justice and memory are all dealt with by Summers in All the Rage. We meet the tough, prickly, fierce Romy, and root for her from beginning to end. Her every word and action shows someone who has survived and who is still fighting in small ways, even though she may think she's hiding away. Just getting up, going to school, going to work, interacting with people is a huge battle for Romy, but she does it.

A promise to read more ethnically diverse writers

Here's why I love books - they can take you to different lands, introduce you to different types of people, teach you about things you never knew. Books are diverse, and I love them for it.

So I was more than a little embarrassed to discover how undiverse the books I've read this year are when it comes to the ethnicity of their authors (there are lots of other kinds of diversity which are also missing in publishing, but I want to focus on ethnic diversity because it's of particular personal interest to me). I put together a list of my top summer reads for 2015, and all the authors on it were white. I didn't do this on purpose, and I only realised afterwards, once I'd read a critical piece about a best of summer reading list compiled by a newspaper. No one called me out on the lack of diversity of my list, but they should have.

The inner monologue you have when you're getting a massage

"My back is killing me, and my shoulder. I should get a massage. This is going to great, I deserve a treat.

"Massage day tomorrow! Wait, are my legs properly waxed? I should make sure. What if I've missed a bit?

"What should I wear? I don't want to look like a slob, but I want to be comfortable.

"Should I moisturise before I go? I mean, the masseuse will use massage oil, but I don't want her thinking I'm an adult who has never met a tub of body butter in her life.