In May 2020, in the middle of the first lockdown in Nepal, Jeeya Shrestha discovered Bookstagram, a niche community of readers on Instagram, while scrolling through Tumblr, a microblogging site.

COMMUNIST COVE: The bookshop Nati Bajra (above) ran was a haven for Nepali leftists, who flocked here to read books by Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung, and chat with the owner. Last week, linguist, writer ...