Monday 29 June 2015

Monday Moods: 10 Things That Make Me Happy!





Hello! 

Hope this Monday is treating you well. 

I have had a very mixed/off weekend. 

On one hand I had the house to myself and had myself a little readathon which was very good. I had a good time doing that- a slow weekend with reading and just being. Plus, I reached my GoodReads Reading Challenge goal of reading 100 books. Yay! Currently I've read 104 books. 

Good things. 

Then there were things that weren't good.

Fights with my maid....I know #FirstWorldProblems but it's my problem and I hate it and it bums me out. 

Then the big toe on my bad leg (the leg I sprained badly a couple of years ago and it still hurts time and again) was in a world of pain. I was limping and in much discomfort. 

And I am on my period...PMS is hitting me hard. 

So today I am going to focus on all good things. 

Take the focus off the bad and focus on the good. 

And tell you all the things the make me happy...well 10 things! 

1. Flowers in all shapes and form. Real. Pictures. Illustrations. Florals always make me happy. 

2. Ice-cream. My favourite is mint-choco-chip and I love the choco-almond ice-cream from Naturals. Love it. 

3. New books. I am a booknerd! 

4. Scary movies. I am a huge horror movie fan and watching scary movies always cheers me up. Weird but true. 

5. Bags---pretty much my favourite thing in the world after books...or right along side with books. 

6. Cheese fries. YUM! 

7. A good sleep. Just restful and deep and wonderful. 

8. Favourful iced-coffee. :) 

9. Silver jewellery. :))) Bring it on. 

10. Writing...journaling and blogging. 

Hope you have a nice week ahead!

Saturday 27 June 2015

Project 365 2015: Week 25.

Hello! 

Another week has come and gone. This was a week I spent mostly at home due to the crazy rains in Bombay, I am not complaining. I love the rains. 

This week also involved lots of closet cleaning.
Early mornings. 
Pretty pink satchels.
Cooking. 
Rainy days. 
Tea drinking. 
Movie watching. 

Just good things! 

Let's see my week in pictures. 


Day 169: Grey skies and endless rain call for appropriate jewellery. 
Brought out my little umbrella charm pendant for a rainy week! 




Day 170: Love how lush green everything looks on rainy days! The trees seem so happy dancing in the breeze and shaking off their summer skins.


Day 171: A regular lunch for days when I am home alone and need to fix myself something simple yet delicious! 
Boiled carrots and peas with fresh cucumber and a splash of lime juice, salt & pepper and a wee bit of extra virgin olive oil. LOVE IT! It's seriously one of my favourite things to eat! 
Washing it down with some lemonade.


Day 172: This little fella comes visiting every afternoon. He perches himself or herself on the clothesline and snoozes for a good hour. Isn't even a bit skittish. Makes me want to take an afternoon nap too!


Day 173: My darrrrrrrling new bag! Combining my unrelentless love of satchels and my lifelong obsession with the colour pink! I am so in love! 
She is from Viari.
And she is a Campus Satchel Large.
Here she is seen hanging out with my sister's current read-- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.


Day 174: An outfit change for my phone. 
An owl phone case from Chumbak!


Day 175: Owl princess in braids! Casually hanging out on my sister's planner :)

This was a really nice week.
With rains and rainy days that meant everyone in Bombay had a long weekend! :)

Hope you had a nice week too and I'll you next week with another week in pictures!




Friday 26 June 2015

Weekend Reads/// Set-9--- The Readathon Editon!

Hello! 

This weekend I am doing something a little different and something for the very first time! 

A READATHON!!!! 

I plan on binge reading and trying to read as much as possible! 

The thing is I have the house to myself this weekend..so the plan is to read and read and read! 

Also this weekend I will hopefully read my 100th book of the year and thereby finish my GoodReads Reading Challenge! :) I am super happy to report this. Honestly. I knew I'd reach this challenge but I didn't think I'd reach it by June. Even though i completed my last year's challenge in June as well but this year I was travelling for the first two months and only read like 8 books in January and 10 books or so in February. So I was thinking I'd eventually get to my goal of reading 100 books but I am pleasantly surprised that I've reached here in June already. 

So in order to celebrate I am going to do my first ever Readathon and get my reading on. :) 

Here is what I plan on reading this weekend..well starting this morning Friday 26/6 to Monday afternoon 29/6. 




The Reading List: 

Ripper by Isabel Allende--- I have already started reading this book and it is pretty gripping. It's about an odd group of people all over the world- mostly teens and one 64 yr old- who are trying to solve a grizzly crime in San Francisco. The writing is super nice and though this is a chunky book I hope to finish it quickly since it is a murder mystery.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid #2 Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kenney---another one I am currently reading and one that I will finish before I fully jump into Ripper and it's only 224 pages and it's a graphic novel so it should be a breeze to finish. It's funny and cute and lovely and I am really enjoying it. Reading this on my iPad. 

A Pocketful of Rye by Agatha Christie---I try to read at least on Christie book a month. I love them. They are my comfort reads and I should hopefully enjoy and read it quickly as well. 

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf---two essays and it's really thin and acceassable, my classic read for the month so it will be really great if I manage to read it this weekend! 

Tintin Vol. II it contains three Tintin stories 
The Broken Ear
The Black Island 
The King Ottokar's Sceptre 
I will dip in and out of these stories between reading the other books. 

And finally..

The House of Fear by Ibn-e-Safi---should be a fun and fast paced spy/detective/mystery book. 

Wish me luck! 

I hope to read all of these or most of these books but if I am for whatever reason not feeling it...I might move to another book or grab another graphic novel or comic book. 

I only plan on taking breaks from reading when I am sleeping-cooking-eating and showering (obviously!) Otherwise it will be reading from here on out. 

Again, wish me luck! 

I will do a Readathon Wrap-up on Monday evening and tell you all that I managed to read! 

Yay! 

Happy Reading guys :)

Thursday 25 June 2015

General Whimsy: Home!


"Home is where one starts from." 

T.S. Eliot


"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."
Jane Austen 







Just some pictures of my home...more specifically of my living room on a bright morning. 

I am big fan of Staying at Home. 

Being cozy and comfortable and being surrounded and comforted by the familiar. 

My home is colourful, cluttered and full of character and knick-knacks. 

It's hand's down my favourite place to be.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Book Haul/// Treat Yo'Self Edition!

Hello! 

You might remember that I came down with the flu in the third-ish week of May. Sore throat, body ache and a high fever. All of that and the special Bombay May heatwave. NOT FUN! And when I fall sick I like to treat myself to a little something something. Let's just say I feel a little indulgent :) So I dragged myself out of bed and latched on to the laptop and a click here, a click there and I bought me some books! 

A happy ending to a sad story. 

And since I was treating myself...I actually got some books I wanted for a while but was holding off since they were a little expensive. 

I am very happy with this book haul and so excited for all my new books. 

I highly recommend doing something indulgent when you are feeling poorly. Get those books you wanted. Order that bag. Get those beautiful but impractical shoes. Just go ahead and Treat Yo'self! 

Let's see all the lovely books I added to my bookshelves! 






God! Isn't this book just the prettiest thing ever!?This was  a true treat for me. It was in my Wishlist forever and I just didn't want to shell out INR. 378 for it...but I am so glad I did. I love it.



The art in this book was just amazing. 











This gorgeous book was not part of my little haul. My sister had this on pre-order and we got in the mail around the time the rest of my books arrived. 
This is of course the third and finaly installment in the Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. My sister is dying to read this but has been busy all of June and hasn't had time to delve into this book. 

I haven't yet started on the Ibis Trilogy which is crazyyyyy because I LOVE Amitav Ghosh! 
Need to start on these books soon! 



Books Bought: 

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolfe 
 Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe 
Land Where I Flee by Prajwal Parajuly 
The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner 
The Harappa Files by Sarnath Banerjee 
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy 
Levels of Life by Julian Barnes 
The Bell Family by Noel Streatfield
In The Light of What We Know by Zia Haidar Rahman 
Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh 

Lots of happy reading in my near future. :) 

I haven't bought a single book in June...which is a good thing because May was an epic month of book buying! 

Happy Reading and I'll see you guys soon! 
 

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Book Review: Hama-Guri Goes to School by Aditi Bose.



Book: Hama-Guri Goes To School

Author: Aditi Bose

Pages: 62

Read On: My Kindle

How Long it Took Me To Read: A little over 2 hours.

Plot Summary: Hama-Guri is a six year old boy who lives with his parents in a lovely cottage on a farm.

His life is simple, well almost.

The curious mind of Hama is never at rest and he makes the humdrum routine of daily life come alive with important questions, the whys and the wherefores.

Hama’s adventures are as much about self-discovery as they are about the realization of what really matters.

Join Hama on his adventures and grow up (or don’t) with him the fun way. After all childhood (and the rest of our lives) is all about learning new things, exploring the unknown and revelling in the hidden novelty of the mundane.


These stories are imaginative yet simple and the lessons are easy to understand but often forgotten. Jump in and rediscover childhood.

General Thoughts: I was sent this book for review by the author herself and honestly the adorable title of the book drew me in!

Though the book was given to me for free, the thoughts/opinions/review is honest and my own.

Things I Liked: 

1. First up the adorable title, Hama-Guri in Bengali means the crawling on all fours, specifically the crawling that babies do. :) I also loved the names of the various characters in this book. Hama-Guri of course and then Mihi-Dana (a kind of sweet) and Shara-Raat (mischievious). Really a sweet touch. :)

2. The language and the writing is really good too. Perfect for kids who was are a little older and can read for themselves or even for younger children who can easily follow the stories if they are read out to them.

3. The length of each of the five short-stories is also nice. Not too long but not too short either. Just perfect.

4. I loved the mother and son relationship that shines through this book.

5. This book talks about such important topics that children today need to understand. Bullying, competition, being productive, the value of money and overcoming your fears- all critical things that merit being talked about. I loved that these topics were handled in this book and handled so well.

6. This was such a happy and fulfilling read.

7. Though obviously a children's book, this can be enjoyed by adults as well.

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. The setting of this book wasn't clear at all, I assumed it was set in India and then in the last story the mention of Dollars just threw me off completely. I wish the setting was better explained right at the off-set.

2. Hama-Guri' father is almost absent...it would have been nice to see more of him.

Rating: 4/5

A delightful read!

Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.


Book: Speak

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Pages: 224

Read On: Paperback

How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days

Plot Summary: The first ten lies they tell you in high school.

"Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say."

 From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.

In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

General Thoughts: I had been meaning to read this book for absolute ages but just couldn't find myself a decently priced copy. Till Flipkart had a clearance sale and I got my hands on this really pretty and well-made paperback edition.

I have heard lots about how poignant and important this book is and I wanted to read it for myself. Last year I read Wintergirls by the same author that dealt with the sensitive topic of eating disorders. I have reviewed it HERE. I had less that favourable things to say about but I still wanted to read Speak. Let's see what I thought about Speak.

TRIGGER WARNINGS for rape, depression, suicide and self-harm.  Read only if you can handle reading about any of these things.

Things I Liked: 

1. The writing was good...really nice in fact. I much preferred the writing style and tone of this book compared to Wintergirls.

2. Once again I found that the writer did a fantastic job of getting inside the head of her lead character. The angst, the trauma, the fear and the general anxiety that is going on inside Melinda's head and heard was captured so well that it seemed like so frighteningly real.

3. The High School and it's petty politics and cliques and rules and subtle but neverending cruelty was also on point but never exagerrated or over the top.

4. Melinda's isolation, her being an utter and total outcast was also depicted so well.

5. This book is so important and from what I've read in my edition- which was the 15th Year Anniversary Edition- this book has touched the lives of so many people. Especially young women who have been through the same thing. This book has helped people tell their own stories and begin the long journey towards acceptance and healing. So any book that has such a powerful impact is an amazing thing!

6. I also enjoyed reading about Melinda's new friend Heather. Heather is such a character! She is so desperate to be popular and have circle of friends she is willing to do anything to achieve her goals and refuses to see how badly 'The Marthas' - a group of girls- treat her.

7. This book is as much about rape as it is a book about depression. Melinda is slipping into depression as the book progresses. This book does a great job of showing what depression looks and feels like and I loved reading about this.

8. Melinda's parents and thier benign and not so benign neglect also made for very interesting reading. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

Hmmm..I really appreciate this book. Like I said, this book has helped and continues to help many girls like Melinda and for that reason alone this is an incredibly important piece of fiction. But I can't help by feel a little letdown by this book.

1. Melinda is quiet for most of the book. Which of course, I get is the main plot-line. But I thought there would be more of the aftermath of her breaking her silence. I found that bit missing and would have liked to see the reactions of her parents and the rest of her world.

2. Also what happened to the rapist? Did she file charges?

3. Her parents...they are grossly neglectful and almost blind to her pain. I am sure this happens but their formerly bright daughter is cutting school and her grades are slipping and hello...she isn't really talking anymore?! How could her parents not see something was so wrong?!

4. Most importantly, my biggest grouse with this book was that is just really, really bummed me out. I was  in such a blue funk after I'd finished reading this book! I needed a nap. And this wasn't because this is a book about rape- though that is plenty upsetting in itself- something about the tone and the voice and the general vibe of this book was just soooooooooo blues inducing.

Rating: 3/5

This is an important book but this isn't a book for everyone. Read it only if you are ready for it and if you have happier books next on your TBR!


Monday 22 June 2015

Book Haul/// Flipkart Clearance Sale Haul. Part- II.

Hello! 

Here are the rest of the books that I got in the Flipkart Clearance Sale. I love a clearance sale.The deals are incredible and this time around I even got some books that were on my wishlist for ages for really cheap. Like 60% off! Freaking awesome! Nothing makes my heart happier than a book sale. :D

So let's see the books I added to my bookshelves...





This adorable book has illustrations in it! Sadly, this is the second book in the series! :( I need to get the first one and only then can I get to this book. But it's so pretty and it sounds adorable. Feral kids and their nanny. What's not to love? 





Books Bought: 

A Cool Dark Place by Supriya Dravid 
The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden by Jonas Johansson 
Inheritance by Indira Ganesan 
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson 
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place The Hidden Gallery by MaryRose Wood

I am excited as always to get to these books and I have already read Speak and have many feelings about it, review coming up super soon! 

Happy Reading guys! 

I'll see you soon! 


Monday Moods: I Heart Coffee!







Hello! 

It's Monday Morning..5:49 am on a Monday Morning to be precise. 

Why am I awake so early on a Monday??? 

Truth be told I haven't gone to bed yet! :( 

 I meant to but my sister took an early flight to Delhi this morning...she had to leave home at 4:45 am and was up since 3:30 am, so it didn't make sense for me to sleep for a bit and wake up groggy to see her off. So I decided to stay up and see her off. 

Now it's nearly 6:00 am and I need to get some sleep but all my heart desires is coffee! 

If you know me at all, you'd know that I love coffee. Love it. Need it. Can't do without it. 

So let's just dedicate this Monday Moods post to all things coffee. 
I also love and have a rather large collection of coffee mugs. I think if you love coffee then you should drink it in style. 

I like all kinds of coffee.

The coffee shop kind.
The instant kind.
The filter coffee kind.
The French Press kind. 

I am no coffee snob. I love my coffee equally. 

Hope this Monday treats you well and you enjoy  warm cup of delicious coffee! 

Have a nice week guys! :)