Weekend Reads: Three Books I am Currently Reading.

 Hello Loves!!

How is your long weekend going? 

It's been very cold here and all I've been doing staying cozy under my quilts and reading and watching things and drinking tea. 

This weekend my reading looks a little like this: 

Rumi's Little Book of Life, Translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin: I have been dipping into these beautiful poems every now and then and I don't need to tell you how mesmerizing Rumi's words can be! 

I am taking my time with these and trying to absorb the meaning and feelings in these words. 

Beautiful and perfect for reading before bedtime.  

I am not a big poetry person but something about Rumi and his wisdom and joy and life lessons I tend to enjoy. 

A Married Woman by Manju Kapur: I just started reading this earlier today. I really enjoy Manju Kapur's writing and have read quite a few of her books. This one  I am glad to get to. This also adapted into a web-series last year and once I read it, I can watch it. I am a little bit in and I have a feeling I am going to enjoy this very much. Her books are enjoyable and all set in very relatable Indian settings. She mostly writes about women, in urban Indian settings and women aren't remarkable in the most obvious ways yet women who feel so familiar and often living through impossible situations. I first read Difficult Daughters by her over 12 years ago and have since read most of her books. 

Plot Summary: Astha has everything an educated, middle-class woman could ask for: comfortable surroundings, children and a dutiful loving husband. So why should she be consumed by a sense of unease and dissatisfaction? And when she begins a relationship with another woman, is she liberating herself from her marriage, past and culture - or foolishly jeopardising everything she has?

The Greatest Odia Stories Ever Told Selected and Translated by Leelawati Mohapatra, Paul St. Pierre and K.K Mohapatra: I love this entire series that Aleph Book Company does. I have read The Greatest Bengali Stories and Urdu Stories and want to get my hands on the Hindi, Tamil, Assamese and Gujarati ones too. It helps that these books are absolutely beautiful too! Seriously these are amazing books to read and learn more about the literature of a particular state and they look incredible on your shelves as well. 

The Odia stories I am currently making my way through. I am a few stories in and at the 38% mark of this book and I am really enjoying the writing and the general sway and tone of this anthology. Tying not to rush it and I am reading a story here and there and really immersing myself in this world. Most of the stories, at least so far in are set in the past, mostly in the British Raj and mostly in rural Odissa. I love these stories full of feisty and endearing and very relatable characters. I am excited to read more and acquaint myself with more stories from my neighboring state.  I haven't read that much from Odia literature before so these stories are a great way to dive into this region and find new authors to read. 

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Well my reading is allllll Booked and I couldn't be happier. 

I hope you are doing well and are safe and reading something good too.