The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello and Welcome to my first Reading Wrap-up of the Year!  January was a good reading month.  I read 16 books!  Yay!  Most of them were rather good.  I had this tiny goal with regards to my reading in January, I wanted to only read good books, to sort of set the tone for the rest of my reading year. And I think for most part I have done just that. Sure some books were less than extraordinary but well..that's just life eh?  I read literary fiction.  I read some Jhumpa Lahiri.  I did a spot of re-reading.  I read Ray.  I read some kidlit.  I read some picture books.  I read some YA.  I read translations.  It was all in all a good start to my year.  You were good January.  Thank-you and more please.  Lets jump in my reads of January.  BOOKS OF JANUARY 2022:  1. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy: I started my reading with the most perfect book. I loved it. Made my sister read it immediately and I can't believe it took me so long to get to it. I loved th

 A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.  I am a big believer in counting my blessings. In trying to find something good in every single day. It doesn't have to be something big or significant, even a small thing is enough to shift focus away from something less than perfect and instead focusing on things that make life good.  I have had a Gratitude Journal in some shape or form since 2015 or so.  This year my Gratitude Journal is much more loose form and more like a Bujo set-up. A place where I get to keep track of things I am grateful for everyday and even making a place to keep super aesthetic and do a spot of art journaling.  So a place for gratitude and creativity.  This is my Gratitude Journal for this year and some of the first few weeks in it. My Journal took it's own sweet time arriving and I got it only on the 16th of January, so I filled it up more as a throwback!  Before the ink...because some things I want to keep private.  This is my journal. An embroidered, ha

  Netflix dropped its latest series ' The Woman in the House across the Street from the Girl in the Window' this Friday and here are 5 reasons to watch this quirkily named show! 1. If you've read any of the books that this series seeks to parody, namely, The Woman in the Window, The Girl on the Train, The Family Upstairs, The Couple Next-door, The Woman in the Woods etc. etc., then you simply have to watch this series!!!!! It is the Scary Movie (sort of) parody of these books where some unsuspecting but nosy woman finds out something nefarious about her neighbours and then shenanigans ensue!  2. The show is a mix of comedy + crime, which is to say that it mocks these books and all the tropes that this particular sub-genre of crime fiction is steeped in! Namely, an unreliable narrator, a drunk woman overcoming some kind of trauma, suspicious neighbours, incidents that may or may not be what they seem and, most importantly, the neighbours' propensity to live their lives r

 Hello Loves!  The first month of the year is nearly over and it's time to list my absolute favourite things about January.  January was a good month.  Cold.  Full of good books.  Planners galore.  Cooking.  Baking.  Cold nights.  Being on the terrace soaking up the sun. A month full of simple pleasures.  A good start to the year.  :)  Here are some of my favourite things/moments from January 2022.  1. Reading: My reading this month was very good and everything that I hoped it would be. I wanted to kickstart my year with only good books and set the tone for the rest of the year. And for most part I was successful in reading only good books. My reading wrap-up will go more into detail with everything I read this month, so come back on Monday to read about every single book I read. But I read literary fiction, translations, Indian books, re-read some stuff and even read some kidlit and picture books.  I also found so much joy in reading on the terrace this month. Either soaking the

  Book: Tiny Sunbirds Far Away  Author: Christie Watson  Pages: 436  How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days (I could not put it down)  Publisher: Quercus  Plot Summary:   Set in the Niger Delta,  Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away  is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way. When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother's family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children's school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themsel

 Hello Loves!  Time for a little bookmark haul today.  I got these beautiful and cuddly bookmarks from Fugaa back in December. And they are too cute for words. The little girl in these bookmarks reminds me of me as a little girl. It was honestly love at first sight.  I got there bookmarks and a tiny notebook from this shop, I will show you the notebook some other day. Lets see the adorable bookmarks today.  Look at this cute little face!  Plus Cat!  I am so smitten.  With a furry friend.  Doesn't this remind you of summers in your childhood, running wild and free and being with nature?  Sleepy cuteness.  Here are all of them together.  I am so in love with these.  I love this darling little girl and definitely want  more art featuring her.  Go check out Fugaa. 

  Book: The School for Good Mothers Author: Jessamine Chan  Pages: 336 Publisher: Simon and Schuster Read On: Kindle  How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days  Plot Summary:   Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. What’s worse is she can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with their angelic daughter Harriet does Frida finally feel she’s attained the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she’s just enough. Until Frida has a horrible day. The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida — ones who check their phones while their kids are on the playground; who let their children walk home alone; in other words, mothers who only have one lapse of judgement. Now, a host of government officials will determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion. Faced with the possibility of l

 Hello, hello! It has been a rough few days with my mom, dad and sister all being unwell! Not Covid, thank God, but other health issues. I have been finding small moments of joy and calm in the midst of all the stress and running around.  Some glimpses from my world on this Monday.  A spread from my weekly Gratitude Journal before the ink. I have decided to do this on a weekly basis as it is easier to catch-up 2-3 days at a time.  My cute Kindle cover has a lovely message for everyone- spread joy.  A story from a collection of Ray's ghost stories that I read last week. They are all lovely and spooky. Good stuff!  The front page of my Gratitude Journal. Isn't it pretty?! My terrace tote, which basically contains all the things that I carry to the terrace with me- my current book, water bottle, phone, a wooly hat etc. This is from ALOM Merch.  I don't go anywhere but I have a bag packed. This vintage leather saddle bag is from Amazon. It's quality is really great and it w

 Hey guys, Sharing some pictures of my sister's memory keeping system for 2022. She is using Traveler's Company's Vertical insert inside of a Regular-size Traveler's Notebook from The Black Canvas.  Let's get into it!  Here is what the Traveler's Notebook (TN) looks like. This is a custom-made TN from The Black Canvas . The leather is a lovely, smooth tan, which will mark up nicely with age!  The inside has two vertical pockets, which are perfect for storing stickers, washi tape samples and other bits and bobs.  She has been using this Badri-work hand clip to hold her pages open when she journals. This is from LADU . It is so well made and so pretty! If you are looking for an aesthetic paper clip/ page holder, then do check them out.  This bookmark is from Midori and we bought it from Paper Planning & More .  This is what the cover of her 2022 January-June planner/ memory keeper looks like. This insert is from the Traveler's Company and we got it from  P

 Hello Loves!  Another weekend and more books to read and live my best life.  My sister and I hope to spend most of this weekend reading and being still and happy.  I am reading two books at the moment. And my sister started a new book today.  Let's see what I am reading this weekend.  One Dozen Stories by Satyajit Ray, Translated by Gopa Majumdar: First up I am slowly making my way through these magnificent stories from Ray. All of these I've read before so this book is an absolute re-read but one I am always happy to embark on. A mix of Ray's best stories, some spooky, some sci-fi, some about everyday life and two from Feluda's adventures. A great way to sample his work and this collection works for kids and adults alike.  Young Blood by Chandrima Das: Next I am also reading these horror short stories set on college campuses in India. I have read only a couple of stories so far and I am really enjoying myself. We've been having some rainy and grey days here and