Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: March 2022.

 Hello Loves! 

March is over and it has been a month of reading women, some absolutely incredible women writers for #FemmeMarch and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

:) 

What a great reading month this has been. 

I read all women and snuck in one male author and guess what it was a bust! Should have stuck to reading only women. 

I read 15 books and 8 beautiful children's books/picture books. 

I even bought a few books and they've all arrived today. (What a great way to end my month!) 

Read a memoir. 

Re-read an old favourite. 

Read physical books. 

Read short stories. 

Read some translated works. 

A thriller. 

A horror. 

Historical fiction. 

A wonderful mix of genres and style. 

A good good month. 

So let's just into it shall we? 

MARCH READING WRAP-UP: 

1. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys: I started my month with a very time appropriate read and with a book by one of my favourite writers. This book taught me so much about a corner of the world I knew so little about and it broke me heart and made me want to do a deeper dive and learn some more. All good things. Love when books do that and most of this authors books manage to fuel further reading. I did a review for this one which you can read HERE. 

4/5 

2. Digging to America by Anne Tyler: My fifth book by Tyler and this one might just be one of my new favourites. I started reading Tyler back in 2015 and every book of hers I've read subsequently has not disappointed. Her books are a masterclass in simple but deep and so succinctly observed. She takes the most ordinary of things and lives and spins her magic and makes these worlds and these people come alive. Seriously, if you haven't yet read her..please do. This one is about two couples who are connected by one special reason, they've both adopted little Korean girls on the same day in the same town. This book starts on August 15th 1997 and we then follow these families through the early years of raising their daughters. The couples are very, very different from each other and are raising their girls in fairly different ways. We see this story told from multiple perspectives and overtime you find yourself getting very attached to the people here. Even the ones who might have judged and disliked in the beginning. Mainly this is a story of family, found and formed and community. So well done. I absolutely loved it. 

4.5/5 

3. Violeta by Isabel Allende: From one great to another. I have read a few books by Allende and have a few of her works on my bookshelves (back home in Bombay) to be read soon. This one her newest was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Violeta is almost like a autobiography or a character study. We meet her the say she's born, in the middle of a pandemic (1920) and we follow her through the end of her life, during another pandemic (2020). In between there is a lot of life lived and mistakes made and love and loss and pain and growing and thriving. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Like till 64% I was all in and wanted to keep going, but somehow after that point it began to feel a bit too long and a bit too tedious. And..I don't know it sort of fell a little flat for me. 

2.5/5 

4. Next Door by Jahnavi Barua: Barua has quickly become one of my favourite authors. I have now read everything she's ever published and I have loved every single one of her books. This, her first, is a collection of short stories which is a great place to begin your dive into her work. I read her work is a odd order but it's been great nonetheless. Start her and read the rest too. You won't be disappointed. These stories are beautiful, melancholic but good. 

4/5 

5. All my Rage by Sabaa Tahir: This book is told from three perspectives. Two set in the present and one set in the past. The two teenagers are Pakistani American and are each going through a lot in their lives. Some pretty serious and messed up things and they find strength in each other. This was a heavy read and one of the firsts books I've read that began with a detailed Trigger Warnings list, which is good. There is a lot here that could potentially be triggering: abuse, violence and racism. So approach with caution. I liked this book...for most part, was a little out of it by the end and felt like there was a lot of repetition and some sharper editing would have been nicer. 

2.5/5 

6. Recitatif by Toni Morrison: A short story from one of the greats. Wonderful. Sharp. Brilliant. About race, friendship, memory and shared trauma. So good. 

4.5/5 

7. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami: Last year, I read more than half of Breasts and Eggs by the same author, while I was enjoying it, I did end up putting it aside, I will 100% at some point get back to it. At around the same time I bought this book and once I bought it I started to avoid it..because it's about bullying and that's something I don't really enjoy reading about and I knew that this book gets pretty hardcore. So for a year this book sat unread on my Kindle, till this month, late one night, I began to randomly read it and couldn't stop. This book is very, very triggering and very graphic. The bullying is relentless and painful and cruel and it will get under your skin (seriously if you are triggered by it, please avoid this book). It will break your heart. There is however a shining ray of light and hope even in this dark world. The writing is beautiful and this just got long-listed for The International Man Booker Prize, so it's a good time as ever to read it. 

3/5 

8. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala: After reading a few heavy and sad books back to back, I needed something light and happy and I picked the right sort of book. This one is a cozy murder mystery, full of family, food and a very likable sleuth and a dog. This one was fun and light and breezy. The mystery was nice but very easy to guess. Pick it up if want to read a light and easy, breezy read with a side of murder. My first ever read set in a Filipino family and I really enjoyed learning more about their lives and culture. 

3/5 

9. When the Wildflowers Bloom by Rupa Bhullar: My quest for some light reading also made me reach for this book though this wasn't particularly light. It's about a woman leaving an abusive and unhappy marriage and making a fresh start. I really enjoying reading books and even watching books about this sort thing and this book does this so well. The steps taken by our main character in charting out a new course in her life are so realistic and believable. A huge part of this book is set in a tiny village in Punjab and I absolutely loved reading about simple village living and the wonderful people living there. There is also a little romance but it's so well done and doesn't feel forced. A good read. 

3.5/5 

10. Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur: My re-read for this month. I read this book for the first time back in 2009 and I read it in under 24 hours. 

Why? 

Well, I borrowed it from my local library in Bangalore and once I got back home I realized it had a damaged spine, so I read it as fast as I could so I could return it and not pay a fine for damaging it. So I remembered only the broad points about the book. Most of it felt new to me. 

This was I think the first Manju Kapur book I read and have since read everything she's written. This book set mostly in pre-partition India is a great way to read about lives during that time outside of what was going on in our country. It's about a young girl who falls in love with her married neighbour and fights her family to keep studying and eventually marring him. Funny thing I remembered this being a love story but it really isn't. In fact this to me now felt like a story about regret and how sometimes the things you really fight for and defy people and society for are perhaps things you should have let gone of. I really enjoyed this book and it is hands down the best of Kapur's work and one I can't recommend enough. 

4/5 

11. The Art of Dying by Githa Hariharan: A collection of short stories that I read early in the month and honestly I don't quite remember much about them. :( They were OK. Some good and some very forgettable. This was my most meh read of the month. 

2/5 

12. Beneath The Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett: This was one of the best things I read this month. A mix of horror and thriller and it was so atmospheric and spooky. Perfect! 

1936

1965

1998 

Now

One house in the woods and many stories and tragedies connected to it. 

I enjoyed the ride this books takes you on, it did felt a little too long in the end and in the end there were some things left unanswered. Still, fun and spooky. 

4/5 

13. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: I finally read a book I've meant to read for absolute ages and I am so glad I read this timeless classic. This book is just as wonderful as I thought it would be. It's lyrical, moving and all these years later so much of it still holds true. 

4/5 

14. Boys Don't Cry by Meghna Pant: I read this book in one sitting. A powerful story about a woman surviving an abusive marriage and what it feels like to be married into a family full of evil gaslighters. This book made me soooo mad and so glad I am single. 

4/5 

15. Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin: Read this little book yesterday. A short read that was so crisp, sharp and still and quiet. A story of a small seaside town and two people who come together. This short book had so much going on and it was beautifully written and really pulled me in to this world. So glad I could read a little something for #KoreanMarch. 

4/5 

Next I read a few books from Story Weaver, which is a great place to read some incredible children's books. 

Here's what I devoured. 

16. Asha's Voice by Mathangi Subramanian, Art by Saheb Ram Tudu: A sweet story about a young girl with big plans and how she brings together the people in her village to make some changes in their lives. 

4/5

17. A Friend for Poochi by Meera Ganapathi, Art by Rohit Kelkar: This adorable book made me so happy and made me shed a happy tear or two. Poochi is a little hairy little bug who longs for friends. Oh my heart. I was cheering for little Poochi so hard. So cute. Please read this. 

5/5

18. Beauty is Missing by Priya Kuriyan: A missing buffalo and a little investigation. Adored this book and the art was gorgeous and Beauty and her human just warmed my heart. 

5/5 

19. The World That Mai Built by Nandita Jayaraj, Art by Ankita Thakur: A little story about a township designed by an architect and thoughtful details added to make a happy space. 

3/5 

20. One by Two by Maya Bisineer, Art by Shreya Sen: A sweet tale about a visit to a mela and the joys of sharing food and learning a little maths. I wish I learnt maths with a plate of biryani and gulab jamuns. 

4/5 

21. The Big Beach Clean-Up by Chandini Chhabra, Art by Asha Susan Alex: A wonderful and much needed story about a group of kids cleaning up a beach and the importance of making public spaces clean and not leaving a mess. 

4/5 

22. A Tea Garden Party by Swati Sengupta, Art by Rishav Mohanty: Ah! This story made me miss the hills and my family tea gardens. A story about how tea goes from plant to cup. Educational and informative. 

4/5 

23. This Where We Live by Manjari Chakravarti: A gorgeous picture book about cats in Shantiniketan. The art here is seriously lovely and moody and the vignettes about small town living and slow days and rainy nights was so soothing. 

5/5 

I stuck very dedicatedly to Femme March and only read Women Writers all month, I only read one book out of the reading theme and read only one book by a male author. 

24. Nine Lives by Peter Swanson: This book was so high on my list of anticipated reads for this year and I was dying to read it. But man this was such a sore disappointment. A serious let down. A review for this is up on the blog too, you can read it HERE. 

1/5 

*** 

There is my majestic March Wrap-Up.

24 books read and mostly all of them good. 

A good, solid reading month. 

:) 

Hope March was good to you too. 

Haul: Pocket Sized TN from Endless Works

 Hey everyone!

Wanted to share a new pocket-sized Traveler's Notebook (TN) that I bought from Endless Works.

As you know, we love a good TN here and so, when I saw these, I simply had to get one to try it out! 

Let's take a look at the goodies, shall we?

This is what the box looks like. The TN is sized somewhere between a Field Notes and an A6. It is taller than a Field Notes notebook but narrower than an A6 notebook, if that makes sense. 

When you open it up, this is what greets you. A little leaflet about your TN and the insert (notebook) that it comes with. 

Also, there is a sticker inside. Going to use it somewhere soon! 

This is the TN. The leather looks a lot like the Traveler Company's Camel leather but is a bit stiffer. Maybe it will get softer with age? Not sure, but I do like its rustic, easy-to-get-all-scratched-up look. 

Apart from the centre band to put in notebooks, it comes with two extra elastic bands- one red and one yellow. You can use these to add extra notebooks to the TN. A cool idea, me thinks. 

This is the insert it comes with. It is a dot grid Tomeo River Paper insert. I have been super busy with life to try it out yet, but will try different inks on it and share the results on my Instagram. 

Endless also has these pocket-sized notebooks and so, I thought I'd buy a set to try them out. They are very cute and claim to be ink-friendly. Will give these also a good old ink test and let you guys know how they turned out. 

This is what each little notebook looks like. Here is the link to get them. 

So, that was my little notebook haul from Endless Works. 

Hope you liked! Will be back soon with more book reviews! 

Vignettes: The Mellow Days of March (Life Lately- Books and More).

 March is slowly coming to a end and these last few days of the month have been good to me. First up, it's been raining, giving us a much needed respite from the heat. We are supposed to have rains all week and I am so grateful to have a break from summer. Today already feels so cool and has me reaching for my quilt. 

Bliss. 

The last few days have included some bizarreness, what with people slapping people at the Oscars! For shame! 

I still can't quite believe that really happened!!! 

Apart from Pop Culture meltdowns, there has been happy mails, good meals and some seriously good reading. 

My dearest Anupriya sent me some belated birthday presents in the mail and they made my day. Little things that I love so much. 

A pouch. (Which I am already using to store my Washi Tapes) 

Scrunchies. 

Soap. 

Two adorable bookmarks. 

A notebook.

A coaster. 

A fridge magnet. 

All lovely and most of it comes from her mind and her incredible ventures. 

A Snato Lemon soap that spells summer. I can't wait to use it when the weather is hot and sticky. 

Two gorgeous bookmarks and this summery and happy notebook in my favourite colour. 

I will always, always love scrunchies and can never have enough! 

Love these two, so well made and so pretty. 

My nights have included some quality time with my journals and planners and putting pen to paper and if you know me, you know how happy it makes me. 

It's honestly a good way to end my day, taking stock of all that I did, getting goals for the next day and writing my feelings down. 

My kind of beautiful mess. 

Life has also been full of quiet mornings full of reading and being. 

Still reading this beautiful book and really taking my time savouring it. I am making a conscious effort to not rush through and really let these words wash over me. I think this book might roll over to April and I am not mad about it. 

:) 

I am only 70 pages in so far and really enjoying everything about it. 

I have been reading other things as well. 

I actually read a whole book today. Just hunkered down and got my reading on. 

Boys Don't Cry by Meghna Pant: I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down though God knows it was making me livid. It really, really got under my skin and I wanted to scream. It's the story of Maneka who at the beginning of the book has just walked out of a very toxic and abusive marriage, she then gets arrested for the murder of said abusive ex and the book is basically her telling the story of her relationship and her marriage to a cop during an interrogation. 

The subject matter is what made my blood boil. Seeing Maneka go through the numerous micro-aggressions  in her married life and seeing her husband and his parents constantly chip away at her sense of self and make her feel small and stupid and not worthy made me so angry. 

It made me mad because this happens. All the time. Far too often. To women like you and me. You meet someone, fall in love and get married only to find out that he isn't at all what you thought he'd be like. The man and his family treat you like a doormat and a glorified slave and you have to put up with it in the name of being a good bahu. I have seen so many women continue in said relationships while losing their shine and joy little by little. 

I randomly came across this book and bought it and I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. 

4/5 

Pick it up but if Violence, Abuse and Gaslighting (there is a lot of it here) trigger you, please approach with caution. 

**** 

So that's what life has been like lately. 

Hope things are good wherever you are. 

Book Review: Nine Lives by Peter Swanson.

 

Book: Nine Lives 

Author: Peter Swanson 

Publisher: Faber Books 

Pages: 305

Read On: Kindle 

How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day 

Plot Summary: Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke—until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list.

First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next.

General Thoughts: This book was one of our most anticipated reads of the summer. We have read everything the author has written before and enjoyed his work quite a bit, and this book with its very Christie-esque premise had us all in. We got it on our Kindle the day it released and couldn't wait to read it. 

Things I Liked: 

1. As I mentioned above, the very inspired-by-Agatha-Christie premise had us at hello. And Then There Were None is a classic and gave birth to a popular trope in crime fiction- that of the Justice Dispenser! Basically, a killer who kills the bad people, so we are supposed to not feel awful that someone innocent was brutally murdered. Please remember this definition as we go further down the review as I will be returning to this very central plot point of books and movies that seek to be similar to And Then There Were None. 

2. The narrative is fast-paced and built up well. We get to know the nine people on the list- their lives, their close relationships- and even the cops and some FBI agents, who are investigating the case. The author has done a great job of context setting. We end up even caring for some of these characters (for instance, the introverted professor- Caroline, oncology nurse- Arthur and song writer- Ethan), which is also nicely done. 

3. In books of this sub-genre or, basically, in any book featuring a serial killer, you tend to look for some connection/ commonality between the victims. For instance, in And Then There Were None, all the victims were men and women, who'd committed a murder (some cold blooded, some accidental) and had gotten away with it. In this book, the connection between the nine people on the list is not very easy to guess and apart from a very few similarities (race, geographical location, socio-economic class), the author doesn't drop too many hints as to what connects these nine people. 

Things I Hated: Oh Boy! You better grab a drink and get comfy because this is a longgggg list! 

1. I guessed the killer's identity in the very second chapter in which he/she was featured. The actions of this character made it obvious that he/she was the killer and the author made no attempt to disguise his/her huge decision in any way. Once you guess the killer in crime thriller books, your interest does tend to flag a bit. I wish the author had taken some effort to not make the killer so obvious! 

Anyway, this was not such a deal breaker because in books such as this, it is the motive behind the killings that holds your interest. What have these nine people done that is so bad that they deserve to be killed?

2. Speaking of which, the motive behind these killings is beyond ridiculous! I mean, the motive is, essentially, not even a motive of any sort! The killer's reason for killing these nine people can't be justified in any way, shape or form! Like I'd mentioned above, the Justice Dispenser killer's motive is to restore justice by killing bad people- these could be killers, pedophiles, rapists, racists etc. In this book, the killer's motive allows for no justification whatsoever! It is most annoying, silly and ungratifying to reach the end of the book to find out why this person went on a killing spree! 

As we get to know each of the nine people, we keep wondering what each could've possibly done to deserve to be on a 'killing list'. For instance, the oncology nurse- Arthur- has lost his husband and pet dog in a car crash that has left him partially crippled. So, it made me wonder if Arthur had had some role in said accident. It didn't make a lot of sense given Arthur himself was in the car and seriously injured, but still, given this was the genre of the book, one was expecting each of these nine people to have some skeletons in their closet! 

SPOILER- only one of them was a bit of a psychopath whereas the others were all 100% innocent people; flawed, but innocent people. Did they deserve to be brutally killed? No. They didn't commit any crime. They had nothing to do with the inciting incident, which the killer was avenging. So, basically, you are at the end of a book where you've witnessed nine flawed but innocent people being killed for no good reason. It is annoying, ungratifying and not at all in keeping with the rules of the sub-genre. As a reader, you are supposed to be pro-killer and anti-victim (for the sake of simplicity) in these types of books, but in Nine Lives, you would 100% be anti-killer and pro-victims because they were innocent and did not deserve to die! 

I am trying to be understanding of the author's need to keep this story different in some way from Agatha Christie's classic, but that way is not by changing the very core rule of this sub-genre! Your killer can't be someone who has killed nine innocent people for a non-crime that they didn't even commit! GAH! 

Rating: 1/5 

Avoid! This book is priced at over Rs. 800 in India for a Kindle copy and it is the worst Rs. 800+ that I've spent! 

Weekend Reads: What Me and My Sister are Reading this Weekend & Binging Too.

 Hello Loves! 

Saturday means talking about our weekend reads and watching. This weekend we are doing a bit of both and so let's just jump into it shall we? 

First let me tell you what my sister has already read..she started her book first thing in the morning and as as of two hours ago has already finished it. She is a bit of a reading machine. She will go a whole week with no reading and read three books in one weekend. Today was a little bit like that for her. She finished her book in pretty much two sittings. 

Here is the book she read. 

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson: Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke—until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list.

First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next…

I really love Peter Swanson's book, I have read everything he's published and I have for most part really enjoyed his books. His books pull you in and don't let you go. And this one did pretty much the same. My sister had a hard time putting it away. She read this, like I said in two sittings but unfortunately by the end of it was left in a fuming rage! She is going to do a full review soon but she says, "Avoid!" The book goes on smoothly and the pace is amazing and the writing is good and as an ode to And Then There Were None it keeps you hooked and guessing, it's just that the ending and the motive of the killer and the thing being avenged is beyond stupid and frustrating and it's a shame to even compare it to Dame Agatha's timeless classic. 

Avoid! 

Skip.

Don't buy. 

What a shame, we had such high hopes from this one, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! 

Next on to something I am reading and LOVING! 

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: I can't believe it's taken me this long to find my way to this stellar book. I have always, always meant to read it and I am so glad I finally am. I am only 70 odd pages in and I am ready to be blown away! I am taking my time with this one and this might well be the last book for this year's #FemmeMarch and a worthy way to end my reading this month. This is what the new few days of my life will look like and I couldn't be happier. 

:) 

Now for what we are watching. 

I am finally, finally jumping on to the K-drama bandwagon and starting with one of the best (as stated by my sister and other K-drama loving souls). 

Crash Landing on You is seriously adorable and I am 4 episodes in and I cannot stop. It's so freaking cute. I am not a romance person...not at all..yet look at me all invested in this story! 

Cute! 

:) 

Hope your weekend is going well too and I hope it's restful and full of good books! 

Monthly Favourites: March 2022.

 Hello Loves! 

It's the last Friday of the year and it's time to list my Monthly Favourites. 

It seems like such a long month, no? March always does seem so long after the short and sweet February. 

March felt long but good, it started out wonderful and cold and is ending with me sweating through my tee. 

Spring has jumped straight into summer and I am not looking forward to the hot month of summer. 

But let's not think about that for now, let's talk about all the things I loved in March! 

1. Spring Journal: I love how my journal for this month turned out, I loved how I set it up and I have really enjoyed how writing in it. Sadly not like we had much of a spring this year. We went straight from winter  to summer. Still, I can pretend in my journal that spring is lingering on. 

2. Flowers: You got to love the flowers that bloom in March. Our little garden was alive in flowers big and small. 

3. Deesa Clips: We got some beautiful blooms from Deesa this month and they are gorgeous. They are hair clips technically and I might use them as such but mainly I'll be using them to hold down my journal and planner pages. A beautiful way to keep my pages from flying and it does making writing and planning easier and so much prettier. 

4. Embroidered Totes: Another new and gorgeous addition to my life this month was these lovely embroidered totes from Stem Daisy. I am so in love with these babies and I have gotten four totes in total this month. 

5. Femme March: I read only women writers all this month for Femme March and it's one of my favourite reading months in the year. This month I have read some amazing books and I will talk about them in detail in my reading wrap-up at the end of the month. Reading women writers is always a good time. 

6. Happy Days: Luckily, this month has been a month of mostly good, slow and restful days! A good gentle little month full of cold coffee, ice-cream and watching a ton of good movie! 

7. Reading in the Sunshine: Before the days got hot, I managed to squeeze in a few moments of reading outside and soaking up the sun. Something I will miss doing in the summer. 

8. Daily Journaling: This month I managed to write in my daily journal pretty much everyday. It feels so good to put my thoughts down on paper and make lists and occasionally make it as pretty as I can. I also love this new ink pen of mine that I got earlier this month from Amazon. It's a Jinhao pen. 

9. Quiet Mornings: I am not a morning person. At all. Night are when I shine. But this month, especially in the early few days, I would wake up early, journal my morning pages and read for a few hours and it felt so good and calm. I really should do more of this. 

10. Films: I watched a tonnnn of content this month. I think I watched something every single night. My favourite film this month was 83 which I adored and I watched twice. I re-watched a lot of my old faves too- DDLJ, This is the End and Tropic Thunder. This month I felt more drawn to films and shows and reading took a little bit of a backseat. 

My other favourite things this month were//

 Gifts from the lovely Anupriya who surprised me with some goodies (I will share them soon). 

Cold Coffee season is back. 

AC nights. 

Ice-cream. 

So much family gossip. 

Family drama. 

Two family weddings. 

Adda sessions. 

A spot of socializing.

Not shopping a lot. Being good for a change. 

A spot of book shopping. They are on their way to me, will do a haul once they arrive. 

:) 

This was a good month and I hope this was a good month for you too.  

Book Review: This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg

 

Book: This Golden State 

Author: Marit Weisenberg 

Pages: 372

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: ~4 hours 

Plot Summary: The Winslow family lives by five principles:

1. No one can know your real name.
2. Don’t stay in one place too long.
3. If you sense anything is wrong, go immediately to the meeting spot.
4. Keeping our family together is everything.
5. We wish we could tell you who we are, but we can’t. Please—do not ask.

Poppy doesn’t know why her family has been running her whole life, but she does know that there are dire consequences if they’re ever caught. Still, her curiosity grows each year, as does her desire for real friends and the chance to build on something, instead of leaving behind school projects, teams, and crushes at a moment’s notice.

When a move to California exposes a crack in her parents’ airtight planning, Poppy realizes how fragile her world is. Determined to find out the truth, she mails in a home DNA test. Just as she starts to settle into her new life and even begins opening up to a boy in her math class, the forgotten test results bring her crashing back to reality.

Unraveling the shocking truth of her parents’ real identities, Poppy realizes that the DNA test has undone decades of careful work to keep her family anonymous—and the past is dangerously close to catching up to them. Determined to protect her family but desperate for more, Poppy must ask: How much of herself does she owe her family? And is it a betrayal to find her own place in the world?

Things I Liked: 

1. The premise of This Golden State is very interesting and the author does a good job of maintaining the taut pace and suspense of the plot throughout the book. A family on the move, parents behaving suspiciously, hints of a criminal past- all of which make for an interesting premise. Poppy's quest for normalcy, her worries about her future, her fears about the secret her parents are keeping from her are all very relatable. 

2. This book has some great characters. Poppy, our protagonist, is smart, kind and thoughtful. She is a very bright science and math student, who wants nothing more than to go to college, study hard, get a PhD etc., however, the very unique circumstances of her family stops her from even bringing this up with her parents. She is the typical older child- very obedient and understanding. She never makes trouble for her parents and, pretty much, unquestioningly follows their guidelines. 

Harry- Harrison Addison- is on the other end of the spectrum from Poppy. He is the son of tech billionaire and a politician. He also has secrets and reasons for keeping his life private. They may come from different worlds but their priorities and values are the same, which helps them bond. I really liked their relationship and how Harry helps Poppy see that she needs to stand up to have her own life and future separate from her parents. 

Poppy's Math professor is also a very inspiring and supportive woman. She sees the potential in Poppy and actively encourages her to think of college and an academic future. 

3. This book is a Young Adult thriller-romance but it has a lot of chapters on girls in STEM. I loved that about this book! Poppy loves math and science and she finds people in California that encourage and nurture her talents. Love seeing this kind of representation in YA books. 

4. The big secret about her parents' past is also nicely shown. It is nearly not as horrible as you'd think it is given how they keep moving and how paranoid they are, but it is bad enough for them to be afraid of their family being torn apart by it. This secret past also explains a lot about the dynamic between her parents, which was also nicely done. 

5. The ending is satisfying. Don't want to spoil the ending, but I really liked the decision taken by Poppy and supported by her parents. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. The 'big secret' was a little silly. It would seem like a big, scary thing to a 20-odd year old but with so much time, the parents should've realised that they'd built it up in their heads and that the actual consequences of turning themselves in wouldn't nearly be as awful, especially, if we were to believe Poppy's mom when she says what her role in all of it was. I found it a little tragic that her dad, who had nothing much to do with any of it, had to give up his whole life to go on the run. But, this is a minor gripe. 

Rating: 4/5 

5 Reasons to Watch 83 (on Netflix OR Hotstar)

83, the movie, released on OTT on Sunday/ Monday midnight and we, almost immediately, watched it! 

If you don't know, 83 is based on India's first (and historic) cricket World Cup win in 1983. Back then, the Indian cricket team was not the powerhouse that you see today. We had great players, true, but they nowhere had the winning track record or the kind of fame that our cricketers have had since the 1990s. The reasons are several, but an important one being that cricket in India became a national (and media) obsession only after we won the World Cup in 1983. True, there were cricket fans in India even before 1983, but the way the sport and the sportsmen captured the common person's imagination and became an obsession and religion of its own owes a huge part to this team that won us the World Cup in 1983 and instilled a huge sense of pride in our men in blue! 

Without further ado, let's get into 5 compelling reasons to watch this amazing film!  

5 Reasons to Watch 83: 

1. The performances. Each and every actor in the movie has just stepped into the skin of their characters. It is challenging to play real people, especially, if the real people are still around, without turning them into caricatures. The cast, led by a mind-blowingly good Ranveer Singh, not only embodies each member of the winning team, but also brings them to life by emulating their on and off-field body language. Be it Shastri's spinning hand gesture after taking a wicket or Kapil Dev's bowling and batting action or Srikkant's eye twitch, each and every actor has done a phenomenal job in making these cricketing stars come to life! The performances are even keeled, not melodramatic, which makes you forget you are watching a movie! 

2. The cameos!!! Oh my God! I loved, loved, loved Mohinder (Jimmy) Amarnath playing the role of his father- the legendary cricketer, Lala Amarnath- so, so much! It gave me a giggle each time Jimmy Amarnath looked at his own innings on TV and either grinned or, at one point, threw a shoe at the TV. It was so cute! Also, we have Kapil Dev showing up in the audience to catch a well-timed four and saying, "Good shot, Kapil!" Really made me smile! I have heard some people whine about inserting real pictures and footage of games from the matches in 1983 into the movie, but I found it quite seamless. It helps you remember that this is a real story with real cricketing greats! Ditto with the quick look at the actual passports (from 1983) of the real players to introduce them to the audience. It immediately helps you know who is who even if you were not around or were very young back then! 

3. I loved watching the re-creation of the matches. I have read and seen reviews where some people found those boring, but, duh!, you are watching a sports movie, what did you expect to see?! Kitchen scenes?! Dance numbers?! Idiots! 

Each and every match that India played in the 1983 World Cup is a part of that tremendous journey and it also helps establish how formidable the West Indies team was! They had some of the greatest batsmen in the world and four SCARY good fast bowlers. World-class batsmen trembled before Andy Roberts, Malcom Marshall, Joel Gardner etc. So, by showing these different matches, the director has helped create an understanding of the immense challenge Team India faced and how each victory and defeat in this journey paved their way to the shocking (to the entire world) win in the finals! 

In their second round match against the West Indies, Dilip Vengsarkar was hit on the chin and needed seven stitches, Jimmy Amarnath's body was bruised by the number of times the ball hit him... In the finals, a heartbroken Sandhu was hit under his ear and he still came back out to bowl and took crucial wickets for us... Roger Binny's crisis of confidence and his rebound.. Kapil Dev's unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe (of which, sadly, no video recording exists!) was brought to life so masterfully in this movie! Each of these little stories of struggle wouldn't have come to light if each of these matches were not shown! 

4. The camaraderie and bonding between the team members was so sweet to watch! The inside jokes, leg pulling, covering up for your teammate when his strict (and intimidating) dad calls, funny shenanigans abroad etc. were so nice to watch! The team seemed like a fun bunch of people, who seemed to get along really well. 

Similarly, the ego skirmishes (between Kapil Dev and the ousted captain Gavaskar) and giving tough feedback were also shown. So, not like it was all sunshine and rainbows. The human element in this movie also shines through really well. 

I loved watching Pankaj Tripathi as P.R. Man Singh- the Manager of the Indian team. He was quirky, fun, funny and brought so much dignity to his role. His expressions when the Indian team was denied a pass to Lord's (where the final was supposed to be played) was so determined and heartbreaking all at once! 

Even the little we got to see of Kapil and his wife- Romi's- relationship was sweet. You can see Ranveer Singh's eyes light up when he watches Deepika. They'd kill at this even if they weren't the extremely competent actors that they are! 

5. Watch this movie for Ranveer Singh. Because, and I promise you this, you'll forget he is even there in this film! He BECOMES Kapil Dev. His body language, diction, expressions, the style of playing cricket- everything- is Kapil Dev's. I, genuinely, forgot that I was watching Ranveer Singh and not some digitally age-reduced version of Kapil Dev. He is so, so good in this movie! 

Finally, a bonus sixth reason to watch 83. Watch it for Team India. Watch it for Indian Cricket. Watch it because you were probably not born or were too young to watch and understand what this win meant for India and Indian cricket. 

Back in the early 1980s, Indian cricket was not respected globally. We were an underdog team. We were known for only winning matches in India. Our track record for winning matches abroad was abysmal. No one even expected us to reach the Quarter or Semi Finals. The World Cup organisers didn't even give us a pass for the Finals! Everyone was so confident that we'll not make it. Noted sports journalist, David Frith, said he'd eat his words if India won the World Cup. This is a true underdog story. This is the story of a 24 year old national team captain inspiring his team to be their best and to beat the invincible, two-time World Champions- West Indies. This is the story of a whole nation that was given a huge reason to hold their heads up high. This is the story of a huge moment of national pride for Indians everywhere. This is our very own David and Goliath story. 

I am so surprised that it has taken us nearly 39 years to tell this story on celluloid. Nevertheless, I am just so glad this story has, finally, been told and that those of us who were too young (my sister) or not even born (me) know about the Indian Cricket Team of '83 and tremendous grit and effort it took to bring home our first World Cup! 

83 is streaming on Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar. 

Stationery Sunday: Recent Stationery Loves

Hello, hello, 

Sharing some of our favourite stationery loves with you guys today. If you love stationery as much as we do, I am sure, you'll find something to like/ love/ purchase! 

We love sleeves and covers for our notebooks and journals. So, this journal notebook from SEWA Anubandh is great for carrying (and protecting) your notebooks, a few pens and other bits and bobs. 

This A5-sized notebook cover from The Bicyclist Stories is so well-made and pretty! It houses my sister's daily pages journal and a few pens. It has pockets for cards or washi tape samples and other stickers and bits and bobs. The notebook cover is not listed on their website, but if you want one, you could try DM-ing the folks on Instagram and check if they still offer it. 

On the left is a pen sleeve from Taaga by Reema. It is perfect for holding a bunch of pens and pencils. It has two pockets and holds a lot of pens! 

On the right is a book sleeve made by Tula Posey (can't find their Instagram page). Love the print and it is perfect for holding a paperback or a thin hardcover. 

We have a mild obsession with sticky notes. So, pictured here are some of our favourites. 

On the top- Sticky notes from Daily Plan by Suatelier. These look so aesthetic and are perfect for adding to planners and journals. 

In the bottom- Washi tape stickers by Kitta. These are great for when you are travelling and can't carry your usual stash of washi tapes. 

A page from my 2022 Book Journal with stickers from Shop ABC. These are their girl stickers and are pretty handy for sprucing up any journaling spread. 

Hope you've had a good long weekend! Have a great week ahead! 

Long Weekend Binge List: Netflix, Hotstar, SonyLiv, Hoichoi

 Hello, hello,

Happy Holi, folks! 

I hope you've had (or are still having) a lovely Holi! 

It has never been a favourite festival of mine- too much chaos, too much forceful rubbing of colour on faces- but I have enjoyed the food and community parts of it. 

Sharing some binge-worthy OTT content for you to enjoy over the long weekend! 

1. The Weekend Away on Netflix is based on the eponymous book by Sarah Alderson. Sophie, a young mother leaves for a weekend away in Croatia with her best friend, who is going through a divorce. After a blurry night of partying, her best friend goes missing and the cops arent interested in finding her. What happened that night? As Sophie sets out to find answers, she finds herself in an even more dangerous situation. A short, fast-paced movie that is definitely worth watching. 

2. Salute streaming on SonyLiv is a Malayalam crime thriller movie starring Dulquer Salman. Three years ago, a professor and his wife were brutally murdered. The cops, under political pressure, do the minimum and arrest auto driver Murali, who Arvind (Dulquer Salman's character) believes to be innocent. Three years later, a guilty Arvind sets off to kind the elusive real killer and get Murali justice even at the cost of his and his eldest brother's careers.

A nicely made cop drama, but a tad slow for the thriller genre. Definitely worth watching for its very unusual storyline. 

3. Sunderbaner Vidyasagar streaming on Hoichoi is a coming of age social drama. Kinkar Karmakar is a young graduate, whose father believes he is the second coming of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar since they both share a birthday! Poor Kinkar has been forced to follow in the great educator's footsteps his whole life until he barely basses his BA in Sanskrit! Forced out of the house and to join the Forest Department as a volunteer, Kinkar moves to a tiny island in the Sunderbans, known as a village for widows. He soon finds out that something very wrong seems to be happening there but does he have the courage to stand up to the local bigwigs?

A nicely done, heartwarming social drama that is definitely worth watching. 

 

4. Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud and Fugitives streaming on Netflix is a documentary about a vegan food pioneer (of sorts) in New York called Sarma Melngailis, who got married to a conman, who took over $2 million from her and she in turn defrauded investors, her employees and the IRS to the tune of $6 million! 

This is a truly bizarre story and you have to see it to believe it! At 4 episodes, this is a quick watch too. 

5. Rocket Boys streaming on SonyLiv is a goosebump-incuding story of India's space program. It takes us into the lives and struggles of luminaries like Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as, over a period of two decades, they slowly and steadily build the Indian space program. 

This series is an absolute must-watch! Highly recommend! 

Have a great weekend, y'all! 

Mini-Book Review: Heaven by Mieko Kawakami and Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala.

 Hello Loves! 

How has life been treating you lately? 

My life has been curiously busy and full of other drama and books have not exactly taken a back seat but have definitely been on the back burner. I have been reading but in a distracted sort of way. I read but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the books. 

I just life to calm down a bit and find an amazing book to sit down and really focus on. 

Hopefully this weekend I do just that: Sit tight and read. 

For today's post I want to talk about two books I read this week. 

 Heaven by Mieko Kawakami: Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student who subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormentors.

These raw and realistic portrayals of bullying are counterbalanced by textured exposition of the philosophical and religious debates concerning violence to which the weak are subjected.

Kawakami's simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature.

Review: I read almost half of Breasts and Eggs by the same author last year and then I wasn't quite feeling it so I put it down. I have a feeling, at some point in the future I will return to it. It is a perfectly wonderfully well written book, with some trademarks of modern Japanese writing. I really was enjoying it but not in the right frame of mind to continue. 

OK, now on to this book, it has sat on my Kindle since last year and I wanted to read but I was also scared to read it, given it's subject matter and all the Trigger Warnings that come with this book. I don't like reading about Bullying. (But then who does?) So this book sat unread all this time. Till I picked it up on a whim earlier this week and before I knew it, I was about 25% in and really invested in this world, it hurt my heart and made my stomach crawl occasionally and made me so mad but I really found myself invested in this book. 

This isn't as easy book to read, it will wreck you,Yet there are moments of pure joy and hope and goodness. 

Your heart breaks for these kids that are being cruelly and relentlessly bullied and no one seems to care about them enough to step-in and help them. I found myself screaming at them to do something, ask for help or even speak up and stand up to their bullies. Then I had to remind myself that is not how real life works. Most often, those getting mercilessly bullied have no one to turn to and popular kids, which in the Asian context are kids doing well academically get away with anything and everything. The same rules don't seem to apply to everyone. So that aspect of our schooling experience is really well captured. 

The book recently made it to the International Man Booker Long List and I am glad more people will pick it up. This book and it's story will sadly strike a cord with many people, and the rest of us, who were lucky enough to not be bullied can learn a thing or two about life for those you lived through hellish school years.

Just please go in knowing it's not an easy book to get through and if you are triggered by Bullying, Violence and Abuse, please approach with caution. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala: When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block.

Review: I  was clearly in the mood for some Asian Literature and this time I dived into a Filipino-American story. I have never read anything set in and around Philippines and this book was a great way, a small step in fixing this blind spot in my reading life. This book was a wonderful mix of family, food (so much good food) and a murder mystery. It also has a touch of romance, amazing friendships and the immigrant experience. A delightful read and the mystery was good too. I loved how the author managed to capture how close-knit, and even nosy and over-involved communities can be, they become your quasi family and everyone knows about each other's business. 

This was overall a fun and fluffy and food filled light read. Plus it's the first book in a series of cozy murder mysteries and I am happy to read what the writer writes next. Plus this has an adorable dog, that's always a good thing be. And it has recipes too. Something about books with recipes is just an extra layer of goodness. 

Rating: 3/5