The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello Loves! Happy Republic Day to you. Today was also my parent’s wedding anniversary. So we quietly celebrated at home away from my parents. Here’s what today looked like:  Pulled out some classics from my shelves that I am hoping to read this year. Sunshine and a breakfast sandwich.  New flower claw clip that arrived today from Meesho. Still making my way through this book and I am hoping to finish it soon. Moon Light 🌝

 Hello Loves!  Had a very slow and lovely Sunday.  Read. Journaled. Relaxed.  Here's what today looked like:  Things I read today and loved alll of it.  This book is so wholesome.  I read Garlic and The Vampire last month and was so happy to reunite with Garlic and The Witch in this book.  Loved this collection of stories.  Slowly (on purpose) making my way through this wonderful book. 

 Hello Loves!  2024 is nearly over and I read some incredible books from around the world.  Truly, one of the best things about reading is the ability is to read, learn and spend time with people from a different culture than mine and walk a mile or two in their shoes see a whole other side of the world.  So here's my Top 10 Books from around the World. We have books from Argentina,Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Iran and Palestine.  So let's jump into it.  1. Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh: Set in Nigeria, this is a coming of age story of a young queer boy. We see his life unfold in the changing landscape of his country. Him being outed and the repercussions and pain and healing and finding himself and love in a world were the odds are stacked against him. I loved this book, even the parts that broke my heart. An incredibly well-written and stirring debut.  2. This Motherless Land by Nikki May: Set partially in Nigeria and in par...

 Hello, hello, I've read a lot of good Asian books this year. Written, both, by Asian authors living in Asia and are works of translation and also by Asian diaspora authors- I wanted to include both categories of books. Most of the books I've mentioned below are written in an Asian language and then translated into English.  I have Japanese Books for most part, a Korean-Amreican Book and one Chinese Australian book to recommend. So let's begin...  Here are my Top 10 Asian Literary Fiction books of 2024. First up we have two books with Cats 🐈 I mean I am always up to read something cozy or otherwise featuring a cat.  1. She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa, Translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori: This collection of interconnected short stories is told from both the human and kitty perspectives. Four women and four cats share their stories in this soothing and stream of consciousness narrative. These are stories about isolation, connection and communit...

 Happy Halloween🎃👻🍬  You know I love all things Spooky and every year for Halloween, I try to read some spooky and mystery books.  Here are five books I read this year in honour of Halloween.  Happy Halloween my Spooky 👻🐈‍⬛👽🎃👻 Pals.  Five books I read leading up to Halloween.                🎃👻🍬🎃👻🍬🎃👻🍬 Finally read Dracula and since it's such a big part of our cultural Zeitgeist, I feel like I knew this story through osmosis. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely and was surprised how easy it was to read and accessible the writing was. Also watched two film adaptations. One made in 1992 by Fransis Ford Coppola (which was so campy and weird). The other produced by Wes Craven (who I love) which was fun but very, very not true to text. Both films are available on YouTube.  Mariana Enriquez was a revelation. I cannot believe it took me this long to finally find my way to her work. She writes like a dream abo...

 Happy Shashti everyone.  Pujo began with some much needed rain, after days of humidity and heat.  My heart was singing when we had some rains this evening.  So I made myself a cup of ☕ tea and cosied up with a comfort read~ Ray.  Here's what today looked like: 

  Today has been a perfectly lazy and cozy Saturday.  It's been rainy and grey and I've been curled up with a book of folktales from all over India.  Flowers and Folktales.  I adore these crochet flowers.  My Moomin Bookmark keeping me company.  The Owl Delivered Good News All Night Long, Edited by Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai is the perfect book to kick start my reading for Indian Books in August.  A collection of Folktales and Legends and Myths from all over India.  My plan is to read a couple of stories every day and read this through the month.  I hope this Saturday has been relaxing for you too. 

 The last few days have been gloriously rainy and it's made my heart happy.  So I've done all things that make me happy, uncomplicatedly happy.  Making chai. Drinking chai.  Reaching for a Ruskin Bond book of cozy stories.  Make little notebooks.  Watched the rain.  Read two five star books.  Just goooood things galore.  Books and Chai 🌧☕📖 a match made in heaven.  I made another tiny notebook out of extra pages from my last month's journal and packaging from Joyeeta. The paper was too cute to throw away.  Reading books of poetry.  Fun Fact: I only really drink tea when it's raining or in the middle of winter or if I have a fever.  Otherwise I am a dedicated coffee drinker.  Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj is a collection of interconnected short stories about Palestinian Americans and I loved this book.  5/5 I can't recommend it enough.  July has been kind so far and I hope the rest of the mont...

  You Got This~ Positive Affirmations from my Bookmark.  A postcard from Nori Designs actually.  Started reading this collection of Doris Lessing short stories that I've owned for years. My plan is to read a story a day for the rest of July.  Vanilla Coffee with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.  My planner and gratitude journal sitting pretty.  Finished reading Nicola Yoon's newest and her first adult novel and I really enjoyed it. It isn't perfect and the MC can be really annoying and over the top, but I could not put it down and really enjoyed my time with it. 

 Hello Loves!  This weekend finds me reading two pretty amazing books.  One a young adult coming of age story, set in two time periods. The other a collection of beautiful short stories set in New York City and LA.  I am enjoying both my reads very much and all I want to is read my books and hope for rain 🌧 this weekend.  Zen by Shabnam Minwalla is a mix of history, revolution, love and Mumbai ❤ I adore this world and it's people and a story set in my lovely city.  Table for Two by Amor Towles, I cannot believe it's taken me this long to read this author. His writing style is truly beautiful and simple and deep all at once. I especially love the stories set in New York. I am just starting off on the LA stories and looking forward to it. 

 Hello Loves!  Hello from a hot and humid Friday evening here in Mumbai. I am for one praying and hoping for Rain. I hope this weekend we see at least a sprinkling of some monsoon showers.  Anyhoo, here are some things I loved best this week. Of course, the Election Results are my absolute favourite thing ever. Such a wave of hope and such a dopamine hit ❤  Here are some lesser faves for the week:  Clouds teasing us but not delivering on their promise.  I love grey skies and can't wait for some seriously cozy rainy days 🌧 Things I've Watched:  Under Paris on Netflix is a shark attack film with a dose of climate change. Different and entertaining. I love me some shark films and this was good fun.  Summer means re-watching some of my favourite Agatha Christie adaptations. These are streaming on Sony Liv and I cannot recommend them enough.  Reading Faves:  Read Mayadevi's London Yatra by Bulbul Sharma this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I...