It’s about a month past the middle of the year and I kept putting off this blog post because I’d already done the video for The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2022. But then again, I really want to do this here as well. As you might know, this is a tag with 15 questions which we use to check in on our reading progress in the middle of the year, be it talking about the books we loved, the books we didn’t like, the books we are looking forward to, and so much more!
Author Archives: Sonali Dabade
15 Places in India On My Bucket List | Must-Visit List – 2022 Edition
India is a land of many wonders, languages, scenic landscapes and beautiful people. There are so many things you can do here, that it would not compare to any experiences that you might have as you travel around the world. India holds many surprises, enchanting, exhilarating and energizing! And after a long and difficult period of mulling over the long and seemingly never-ending list of destination options that I had in hand, I finally came up with this list of astoundingly beautiful locations where you can just throw your head back and enjoy the sprinkles of happiness that Nature showers on you.
Steven Johnson and the Mission 2 by Yashesh Rathod | Book Review
Science fiction and everything it holds brings us so many possibilities. When books or movies in the past mentioned an invention that wasn’t present at the time but would be around in the future, it is called an accurate prediction. But is it mere coincidence? Or a mere Nostradamus-like prediction? Or is it that the inventors took inspiration from these mentions and brought it to fruition? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that last option because art IS inspiring. Yashesh Rathod’s Steven Johnson and the Mission series is one such that made me wonder: will this all be available to us in the future?
Recent Reads – July 2022 Edition!
After a disastrous start to the year, I’m beginning to think that I’m now slowly getting my reading mojo back, if my recent reads are anything to go by. I found a couple of favorites, one of which I’ve been raving about almost everywhere, mostly in my Favorite Authors and the Mid Year Book Freakout Tag videos. I’m still going to be a little cautious, though, because I don’t want to jinx it in any way or form. I know what could happen and I’m super wary of it.
In today’s blog post, I’ll be talking about my May 2022 and June 2022 reading wrap ups. I read 9 books in each of these months and given how I’ve given up on TBRs and also on bothering about the number of books I need to read, it went pretty well. Buckle up for a LONG blog post!
Death of a Seeker and Other Stories by Abhaidev | Book Review
“The universe doesn’t owe us anything. It is not obliged to explain itself to us.”
While we are busy trying to find out what secrets the universe holds, the universe is sitting back and watching us try and try, finding it cute that we have the audacity to demand things of it when we are destroying the only home we know. A great reminder to start off a review with, in my opinion, because that quote from Abhaidev’s Death of a Seeker and Other Stories is an answer to all of the existential questions that plague humanity.
Anti Book Recommendations | The Worst Books I’ve Ever Read!
This list contains some of the worst books I’ve ever read. For this, too, I will give out a disclaimer: These are my opinions and mine alone. If there’s a book on this list that you love, it is not meant to be a personal attack. Everybody has a different taste and a way of interpretation and I hope this will be respected. 🙂
In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri and its Themes | Book Discussion
When I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s memoir, In Other Words, in which she shares her journey of learning Italian, it was as if she was echoing my deepest, darkest fears. With the themes she tackles throughout the book, of immigration, of even sexism and colorism, she brings so many relatable concepts to the fore. Because when you start learning a new language, you not only discover how the different parts of the world are different. You also learn more about yourself, the grit and determination that constitute you, what your actual goals are, what you want to do with life, where you want to be at any given moment in time, and why you want to do whatever it is you want to do.
What I Learnt From My First Solo Trip | Avoid These 7 Mistakes!
7 years ago, today, I went on my first solo trip. Agreed, it was a partial one where I was solo in just two cities out of ten, but it was a HUGE step for me, nevertheless. One I will never forget, especially because of the lessons I learned. The biggest lesson was that when you are doing something for the first time, you need to give yourself space and allow yourself to make mistakes. You need to learn to forgive yourself, because how could you have known? This is what I’ve told myself over the past 7 years and though I know I probably will make more mistakes, I also know this: I won’t make those same mistakes again.
FONTain of Thought: The Importance of Fonts for Readers.
When we pick up a book, excited to read it, we’ve already given part of ourselves to the journey that’s before us. The anticipation makes us want to zoom through the pages, late into the night, giving us the dark circles that we may or may not be proud to flaunt. But then, we open the book. And what do we see there? Ants crawling across the page. Tiny, tiny letters that we must squint at to even make out. By the time we’ve gathered the story and understood what the author is trying to say, we’ve got a raging migraine and the urge to raise the book to the sun in the hope that maybe some divine photosynthesis will make the font grow larger.
Reader Shaming HAS to Stop.
I made a video on reader shaming about 2.5 years ago and I used that script as a reference for this blog post. As I read through it, I realized some of it was outdated, but so much of it was so savage. I don’t remember how the video came out because I can’t bearContinueContinue reading “Reader Shaming HAS to Stop.”
The Melodramatic Bookworm 