The Melodramatic Bookworm

My Favorite Book Quotes of All Time – Part 1

I want to start off this blog post by saying something profound. Something like how reading has always been a huge part of my life and how I am nothing without it. And although that’s true to a large extent, I’ve come to learn that I am something without reading, but reading is what makes me a better person. It makes me realize the wrongs I’ve done and to acknowledge them. It makes me look at perspectives especially because acknowledging that there are so many of them in the world helps me understand the world and the people around me better. So there. That was my profound introduction to a blog post that has been in the works for a long time.

This segues neatly into what I want to say about quotes. As a reader, writer, introvert, and awkward resident of the world, I have a lot of thoughts. But more often than not – as writers will agree with me – words fail us. Yes, the irony is not lost on us. The reader part of us, however, reads quotes in books and turns to our writer side and mocks it, saying, “See, THAT’S what it is! You couldn’t write that!” And we agree. We couldn’t. Because sometimes, people who you have never met put your feelings into words in a much better manner than you could ever have. And that’s what makes this series of blog posts so special for me.

July 2022 Reading Wrap Up | Books I Read in July 2022!

July 2022 was the month of many changes for me. From getting news of having to move countries to yet again coming down with COVID to packing up in 3 days for the move to having a cracker of a reading month as I went through all of this – this is just a gist of how July 2022 went. There’s so much I want to share with you – videos I have in the works, blog posts I am planning to write, plans I have for my channel, the books I brought with me in the move – but all in good time. They are brewing but meanwhile, I’m here to talk about my July 2022 reading wrap up.

In July 2022, I read 15 books. Of the books I read in July 2022, many of them were ebooks, some were review copies, and yet others physical copies. It might seem like an eclectic mix at first sight, but I’m not satisfied with how diverse they are or how different they are from each other. Here’s hoping things get better in August, and given how it’s going so far, the hope remains because it isn’t becoming reality yet. 😛

Warlord of Ayodhya: Rebellion by Shatrujeet Nath | Book Review

Shatrujeet Nath sent me a copy of his latest book, Warlord of Ayodhya: Rebellion, about 6 months ago and I promised him I’d read and review it as soon as possible. But then, the phase happened and I couldn’t get to it, given how badly the following months went. A few weeks ago, however, I pulled it out of my TBR cart, silently promising myself and the author that I would get to it soon. And then something else happened: the move. But there was progress this time, because while the move was happening, I was reading this book. I brought it with me, and what a wise decision it was!

I’ll talk more about the move in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned? 😀

The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag – 2022 Edition!

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!

The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag is one of my favorite book tags to do because of how much fun the questions are. I get to gush about the books I love – something that can give me hours of footage to edit – and diss on the books I don’t love – well, this too can give me hours of footage to edit. 😛 I make sure to do it every single year on my channel and I intend to keep it every year so that I can track my reading.

15 Places in India On My Bucket List | Must-Visit List – 2022 Edition

In religion, India is the only millionaire – the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined. – Mark Twain

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. It 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? In a futuristic, a dark Jetsons-like setting, this series follows Steven Johnson on his many adventures, the first of which I’ve already read and reviewed here: Steven Johnson and the Mission 1.

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. Over the next month, I’m hoping to add many more books to my TBR because it’s my birthday month, but also because why not? But I’ve veered off the point again: my recent reads i.e. my May 2022 wrap up and June 2022 wrap up. 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!

The best part of being a bookworm on social media is the thousands and thousands of book recommendations everywhere. But sometimes, we read a book and we think: Why didn’t anybody warn me about this? Why didn’t somebody stop me from reading this book? This has crossed my own mind multiple times but then again, it’s not a book blogger’s responsibility, really. They can only warn you against it and maybe say, “Don’t read it”. But other than that, it’s all up to the reader, what they want to read.

As a book blogger on multiple platforms, I love giving out book recommendations. But these above thoughts came to my mind recently, out of the blue. And I thought, okay, let me do the opposite of what I’ve been doing so far. Let me do an anti book recommendations list in which I share the books that I would NEVER recommend. So I came up with this idea and did a whole video about it too. If you’d like to go check it out, here’s the link: Anti Book Recommendations by The Melodramatic Bookworm.

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri and its Themes | Book Discussion

Language is a beautiful thing. The more you learn, the more you realize how vast the differences are between people and how similar we all are. Of course, you don’t HAVE to learn a new language to know this. But once you start on this journey, there’s so much knowledge, so much beauty waiting for you. It might seem like I’m glorifying the concept of different languages for no reason, as if I’m trying to find reason in what has had me in a chokehold over the past few months. But trust me, I’m not the only one feeling these things.