observations from a distance

Last year of college was not as busy as the previous one before that, though I still never truly rested. Looking back, I was struggling with a complicated task at hand which was at first very new but slowly as college finished, sort of became a part of every life decision I ever had to make. The task of knowing what to decide and how to decide. Former years of college allow you to make choices and have minimal consequence of those choices – picked a wrong internship? don’t turn it into a career. Not getting along with roommates? change rooms. Not good enough grades? pick an easier curriculum. As time progressed and you move closer to the finish line, these choices lose their malleability. Your decisions are stickier, take longer and are harder to change. It only gets worse the longer you live. I was grappling with anxieties attached to the decisions leading to these realities as I was living in the ones made before. To escape, I locked myself in my hostel room and picked the first book that popped in my recommendation list at the time. For a moment, letting go of any decision making in the picking a book to read turned out well. So well in fact that I ended up making a blog to write about it, the one I am writing right now.

It wasn’t a great review, if it was a review at all. I just described the book, how much I liked it and published. No editing, no proofreading just dumped my thoughts and went ahead with it. For about 4 years, I made it a routine. One of every 4-5 books I read ended up with a post. It was never properly thought out, rarely written well and contrasting to my overthinking and overanalysing mind I made a pact to never reread what I wrote unless I wanted to go back to see what I read a year ago. It’s been a hidden cave where I have been free from all critiques, even my own. I carried on well for 5 years and then slowly started losing out on the routine. It became performative to some extent and I stopped altogether, going back to reading in solitude not sharing the reading list and ultimately distancing myself with the writing process.

When I came back to read this blog myself, I found a weird sense of detachment and embarrassment. The posts I remembered as honest read as thin. The inner critic had woken up – reading the post one by one and realising that the naive write-ups rarely had an original thought of my own. Nothing ever evolved. Sticking to the true nature of my being, I plunged into the despair and replayed every reason of why I ever thought it was a good idea or even how I dared to put this out in the world. How audaciously I branded books less worthy of reading or a waste of time when I am plagued with insufficiencies beyond my own knowing. I have been scared to put my own thoughts out there in an anonymous place and have dared to critique the ones out in open. Every post I did publish had already been through a private trial: if I make it too personal and it ends up somewhere I don’t want it to — better not post it. All of this while, I have overthought, hidden and feared of god knows what. And while a part of truth is that there wasn’t really much more to offer, the efforts were still half cooked.

All of the ideas and reasons feel short of a proper excuse for the inadequacies reflected so far. They exist in other aspects of life as well and while they don’t play out in isolation, there needs to be pause to pivot your thoughts and ways of living. Last two years, life moved rapidly with which I am still catching up. A lot of good books collected and never touched, sometimes due to lack of time sometimes due to other anxieties. Some good books read and forgotten. Other than a need based job, there are only a few hobbies and pursuits that I have kept for so long, free from any expectation.

I am not making any void promises of being better and doing better, but only attempting it for myself. If nothing else, this will be my museum of broken things to visit and rest at before moving on to the next reality resulted from another anxious decision.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

“She could surprise you by how little she needed you”

Crying in H Mart made me cry in my bedroom. It was a heavy read. Super Heavy. I’m just surprised I finished it and did not leave it hanging. There were pieces where I felt shattered because it hit too close to home, at times it felt far away. This constant push and pull of emotions through someone’s else life story was a griping read. I always love reading memoirs, most of the times they are not easy reads. This one was written very well, however the things it was written about were hard stuff of life. Michelle untangles her strained relationship with her late mother. Through the book she reflects back on how the relationship has changed and how it has changed her perspective. How things have been after her mother’s death. How she longed for improving the relationship, but for her the realization and understanding her mother was too late. It was a coincidence that I left “I’m glad my mother died” before I picked it up and then ended up completing this through. I might go back and finish the other book too while I am in a more secure mental space to consume these books.

“It felt like the world had divided into two different types of people, those who had felt pain and those who had yet to.”

Nevertheless, I’m grateful to have come across this book. Somethings resonated with me which were put in words better than I would have had them. Difficult mother daughter relationships are not strange in Asian households, and someone’s reflections of that relationship and how it changes through the course of life tells a deeper story of million others. There are so many psychological and cultural boundaries that have restrained us in society, and sometimes it’s too late for most people to realize how bound they have been. Every once in a while, I read a stranger’s story that is so uniquely theirs but starts to feel more personal than it should.

Please read with a tissue box handy.

“Life is unfair, and sometimes it helps to irrationally blame someone for it.”

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

It’s been a while since I started a book expecting one thing and then got something completely different. I hadn’t read the premise of Piranesi, but I was sure to get into some historic tale. Instead I just got a magic realism packed historic fact book at the beginning. I wasn’t thrown off but I actually started forming my own theories of how the book would end. To my surprise, the ending threw me off. What I was expecting to end with a magical note ended up far away from anything I thought. All the credits to the way the story is told. Susanna Clarke has created a world for the protagonist, and we are just in it as a fly on the wall.

I don’t know if I should classify this book as a mystery book. But that’s what it felt like at the end. As a reader, I was starting to believe in the same world as the protagonist. It was confusing but interesting as well. Just then, reality struck and what we knew was not there. I enjoyed the way the story has been told; it felt a bit stretched in the beginning, knowing how it ends. But I wonder if the ending would be as good if it were shorter than it is. That’s a conflict in my mind. Nevertheless, if you like museums and learning about history with a bit of magic, this book is perfect for it.

“Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.”

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

in my frenzied state of despair, I understood: there was stability in living in the past.

“My Year of Rest and Relaxation” is a darkly humorous and unsettling novel that explores themes of depression, isolation, and self-discovery. The story follows a young woman living in New York City who did not have a functional childhood and spirals into depression and disillusionment. She wants to detach from the world and decides to spend a year of her life “hibernating” to take a break from the chaos of the world around her.

The story, the main character, and the exchanges she has with the people in the story are not normal. Her descriptions of the relationships and how she values them hint to the reader that she is not the most reliable person to portray that picture. It only becomes clearer as the story progresses and she nails down the plan of hibernating through the year. She even goes so far as to plan her hibernation down to the last detail, experimenting and selecting the right combination of drugs to ensure that she will not wake up until absolutely necessary.

Despite the dark themes of the novel, there are moments of humor that are unsettling. The narrator’s self-destructive tendencies lead her to engage in bizarre and often disturbing behavior. She continuously scams her psychiatrist and lies to her friend. Her worldview is nothing short of eerie and convoluted. Through hibernating, she is actively trying to avoid her past traumas and dealing with them. As the story progresses, we see her becoming more and more disorientated and troubled. Even though she seeks some moments of relief from the hibernation, her non-hibernating moments and planning her sessions are chaotic enough.

The writing is jarring and moving. The story flows like a breeze, and you can feel the character’s anxiety and grief through the pages and want to knock some sense into her whenever she spirals into self-sabotaging acts. But you can only accompany her to the end, hoping she comes back to her senses and the year passes by. Also, it’s a ride to see how she can outdo herself in the forthcoming pages. It’s a great read, but an odd one.

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Reginald Snell

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The necessary thing is after all but this; solitude, great inner solitude. Going into oneself for hours meeting no one – this one must be able to attain.

A short philosophical book exploring the relationship and struggles of a writer with literature. When a young poet named Franz Kappus wrote to Rainer Maria Rilke asking for feedback on his writing, he got much more than he asked for. Rilke opened his heart and provided Kappus with a transparent view of his personal philosophy, as well as how literature blends into it. This book is a collection of these letters that Rilke wrote to Kappus. Interestingly, these raw and unedited letters, which were not intended for publication, became more popular than Rilke’s other works. I would have loved to see Kappus’s letters as well, in order to better understand what Rilke was commenting on.

My favorite part of the book were the first few letters, where Rilke describes his relationship with literature and how he sees the act of reading or consuming literature as a solitary activity. It felt close and personal to me, as I too see reading as a deeply personal experience. Even though you can join book clubs and discuss books with others, the relationship you have with a piece of literature will always remain deeply personal.

The book offers a raw and deeply personal account of Rilke’s own philosophy. It was not intended for a larger audience, and as a result, it feels like we are breaking into someone’s room and reading their diary or personal exchanges. As a reader, we should take the letters with a grain of salt, as they are often out of context. However, they provide an intimate insight into the mind of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

7 Secrets of Shiva by Devdutt Pattnaik

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Devdutt Pattnaik has an interesting writing style where he simplifies complex mythological stories into small, digestible bits for new-age readers, making them easy to understand and also bringing some valuable insights into everyday life. I have had many opportunities to read his books in the past, and I was expecting this one to be similar to those books. However, on completing the book, I found myself with mixed feelings.

The book certainly contains great content. Summarizing stories about God Shiv into short stories, discussing the origins of their various names, and several anecdotes that form part of the larger epic tales was worth reading. However, I felt that the book was shorter than I expected it to be. I would have liked a more detailed narration, not only of the stories but also of the other Gods and Goddesses mentioned. This would have made it more complete and informative.

At times, the author seemed to take different tangents just for the sake of diverting from the story. Especially when talking about male and female relationship dynamics, it felt fabricated and opinionated and not at all necessary to be included as part of ‘Shiv’s story’ or even close to the narratives we grow up hearing in mythological stories. Lastly, I found the title to be misleading. The stories that are told about Shiva are not secrets but well-known characteristics. Getting into the book hoping to learn ‘secrets’ may end up being disappointing.

Nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

A lot of times when I think I’m being self-sufficient, I’m really just learning to live without the things that I need.

I was captivated by the book cover when I first saw it years ago. However, I didn’t have the opportunity to read it until now, and I wasn’t disappointed. At that time, I didn’t realize how literal the book cover was because I didn’t read the synopsis. Needless to say, I was fascinated. If I were to summarize the feeling of reading this book, it would be like watching a movie. It felt like it ended too soon, the writing was effortless, and the characters were well-developed. The story and characters flowed seamlessly, like a well-thought-out stream of consciousness. The main reason for this is that the story and characters are not overly complex, but the good writing was enough to evoke all the intended emotions.

The book introduces us to the protagonist, Lillian, and her only friend of 15 years, Madison, who exchange letters to keep each other updated on their whereabouts. We soon gain insight into how they met and how imbalanced their friendship dynamic has been throughout its entirety. Following its natural course, Lillian has another favor to do for her friend, which leads her to take a job caring for Madison’s twin stepchildren, who have a tendency to burst into flames occasionally. The rest of the story follows how she navigates taking care of the children, forming a bond with them, re calibrating her relationship with her friend, and finding a purpose for herself. All the characters were interesting, although a little inconsistent at times. However, the ending of the book made it a worthwhile read.

The overall arching theme of the story was a mix of humor and heartwarming moments. There were times when I found myself rooting for the characters with all my heart, and other times when I couldn’t stop laughing at them. It was a great read and one of the few books that I finished in one sitting.

Thinking of You (but not like in a weird creepy way) by Beth Adams

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Here is a short and sweet collection of various comic strips that are addressed to a special person. You can enjoy reading them for yourself, or think about sharing them with someone else. Some of the comics are uplifting and feel-good, while others serve as a cute love letter to yourself or a special someone. This heartwarming and comforting illustrations that are sure to make you smile. It’s perfect for a quick pick-me-up or a cozy flip-through on a lazy afternoon.

The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Reading a retelling of a story that is believed to be older than humankind from a character’s point of view, one would expect to delve into the lesser-told stories, conversations, and inner turmoils that were overlooked and overshadowed in the larger narrative. However, when a book fails to effectively convey these tales and anecdotes, it raises questions about the purpose of the retelling in the first place. I was amazed by how much I wanted to read about Draupadi’s struggles in the Mahabharata when I first read “Palace of Illusions”. The book delivered more than I expected it to. Unfortunately, in “Forest of Enchantment”, instead of adding a voice to Sita’s story, I would argue that it actually took her voice away, which was so prominent in the original Ramayana.

There are certainly some subplots in “Forest of Enchantment” that are new and a valuable addition to Sita’s story, such as her transition to married life, her relationships with her multiple mothers-in-law, and her relationship with Mandodari in Lanka. However, on the other hand, the book lacks important aspects of Sita’s well-known relationships, such as those with Trijata. Instead of being the protagonist of the story, Sita felt more like Rama’s wife, but not to the same extent as in the original Ramayana. This lack of individuality in the narrative took away from what was already Sita’s in the original tale.

The moments in the story where Sita was alone, such as in her childhood and during her time in captivity in Lanka, presented opportunities for the author to give Sita a voice and delve into her internal struggles and feelings. However, these moments were rushed over, and the long time Sita spent in Lanka felt like only a week in the book. The longing, separation, struggles, and most importantly, Sita’s support system in Lanka were all glossed over. Overall, the book did not deliver on its potential.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, Translated by Philip Gabriel

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Imagine one of those nights when you are immersed in a dream and your dreams take you to a complex dimension where the absurd suddenly becomes normal and reality seems like a distant memory. When you wake up, each second of consciousness hits you like needles. You come to your senses and realize that you had a dream, trying to recall what went on and make sense of the elements you encountered. This book captures this exact experience, weaving a tale of absurdity that leaves you with many open ends to interpret and piece together. Your enjoyment of this book depends on how much you enjoy delving into the depths of the subconscious and unraveling the mysteries of the dream world. This book captures the essence of this experience, taking you on a wild ride through a series of absurdities that challenge your perceptions and leave you wondering what’s real

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I was drawn in by the writing style and the well-crafted characters. A great book should hold your attention and have characters that are complex and interesting enough to evoke emotions in the reader. This book certainly meets that criteria with a diverse cast of characters and a range of personalities. I also appreciated the use of magic realism in the story, although I found it to be a bit absurd and convenient at times. I call it convenient because the book also has some problematic elements that are brushed off as a part of the character’s imagination or dream, exploiting the subjectivity of morality in the dream world.

This book did not live up to the high expectations that were created around it. In my opinion, much of the praise it receives is due to the fact that the reader is left with many open-ended questions and is given the space to interpret the story in their own way. If you are willing to give it time and thought, you can find philosophical insights that are personal and meaningful to you, making you feel a closer connection to the characters than there is. I appreciate the concept and the ability of an author being able to do this, but I personally do not have the such high level of interest in this book, to find hidden meaning in absurd sequence of events.

There are several noticeable points that stand out right away. Such as the contrasting yet similar characters of Oshima and Nakata, who are two of my personal favorites. Oshima is an articulate individual, while Nakata struggles with basic vocabulary, yet they both possess a simple and driven nature. They have a unique ability to find beauty and significance in the ordinary, making their experiences all the more captivating. Either of these characters would be delightful companions to have. This duality of simplicity and complexity can also be seen throughout the book.

The Dilbert Future by Scott Adams

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I read Dilbert Principle last year, which revolved around office humor and was spot on with everything related to corporate life. This year, I came across another one of Dilbert’s comics, The Dilbert Future. The topic of this book moves beyond office humor, exploring the outside world where individuals (read: idiots) reside. Dilbert looks at the state of the world where individuals have a way of functioning and handling different life situations. Using this, he makes a wild guess of the future these individuals will design.

One can easily rely on Dilbert to massage your self-proclaimed intellectual ego-self. Dilbert is not like an average human, be it in the workplace or at a grocery store. We are all Dilbert in our story and Individuals in someone else’s Dilbert version. The universal humor that is beyond the four walls of cubicles and is not restricted to corporate life is surely an appealing aspect of this part of the series.

However, that very same is also the reason to not like the book as much as the previous ones. The USP of Dilbert is that he is the office guy and speaks what everyone wants to say but cannot and hence takes a satirical route to deliver that message. I felt that in this book, that quality of Dilbert was lost and somewhat overdone to the point that I didn’t want to relate to dilbert throughout the book. It is a very old book, and reading it in 2022 definitely makes less sense as we are somewhat closer to the predicted future of the book. I picked up the book because I knew Dilbert. I wouldn’t recommend this as the first book to be read in the series though.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Literature not only illuminated another’s experience, it provided, I believed, the richest material for moral reflection. My brief forays into the formal ethics of analytic philosophy felt dry as a bone, missing the messiness and weight of real human life

Memoirs are the bridge between fiction and non-fiction. They tell stories that the reader knows are scarily real. In this book, Paul lets us follow his journey of battling stage 4 lung cancer during the last year of his neurosurgical residency program. The entire book takes us through the emotions and the hardship of not only him but also his family. In the end, I found myself teary-eyed thinking about the death and mortality of my own and of the people I love, and it’s implications. I don’t think the book intends to depress you about the ending of your life, but it has the power to ground you to the harsh reality of life, and put things in perspective.

I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything. Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. But now I knew it acutely. The problem wasn’t really a scientific one. The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.

The book begins with Paul’s diagnosis and ongoing challenges in his marriage. His thoughts on becoming the patient besides treating patients himself. How he contrasts the roles. And how he adjusts to the idea of a changed future. The narration is deeply honest. He doesn’t shy away from expressing his grief and vulnerability during this morbid phase of his life. We see his resentment towards the uncertainty of moving toward the end of his medical residency and moving closer to the future he dreamed of for decades. To adjust to a rather uncertain future that he didn’t choose for himself. Accepting that things have changed, not only for him but also for his wife and family. During his chemotherapy and recovery, he and his wife welcomed their daughter. His fears of not being present in his daughter’s and wife’s future were heartbreaking.

Paul died before completing the book, and the last part of the book is written by his wife, Lucy. As a reader, I wasn’t prepared for the tears that were induced in this chapter. There is something eerily moving about somebody portraying the aftermath of the death of a loved one. The fact that she chose to complete the book that Paul always wanted to write is a celebration of his life in itself. I am deeply moved and grateful to have come across this book.

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

⭐⭐

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Everybody Lies depends on a concept that promises to deliver insights that might challenge your understanding of the world and show you reality without any filter. It has a lot of potential and a compelling problem in hand. However, It disappointingly misses the mark. I had very mixed feelings while reading this book. Most Data Science based books are written to appeal to the general non-technical crowd and rely heavily on storytelling. However, I feel this book goes way beyond the technical point and only relies on storytelling. It reflects poorly on two aspects – it dumbs down the analytical process to only inform you of a fact that you may or may not remember. And secondly, it lacks concrete evidence to actually prove the fact. I had many mixed feelings while reading the book. As a data scientist, this looked like a very lazily written report about several random analysis done without proper assumptions, extrapolations, investigating missing demographic, or recognizing confirmation bias.

Another problem I recognized is how US-centric this book is. It lacks a proper structure. Wherein you start reading about different insights of US Politics, jumping to random human nature facts about sex and marriages, which are again US-centric but are generalized with no assumption or care for the data coverage, then again jumping back to US Centric policies. There is still a way to make it more appealing for non-US readers. However, the book miserable fails to do so.

It somehow felt like reading about a bunch of facts you might see in a clickbait newspaper, which you don’t care about and probably would not remember because of how it was told to you. I really had high hopes for this book. It has immense potential had it included more diverse data around the world and laid out the assumptions and technical process in brief. It would have been fine if the book became too long or if they had to cut down some insights. There are more independent analyses that fellow data scientists publish that are richer and more structured than this book.

Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Storytelling with data has a lot of helpful tips on working with data visualization from a UI point of view. Almost all the information that is usually taught to new data analysts and data scientists limits itself to picking the correct chart for the data. This book takes that a step further and talks about how to organize that chart to make it more visually appealing and helpful to summarize the information in the most efficient way.

I wouldn’t have thought about the importance of the placement of legend and color contrast of different lines had it been presented in this book in the comparison. Each section walks through the visualization process from scratch. Starting from the case study problem, following each step with cues about the direction and things to consider while replicating the same process in industry projects. Its practical and easy-to-follow content makes it a useful guide and a must-read if you work in analytics.

Recently a course complementing this book is hosted on Linkedin Learning, which might be useful as well.

Introducing Kafka by David Zane Mairowitz

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Kafka’s life has always been an integral part of his writing. Someone who wrote to make sense of his life, relationships and escape the misery. His work is as honest as it can be. Paired with literary excellence, he was able to make a mark on the literature genre by defining a new form of a genre called ‘Kafkaesque’. His work, in the same way as he is, is unique in an outcast way. His story brings out the enigma of his own life. And one can tell he struggled a lot with living. Like most people, I find Kafka very intriguing. I have read some of his work, but not all. While I aspire to read all of his work slowly and steadily. Reading a graphic introduction with a commentary on his life and how that translated into his work was amusing.

I learned a lot about Kafka’s life that I didn’t know before. For each aspect that the author talks about, he pairs it with the introduction or short snippet of the work. Where Kafka portrayed the struggle of that relationship or milestone. A very prominent relationship of Kafka was with his father. All the places where Kafka brings that dynamics in the characters were interesting. His romantic life and his expectations from the relationship are very raw. Highly recommended if you have read Kafka’s work or are intrigued by his life.

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Unlike the adults, the children didn’t have to pretend. They were full of praise for the umbrella. It was so light, so pretty, so bright a blue! And it was just the right size for Binya. They knew that if they said nice things about the umbrella, Binya would smile and give it to them to hold for a little while—just a very little while!

I had made it a goal of mine to read all the children’s books that I didn’t read in my childhood. Now that I’m doing it each year, I feel everyone should do it. Irrespective if they read these books previously or not. The stories are so uncomplicated yet profound. The blue umbrella is one such story that can take you to a simpler time in a few pages and leave you content with the characters and the message of the book.

In the blue umbrella, we follow a story of a tribal girl who is mesmerized by a women’s beautiful umbrella and make a trade to get the umbrella. What follows is the story of how some villager tries to persuade her to give up the umbrella to him. Looking at the umbrella as a class symbol. As an adult reader, it made me a little uncomfortable how a grown man would let go of his wits in pursuit of a child’s toy. However, I can’t ignore that there are people who easily lose sight of their values in pursuit of something intangible. I enjoyed reading this book, and I am looking forward to reading more of Ruskin Bond’s books.

How to Be Miserable by Randy J. Paterson

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

‘How to be miserable’ delivers more than it promises. It lays out the 40 proven strategies to help the reader be more miserable than they can imagine. Now it’s obvious that the tone of the book is favorably sarcastic, bringing light to all the things that we generally do that deprecate the quality of our life. It also lays these strategies out starting with the most effective one and arranged in decreasing effectiveness. So one can read a few and have the most benefit some those.

The tone of the book is humorously combined with the serious sarcastic delivery of the message making it very engaging and fun to read. It’s a self-help book, which doesn’t feel like a self-help book. Unless you are doing every bit of living life perfectly, there is a chance you will find a chapter for you. It’s on my reread list for upcoming years. Unless I embody every possible way to be miserable.

Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Building a second brain has been a lot in conversation with the note-taking software community. I picked it up, hoping it would be a good insight into something unique. However, it turned out to be very disappointing. This is a 15-minute youtube video or a blog post turned into a book. It fails to offer anything new in the book format, overexplaining simple points to the extent of exhaustion. Not making doesn’t have to be this complicated. The information around it also doesn’t have to be complicated.

The core message of the book is helpful. Especially if note-making is part of your regular productivity system. However, the medium of delivery of the message through this book is not the most efficient.

Valmiki’s Women by Anand Neelakantan

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Growing up in an Indian household, surrounded by the tales of Ramayana and Mahabharata through watching television shows or reading books, I was exposed to a vast and overwhelming amount of content, short stories, and narratives. Each character was well-developed and had a role, big or small, in the main plot. I still remember most of them, even the lesser-known ones like Ram’s sister.

In “Valmiki’s Women,” author Anand Neelakantan retells the stories of five women from Ramayana and Mahabharata who were traditionally given little recognition for their important roles. The book takes a feminist tone and sheds light on some morally gray characters, portraying them in a positive light and offering a fresh explanation for the decisions that are widely known. The fictional retelling of these classic works is easy to follow, with enough background to understand each character’s role in the larger story.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has read or is familiar with the Indian epics. The writing is engaging and keeps the reader hooked. For me, all of the stories were highlights, as they offered a new and different perspective on these women. However, the stories of Kaikeyi and Meenakshi stood out the most to me. Growing up, I had not heard many narratives that offered redemption for these women, and seeing these new perspectives was truly refreshing.

Monthly Quotes: April 2022

The only way to learn is to live.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it. And don’t give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Most gossip is envy in disguise.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“Never underestimate the big importance of small things”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“We only need to be one person.
We only need to feel one existence.
We don’t have to do everything in order to be everything, because we are already infinite. While we are alive we always contain a future of multifarious possibility.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“As Thoreau wrote, ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“And that sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. You can’t have one without the other. Of course, they come in different degrees and quantities. But there is no life where you can be in a state of sheer happiness for ever. And imagining there is just breeds more unhappiness in the life you’re in.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“Sometimes just to say your own truth out loud is enough to find others like you.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“You see, doing one thing differently is very often the same as doing everything differently.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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““She realised that you could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“You can have everything and feel nothing.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“So long as there are still books on the shelves, you are never trapped. Every book is a potential escape.”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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“The sky grows dark
The black over blue
Yet the stars still dare
To shine for you”

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The only way to learn is to live.

I have been eyeing the Midnight Library and have wanted to read it for so long. This book made its rounds in every book recommendation youtube channel I watch and almost every bookstagram account I follow. Naturally, I was drawn to the book when I heard of the premise. I also read two books by Matt Haig, which are in non-novel formats, and I actually liked them. However, I can’t say the same about this book.

The story is set about the library that one encounters while they are transitioning between life and death. The library contains endless books based on each life choice that could have been different. And the person transiting gets to live these lives and decide if they want to go back to living or not. It’s a great premise involving a lot of magic realism and forces you to move into an imaginative space. As the reader, we get introduced to different characters in the story through these lives that protagonist tries out. Matt has the skill to write about larger-than-life topics with a deep tone. The story writing was good. However, the story gets repetitive.

We only need to be one person.
We only need to feel one existence.
We don’t have to do everything in order to be everything, because we are already infinite. While we are alive we always contain a future of multifarious possibility.

I was having a hard time being excited about the new lives once I had read enough of them. The problem is not in writing. There’s only so much you can simulate about a person that would be interesting. I guess. I lost interest in the story somewhere near mid-way and two third of the book. Not to discount the writing, but the story was just not that interesting to keep going for. It could have been way shorter and crisp to deliver the message and would’ve maintained a better pace than the current one.

The PCOD – Thyroid Book by Rujuta Diwekar

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I read this book in 2021 for the first time, following up in 2022 as a reread. It has helped me a lot in providing the right information about PCOD and Thyroid in a clutter of information about it. The focus of the book being on the Indian diet was a plus as it gives a lot of actionable items.

Rujuta is very famous in the nutrition space. This was the first book I read by her, and it did deliver what it promised. There are several helpful points, and sections that I believe are unique to other sources available. In the unfortunate circumstance of lack of research on female health, most of the information out there seems inaccessible to non-medical persons or is all over the place. Reading an article or a blog post can help to tackle a specific issue, but reading it in a book, helps to get through the root of the issue and solutions one by one. Making it less overwhelming and more actionable.

In my opinion, this book is a must-read for calming and shifting your headspace to a positive space first to face the problems of PCOS and thyroid. Only then one can fight the core issues. Rujuta understands this problem and provides multiple bit-size solutions. I was able to implement these changes starting small ones, and see positive outcomes. 10/10 recommended for a mindset shift and practicality.

Monthly Quotes: March 2022

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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“Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from.”

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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Achievement is talent plus preparation

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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“We overlook just how large a role we all play–and by ‘we’ I mean society–in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.“

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from.

‘Outliers’ talks about the privilege that highly successful in most sports and sectors possess, which has helped them in unconventional ways to reach the position they have. Most times, hard work falls short of achieving that level of success. And it’s when these caveats come into play and favor some people more over others. The author lays off these distinct advantages for different people, point by point.

He starts with sports, how just having a qualifying based on the date of birth puts an entire segment of children at a disadvantage. Forcing them into unfair competition with biologically older children and limiting their training opportunities to reach the potential they could have. These minor points don’t seem to create an intuitive bias towards them but act as one. He supports his arguments with past data and various examples. He moves on to the tech industry. He highlights how access to a computer can give a headstart in learning new technology to some people over everyone else, which can create a significant opportunity bias.

Most times author’s aim is to highlight the role that luck and access to the right tools play in defining success. While his tone mostly revolves around how it provides an advantage, at times it sounds petty and argumentative. I had mixed feelings while reading this book. I feel it can act as a double-edged sword. It may help you look beyond hard and deep work and bring your attention to the lack of opportunity and these subtle nuances that play out in deciding the outcome. It may also create bias to not take action in lieu of the absence of luck. It does the job well in proving a luck based excuses for people who made it big, but fails to provide an actionable to bridge this gap for ones who couldn’t. In either case, take it with a grain of salt.

All My Friends Are… by by Avery Monsen and Jory John

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.

All my friends are dead and All my friends are still dead are two hilarious short books that heavily rely on witty one liners to make you chuckle. Reading both books back to back was fun as it carry forwards most jokes to next book and it adds up to the fun. These books are perfect for a uplifting lighthearted reading session.

I might flip through these books again in future.

Monthly Quotes: February 2022

“Time was the arch fugitive, always on the run.”

Hazaar Chaurasi (1084) ki Maa by Mahasweta Devi

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“जो अच्छा नहीं लगता, वही करते चलने का नाम है कर्तव्य। कर्तव्य करती रही हमेशा, क्या”

Hazaar Chaurasi (1084) ki Maa by Mahasweta Devi

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“We elicit from the world what we project into the world; but what you project is based upon what happened to you as a child.”

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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“So I’m not crazy?” “No. Your brain is doing exactly what you would expect it to do considering what you lived through.”

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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“You’re blaming the past.” “Your past is not an excuse.” This is true. Your past is not an excuse. But it is an explanation

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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“you can’t give what you don’t get. If no one ever spoke to you, you can’t speak; if you have never been loved, you can’t be loving.”

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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stress is not something to be afraid of or avoided. It is the controllability, pattern, and intensity of stress that can cause problems.

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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All of us tend to gravitate to the familiar, even when the familiar is unhealthy or destructive. We are drawn to what we were raised with

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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“You can’t give what you don’t have.”

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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“What happened to you?” is so important in understanding what’s going on with you now.”

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

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Hazaar Chaurasi (1084) ki Maa by Mahasweta Devi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

‘बड़ा होकर मैं तुमको एक शीशे के मकान में रख दूँगा—जादुई शीशे के मकान में। माँ, तुम सबको देख पाओगी, लेकिन कोई तुम्हें नहीं देख पाएगा।’

1084 ki Maa by Mahasweta Devi is a Bengali Novel about the Bengal conflicts of the 1960s. It is about a family and a mother whose son is caught up in the riot and dies. This account is about the mother trying to come to terms with her son’s death and missing him eternally.

The story is told from the Sujata’s point of view, who’s the mother of Brati. We learn about she is perceived by different members of the family and how contrasting it is with how her son sees her. She always struggled to gain the much-deserved respect from her husband and other family members. She recounts the moments her son treated her well. Through her eyes, we also see how her son becomes passionate about the Naxalite ideologies. She struggles to understand the change in demeanor her son goes through when the political outlook of the city shifts. For her, he was only her son who cared for her. Soon as the protests grew, she learnt about this aspect her son’s life. She is faced with the sad news of her son’s demise in a Naxalite protest. And unravels the stories of his political inclinations after his death in an ongoing protest. As the story progresses, she discovers how alienated she has been to her son.

Since the plot of the novel explores a specific political event. It may feel hard to appreciate this book if you don’t understand the political environment. There are the common themes of family dynamics, the role of a woman as a mother and a wife, the passion of youth their political ideologies. I personally was not familiar with the historical aspect of the mentioned protest. However, the depiction of the political turmoil and its direct and indirect impact on characters drew me in. I do feel that the story did not explore enough of Brati’s personal ideological development and his outlook on life. Considering it’s from Sujata’s perspective, we get to know as much as she knows. Which leaves the yearning of exploring Brati’s life more and grief of not knowing him enough.

What Happened To You? by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

We elicit from the world what we project into the world; but what you project is based upon what happened to you as a child.

‘What Happened to you’ deals with the topic of developmental trauma and how its impact can travel through peoples’ adulthood. It’s written in a conversational format, with Oprah asking Dr. Bruce various questions, and both share stories about themselves and the people they have met. It’s a refreshing read, which provides an insider view into a sensitive topic.

Before I picked up this book, I had limited understanding of developmental trauma and its impact. I have read a few articles and watched some content on the topic, but I lacked the correct vocabulary or a deeper understanding of the various nuances that can play out of childhood trauma. This book did a good job of bridging those gaps and providing me with a better perspective.

The main core of the book, is that often we look at people and ask “What’s wrong with that person?”. However, we should be asking “What happened to that person?”. How we respond to certain situations or how we handle our emotions is heavily impacted by what we have been through in our childhood. We are raised in different environments and circumstances. For most this innocent phase of our lives has been interrupted by some form of abuse or traumatic event. This trauma can travel to our adulthood, and its aftermath may impact the way we respond to a certain situation. The book advocates for having a more compassionate view and understanding that childhood trauma is more common than it appears.

Monthly Quotes: January 2022

The best thing about rock bottom is the rock part. You discover the solid bit of you. The bit that can’t be broken down further. The thing that you might sentimentally call a soul. At our lowest we find the solid ground of our foundation. And we can build ourselves anew.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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Curiosity and passion are the enemies of anxiety.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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If we keep going in a straight line we’ll get out of here. Walking one foot in front of the other, in the same direction, will always get you further than running around in circles. It’s about the determination to keep walking forward.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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I used to worry about fitting in until I realized the reason I didn’t fit in was because I didn’t want to.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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To know which path to take, it helps to take a few wrong ones.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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There will be other days. And other feelings.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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The most powerful moment in life is when you decide not to be scared anymore.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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You don’t need to deny the reality of the present in order to have hope, you just need to know the future is uncertain, and that life contains light as well as dark.

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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Language gives us the power to voice our experience, to reconnect with the world, and to change our own and other people’s lives

Matt Haig, The Comfort Book

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Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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who wishes to fight must first count the cost

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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Always be reading. Go to the library. There’s magic in being surrounded by books. Get lost in the stacks. Read bibliographies. It’s not the book you start with, it’s the book that book leads you to. Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Filmmaker John Waters has said, “Nothing is more important than an unread library.” Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.

Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist

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More data means that we need to be even more aware of what the evidence is actually worth.

David Spiegelhalter, The Art of Statistics

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Signals always come with noise: It is trying to separate out the two that makes the subject interesting.

David Spiegelhalter, The Art of Statistics

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The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhalter

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

All models are wrong, but some are useful.

Art of Statistics is a crisp and very engaging introduction to statistics. Prof. Spiegelhalter has used stories and anecdotes as a medium to introduce the concepts and methodology of various statistical techniques. As a person who has studied statistics at an academic level, I found this method of explanation highly effective. The book introduced me to many new concepts that I haven’t studied in-depth and has a lot of quotes that I can borrow to explain similar concepts in layman’s terms.

This book is divided into multiple chapters ranging from data analysis to hypothesis testing. Every chapter comprises various real-life stories, projects, and case studies. Prof. Spiegelhalter used these as the tool to break down very complex and advanced concepts into simple ones and doesn’t through off anyone with heavy mathematical terminology. This is the reason the concepts stick better and can be read by all people irrespective of their prior knowledge of the subject.

I particularly like the first chapter that introduced the Harold serial killer case. How data analytics was used to solve a decade-long murder spree. The way of storytelling made the statistics book seem like a thriller book. The last few chapters, which talk about data journalism are a must-read for everyone. Since we all consume data in everyday life and nobody can escape it in their daily life, developing a better understanding of what quoted data implies and why we need to consume statistics with a grain of salt. is essential. The exploitation and misinterpretation of such reporting are very common, and it’s as much important that we read between the lines by improving our understanding of data thrown at us in big headlines.