Writer
I don’t remember the last time I finished a book at this pace, in two days flat. Yellow Face is a fictional story of two friends, Athena and June. Athena Liu, a celebrated and successful published author, and June Hayward, a struggling writer whose career never quite takes off. Both of them love to write, but luck favors one over the other. Until it doesn’t.
Continue reading “Yellow Face by R.F. Kuang”Reading a book without knowing what it’s about is the best feeling. Just a few lines in, and you’ll know if you’ll go on a journey with it or not. With this one, I’m shocked beyond belief. What a book! I don’t know where it’s going to take me, but I’m in for a ride. Let’s go, Ministry of Time! #thrilled #excited
“What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding” by Kristin Newman is an unabashedly honest and humorous memoir that delves into the author’s life, passion for travel, her experiences with romance and sex! Yes, there is sex and a lot of it! Newman is a renowned comedy writer known for shows like That 70s Show, How I Met Your Mother, and many others like Chuck and The Neighbors. In this book, she fearlessly shares her personal journey, including the ups and downs of her love life.
Continue reading “What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir by Kristin Newman”What is autism, and what does it feel like to live with someone who has autism? Josh Stehle, our superhero expert, invites you to explore these questions.
In ‘I am a Superhero Expert: Growing up with my Autistic Brother,’ Josh shares the touching story of his brother Zach, who is on the autism spectrum. It’s important to note that this isn’t a self-help guide, an encyclopedia on autism, or a sad tale. Instead, it’s a unique and deeply personal account filled with comic strips and a profound love for powerful heroes. Most importantly, it’s an inspiring and uplifting story of a real-life superhero.
Dear ol’ poet in the park,
with a smile spread across the face
and hands in the air
you welcome passersby
to stop by your side for a while.
Be it sun or rain,
you’re there all day, every day.
A hope to the hopeless,
a pause for the busy,
a smile for a frown,
a joy for the moody.
When I stopped by and noticed the twinkle in your eyes
I realized that stars don’t just shine bright from afar,
they sing sweet poetic words of melody.
Hello Dear Readers, Happy New Year!
The House in the Cerulean Sea, my first book of 2023, yay I guess! This one’s a fantasy fictional novel in which the protagonist, Linus Baker, is a caseworker working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY). His job requires him to visit government-sanctioned orphanages to check on the well-being of the magical youth. Also, to recommend whether the orphanages should continue to remain operational or be shut.
Do summer friends melt away like summer snows, but winter friends last forever, as an old saying goes?
Farewell fair weather friends! Meanwhile I’m all bundled up in my furry throw, engrossed in a book called Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season by Bernd Brunner from which I borrowed this quote.
Winter is here, I’m telling myself not get cold feet by worrying too much about cold feet, and instead embrace the beauty of winter.
Day 6 Inktober 2022: Bouquet
A source of immense happiness and joy, the best companions whether you are chilling at home or stuck in traffic, they can change your mood and make you smile, get rid of those unwanted thoughts, feelings of sadness and loneliness and take you to places never imagined, they are your mentors, your guide, your buddy to laugh and cry with and with them you make lifetime memories. Books are the best gifts you can give someone (me), just like a bouquet of flowers, they will never fail to light up your mood and your mind. Read read read, it’s all that matters, stories will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Sometimes I feel like the book chooses me rather me choosing it and The Namesake is one such book that precisely resonates with my current state of mind. A diasporic feeling of not belonging anywhere, a feeling of an identity crisis, and confused decisions. Jhumpa Lahiri in the Namesake perfectly captures the immigrant experiences and emotional turmoil of leaving behind your motherland, your families, and childhood friends to start a new life in a new country.
This big move is a process of experiencing happy times, difficult times, and questionable times, which often involve uncertainty and fear. And of course, there’s always hope of things getting better as time passes. But there is never a time when we stop wondering “Was this the right decision?”
Despite these numerous feelings, Ashima in the Namesake tries her best to adopt to the American lifestyle with her husband Ashoke. The Ganguli family makes new friends (Indian friends), spends weekends together and builds new bonds. They give birth to two kids, Gogol and Sonia. Ashima terribly misses her family when their son is born. She waits for years for her grandmother to send her a telegram naming the baby as it has been their age-old tradition. But when there’s no response, Gogol becomes the official name of their son.
The story progresses onto the lives of the kids and the vacations that they take – which is most of the time to India for festivals, for the loss of loved ones, for spending time with the family, or to stay connected to the familiarity of their culture and traditions. Gogol and Sonia find all of it hard to relate. But as they grow old, Gogol realizes the hardships that their parents had to face upon uprooting their life and leaving behind their family which he thinks is something that is impossible for him to do.
The Namesake is not story with a beginning or an end, it is an experience. A family that I got to know in a few pages of this book. I can see myself getting to know the Ganguli family if I ever lived on Pemberton Road, going through the same feelings of loneliness and trying to stay together and creating a mini India just to feel at home. Just to have that sense of familiarity and comfort. As I complete reading this book on my return flight from India to Pennsylvania, I fondly close the book and my eyes with a warm feeling, processing the emotions, and remembering all the times that I spent with my loved ones. I take these memories along to a new country that I now call my home.
PS: The Namesake is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. It’s very well-written and has an intriguing story that immigrants as well as non-immigrants will certainly find interesting to read. A definite must-read, I highly recommend!
Nuraine Sadaf 