Namaste! 

Reading has indeed taken me places during these tough times. I have travelled far and wide in the past couple of months. With Santiago from Spain to Egypt in search of his personal legend ; from China to US back and forth with Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St. Clair, while they were raising their daughters in US ; In and around a poor black neighborhood in US with Starr, seeking justice for the killing of her dear friend Khalil; from London to India with Aashi and her gang as she ventured on a journey to rediscover herself after a broken engagement.

Each of these journeys has taken me away from home into their worlds helping me ponder over a thing or two.

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

   The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, is a different kind of book. It has the same number of people who have tremendously loved it as those who have thoroughly hated it. I liked the book. I liked the journey that Santiago embarks on , only to come back to where it all began. The treasure that is hidden so close to where you are, requires a lot of searching around, and that search and that longing is what makes the treasure even more valuable . For that matter , all the happiness that actually exists right within us requires so much of effort to be tapped into. Most of the journeys that take us away from us, bring us back to ourselves.

2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

As a daughter, and the mother to a girl, The Joy luck club is special to me. I have written a detailed review of the book in a previous post and here is a link to that post.
Mothers and Daughters 

3. The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The hate you give is a fantastic read. The story is about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addressing the issues of racism and police violence. By the age of 16, Starr had already witnessed two of her best friends’ death. The girl goes all out when she decided to be a witness to Khalil’s death which was the result of misunderstood intentions by the police officer who shot him. When her entire neighborhood turns into a war zone when the verdict is passed in favor of the policeman , everyone there stands to lose something. The book was adapted into a major motion picture by the same name. I have not watched the movie yet.

4. Marriage Unarranged by Ritu Bhathal

Marriage Unarranged is the story of Aashi , an Indian girl raised in London. When her engagement gets cancelled she makes a trip to India with her best friend and her brothers. She ends up meeting and eventually falling in love with Arjun during the trip. The 2 weeks that Aashi and gang spend in Delhi in the pre smartphone era acts as a beautiful backdrop for the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor and aroma of the streets there. I wanted to the book to just go on and on.

These are books from such different genres. Each of them was a joy to read . I have also enjoyed reading the Secret Seven books from my son’s library on lazy afternoons.

I always regret not starting the journey of books much earlier in life. I always end up saying : Better late than never .

If you are yet to embark on that journey, here are some tips that have helped me in picking up this habit much later in life .
7 Tips to develop a reading habit

Stay Home! Stay Safe!
But don’t forget to travel! 🙂

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