What have I been reading – II

Part 1 of the mid-year books round-up here.

• The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes - Fabulous! Also how well do the British write! The book is filled with amazing thought provoking material. Also works as a thriller, as you are trying to solve a suicide. Old age, memories are themes dear to my heart and I luurvvved reading the book. I also hear that the movie adaptation stars Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling. What more does a book want?
• The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood - I <3 Margaret Atwood. Also, I started following Emma Watson's #oursharedshelf project on instagram in May, where they were discussing this book. I promptly ordered it. Then got to know about the hulu show as well. It's an uncomfortable read. It's also an unflinching book. It doesn't shy away from showing one the state of things in its totalitarian world. As they say it's a cautionary tale everyone must read. The parts where Offred talks about her previous life's freedom and compares it to her submissiveness to the current oppressive reality made me most uncomfortable.
• The story of the lost child by Elena Ferrante - Finale of the Naepolitan novels. It broke my heart. Made me weep. I wanted to hug Lila and Lenu and cry more. What a world and characters Elena Ferrante has created!
• The vision by Khalil Gibran - It was a small easy read stuffed with an unbelievable amount of philosophy, allegories, and wisdom. I am unsure if I have absorbed even a tiny bit of its wisdom.
• How to be a bawse by Lily Singh - If you are looking for an easy breezy fun and intelligent book then please pick Lily Singh aka Superwoman's book. She is amazing and her book is the no-nonsense amazing stuff the world needs. Really liked it!
• Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar - Received this as part of a book barter. It's an epic hindi poem based on the life of Karn and revolves around Mahabharat (Of course!). I am a slow hindi reader but boy this made me fall in love with the language and the poet!
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio - What a lovely book! It's that lesson in kindness we all deserve to sit through. The story of the most amazing Auggie and his first year of school. Also, it's written with such a non-mushy lightness, that could not help but thank the author for not making the book cringe-worthy! Padho!
• The cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway - I was particularly whiny about a work situation when I started reading this book. And then I realized I should be thankful for the type of problems I was dealing with because living in war sucks. This book is based on a true story and set in the middle of the Siege of Sarajevo and takes you through 4 people's lives over a period of few weeks. It's changed my perspective. I also want to visit Sarajevo NOW!
• Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - I had been wanting to read this for a while and luckily found it at the library. What a fun, essential read! Although I had trouble with the yorkshire accent, it made me nostalgic about childhood. The endless summer vacations spent around trying to solve mysteries and hoping for magic. Such charm. Much magic. (I am still 50 pages away from finishing the book)
• Performance nutrition for runners by Matt Fitzgerald - If you run and want to keep an eye on how you should fuel your body pre and post runs then do read! In general also a great primer on basics of running physiology. Not just for runners.
• Come, Tell me how you live by Agatha Christie - The most unexpected travelogue from the most unexpected author. It's fun to read Agatha Christie talk about day to day life in Syria when she decided to accompany her archaeologist husband on his field trip. It's set in the 1920s and is wonderful and funny. Least you can expect from someone who has made her life out of writing best selling murder mysteries.
• This is how we do it by Matthew Lamote - A wonderful book which describes a 'regular' day in the lives of children from Iran, India, Japan, Italy, Peru, Russia and Uganda. It's an illustrative children's book which describes what they have for breakfast, lunch, dinner, where and how they sleep, what they learn, etc etc. Matthew met these families in his real life during his world travels and based his illustrations on them. Its a lovely book which is even more important in the weird times we live in. (Gifted it to a friend's daughters and ended up reading it first chance I got when I visited them).