Audiobooks equivalent to reading?

Audiobooks have become my latest favourite form of reading. Gone are those days when I used to commute for hours to go to work, or have idle mornings, or an evening tea break; all of which included a book in my hand.

As time passes by, we tend to become really busy. Being a married freelance designer now-a-days, my days are full of work and cooking and cuddling the pets. But my love for books hasn’t died. I may not have the time to read all the books I want to, but books still excite me and give me major FOMO. That’s when I found out about audiobooks. I knew about them, obviously, but I did not know if they were for me.

The very first audiobook I listened to was Harry Potter. Of course. 😀 I love Harry Potter and I love Stephen Fry. It was magical. I would listen to it all the time. While cooking, eating, bathing, working, before bed, almost all the time. And I loved it. Absolutely loved the experience. I always liked being read to, and now I did not have to ask my husband to do that for me, I had Stephen effing Fry!

I went on to listen to the whole HP series, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Born A Crime by Trevor Noah, some Jane Austen, and Murakami’s Kafka On The Shore. They were amazing. All of them.

You know what the best part about the audiobooks were for me? I would sometimes miss the tonality of a statement while reading. The sarcasm or the jibe. But in audiobooks, it cannot get clearer and easier. Books, because they come from various places have a different cultural context to them. When Trevor Noah uses Afrikaans in his book, it is a hurdle for english readers like me. The pronunciation. How the hell does one pronounce an exclamation mark?! But in the audiobook version, Trevor himself pronounces these for you and you just go with the flow of the whole thing.

On the downside, there are so many narrators who just don’t click with you. I was heartbroken when I couldn’t listen to Michelle Obama’s narration of Becoming for more than a chapter. It felt so slow. I downloaded that book purely out of my love for the woman. And I thought I’d finish the book in a day, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t concentrate when she was reading. Such a bummer!

Another pitfall is when someone walks in on you listening to the book and starts talking over the book! Argh! It is so irritating. I have to shush them, then pause the book, then ask them to continue. And once they’re finished, go on to rewind the book and start again.

But all in all, I think audiobooks are pretty close to reading. I retained all the information a book had to give me. It’s like a friend telling you some fresh gossip or something. You remember everything. And I finished many more books that I would’ve, had I been reading the physical copies only when time permitted.

An advice for people starting with audiobooks – give yourself time. Like you pick up speed by the time you are towards the end of a book, you’ll get so much better at listening to the books. You might have to rewind many times during your first book or the first chapter of the book. But eventually, you get used to the accent, the speed and the characters, and then there’s no going back.

Do you listen to audiobooks? How’s your experience been?

Does reading make you sensitive?

I was in a random bookish discussion with a friend the other day and this question just snaked in my mind. And I began to think about it.

As I started to think about all the books I have read, I realised a few things.

I have experienced things in the books. Things that I haven’t experienced in my real life (and obviously don’t want to experience some of them). For instance, best friends committing suicide. A close friend committing suicide is one of the most common events in YA books. Some describe it at length. Some focus entirely on how the person’s life changed completely by that one event. Death, in general, has been described ‘beautifully’ in books. The sense of loss… does that make one sensitive to suicide?

Some other books describe lives of people from different perspectives. The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho is a fine example. For those of you who haven’t read this book, it describes the same event of a woman’s life through the eyes of different people. And each person has a different point of view about the same event/action. Some call her an angel, some call her a witch.
Does a book like this make you sensitive to other people’s situations?

Does it make you more sensitive to relationships and the society at large?

Tell me what you feel in the comment.

 

Review: Turtles All The Way Down – A Must Read

Books that talk of mental illness have a special place in my heart. I cannot really say why, but books like Perks of Being a Wallflower, Norwegian Woods and now Turtles all the Way Down will probably always be on the ‘books I can read over and over again’ shelf.

Turtles All The Way Down, the latest by John Green was a brilliant read and a bloody fast one too. But before everything else, here’s a confession that I need to make: I have never read a John Green book before. So I won’t be able to tell you how the book compares with the other ones.

Turtles is the story of Aza, a girl carefully named for her father wanted her name to cover all the alphabets. Like most young adults, she has a best friend, Daisy, and a crazy love story going on in the background. Her love story with Davis Pickett has a mystery angle to it as well, in which Aza and Daisy go on to look for a runaway billionaire which has a promise to make them rich. All these stories run in the background of the central theme: Anxiety.

The book has an overall philosophical tone to it, which gets a little over-the-top sometimes. But otherwise when you’re done with reading and you lie on the bed thinking, it all makes sense. This is a book that makes you wanna think, really.

Among the many reasons as to why you should read th book, the prime one that strikes me is this : the characters are real. The people in the book are so real you’d think you could really meet one of them in real life. For instance, Aza has a car named ‘Harold’. Yes she has named it and she has a relationship with the car as if it were a person. Her emotions with the object are real. We all know at least one person who has real relationships with objects.

Another thing that’s commendable about the book is John Green’s knowledge about other things. Animals, stars, medicine, tech and so many other things. It is amazing to read so many new things.

This is a book you shouldn’t give a miss. It is a must read. Young or adult.

Oh and, the cover is beautiful.

Book: Turtles All The Way Down
Author: John Green
Publisher: Penguin Random House, UK
Pages: 286 (Hardcover)
Rating: 4.5/5

Sad Modern Lover

It’s sad to be a lover today.
Our letters are mails,
Our calls, texts.

I wish I loved you back when
letters were the real deal.
I’d keep all of them safe, and
wouldn’t fear them getting ‘deleted’.

I would’ve smelt them,
for your beautiful hands would’ve touched them.
I would’ve traced each word with my fingers,
for your heart must have whispered each phrase.
I would’ve kissed them, thinking I’ve kissed you,
for you must have spoken the words out loud.

And I would’ve held them close,
thinking I’ve embraced a part of you.

It’s sad to be a lover today.

5 Superb Women Authored Books You Could Start Reading NOW

Firstly, I am not a huge fan of ‘Women’s Day’. Sorry if that bothers you, but women and men and other genders are all amazing and fabulous. And women are superb beings. And one day is just not enough to celebrate a woman.

Anyhoo, here’s my list of the awesome women authors you have to read. HAVE TO. Women are rad, but these authors kick ass! A few months ago, or maybe last year, I don’t remember, I got down to reading only women authors. Specially coloured authors like Alice Walker, of course Angelou, Octavia Butler and the likes. Then there was Katherine Stockett, our very own Sudha Murthy (I love her!), Louisa M Alcott, Sylvia Plath, the very rad Sandberg etc etc.

So what happened when I read women authors for about two months. I felt somehow more confident, happier and proud. Being a woman, it is so good to read stories about other women. And if you’re someone who thinks that women stories are all about their ranting and are sad depressing stories then oh you’re so mistaken.

So without boring you to death, here’s my list of the amazing women authors you could start reading right away.

1. The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
I read this on my Kindle, but oh I so want the physical copy of this book after reading this. It is a book I could re-read. It is a classic. I will not give you the synopsis of the tale, but I will tell you this… The story will make you feel miserable and will then set your spirits free. The relationship between Celie and Shug Avery is what you should look out for.

2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Like women who don’t follow no rules? This book is going to introduce three marvellous women to you and will leave you with a laughing heart. And what’s better, the villains and the heroes of the book are both women. So no man-beating here. It is a fast read.

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I cannot explain this book to you, you gotta read this wonderfully poetic and powerful book to fall in love with Angelou.

4. Pinjar by Amrita Pritam (Hindi & Punjabi)
Pinjar is a heart wrenching tale of Puro, that puts forth the harrowing situation of women during the Indo-Pak partition. What’s amazing about the tale is how Puro embodies the injustice and the frustration it accompanies with it, and yet, like most women she rises from her ashes only to find immense strength and courage in her. Read it for the marvellous storytelling of Amrita Pritam.

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Most of you must have read this already, but if you haven’t, please, please do. And if you have, this is a book worth a re-read. A story of a mother and four little women, struggling through the trials and tribulations of the Civil War. Everybody loves the March family, and I swear you would too.

So go ahead and read all these lovely books. Thank me later!

Book Lover’s Struggle No. 1

Who hasn’t faced THIS? Every person who loved reading has faced this never-ending struggle of wanting to read soooo many books, but alas, life gives us only 24 hours in a day and a person gotta earn! Damn Capitalism!

Designed by crafts.delhi

I am working on a Thursday series that shows the struggles of a book lover. And the struggle is real! Share yours, so I can try and illustrate them.

 

Three Thousand Stitches: There’s Still Good in the World

Sudha Murty is amazing. If you’re someone who likes to read a simple tale without the complications of long sentences and difficult words, then she is the author for you. Her book Three Thousand Stitches is another example of exemplary writing in the not-so-long a list of books this philanthropist has authored.

An introduction to the lady is a must… Murty is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, which is known for all the work they do for the development of the downtrodden and the outcast. Murty sits on top of that or rather walks the extra mile to bring comfort to the lives of the underprivileged. She is a strong woman, if being a chairperson wasn’t enough, hear this: Sudha Murty was the only girl in her engineering college B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, and instead of being ‘scared’, as the society would expect, Murty topped the college and was awarded a medal from the then chief minister of Karnataka.

Three Thousand Stitches is aptly shown in the cover image that will become clear to the reader once s/he reads the very first story of the same name. The colours on the cover probably depict the colourful life led by Murty and the different wonderful colours she has filled in the lives of the people around her.

The book of 256 fast-paced pages contains stories of some of the experiences in Murty’s life. Professional and personal. Some of them will warm your heart and moisten your eyes, while some others will bring a great smile. But all of the eleven tales will remind you of the good in the world.

Sudha Murty (Source: Indian Express)

While you read this book, the simplicity of Murty cannot be ignored, owing to her simplistic writing style and the ease with which she explains situations and people. For instance, the story ‘Cattle Class’, which is the fifth story, describes two women who are not good. They are mean and think of ‘class’ as an entity of the rich. But these are my words… Murty in her book just described the whole incident with such honesty, you will end up feeling angry by their ‘cattle class mentality’.

“Class does not mean possession of a huge amount of money…There are plenty of wrong ways to earn money in this world. You may be rich enough to buy comfort and luxuries, but the same money does not define class… Mother Teresa was a classy woman… The concept that you automatically gain class by acquiring money is an outdated thought process.”

In another story, Murty narrates the story of her father, an incident that happened about 75 years ago. Murty has picked up many such stories, from when she was a child to now when she is a grandmother and each story has something to give.

The stories are fast paced and can be read in a single sitting. Each story takes about 15-20 minutes to read, and that’s for someone who reads in an okay speed.

If you want to buy the book, hit a bookstore​ near you. Stop them from closing down. 🙃

Title: Three Thousand Stitches
Author: Sudha Murty
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 256 (Paperback)
Cost: 250 INR

5 life-lessons taught by a 13-year-old

Anne Frank, the diary of a young girl is a book that comes under ‘must-read’ in everybody’s list. It is not only an awesome book for historians, but an emotional roller coaster for everyone. As emotional as the book may be, it is also surprisingly uplifting and humorous.

What some readers will appreciate is the sheer wisdom that Anne Frank exhibits at an age so young. And through that wisdom and understanding, I’ve lifted five amazing quotes from the book that will really encourage you to look at life in a new light.

Just when you think you don’t have the time, remember this.

So many things, so often, make us so sad. But if only we remember that the world still exists and the flowers still bloom, and the birds still chirp, we’ll continue to be happy.

Life isn’t so easy, and people aren’t always kind. But just because they don’t care about your opinion, doesn’t mean you cannot have one.

Always be thankful. Always.

Even after a long lazy day I have felt tired and wasted and guilty. But a day full of work and production has often left me tired, sure, but so so satisfied.

Such wise words are worth every re-read of the book. If you’re someone who is still unaware of the blazing light that envelopes the reader, you must really really pick this book up as soon as possible. You won’t regret it.

Lone Fox Dancing: A smiling tale

This book was not bought by me, though I’d have loved to buy it. The Lone Fox Dancing was won in a Goodreads giveaway. I saw ‘Ruskin Bond’, ‘IN’ and the next thing I did was sign up for the giveaway. Frankly, I never even went back to check if I had won. Until one day, I received a courier which was a neatly wrapped hardcover ‘Lone Fox Dancing’ (LFD now onwards). I told my mum I hadn’t ordered the book. It was only when I read the letter inside from the publishers (Speaking Tiger) that I found out that I had won the giveaway.

I was elated… ‘A free book. A FREE Ruskin Bond book. Oh my God… This is Ruskin Bond’s Autobiography!!!’ Yup, exactly what I thought. 🤯
The moment I opened the book, I knew this was a book I’d enjoy, and righly so.

If you’ve read any of Ruskin Bond’s stories, you’d know of his simplicity in writing. By using the most simple words and even simpler sentences, Bond can take you down memory lanes. And that’s exaclty what he has done in his autobiography.

The book will transport you to the Delhi and Mussourie of 40s and 50s. It is an age which most of us millenials have only heard of. But thanks to the amazing writing skill of Mr Bond, you’d feel you’re walking down the streets with him and sipping on the Keventers’ shake. As most autobiographies, LFD also focuses on the childhood and youth of Ruskin Bond. And for some, this would be disappointing because very little has been written about his later years.

The book is divided into four clear parts. And if you go by my advice, I’d say look at the amazing collection of pictures in the book before beginning. That’ll give a face to the many incidents I’m sure will run in your minds like a film. Each page of the book is a heart warming tale of love and friendship. The childhood and coming of age is described with immense beauty. Specially when he describes the loss of his father, I couldn’t stop my eyes from welling up. The book shows us just what kind of a person the author is. Even the most bitter parts of the story are written about with such matter-of-factly tone that you’d feel as if he had forgiven the people who did him wrong even at the young age, and holds absolutely no grudges against anybody. At a point when he lost the letters of his father (read book to know how), I was so angry I called my husband up and asked him ‘How the hell can Ruskin Bond write about it so calmly. I don’t feel anger in his writing. Why is he not angry?’ And trust you me, I was really angry.

If you’re someone who cannot help noticing ‘people’ and their ways… this book has so many characteristics of different people hidden, it’ll make your heart cry. You could really see through the people.

What’s awesome is that the book is so brutally candid that you’d sometimes feel like he himself is narrating the story to you over a cup of tea in Dehradun. Well, that’s the simplicity of his writing. Read it for a not-so-thrilling but yet amazing story of one of the most read authors in India.

This is book is a no-no for people who want too much thrill in an autobiography. There is no drama, just simple truths of Bond’s life. Truth’s that’ll touch you inside and leave you contemplating about the simplicity of it all.

Publisher: Speaking Tiger
Cost: ₹599 (Hardcover). Buy it here for ₹454. 🙂
Pages: 277
Awards: 2017 Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in the non-fiction category

It Is So Hard For Me To Read Non-Fiction. Help!

A new year is here and I am absolutely glad that I am entering this year loaded with books to read. I have on my list four Man Booker awardees, namely, The Underground Railroad , Lincoln in the Bardo, A Horse Walks Into A Bar and The Sellout. These books will take about two months to finish. So yeah, I’m sorted for the beginning of the year.

What I am sad about and want to change in the year 2018, is that my shelves are loaded with fictions. If you go through my Goodreads, you’d see a variety of fiction novels. But alas, I have not read one non-fiction. It is so very difficult for me to read a non-fiction. Why, you ask?

Consider this. I really wanted to know about the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. And I have an absolutely amazing book, The Siege: The Attack on Taj by Adrian Levy, sitting on my bookshelf (my husband’s actually). I picked that book up. The author starts with the names of all the real people in the attack. After the list, he starts telling us about a father-daughter duo who worked at the Taj. A real father-daughter duo. And that was it. I couldn’t read further. I knew that either one of them was going to die, or rather all the people on the list. Yes, characters die in fiction, but fictional characters. Not real people!! Do you understand? I cannot live with the idea that all the people who suffered in the book suffered for real. Their pain was real, their losses were real.

GIF source- giphy

My eyes welled up when I realised that the father-daughter duo would either die or get separated for life. And I couldn’t take it anymore. This is the reason I cannot read non-fiction. I get too attached to the people. So I need your help here.
I really want to read all the lovely books out there, but what is it that I am doing wrong? Am I picking the wrong books for the start? Am I reading it wrong? Or what is it?

Do you have some tricks or tips under your sleeve that can help me read better without crying a river?

Help!