3 Book recs that I always give to fellow readers

Fellow Book Readers,

Looking for a few book reccomedations? Well this blog is for you!

1. Normal People by Sally Rooney

The book explores the complexities of the characters Marianne and Connell, how they grow up from insecure and inconfident teens into emotionally and mentally vulnerable adults. The book is well-penned and makes you lose yourself in the characters and how they tackle their intrapersonal and interpersonal relations. This book is going to make you cry really ugly, as you might see yourself in some way or the other in them.

2. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

The book revolves around the characters of John Tyree and Savannah Curtis, who meet each other on summer break, when John is on a break from his duty and Savannah from college. The two fall in love with each other as they spend time with each other and eventually get involved in a romantic relationship. Distance, time, and fate come in between as they navigate their lives with and away from each other. The book is well-written and totally worth giving a try, though it might leave you crying at the end.

3. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

The book tells the story of two characters, Takako & Satoru, niece and uncle, who navigate their lives alongside each other after Takako, due to some setbacks in her personal life, decides to take a break from everything and moves into a generations-old bookstore to help her uncle Satoru, who once used to be her favorite companion but later, as she grew up, decided to distance herself from him as she 'grew' out of that relationship. We see Uncle Satoru also exploring the problems in his life as his wife, who left him, suddenly came back. 

The book is slow-paced and actually makes you introspect about yourself and your life.

These three books are the only ones that I currently want to recommend to you. 

If you are interested in more content like this, check out my other blogs at bookblogsbyaditi.blogspot.com

Appreciate y'all for reading this.

Thank you,

Yours Truly,

Aditi

(Read Poets Society)

Murakami's South of the Border, West of Sun.

Fellow Book Readers,

If you have heard or read about Murakami and his book, then you might be familiar with this one. The book that I am going to talk about in this blog is South of the Border, West of the Sun by japanese author Haruki Murakami. 

The book revolves around the characters Hajime, a bar owner; Shimamoto, Hajime's childhood companion; and Yukiko, Hajime's wife.

The book takes us back into the life of Hajime, an only child growing up in post-war Japan. In his childhood, he befriends Shimamoto, a girl with a slight limp due to polio. They bond over music and their dreams. However, they soon lose touch as Shimamoto moves away from his neighborhood.

As the years pass, Hajime matures into an adult who's constantly on the lookout for something.

He settles down after a failed relationship and a lot of casual dating and marries Yukiko, a daughter of a wealthy family. She's a supportive and practical woman. With her father's help, Hajime starts and runs two successful jazz bars. Despite having what seems like a perfect and normal life, he feels empty and dissatisfied for some reason. Shimamoto mysteriously reappears in his life, now an enigmatic woman, bringing back old emotions and memories with her. Their reunion throws Hajime into a state of existential crisis. However, just as quickly as she reappeared, Shimamoto vanished just as fast, leaving Hajime to pick up the pieces of his life he shattered himself.

I found the book intriguing due to Shimamoto's mysterious presence. But I highly disliked Hajime's character as it was constantly selfish, focusing only on his wants and desires and not caring how his wife in the background would feel. I felt he idealised Shimamoto and constantly looked for women like her, to fill the void that was getting bigger and bigger as time passed. 

The novel's ending left many questions unanswered, which felt frustrating. I also felt that some of Hajime’s relationships, especially his marriage with Yukiko, deserved more depth and exploration. It was beautifully written but left me with mixed emotions.

Overall, it was a 8/10 for me.

Appreciate you all for reading this.

Thank you,

Yours Truly,
Aditi
(Read Poets Society)

A Historical book on the last queen of Punjab

 Fellow Book Readers,

In this blog, I am going to talk about the book The Last Queen by author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It is the story of Rani Jindan Kaur of Punjab, the last wife and queen of Marahaja Ranjit Singh. 

The book takes us back into time during the British era, when Rani Jindan Kaur wasn't yet a queen but an ordinary girl who liked reading books, going on small adventures with her elder brother, and living although in a poor household but still being happy. She's accounted to be a beautiful kid and, as she grew up, a gorgeous woman. Manna Singh, Jindan's father, also the royal kennel keeper, takes note of this and takes her to the city of Lahore, where she meets Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and she is startstruck upon meeting him, as she has only heard tales of his valor before but has never actually met him.
From then on, they form a partnership based on mutual respect and admiration for each other, with Jindan's strong personality earning great recognition from Ranjit Singh. They get married, though hastily, but spend a peaceful yet turbulent time with each other due to Maharaja's health and the constant interference of the British to take over Punjab. Ranjit Singh eventually passes away due to old age and strokes; from then on, the real battle for Jindan Kaur starts and eventually turns her into what we know her as now, Rani Jindan Kaur. 

Honest opinion, the book could have been better; it romanticised the approximately forty year old age gap between Jindan and Ranjit Singh, as Jindan was fifteen when she met Ranjit Singh, who was probably fifty-four or fifty-five at that time. The age dynamic for me was weird, and the book also does not completely discuss their age gap, which I personally feel was intentional, as to not creep the readers out. Jindan's political affairs could have also been elaborated and not just fit into the last few chapters. The book for me was a one-time read.

Overall, it was a 7/10 for me.

Appreciate you all for reading this.

Thank you,

Yours Truly,

Aditi

(Read Dead Poets Society)

A perfect book to escape into the world of Romance

 Fellow Book Readers,

If you are confused and are looking for a romance book where you can shut your brain down and just escape into the world of (forbidden) romance, this blog might be perfect for you.
The book that I am going to recommend to you is Twisted Games by Ana Huang. I know; it is part of the Twisted series, but it is also a standalone book, which means you do not have to read the previous book just so you can understand the next part. 

The story grapples with the story of Bridget VonAscherberg, the princess of Eldorra, and her bodyguard, Rhys Larsen. 
Bridget is an intelligent woman. She's bound by her duty as a princess but seeks a life where she has all the control. She's what you would call a hidden rebel. Whereas Rhys is a stoic, disciplined, and loyal man. He has a troubled past and is emotionally closed off.

Their story starts when Bridget's previous bodyguard goes on a leave for some time due to personal reasons, and Rhys is assigned to her. They dislike each other completely due to their different personalities and ideologies but get closer over time as they share the same space with each other. They are both very much attracted to each other but could not be with each other due to both of them being bound to their respective duties, but when Bridget tried making a move on Rhys, he at first denied his feelings but later gave into them. 
Their relationship is forbidden; it burns slowly, and when it does, boy, you are so not ready for that. 

The book is well written; it is the kind of book that you would pick up if you just want to relax and gush and blush about the imaginary world of romance. Its pace is nice, it has some killer dialogues that make you want to be Bridget, and you would just love how they fight for each other, for them. It is a lighthearted read.

Overall, it is a 9/10 for me.

(P.s. The whole twisted series is now being turned into a series by Netflix; I'm crossing my fingers that they don't ruin it.)

Appreciate you all for reading this.

Thank you.

Yours truly,
Aditi
(Read Dead Poets Society)

A book series with perfect puzzles & plot twists

Fellow Book Readers,

Looking for a book that is just the perfect young adult mystery book series? Well, this blog might be for you. 
The Inheritance series by author Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a novel filled with puzzles, unexpected plot twists, mysteries, and deceptions with a dash of a love triangle between two brothers. The series consists of The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, and The Final Gambit.

The storyline majorly revolves around Avery Kylie Grambs, Tobias Hawthorne, and his four grandsons, Jameson Hawthorne, Grayson Hawthorne, Alexander Hawthorne, and Nash Hawthorne. 

Avery, a teen living in her car, suddenly on one fine day learns that she is to inherit the multi-billion dollar empire of the richest billionaire of Texas, Tobias Hawthorne, an enigma of a man and someone who had a knack for complicated and complicating (life or,) puzzles. He, even after his death, left so many threads tangled that when you would probably think that it could not get any worse, Voila! It would. Tobias is manipulative; he played mind games and left his whole life's work in the hands of a not-so-strange stranger. 
Jameson Hawthorne, the third Hawthorne brother, just like his grandfather, Tobias, thrives on challenges and puzzles. He lives for the thrill, has a laser focus and drive. He is a romantic prospect of Avery (a favorite).
Grayson Hathorne is the second brother, the calm and collected one. He is the exact opposite of Jameson. He's analytical, pragmatic, and uses words you would probably need to google every single time he speaks. He's one of the romantic prospects of Avery.
Alexander Hawthorne's character is what you would call a comedic relief in the book. He's the youngest brother, highly intelligent, geeky, quirky, cheeky, and amped up with antics that make you grin every time he appears in the book. 
Nash Hawthorne is the eldest brother in the family. He's responsible and a definition of cowboy aesthetic core. He's the emotional balance of the brothers.
I would like to give special mentions to Libby Grambs, Avery's naïve but goth angel of a half-sister; Alisa Ortega, Avery's legal advisor and one hell of a woman; and John Oren, the bodyguard who did everything he could to protect Avery. 

The characters grow throughout their journey in the book series, together and also individually. For example, Avery would seem self-absorbed in the first novel, but as she tackles situation after situation and puzzle after puzzle, you see her grow into an individual who sees people other than herself, learns how to be vulnerable, and just lives her life, transitioning into a stable adult. 

The book is written in a manner that makes you also want to solve the puzzles and find the clues. You criticize the characters for not seeing through stuff and you are just amazed and dumbfounded at the same time about how they can be so smart and then be ashamed at how you can be so dumb. The book is full of twists and turns; it sweeps you right in. The characters, from my point of view, don't have that much depth, but that the storyline absolutely compensated. 

Overall, this book series is an 8.5/10 for me. 

(P.S. This book has other novellas too, like The Brothers Hawthorne, Games Untold, etc.)

Appreciate y'all for reading this.

Thank you,

Yours truly, 
Aditi
(Read Dead Poets Society)

A romcom book I once used to like but now, seems repetitive and bland

 Fellow Book Readers,

So, there was a time when fake dating used to be my go-to trope for book couples (though now it has changed), and one of the most hyped-up books of that particular trope is The Spanish Love Deception by author Elena Armas.I read this book in the particular time frame that it was released in, and when it was released, god, I was fawning over it. But that was also before I had formed my own thoughts and opinions, so yeah. Let's start this.

The book is a slow-burn rom-com that revolves around the characters Catalina Martin and Aaron Blackford, who are also sworn enemies due to their contrasting thoughts and ideas about each other. 
Catalina, a.k.a. Lina, as we call her in the book, is portrayed as a strong, independent woman, witty and intelligent but also emotionally really guarded due to her past relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Daniel. 
Whereas, Aaron Blackford is the ultimate book boyfriend that is the main character of your dreams. 
He appears disciplined and aloof but is deep down a secret romantic, waiting for Catalina to see how much he loves her. 
The storyline is the very same map for mainly every other fake dating rom-com; they both strike up a deal for their mutual benefits, and then later as they navigate through their newfound fake but not so fake relationship, they actually come to the overwhelming realization (Catalina realizes in this one) how little they actually knew about each other, and they are better off together. 
Now, a rom-com like this differs in its execution, and it can either be a hit or a miss. Like one that you would swoon over and the other that would probably make you think why you even picked that book in the first place. 
This book, for me, when I first read it, fell in the first category, but as time has passed and now that I read this book again, it just feels very mediocre; it feels too unreal. I couldn't relate to any of the characters; they felt unreal, especially Aaron. I just went through the chapters. It didn't give me the butterflies it once gave me. I guess, I grew out of the book, similar to how one grows out of old clothes. Though, I have to admit, some of the dialogues of Aaron still make me giggle, just like in the past (I guess some things can never change).

Overall, the book was a 6/10 for me. 

(P.s. There was once news that this book would be produced into a movie, though I am not sure about it.). 

Appreciate you all for reading.

Thank you,

Yours truly,
Aditi
(Read Poets Society) 

A book that made me realise how one is the master of their destiny

 Fellow book readers, 

Today the book that I am going to write about is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by author Taylor Jenkins Reid. 
The book revolves around the life of an old-age actress, Evelyn Hugo, and her seven marriages. It grapples with the complexity, ambition, love, and Evelyn's strong command of her life and choices. 

The book has four main characters: Evelyn Hugo, an old Hollywood actress; Monique Grant, an unknown journalist who is picked to write a book on Evelyn Hugo by Evelyn herself; Harry Cameron, a gay producer who is Evelyn's best friend and also one of her husbands; and last but not least, Celia St. James, Evelyn's true love. 
Evelyn Hugo is a complex character. You can even call her a morally grey character considering the choices she made in her life. She is pragmatic, if not smart, then cunning, charming, and determined to get what she wants, no matter what the price she has to pay or what boundaries she has to push or cross to achieve her goals. She understood that her beauty or sexuality can get her what she wants, so she utilized it. She was aware of who she was and how much power she had over people. Evelyn is a character who is hard to empathize with but easier to sympathize with. The choices that she makes are hard to understand, but it will always amaze you with how much resilience she has in life. No matter what life throws at her, she never backs down; she deals with it and sacrifices whatever the situation deems fit, but this is also her weakest characteristic. She sacrifices whatever the situation deems fit.
Monique Grant is an unknown journalist who gets chosen by Evelyn Hugo to write her biography and an exclusive interview with her. She is an intelligent and empathic woman who is at first portrayed as someone who is struggling through life due to her recent divorce and unstable career but later starts actualizing her self-worth and growing as a person as her conversations with Evelyn also grow. 
Harry Cameron was a character that I personally hold closest to my heart. He is what you would call Evelyn's true best friend and confidant; he's also her fifth husband and also the only one of them who ever loved her truly, even if it was in the platonic sense. Their marriage, though, Lavender, was probably one of the happiest, as they both got their own chance at happiness with their respective homosexual partners. 

Celia St. James, the woman who was the greatest true love of Evelyn Hugo. She is a talented, loving, and passionate but stubborn and also a little immature, but her character was the one I could truly understand. Her on-and-off relationship with Evelyn, though beautiful, was at times a little painful to read as they both struggled to be together with how Evelyn kept choosing her career over her and how prideful or stubborn Celia was in her ways. 

The book is written in two different timelines, one that goes on in the present and the other that takes us to the past of Evelyn Hugo.
It shows how Old Hollywood's toxic unwritten laws and conditions for women and the LGBT+ community of that era were like. 

What I genuinely liked about this book was how bold Evelyn was in her approach towards life. She was this character that I could only dream to be and not be at the same time. Her choices, though questionable, made her who she was at the end, The Evelyn Hugo, but on the contrary, the choices that she made left her at the end alone and at times miserable, with regrets that she could do nothing about. 
The book's ending genuinely left me stunned, and I am not even ashamed to say that it made me tear up too, but I salute the kind of book this was, it made me feel all sorts of emotions: love, sadness, anger, frustration, and happiness. This is the first book that stayed with me for a long time after I finished reading it.

Overall, it is 10/10 read for me. Highly recommend it you all.

(P.s. this book is being turned into by Netflix and if they ruin it? I ain't scared of throwing hands)

Appreciate you all for reading this.

Thank you,

Yours truly,
Aditi
(Read Poets Society)

Don't know about the patient, but this book left me silenced for sure

Dear Fellow Reader, 

Looking for a psychological thriller that will actually make you go like, 'What the beep just happened right now?', you might be at the right blog. 

I haven't read a lot of psychological thrillers, but the one that I think most people who go crazy over psychology thrillers would have probably read is The Silent Patient by author Alex Michaelides. 
The excerpt given at the back of the book would make it seem like an 'I can fix her,' and that is what you seem to gather from when you start reading at first, but believe me when I say that that, my fellow readers, is far from the truth. After you become so much invested in the plot, the end is like a slap that comes out of nowhere, shakes you up, and leaves you thinking, 'What did just happen right now? I don't think I signed up for this...' 

The storyline revolves around the characters Alicia Berenson, a woman who has refused to speak after allegedly killing her husband, Gabriel Berenson, and Theo Faber, who is a psychologist and wants to help Alicia get past her trauma and speak. 
The characters are imperfectly the perfect examples of how traumatic childhoods can shape innocent children into troubled adults. Alicia was a talented artist who was emotionally neglected by her father as a child and almost died when her mother killed herself by ramming her car into a brick wall with young Alicia in the passenger seat. Her character is seen dealing with abandonment issues and internalizing her emotions, and when her husband, Gabriel, provides her emotional security and a 'stable' home, she makes him her entire world, trusting him completely. Talking about Theo, he came from a verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive home. His father was the one implicating them. With little to no support from his family, he grew up insecure about forming relationships and very controlling of his surroundings. 

The narrative is paced with enigma surrounding it in every chapter. It grips you, makes you contemplate about what could possibly happen next, jerks you awake if you are starting relax, and when you think that you can predict what could happen next, that is when you get the plot f*****g twist. 

I thought I would openly talk about this book here, but then I realized that if I said anything that could possibly hint at the plot, it would ruin the entire experience for the people who haven't read 'The Silent Patient' yet. 
Overall, this book was a 10/10 for me. 

(P.s. I have not read many thrillers or psychological thrillers, so this is basically an amateur's review. 
This novel is being planned to be adapted into a motion picture.)

Appreciate you for reading this.

Thank You

Yours truly,

Aditi

(Read Poets Society)

A romcom book that got me out of a reading slump

Fellow Book Readers,

 

In a reading slump and need a simple but engaging romcom? You are at the right blog! 

People We Meet on Vacation by author Emily Henry is the book that you can just pick up and start reading, and you will not even realize how far you have read this book until something important or just nature's call knocks at your door. 

The book follows the characters Poppy and Alex. These two are stark opposites of each other, and this can be seen when they first meet each other at the university too and ssumed that they would never get along with each other, but I guess fate (or the author), had other plans for them and just shoved them to share a car as they came back from their respective homes, which was surprising to see that they were not as far from each other as they thought, unlike their personalities. From then on, a bond was formed, and what started was a friendship that would span over a decade with one vacation for a week every year till things would get complicated as the love that they shared with/for each other wasn't just platonic anymore.

Poppy Wright was a character who can be described in terms of how loud, filled with wanderlust, spontaneous, or wild-spirited she was in her approach towards life, her fear of vulnerability, or her slight issues with feeling out of place; I couldn't help but see myself in her. As for Alex Nilsen, he's the kind of being that I, at times, aspire to be (also aspire to be with), with how structured his life was, how he sought stability, and introspecting through life with a sprinkle of dry humor.

There characters are seen growing through well-penned narrative delivered by the author as they transition from college-goers/ budget travellers to adults with successful careers, Poppy establishing herself as a Travel writer, and Alex becoming a High School English Teacher in their hometown, Linefields, though Poppy started feeling a little lost and unhappy as Alex, the only perfect constant in her life, started fading away after there trip to Croatia in which they kissed each other and realised (more like Poppy truly realised, Alex has been fawning over her for the past decade) that what she actual felt for him was not actually platonic but something entirely else but due to the fear of ruining their frienship, they left the matter at that, leaving each other too for 2 years, with no contact. 
After everything that went down, Poppy wanted to take another chance in mending her relationship with Alex. They went together on one last trip, or rather, attended the wedding of David, one of many brothers of Alex. 
Things happened, hot Palm Springs was very hot (but it was genuinely hot, though; read the book to know). They talked, stuff happened, they fell out again, and then when they got back together, there was nothing in their world that could break what they had, have, and always will have. 

The thing that I liked about this book was the fact that the characters were so nicely sketched, blending so easily but in a quirky and beautiful manner that you can actually, and believe me when I say actually, imagine how they must be behaving. Another thing that I liked was just how starkly contrasting their personalities were, but when they were together, the difference became the least of the concern. However, whenever they were together, it was like them against the world. How Alex, who hated social interactions with all his might, always used to go straight to the bar, just because Poppy liked sitting at the bar. How dramatic they got with each other, how ridiculous their antics were, and how vulnerability played a big but almost unnoticeable role in their relationship.
As for what I disliked, there's not much, except how at a few points I felt that Poppy was using Alex or just Alex being a complete simp for her, like it at times felt too much but not entirely...? 

So, this was my take on this book, I took, like a day to finish this book, I absolutely liked it, is a light hearted, funny book and is a genuine 8/10 for me.

(P.s. The book is now getting adapted into a movie by netflix though, I am rather scared that they might ruin this fabulous book like they did with some others, so fingers crossed!)

Appreciate you for spending time here,

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Aditi

(Read Poets Society)