Book Review: Grow Up Messy - Middle Grade Book

I won't say I don't read children's books. If I chance upon a good children's fiction I dive right into it, simply because I find them richer in imagination.

Growing Up Messy is a heart warming story which reminded me parts of my childhood having born and brought up in a 2nd tier city of Bengal. Misry's escapades during afternoon hours truly made me connect with her. How many afternoons I must have spent doing the same! How much patience my mother would have shown to tolerate my disobedience.

Right from the character Misry to the descriptions of the world around her and the innocent naughty acts that Misry aka Messy got into reminded me of Tagore's short stories as well.

I think it fits a much wider range of readers apart from middle grade. It can be a good read for mothers because it captures psychology of children and I personally feel it also sets standards for the modern parent. Things like not over indulging your child, making your kid realise the difference between want and need. The very busy parents of today who have high purchasing ability sometimes forget that indulgence is not always the answer. A story like this can be a gentle reminder to them while they read it out as a bedtime story for the young ones.

Book Review: Raven Song (4/5 stars)

Time travel, magic, teleportation, super powers all mixed together in Ashcroft's book makes it an action packed novel. I was in a mind to give it a 3 because I was not sure if I liked the idea of so many strong elements being poured in one story but then I couldn't keep the book down so it defies the usual. (The usual for me is reading two to three books at the same time. The usual for me is to drop reading a book completely because the plot is not interesting). Yes! I am a plot lead reader and they have to be built up and concluded in an interesting way. Ashcroft is good at that.

What helped was the author's descriptive style of writing so the intense scenes almost pop up as visuals in my mind. Almost felt like I am reading a sci-fi movie script at times. Just when you think you understand how the story will now proceed an unpredictable situation happens.

It's a good one for readers looking to tease their brains with some out of the box imagination. Certainly a good read for scifi and magic lovers too. People who love to think and read of the impossible and unusual.

But there are too many questions unanswered, and too much curiosity to know what happens next. So I am definitely looking forward to the sequel. 

The Right side is so beautiful!

The creative side of our brain, the right side is so beautiful.

Gini's Beautiful World

Gini was scared of getting into the pond but her friends coaxed her to go on. The dragonflies buzzed around asking her to go for it, the duckling gave her tips to keep afloat and the little fish were waiting for her to take a dive. The frogs in the corner however were betting she won't jump into the water today. Will Gini go for it?

Book Review: In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

This is my fastest read in a very long time. Every time I picked up this book in the last 3 days I couldn't set it down. I am now a bigger fan of Jhumpa Lahiri (JL) the non-fiction writer than Lahiri, the fiction writer. Its by chance that I came across this book just after my visit to Italy, when I was finding my sudden love for the art and life in that country a little bit ridiculous. How can one be in awe of Italian art and life when there was so much to take in within India. But thats another discussion. It just helps me believe I am not as insane as I sometimes believe myself to be. After all, Italy had the same impact on JL as me.

In Other Words is a must read for all. Its for the ones who are still trying to find themselves or better worded, still trying to find their best selves. The ones who are testing their limits, the ones who are struggling with their imperfections. JL has put a lot of restless doers to rest by saying, "Imperfection inspires invention, imagination, creativity." She is courageous beyond words to take on the challenge to learn a foreign language to the extent that she can write a book. She challenged herself to be in the state of a 2-3 year old kid again, forcing herself to learn how to communicate in Italian just like a kid starts reading and writing his mother tongue. She has embraced that the greatest lesson in life is the process of learning itself and that's why she hasn't stopped at her achievements in the English literature scene.

Challenging the status quo is the only definitive way of growing and In Other Words is Jhumpa Lahiri's way of showing how fearless you need to be to live up to your full potential.

Art-Blast

I am really bereft of time these days and hence switched from oil paintings to sketch pens and pencil colors to keep painting while still having a day job. Here's some of those that I have created in the last few months. Plan to make it a daily habit. Somehow I have managed to create one piece every week now I have to figure out a way to make twice a week, then one every alternate day and so on. Idea is to keep paining till I make it a every day habit and something awesome comes out of it. Here's to colours.

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

Finally a book that I can call as my best read. Its a masterpiece given that I read the 50th anniversary edition and still find it as or rather more interesting than any recent fiction work. A book has perhaps hardly been written so well that readers could identify or get hooked to it after 50 years sitting so far away from America. I can think of a number of reasons for this but mostly my resonance comes due to the beautiful innocent relationship shared between Scout and Jem, a rare read revolving around sibling love. The setting of small town Maycomb and childhood being spent in greenery and summer time games and fun also plays a part. What is however a shame that bias and differentiation among citizens still remains as reality 50 years later based on race, colour or monetary status in different parts of our world.
To sum it up this is one book that I am sure I will read again! Heard a sequel is coming soon, hope to get a copy in hand, how I wish there were more works written by Harper Lee.