the_book_smugglers

“I am buoyant and expansive and uncontainable– but I always was so, only I never knew it” Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The palace of illusionThe book Palace of them illusion the story is narrated by Panchaali (Draupadi) from her the perspective. After a long time I have read a book that I didn’t want to put the book down from reading. The character has had a great impact on me and there circumstances in the story that made me pity for Panchaali. Reading the book has left me with mixed bag of emotions about the story and impact of various characters.Panchaali was born from fire along with his brother Dhri as result of yagna conducted by her father to avenge Drona. She was destined to change the history and played a very important role in satisfying his dad goal. Her childhood has been very lonely with her brother as her only companion and support and Krishna who she had friendly relationship. Apart these two people as her backbone she longed for someone to love her for what she is and accept her faults and love him in returnBut story took twist when she has to marry Pandavas and how the story goes from here makes it a great read. In Swayamvara held by her father Arjun comes in disguise of brahmin and wins the competition and get married to her. But the marriage in such a hurry hat she never gets glimpse of him. When they reach home Kunti puts a demand that Panchalli had to marry Pandavas and hence she has five husbands. But Vyas has put across certain rules to make her day to day life easy. In the course of the story she got to experience the role being wife to Pandavas, marriage ,motherhood although she was still deprived of the love she was longing for and her secret love for Karna. She and her husband were treated badly in the hands of Kauravas. When the kingdom was split she managed to build a palace and was name The palace of Illusion. The life went by the way Panchaali had dreamt off, having had one kid each from each husband. But when her husband lost their entire kingdom in the bet game of dice and after Panchalli was sexually embarrassed in the sabha,they had live twelve years in forest and last one year in disguise. When Panchalli was harassed , all she could do to think of Krishna which stopped further humiliation as her husbands didn’t come in support of Panchalli. She declared war and declared the death of Kaurava king. What happens in the war makes it a great readShe also was very strong women who questioned her own destiny, who avenged those humiliated her and took stand for herself which no other women would have in her days.I would rate the book 4/5#books#bookreader#avidreader#booknerdigans#bibliophile#abibliophilesbookblog#livelaughread#mustread#booksbooksbooks#bookbooksandmorebook#bookstagram#bookreader#bookreaderofinstagram#bookphotography#bookcommunity#bookrack#bookshelf#bookshelves#goodreads#epicreads#igreads#bookig#bookstagrammer#booknerdigan #igreaders#allthebooks#bookaddict#lovebooks

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The book talks about various aspects of life  and existence on the earth through conversations or rather last thesis of Morrie a professor with his student Mitch. In fact the book is based on on real conversation between them. Mitch was student of Morrie in college and shared a great bond then.

But when Mitch moved on with his life, family and driven move ahead in career ladder and earn more money he had drifted away from his own self and had forgotten about his professor as well.

Morrie was diagnosed with ALS a neurological disease affecting the voluntary movement of the muscle such as walking, talking, eating etc. Mitch came to about this when he saw him in a interview on television. This brought back lot of memories and he went and met after a long time of almost 16-17 years.

He then started meeting Morrie every Tuesday which was a custom which they had even when they were in college. They talked about various aspects of life and Morrie imparted crucial aspect and lessons of life to Mitch. This enable to Mitch to revalidate himself and bringing changes in himself.

My opinion, the various aspects discussed in the book are what is known to us or what we keep hearing from various walks of our life. But they are lessons which we have failed to impart in our lives. We concentrate finishing our education, have a great career and all of that, but we fail to develop relationships with people, forget to impart love with people around us. We have forgotten all the emotions in the drive to satisfy our materialistic needs

Rather than living in delusion and accepting that death is inevitable, then we are in an position to understand our lives better. We are then in a position to live or lives better, rather than running behind money, career and etc at the cost of giving up spending time with loved ones and impact on other lives. We forget to live our lives very consciously and learn to live better. Relationship do matter and that is one thing that is going to last, influence us and be there through our thick and thins. They will take of us like no other even in our deathbed. We need to be in touch with our emotions and the same time detach ourselves from it as well. Thus it is important to maintain a balance with various aspects of or life

You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.

The qoute is perfect. We can never reach the ideal perfection that we want. All we can do is to strive Towards the perfection with all our strength …………

When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir of Paul Kalanithi who was neurologist who questioned about life and death. He was always curious about the balance between life and death, meaning and ultimate purpose of life.Paul Kalanithi was literature student from Stanford and his search for answers to all his question lead to study medicine from university of Yale. It is here he met love of his life Lucy who he did marry eventually. He also was curious to how brain had the power to control not only of our physical body ,but also have control of our mind and life

Paul over the course of his study in medicine and residency has learnt a lot of patient-doctor relationship, but he was always in look out to make patient life more easier and reduce their struggle. Patient suffering from epilepsy and other disorder which restricts their movements, he was wanted to map brain signal and able to feed into the patient brains to enable their basic movement. He wanted become neurosurgeon-neuroscientist. But life had other big plans for him. At the verge of completion of his residency, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. Over the course of his treatment his cancer rejected the first line of treatment and second line of treatment which was chemotherapy. In this period of his struggle, his wife Lucy was pregnant with their child which was the good that they did look forward too

Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.

Human relationship are share with many people we meet over the course of our life. Paul not only had the support and love of his life, but that of his parents as well. His parents moved to home nearby where Paul and Lucy to give them constant support and care. The extended family of paul had huge contribution were a great support system to him

Paul died 8 months after the birth of his child Cady. Even during cancer days he managed to finish his residency and graduate. The medicine field does miss Paul Kalanithi who has he been alive would have become not only a great neurosurgeon, but also a great neuro scientist. This book is about a person who question about death had to face it himself at a early stage of his life which in itself the answer.

I would rate the book 4 on 5

The Handmaid’s tale is my second read in dyspotian genre. And also the most recommended read in bookstagram, that is how I came to know of this book. The book talks about the patriarchy, women suppression etc. Here women are categorised based on their position in the society. The Martha’s do take care of the household, Handmaid’s sole job was to breed and bear babies for their commander’s and wives were the better half of the commander and took care of the household.

The story is about Offerd an handmaid who is unable to forget her past, with love of her life Luke and daughter, her best friend Moira who ran away from centre which trains women into handmaid not is she able to accept her present. Her struggle to live the life that she lives, her fight with emotion and how her body is treated forms the essence of the story. What happens to her after being arrested by the EYES is still a question for me at end

Handmaid’s were considered just people for giving babies and just breed on the food. They were mistreated and weren’t given a proper chance to take of the babies. They are separated from Thier families. They were also punished for deviating their job and breaking any rules.

Not letting women belonging to any stature ruthless act, but converting a women to be Handmaid’s to anyone is even worse.

#qotd : What in your opinion, are the changes that needs to be made bring about equality with women and Thier better treatment ?

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“The thing I realize is that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave” – Violet, All the Bright Places

All the bright places is the second best read of this year for me. The story concentrates on mental health that the characters are affected and struggling to come out of it. This books has been in my TBR for past one year. Finally I was able to read the book and has had a great impact in me. I had my doubts about the book initially as it is one of the over-hyped reads by the bookstagram community. Usually the hyped books do not meet my expectations

Theodore Finch suffers from Bipolar disorder as result of which he has severe and extreme mood swings, does things on intuition and wants to suicide. He does research and looks into various case studies of people who have committed suicide. He often goes to top of his school building which is the bell tower and he meets violet. He does meet meet with counselor whenever he can. His parents are divorced and father lives with women and share a 7 year old child. He and his sisters meet their dad once a week. His own mother is busy with making the ends meet and isn’t able to give sufficient time required for her children

Violet Markey lost her sister Eleanor and has since then gone into depression and lost life in her and interest in writing. She is saved from dying by Theodore Finch who also was the weird person in the school. They start interacting with each other on Geography assignment. Both start learning about each other over the course of the interaction.

Violet realizes she falls in love with him and she come to life and looks outside of her and into the world. But he who showed the world to her, at cost of his own shrinking to just suicide causing loss and void to people close to him. How Theodore changed her life makes it an amazing read?

I would rate the book 4.5/5

My opinion on mental health is that I think it it’s important to pay attention to their children’s behavior and notice any abnormalities. Also to act on the abnormal behavior rather than accepting it as normal. Mental Health is one topic people avoid talking about. It is important to give importance that we give to our physical health as it is necessary to have balance with mental health as well. In this story Theodore wants to cure bipolar disorder himself for the sake of Violet. But fails in the end only to die. His erratic behavior has been assumed to normal by people at home and they haven’t paid attention to his mood as well. Proper attention needs to paid by people and extra care and support needs to given to people with mental issues

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” – Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami

About the Author

Haruki Murakami , born January 12, 1949) is a Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country. Murakami’s most notable works include A Wild Sheep Chasee (1982), Norwegian Wood(1987), Kafka on the Shore(2002), and 1Q84 (2009–10). It is frequently surrealistic and melancholic or fatalistic, marked by a Kafkaesque rendition of the “recurrent themes of alienation and loneliness” he weaves into his narratives.

Blurb of the Story

The story is about Wantanbe be who loses his friend at the age of 17 and is in love with Naoko. She was girlfriend of his best friend who he lost. The loss of person has had deep impact on the lives. Watanabe understands that death isn’t opposite of life but a part of it which we can’t run always from. Both Naoko and Wantanbe attend their respective universities in Tokyo. Naoko leaves college to join in a sanatorium to take of her mental health. Meanwhile Wantanbe meets with a girl from his class Midori and they start to like each other. Will he able to his future course ? Will be able to come out of the conflict with the past he stuck with and the future who will change his life.

I really like you, Midori. A lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
“Like a spring bear,” I said.
“A spring bear?” Midori looked up again. “What’s that all about? A spring bear.”
“You’re walking through a field all by yourself one day in spring, and this sweet little bear cub with velvet fur and shiny little eyes comes walking along. And he says to you, “Hi, there, little lady. Want to tumble with me?’ So you and the bear cub spend the whole day in each other’s arms, tumbling down this clover-covered hill. Nice, huh?”
“Yeah. Really nice.”
“That’s how much I like you”

When Naoko went to sanatorium to recover from her depression and loneliness, Wantanbe was there for her as a constant support to help her recover and his love for her. Meantime he meet Midori who feel in love over the course of their friendship. She was the one to propose to him and eventually he had to accept his feeling for her. The condition of Naoko was deteriorating and had to be sent to Mental Hospital for further and proper treatment. Although it seemed she was recovering, only to come back to sanatorium with the decision to suicide. Her sudden death affected Naoko and Rieko her roommate. Toru Watanbe drifted from the world and went about travelling wanting to forget what happened to him. He had seen two deaths in his life, one his best friend at age of 17 and other Naoko at the age of 21. He couldn’t his past with her and couldn’t dive into his future with Midori who was alive and living in the in the present

Opinion and Rating

His struggle and confusion between the past and future is what made his life difficult. He is faced with in numerous question with his own life. As reader, it leaves them with lot of unanswered questions. There is not clear clarity with happens with Watanbe and Midori. But it raised question between life and death and it makes us understand that life and death are not two separate entities. Death is part of life and we should ready to eventually face it

Thus I would rate the book 3/5

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a White Mother and black father. His father Barack Obama Sr is from Africa was a foreign exchange student in University of Miami and he met Ann Dunham. He left his family when Barack Jr was just 2 years back to his hometown to fight for his country. Barack have always heard stories about his father from his mother and grandparents and they usually gave a nicer picture to him. They also never revealed why he left the family and never there for him. He was born at a time when kids out of mixed marriage was banned. His mother and grandparents never believed in racism. They believed in treating every human being in most decent way possible. These mental maturities was due to their exposure to living in places where blacks were mistreated and they were mistreated for interacting with the blacks. I sometimes feel Barack himself has some fear in him due to his color as a child. Over a due course of time Barack’s mother got married for second time to Lolo who was Indonesian by origin. Barack along with his mother has to live in Indonesia for three years. Lolo was good natured, Well Mannered, amicable and pleasant person to be with.

Then on his return to US, he finished his school, graduated from college. It was then realized that he wanted to be community organizer and wanted to work for the needs of the people. Although he initially started his career in a corporate , he later got a job to work as community organizer and hence he was working with Marty. A new chapter of his life began in Chicago, where he had actual life lessons and grooming his leadership skills.

In Chicago he went to work as community manager and understood the grass root level problem of the people there, worked along with them to improve their lives. For him, this part of his life has definitely enhanced his leadership skills. He left to work work better, it is necessary to understand other intricacies such as the how the negotiations work, functioning of law and how the world of politics impacts the life of people. He therefore went ahead applied for Law in top universities and get admission in Harvard. Yet he was looking for answers to his questions that has been troubling him since childhood and thus soul searching still continued

I could understand his identity crisis that he has in his childhood and the his initial growing days. He couldn’t identify with any one particular group, race and other all other things that dominating the society. He always has questions about not only his identity, but also about sense of belonging in the society where race, color played a role. He also has question about his roots, his father whom he met only once in his life

He finally went to his father’s place, Kenya. He definitely did get answers about things he has been searching for, but he had questions and his quench for answers was never over. Probably it was this nature and looking for questions and look out for answers made him achieve what he have today apart from the moral support

As I read the book and got deeper and deeper, apart from identity crises and sense of belonging in world, emotions of people were also relations. The struggles that people has to go through, Africans under the rule of Americans, loss of the authenticity in their culture, polygamy, patriarchy. The impact of patriarchy and polygamy on women and burden that they had to suffer. The children are known after their father and mother is removed from the picture thus giving her no value or important. Such is life isn’t ?

I would rate the book 4.5/5

Selected Diaries by Virginia Woolf
By @vintagebooks @penguinukbooks
The first read of the year and the first book that I haven’t finished reading and have given towards the end
The book is collection of the journal writings of the author Virginia Woolf. A women who has done an amazing work in the field of literature,but has had a depressing life. Despite having a amazing career, husband and social life with people of same intellectual calibre, she had tonight depression, nervous attacks, headache. This led her to suicide in the year 1941

My opinion

I found this book very depressing because despite doing what she was s passionate about, leads my an amazing life with beautiful husband and amongst amazing intellects and authors she did suicide. She wasn’t happy and felt that there was void in her life. She was person who had to endure depression, nervous and migraine attacks spending most of the time in bed. She maintained an active social life which I find it missing in my life, yet she could find the happiness in her life. Sad isn’t ??

I would rate the book 3/5

#qotd Name the book which you were unable to finish reading or given up reading ?

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is my last read of the year 2018. Mary Shelley  was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein or , The Modern Prometheus. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the romantic poet and philosopher  Percy Shelley.

Victor Frankenstein, is the eldest son of the family and was brought in amazing backdrop of Geneva. Elizabeth was adopted into the family and both her and victor were grown up with fact they were to be married when age and time are deemed proper for it. After a age gap of 7 years of Victor was born william was born.

When Victor was of age 16, his mother died due an illness and he was sent of to college. he pursued his interest in science and specialised in natural philosophy. His passion and drive for the subject motivated him to learn more quickly. His interest then went to other aspects such as anatomy and inspired him to create a life from the dead. He did create one who was 8″ monster after 2 years of effort and hard work. After the success of his creation, Victor realized the impact of his creation who was nothing but a monster

The monster did bring terror in his life by killing the love of victor’s family-william and their servant Janice. But the sadness that did come into the family didn’t stop there. Victor failed to fulfill his demand of creating another life similar to the monster. This made the life of victor worse and thus losing his entire family

A story of person leading a life of misery, guilt and suffering in the hands of monster,his own creating and losing his beloved ones. A small act started out of passion for the subject did turn into a tragic one

I would rate the book 4/5