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Recent Reads: June 2021
How do I read so many books in a month, is a question I am often asked.
Well let me share 3 important things that help me get through a bulk of books:
Planning in advance – what books I’ll read in the coming month. I make sure to include a good mix of genres to keep things interesting.
Reading in every spare minute. I watch TV only on weekends.
Using all formats of reading – paperbacks, hardbacks, eBooks, and audiobooks.
So here’s the ten books I read this month with recommendations to read them or skip them. Take your pick.
Never Miss a Book Again!
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
Just days afore her sister jumped to her death, Julia disregarded her call. Now Nel is dead. Everyone believes she jumped. But when Jules has to return to her sister’s house, her childhood home, to care for her daughter, Lena, she realizes there is mystery surrounding Nel’s death.
I wasn’t exactly madly turning the pages, as is printed in many reviews by popular magazines. I thought we got to the mystery in a very roundabout way, beating about the bush. It could have been shorter. There could’ve been more twists.
Lifeline by Chetan Maheshwari
Lifeline is a simple, and charming romance story between Akhil and Teesha. The story also captures Akhil’s sister Rati’s, life that is interlinked with the two. Akhil and Tesha, both overachievers, are school friends who haven’t met for many years, accidentally meet in the lift of their offices. Circumstances extend into friendship and then romance starts brewing between the two. But everything is not flowers and roses as both of them lose their jobs one after another.
The characters are depicted reasonably well and present real struggles the young working-class today face. Overall I think the book was a bold and gritty beginner’s attempt by the author and it will amuse the readers with themes of societal issues women face, corporate cultures, romance, challenges of a startup, entrepreneurship and the intermix of personal and professional relationships.
Lily is drawn into spending time with Lady Wyatt, the new wife of an old family friend. Lily barely knows Lady Wyatt. But she and her husband, Sir Charles, seem as happy as any newly married couple until the dawn Lily arrives to find the house in a controversy and Sir Charles dead.
All signs indicate that he tripped and struck his head on the table late at night. But when Bow Street constable Simon Page is called to the scene, he suspects foul play. And it isn't long before Lily discovers evidence that Sir Charles was, indeed, murdered.
Quite a charming and amusing novel. Reading about the old-world British aura and ambiance was a refreshing change from the present
Stupid Things I Won’t do when I get old
The author has over the years, from his personal experiences and with his parents aging experiences, made a list of things he found annoying about old age and old people. Elaborating each of these habits as chapters, he shares his personal stories related to those habits.
This book isn’t meant for everyone to read. I think it’s perfectly suited for people above the age of 60 who due to their age, and reduced body control, unknowingly fall into annoying habits.
I did not find the book very entertaining or useful.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The most important takeaway- Despite everything, Charlie made it. So will you. Do not give up.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the tale of Charlie growing up during his first year at high school. It is written in the form of letters (epistolary) to a friend or maybe the Reader. Teenage years according to the author are years of first dates, new friends, family drama, discovering sex and drugs and so much more.
An extremely philosophical, eye-opening, and entertaining read that will stay with you for a long time.
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Two topics impact everyone, whether you are interested in them or not: health and money.
The premise of this book is that doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.
It’s mostly a matter of keeping your expectations in check and living below your means. Independence, at any income level, is driven by your savings rate. And past a certain level of income your savings rate is driven by your ability to keep your lifestyle expectations from running away.
The Stalker by Sarah Alderson
Liam and Laura decide on a deserted island, Shura as their honeymoon spot after their initial plans had to be changed after Laura’s mother’s sudden death. The book starts by describing the beauty of the island of Shura. The island has a raw and rugged but charming appeal to it. Locals warn off Laura and Liam saying the island is haunted by its previous inhabitants, a family that lived there for hundreds of years.
The book has an astounding, shocking, and unbelievable twist that I did not see coming.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
A Dog-walking job in a wealthy neighborhood lands Jane in the path of Eddie, a rich and handsome widower. Jane can’t believe her luck when he proposes, and she starts dreaming of becoming the mistress of Eddie’s enormous mansion. But little does she know that the mansion holds a dark secret about Eddie’s deceased wife Bea, who is believed to have died in a tragic boat accident. Jane feels haunted by Bea. All the secrets keep thumping on the door threatening to spill and claim more lives.
Overall it was a quick and easy read and it deserves all the attention it received.
Three Thousand Stitches by Sudha Murty
Uncovering both the magnificence and the repulsiveness of human nature, each of the true stories in this short collection is reflective of a life lived with grace.
One of life’s goals is the ability to understand human nature and raise a fellow being from rock bottom to becoming a useful member of society, and this book does just that.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and this book details his journey from being a successful doctor to a hopeless patient. He was only thirty-six and was about to complete ten years of training as a neurosurgeon when tragedy hit him.
He left his writing incomplete, and yet the book feels just right because that is how life was for Paul, cut short.
After reading this book I was deeply saddened by the fact that the world not only lost a great neurosurgeon, but also a profound writer and a beautiful human being.
That’s all friends for June. Although not as many books as June, it was still a decent number, I think.
My Upcoming reads for July 2021.
I plan to continue listening to audiobooks this month using my Audible membership, those being non-fiction books mostly. I will also be reading a few books as part of the reading challenges I’m participating in.
So stay tuned and keep reading.
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