Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen || Book review

Long time no see... Hello everyone and sorry for being gone for such a long time, but I have now returned and hope to be more consistent with this blog from now on. Lately I've been reading quite a lot of classics and this was the reason why I decided to talk about one of them on this new post after my long absence, so here we go...

I read this book last year (2018) and it was one of the few classics I've ever read. I've had this misconception for a long time that classics are boring, or that I would not enjoy reading them and this is the main reason why I've been avoiding them for years. Another misconception that I had was that I couldn't possibly enjoy a book that is all about romance, or a love story. This book proved me wrong for both of those things and I am very happy for it.

At first I gave it 4/5 stars, because there were a couple of scenes that seemed boring and slow-paced to me, but I've been thinking of this book so much the past few days and decided to change my rating. I couldn't get this book out of my mind and I was thinking about the characters and the relationships. I think that this book definitely deserves a 5/5 * rating, because it has managed to stay with me and make me think a lot. Furthermore, I was able to figure out how I felt about the characters and I had really strong feelings for all of them, nobody was indifferent to me. Plus, I really loved the romances; the way that the two sisters fell in love, the way that their relationships evolved and changed, the progress of their feelings and characters, everything was flawless.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, but I have to admit, I liked it way more than I thought I would!

First of all, I really loved Jane Austen's writing, it was flawless and I feel that it has taught me so many new things and words. Not only it was fun and easy to read, but it was also very educational. What I enjoyed more than anything else was Austen's character building, the strength and individuality of the characters' voices. Each one of the characters was unique and excellently portrayed. I felt like I could see them and their movements, like I could hear their voices, like I knew them. The story was interesting, mostly towards the ending, specifically the third part was my favorite and the pacing was better than the first two parts.

Ending up, I feel that this book has made me "richer" in every way and that I have earned and learned so much from it. It was very good and I'm glad to have read it, even though I was a little prejudiced with it before.

Thank you for reading!

Philosophy of "The Alchemist" || A guest post

“When you set your heart at something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

-Quote from the book

So you’ve got a dream eh? You want to achieve it but you don’t know how? You want to feel inspired and motivated to live your life, and to taste how beautiful life can be? Well then you Lucky twat, have I got a book for you, my friend!

The book by writer Paulo Coelho is world renown and is considered by many a ‘modern classic’ and a ‘publishing phenomenon’. This was the work that brought the writer into the literary genre and he is still best known for writing ‘The Alchemist’.

!Spoiler Ahead!

The story revolves around a simple shepherd named Santiago who has had a dream about searching the treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. He meets with certain people on his journey who guide him towards his dream and we follow Santiago as he travels from Spain to Egypt in search of his treasure all the while making new friends who teach him valuable lessons on life and we even see our titular character falling in love and having his love reciprocated.

The story starts with him doing his daily chores with his flock of sheep while discussing about the dream he had last about traveling to Egypt. He sells his wool to a local merchant and talks to his daughter with whom he falls in love but realizes that she might never reconsider having a future with him as he has low social standing.

We follow him through the night when he meets with a robed man named Melchizedek (Try saying that with a mouthful of sweets, I dare you)

And they both undergo a conversation that defines what this book is all about, following your dreams…

Through his journey he loses all his money, and earns it back by working alongside an old crystal merchant who teaches him the life philosophy around ‘Maktub’ or fate as we call it, meets an English traveler who later understands that to see your dreams come reality you have to work for it instead of simply hoping about it.

Falls in love with a desert girl named Fatima who loves him back and encourages him to follow his dreams averts a bloody war, finds an alchemist, and talks to the soul of the world.

And in the end, he finally finds what he was searching for which was… you know what, I want you to read the book, it’s beautiful so I won’t spoil this section for you, so happy readings!

The lesson:

There is just one main lesson that we can learn from the Alchemist, apart from various miscellaneous teachings, is that you should never, ever give up on your dreams, on your goals. Your methods may change, your fate may change, but your destination can never change because…

“Once you set your heart to something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

- Melchizedek

Thank you for reading and please check out my blog Sushrut Writes on Wordpress for similar content.

"A watched pot" by Mr. Blue || Book Review

OH, COME ON, IT'S NOT OVER, IS IT? I NEED MORE!

This short story was sent to me by the author, Mr. Blue, and I was requested to do an honest review about it. I'm very happy and excited because this was my first collaboration for this blog, I really enjoyed the whole procedure and I hope to do it again soon.

This book is a short read thriller about Graham, a desperate husband, and his much too annoying wife Cressida. Graham seems to have had enough of his wife's (and her friends') conceited (and deceitful, maybe?) behavior and crazy ideas seem to go through his mind. I really enjoyed this little journey. I loved the writing, it was really good. The plot is interesting, it keeps your attention and you can't stop reading. The writer can create some very vivid images and can really convey the feeling of the scene. Some of the descriptions made my hair stand on end and I felt like anything could happen at any moment. Like Graham could snap at any moment and do something crazy. I really enjoyed this feeling.

I could really get a good sense of the characters and their distinct voices, even in this short amount of pages, which was very impressive. I almost immediately connected and had feelings for all of them. I felt sympathy for Graham, while I felt the urge to slap Cressida and her friends. 

The ending was weirdly satisfying, it gave me evil laughter. The only problem I had with it is that I wanted more. I really wanted to know what happened with all of them afterward. How much did they freak out? How did they react? What happened later? Did they walk out of the house alive and well? Or maybe not? Did things take a turn for the worse? Because I would love that! It left me wanting some more and very curious.

I would rate this book with a 4,5 but since I can't, and since I enjoyed it very much, I'm going to give it 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller story and I'd love to read some more of the author's work in the future.

Thanks for reading!

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green || Book Review

Hello friends!

Some time ago I read "The fault in our stars" and I really loved it, so I thought I should read something more by John Green. Back then, I decided to give "Paper towns" a try and I couldn't even get past the first couple of chapters, I found it bad and I was disappointed, so that kept me from reading anything else from the author for a while. Lately though, "Looking for Alaska" fell in my hands and I felt instantly curious about it. I didn't feel sure about it and I started the book with low expectations because I had heard that it is so similar to "Paper towns" they could as well be rewrites of the same story. I don't know if this is true since I've only finished one of them, but luckily this one sucked me right in and grabbed my attention. Not only did I finish reading it, but I thought it was quite good.

---POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD---

The story was not the most interesting that I've read; it is simple and a bit predictable, but at the same time it's not bad, or boring either. It keeps you reading, but it's not extraordinary, or mind-blowing by any means. Which I don't necessarily view as a problem, as long as a story conveys its message well and delivers the feelings successfully and this was definitely the case with this book. The characters were well-portrayed and I could get a clear idea of who they were and how they talked. I didn't really like Alaska that much, but Miles and the Colonel and Lara were all likable to me. I also found the Eagle pretty cool and funny too. 

What I liked most about this book was its humor. While it's not supposed to be a funny book or a comedy - as a matter of fact, the story is rather tragic - it still had its funny moments and made me laugh at many points (Their pranks, the basketball scene, and the bj scene were my favorite and made me laugh very much). Humor, by the way, is something that I truly appreciate in all books. I love it when I read a tragic story or even a very heavy and serious one and I can find some humor in it. It doesn't change the overall atmosphere or feeling, but it does add something to it. It feels like the existence of humor in a sad story helps me see and appreciate the sadness and tragedy even more, and on the other hand, the tragedy of a story will help me feel the optimism that the humor offers. If anything, this is a clue in the writing that both gives a more enjoyable read, and adds to its realism. Because, at the end of the day, this is how life is, sadness succeeds happiness and vice versa - a mix of happy and sad moments. John Green is very talented in that aspect.

I didn't cry while reading it, but I did find the story rather sad. It was not so much Alaska's death that touched me, because I saw it coming and the way that she died was very predictable even from the first pages. I knew that something bad was going to happen to her sooner or later and that there was probably going to be an accident since they were drinking so much. What did touch me and made me feel devastated was why she left. The revelation about her mother's grave devastated me. I got a peek from the inside of her brain before she died and being able to see the state of mind and psychology of a desperate person right before she dies is both painful and shocking. It is not cleared out if it was a suicide or not, but it still was heart-breaking to learn what she did or thought and how she was driven to her actions. The second thing that touched me was the revelation that Takumi knew some things all along and the fact that he didn't say anything. Their keeping secrets from each other was sad, but the forgiveness in the end was really cathartic. 

The ending was optimistic and left me with hope and I really liked this. It also got me thinking about all the things that Miles was thinking. Questions about life and death, about the afterlife and about the labyrinth... Life goes on and being able to forgive sets you free and helps you look forward. It's almost impossible not to think about all these while reading this book. One thing that I want to keep from all these thoughts is expressed in one of Colonel's quotes: "After all this time, it seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out- but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it.". The book had many beautiful and meaningful quotes like this one.

As for the rating, I did like this book very much, so I gave it 4 stars out of 5. I didn't like it as much as "The fault in our stars", which I also rated with 4 stars, but since I can't give it 3,5 stars or something like this, I will give it 4 as well. I do feel though, that the "fault" was slightly better than this one. To cut the long story short, I really liked it and enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it!

Thank you for reading!

Until the next time...

My bookish goals for 2019 || A book chat

Hello friends and a happy new year to everybody!

I never set bookish goals for the new year, I just go with the flow and let things take me where they take me. Even when I do set goals I usually fail them anyway, so I was reluctant to do this, but I thought that I could try it for a change. My bookish goals aren't going to be anything special and I am going to set the bar pretty low because I know that the amount of spare time I have is limited. But I am going to try to make it and do even better than I expect, if possible. So here are my 2019 small bookish goals:

1. This year I hope to read at least 15 books. This is the number of books that I set for my Goodreads reading challenge for 2019. I know it is pretty low, but I'm going to keep it the same with last year. I do hope though that I am going to read even more than that and do even better.
2. I really want to keep doing reviews of whatever I read and keep posting them on my Goodreads account as well as on this blog. I also want to get more serious with this blog and work more on it.
3. Read at least 2 classics.
4. Get back to the two books that I have DNF'ed the past year and finally finish them. They were both good books and I didn't intend to give them up, but I only did because I didn't have time, so I really want to get back to them.
5. Complete at least one out of the three series that I have on my Kindle and generally to read more from my Kindle.

So, that's about it. Small, manageable steps... Feel free to share with me your bookish goals for 2019 and tell me how you feel this reading year is going to be.

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful 2019!