“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon

“Sometimes we get sad about things and we don’t like to tell other people that we are sad about them. We like to keep it a secret. Or sometimes, we are sad but we really don’t know why we are sad, so we say we aren’t sad but we really are.” -Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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The narrator and the main protagonist of the story, Christopher is an autistic child, trying to solve the mystery of the murder of a dog in the neighbourhood. Christopher has a thing for details, he loves maths but has his own eccentricities like hating certain colours and being abhorred by touching.
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On first glance, it sounds like a mystery like no one else, one that is seen from the perspective of a different child and sure enough, Christopher’s character is one to be loved for his practical and logical approach to everything around him, which also makes for a funny read.
However, the excessive focus on detailing steers it away from the plot and fails to pique interest as a true mystery novel.
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I would recommend this to know better about the lives and perspective of autistic kids and their loved ones who have a hard time taking care of them.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: fiction, mystery, young-adult, contemporary, psychology
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐/5

“Letting her know” by Pranit M.

Arhat is a sixteen-year-old boy who falls in love with Adhya, who is a cousin of his sister in law.
Arhant is an introvert shy boy, while Adhya believes in expressing herself without any restraint. How will this duo come together? Will Arhant be able to confess his feelings for Adhya?
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While the premise of the story looked promising, it hardly makes any impact.
The narration is broken at many places to the point of confusing the reader. The language albeit simple provides no impact to the storyline and is full of grammatical mistakes.
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Only good point about the book is the poems written by the teenage boy, some of which are enjoyable.
Other than that, it just turned out to be another cliched, teen romance, one that I do not recommend.
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Genre: romance, poetry, drama
Rating:⭐⭐/5
Reading difficulty:⭐/5.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom

“Death ends a life, not a relationship”
– Mitch Albom, Tuesday’s with Morrie.
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Mitch Albom’s college professor from twenty years ago, Morrie Schwartz, is diagnosed with ALS – a neurological disease that is bound to cause his neurons to deteriorate over time and cause his muscles and in turn his mobility to die slowly.
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It is then the disconnected student, gets a chance to reconnect with his old teacher in his last days and ask him bigger questions, about life and death.
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His teacher, Morrie, in turn, does not disappoint him. He answers every question with so much clarity, bringing in insights about the larger meaning of life and even when his health worsened, he was in the same spirits, helping and counseling others with love and care.
Goes on to show how great a person Morrie was and even in death his memoir goes on to inspire hundreds.
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Told as a first-person account of the author’s experience of his interviews with his teacher, the books goes on smoothly and fluidity, yet aims to bring an impact on the reader.
Highly recommend this short read.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: memoir, nonfiction, biography
Reading difficulty: ⭐⭐/5

“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”
– Viktor E. Frank, Man’s Search for Meaning
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Based on psychiatrist’s Viktor Frankl description of his life in a Nazi death camp, the book narrates the psyche of a prisoner struck between life and death and how the idea of survival changes in dire situations.
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The author argues that we can be caught in a life that we didn’t choose, that brings us suffering every single day, that things can turn grim any day, but how we choose to cope with it depends on us.
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How we find meaning in a life we feel is not worth living, is entirely on us and rather than underestimating the will power of the human soul, one can always attempt to find light in adversity. Sure the meaning and values will change but life will still be life and it is not something to give up on.
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What makes the book impactful is the author’s real-life experiences of living in a concentration camp, of being surrounded by death everywhere, still trying to find a trace of humanity even when fate fails him.
I recommend it to anyone who is confused as to what is the true meaning of life. The book doesn’t answer the question entirely but sure will help one see how so many things in life are to be grateful for.
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Genre: #non-fiction, #psychology, #philosophy, #history, #memoir
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Reading difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐/5

“The power of your subconscious mind” by Joseph Murphy

“The only path by which another person can upset you is through your own thought.”
– Joseph Murphy, The power of your subconscious mind
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The power of your subconscious mind, as is clear from the title, dwells on the importance of one’s consciousness and its power to heal, create and make one’s life better. The power of positive affirmations and optimal thinking, and how it can work wonders in practical life where one might find themselves going through hard times on more occasions than once.
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The books present various examples of people from different walks of life, who have tapped into the power of the subconscious and found themselves a better life, some who have even cured themselves of diseases.
True, if one puts their heart and soul in a task and overcome a mental block wherein one can see beyond the fear and focus on just reaching the goal, victory is sure to come.
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The writing is easy to read but the examples seemed redundant and sometimes outright unsubstantiated.
I am all for the power of the mind but propagating an idea that a disease can be cured just by constantly thinking about a healthy life over and over again, seems a bit outlandish. Apart from the lack of evidence about the claims that the book makes, I found the underlying idea of cutting off the negative thoughts and focus on the task at hand, really sound.
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Genre: #selfhelp, #nonfiction, #psychology
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Reading difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐/5

“Ghachar Ghochar” by Vivek Shanbhag

“Words, after all, are nothing by themselves. They burst into meaning only in the minds they’ve entered.”
                       -Vivek Shanbhag, Ghachar Ghochar

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A story of a close-knit family which goes from living in a cramped, small house to being the owner of a large house in a posh area of Bangalore, all because of a member of the family, turning his spice business into a fortune.
The story unfolds how when money comes along, the family dynamic changes, how the definition of love and support in a joint family transforms and how ‘Ghachar Ghochar’ things go once an average middle-class family, turns rich almost overnight.

“The subtle art of not giving a f*ck” by Mark Manson

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle”
                                                               -Mark Manson, The subtle art of not giving a f*ck”

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In this time of sugar-coated advices and when self help books just talks about smiling more, being sweet all the time and trying to let go, etc., this one comes as a pleasant refresher.

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“The subtle art of not giving a f*ck” by Mark Manson is a self-help guide at its core, but is so different from your run-of-the-mill personality development books. In its essence, the book talks about how to stop focusing on being “positive” all the time and learn to accept the negative experiences also.