Book Talk Series – Ten recent reads and what they made me think

Posted byPrachiPosted inBooksTags:, ,

It has been just two weeks and I already feel like Ive been on a long hiatus from blogging. My regular day job has taken over my life completely and is depriving me of all the things I love doing – running/writing/reading/blogging. I managed to squeeze out some time today and so happy to start this new series on my blog 🙂 I hope you enjoy reading it!!

As avid readers, we read a lot of books and if you’re like me, you’re probably devouring one splendid book after another, thinking and then jumping on to the next book almost instantly. But I also do realise, that most of the books I read, make me think and question a lot of things about life and what we take for granted, or things that should change.

So, I decided that instead of writing a monthly reading wrap up, or book reviews (unless its of an ARC or recent release), I would write about the books I read that made me think, or question things, and what was it that I thought about while reading each of these books 🙂 This will be a bi-monthly series.

Without further ado, here are the list of books I read in the last two months and the things they made me think about:

What would people say about my book shelf? I wondered after reading this hilarious illustrated book. Maybe a romantic idealist? Or a dreamer? An escapist perhaps? I was really curious what my bookshelf would say about me to another reader, but alas, this book didn’t have the answer to that question 🙂

This one was such a dark book. What I wondered was, how far would I go to protect the ones I loved? Would I skew my moral compass for them? How far would you go?

Thoughts while reading Margaret Atwood’s poems were mainly focussed around my own feelings with respect to death and ageing. I also wondered what kind of a world we were leaving behind for our children. The picture was bleak. I also found a poem that resonated with a story I was writing – about women and abuse and what should be done to the perpetrators.

It was such a huge book and just the first book of this series or saga if I must say! But what I really wondered was if this is how it would feel when we settled on Mars? A planet of sand dunes, where water was the most precious resource? Or are we already turning Earth into this desert?

One of my favorite reads from the last two months 🙂 If only we had the power to take back what truly belonged to us, without hurting others. If only, we were living in a time when our sexuality wasn’t questioned, but just accepted.

Oh my gosh, another classic and another five star read that I read in Feb this year. I wish I could write satire like Vonnegut. All the time I was reading this book, I wondered if we aren’t already practising some form of Bokononism already. And the best question of all, which is already answered in the 14th book of Bokononism – what hope can a learned man have for human kind, after looking through the history from the past million years? Read the book, to know the answer 😀

What is the purpose of religion, if it only caters to the well being of one or few section of the masses and condemns another section to abuse for eternity? How can educated people allow themselves to do this, in the name of religion? Can the caste system really be abolished?

My favourite part about the book wasn’t the context or all the amazing things Glennon Doyle talks about, about being a Cheetah! It was simply the fact, that here was a woman who managed to re-write her life at 40. And that was something that made me sit up and realise that its never too late to change your life and make a better version of you 🙂

Ohhh, so many thoughts and questions while reading this book. But the one that I thought about the most was, are there really parallel universes? As a person with a scientific bent of mind, it is strange that I cant wrap my mind around quantum physics. And also the fact that it seems to be coming into my life constantly, in the form of everything I read or watch..

There are few books in the fantasy genre that make me think about life lessons. I’ve been reading this series and I wasn’t a fan of the second book, even when the author provided a feminist take on a fairy tale, I found it annoying that our leading lady, despite all her strengths, needed another man to validate her. When will we stop having the need to be validated and appreciated by others?

Have you read any of the books above? If yes, did you think about the same things I did, or did you have different questions or thoughts in your head? I’d love to discuss any of the books above if you’re interested, in the comments section 🙂

18 thoughts on “Book Talk Series – Ten recent reads and what they made me think”

  1. You read such a diverse array of genres and kinds of books, it’s so impressive Prachi… very interesting questions too, which are worth contemplating for everyone.
    Wow you read Dune. I think I read exactly 10 pages before I gave up. I just can’t handle much classic writing style and I could hardly understand what was going on. But cool that you enjoyed it. Maybe you’ll love the upcoming movie too.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Sahi!! It’s all to do with the book community you know? I wouldn’t have discovered so many different types of books had I not taken other reader’s recommendations on different genres! And you read a lot of different genres too – fiction, non fiction, short stories🙂

      Oh gosh Dune was really hard to read. It took me almost the better part of Jan to finish the book and I didn’t like most of the characters. But my husband had recommended it and so I picked it up. Also, wanted to be ready in time for the second movie adaptation because I find Timothee Chalamet very hot and talented ☺️

      I’m glad you enjoyed my post! The next one will come in April now☺️

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Haha 😂 I read a lot but stick to very few genres though, mostly just politics, history and SFF.. but you definitely have a more sense of adventure 👌👌
        I find it funny that you read Dune coz you wanna see Timothee Chalamet. I don’t think I would have had so much patience, for any fav hero of mine 😜😜

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Wow, I love how diversely you read and all the books sound so good! In also love how you’ve made such interesting observations in the books and the questions they’ve led to! They are definitely some things to consider

    Liked by 1 person

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