I couldn’t make myself write a single post in April. There were many times when I wanted to write about hope, about being positive, about heartbreak, and struggle and frustration and anger. But every time I decided to open my laptop to do so, I couldn’t make my fingers type.
I don’t believe in God, yet, praying is the only thing I can do at this stage. I don’t have the skills to help people recover. And this virus is such that not stepping out to help people is a better way to help, so we can curb the spread of the virus. Absolutely frustrating. Maybe the Universe will stop punishing us soon?
I did read my usual quota of books and read the finales of three series 🙂 Books have been, and still continue to be a constant source of support since the last year. Felt good to conclude some of these. So here is a wrap up of the books I read and concluding thoughts.
Only a child-like mind can overpower a child villain with super powers. Don’t you think? One of my favorite reads this month, you can’t go wrong with the Discworld books if you want to have a laugh in the face of probable apocalypse.
The finale of this epic trilogy, a must read for anyone who loves history and fantasy, was shattering but oh so satisfying. At the end of the series, there were a million questions on my mind. But the most important one was, how far will you be willing to go, to lead? What is justifiable when there is no certainty about the future and you just have a vision to go on?
A short story that I absolutely loved! A detective story with a female detective set in steampunk Cairo, where Angels, Ifrits, and robots all are embroiled in this murder mystery. I was so entertained reading this short story, that the one question I kept thinking of when I finished was, what would it take to be able to write stories like P. Djeli Clark? LOL 😉
Oh well, the cat and mouse game continues. I was shocked when I read about the death of a favorite character, but that character is immediately replaced by two others, so that the cat and mouse chase continues. Entertaining as ever with really good illustrations, but the treatment of Misa Misa is still continuing to annoy me. So the questions still remain, why was this hugely famous Manga series so sexist?
Another series finale. This one is the last book of the Cursebreakers trilogy. I liked this much better than the second book, but overall, I think the series fizzled out after the first book for me. However, the best part of the trilogy was this feminist re-telling of beauty and beast and reading about relationships that are based on friendship, respect and trust more than just simple attraction, lust and ownership. I kept wondering though, that why is it that it is hard to write interesting romances that are realistic?
This was a much hyped book which was high on my expectation list of being a 5-starrer. However, I think because of the lack of continuity between the first part and the second part, along with the verbosity of the text, I found it hard to enjoy this book. That said, the author does try to tackle a gamut of issues that women struggle with, even in developed countries like Japan. After reading this I wondered, has the progressive society only ended up creating more challenges for women? Will our challenges never end?
And finally, the last read of April, and also the finale of the ‘Brown Sisters’ romance trilogy series. Oohh..I loved it! I loved all the three books in the series and such great romances! Highly recommended if you’re looking for a laugh riot of a romance featuring characters and supporting characters struggling with different able-ism issues. In the finale, Eve and Jacob, both are on the autistic spectrum, but its amazing how the author hasn’t made them look awkward or cliched in any way. I wondered however, why are even the real romances fairy tale like? Because I haven’t come across a single Red, Zaphir or Jacob in real life…Have you? 🙂
So, those were the books I read in April. How about you? Have you read any of the books above? Do drop me a note on how you’re coping or if you just want to chat about nothing in general. I know how I’m feeling right now, so I will be happy to tell you, you are not alone in your feelings of doom, and depression, and frustration and helplessness, all wrapped up with a little bit of hope and a lot of prayers.
Starry Eyed Enigma 