Life Diaries and Reading Wrap Up – May 2021

I wanted to stop writing these wrap up posts. I was doing a pretty good job of it so far when I don’t know, for some reason, I decided, ‘hey, lets do one of those life and reading wrap up posts again!’.

Funny thing is, that I decided to stop doing those wrap up posts this year, because I wasn’t doing anything new, this being the lockdown and pandemic and all. And I’m still not doing anything new, just trying to keep up with the old habits. But here goes the wrap up post nevertheless 🤷🏽‍♀️

If I have to look at my life in the last two years, I’d say its quite neatly blocked into these areas : Work (aka my 9-5 job, which does not warrant much mention), family (aka being a mom, since that’s the predominant family role lately), reading, writing, exercising and debauchery (which includes unhealthy food, alcohol over the weekends, watching random YouTube videos or Netflix and enjoying music – aka entertainment). But for the purpose of this wrap up, I shall split this post into simple bullet points. Easy peasy eh?

Reading:

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I read five brilliant books in May 🙂

• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) – A non fiction book with superb advice on writing
• The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali (⭐️⭐️⭐️) – A love story set in Iran and UK, spanning seven decades!
• My Grandmother sends her Regards and Apologies by Fredrik Backman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) – A book in translation that was my absolute favorite this month 🙂
• Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi (⭐️⭐️⭐️✨) – Middle grade own voice fantasy featuring India and an Indian protagonist
• Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) – Collection of conversations with famous writers on love (all forms of it)

Writing

As always, I participated in the Story A Day in May, which started off well but shimmered off during the last ten days of the month. So I plan to finish the rest of the prompts in June, and revise all the stories from May using the Bradbury Challenge suggested by my writer friend Tammy. More on that later though. In addition to writing short stories, I also posted a couple of blogs in May, and journaled quite a bit. Overall, I felt I put in a better effort in May, but still far away from my ideal writing schedule and habits.

Socials, Life and Other Updates:

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• My five year old surprised me with this adorable card for Mother’s Day! 🥰
• My peers and I hosted an Instagram Live session to roast books as part of the Mental Health Awareness month theme for the Belongg Library Network – Pune & Mumbai Chapter volunteer endeavour 🙂
• I finally received my much awaited ‘Dear Reader’ book box after almost a year of waiting and every product in it was worth it!!
• I managed to exercise (run, walk, do yoga, or abs, or dance) most of the days of the month. I ran/walked for 16 days in May and the stats look so much better than Feb’s 🙂 I’m feeling good about my exercise routine these days
• Bugs!! My daughter is obsessed with the bugs and beetles and ants that grace our balcony, thanks to all our plants and the constant rains 🙂

Shows and Music that I loved/discovered in May:

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• I’ve been loving AURORA as an artist all of this month! Absolutely fan grilling over her songs! 😍
• Then there’s the usual electronic/funk/disco music that I usually get drawn to. Troye Sivan is a recurring favorite and never disappoints.
• In TV/Shows – I’ve been slowly savouring Schitt’s Creek and loving it. It’s similar to Modern Family and Friends for me – so funny, clean and heartwarming. Almost like medicine in these difficult times 🙂 I’m on the last season now. In addition to that, my husband and I were quite hooked and impressed with these detective shows – Mare of East town (exceptional acting by Kate Winslet) and Criminals UK (excellent screenplay, scripting and concept. Amazed at the performances – watch out for the Kit Harrington episode in S2 especially)

So, that was my month gone. How was yours? Have you read any of these books, or watched any of these shows? Which artist did you discover or re-discover in May? Tell me all about your month in the comments section 🙂