LOL: Life Of Leo

Image Source Title: 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds In This Strange World Author: Elif Shafak Publisher: Penguin UK (10 July 2019) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Price: Rs. 699 on Amazon Pages: 320 There are some authors you can trust blindly. More than their stories, you like them for the way they write. For the way it touches your soul. For the poetic beauty it possesses. For the picture it paints in your mind. For the spark it leaves behind. For the relatability. For the much needed human touch. Elif Shafak is one such writer. After ' The Forty Rules Of Love ', this is her second book that I read. I still have to catch up on all her other books and I soon will.

Home, Bangalore - March 2020 Times aren't good now, but you know what, this too shall pass. Stay safe, stay in, stay positive. This is a tree I used to see everyday. She stands tall at the entrance of my apartment complex. I hadn't seen her in many many days thanks to working from home and not stepping out. Yesterday, when we went out for a walk (within the apartment walkway), I saw her again. She looked hale and healthy, reaching for the sky, and that made me smile. We'll all survive this together, won't we? Hard times may have held you down, but they will not last forever. When all is said and done, you will be increased.      ~ Joel Osteen

Madurai, Tamil Nadu - November 2019 I say looking on the bright side of life never killed anybody. ~ Jenny Han, To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Image Source Had there been nothing called the Corona Virus or the COVID-19, my husband and I would be in Barcelona today. We would be hiking up Mount Tibidabo, enjoying the beauty of Park Guell and the Sagrada Familia. Then we would be enjoying the views of Costa Brava and basking in the spookiness of the Gothic Quarter. Next we would head to Seville for a couple of days, and then to Madrid for the anniversary. We would watch a flamenco show, eat some delicious food, try the local beer and have endless conversations to mark seven years of being married! Then we'd head to Porto for an entire day of wine tasting and a vineyard tour followed by a few days of sightseeing in gorgeous Lisbon. We would spend two glorious weeks touring Spain and Portugal. We had meticulously researched, planned and set everything ready for our holiday. Then, life happened.

Bangalore - February 2020 Thanks to this blog-hop, I look out for trees everywhere. This must be the most gorgeous, most mighty tree I have seen in a while. Nestled among high-rise buildings, she spread out her wings to let the light seep through her. 

Murphy's, Bangalore - November 2019 When life gets blurry, adjust your focus. ~ Unknown

Image Source The shortest month did live up to its name, in-spite of it being a leap year. Seriously, how fast is time going? February was a pretty relaxed month and it was uneventful for me. Things just went on as usual. Work was lean and it game me quite some time for myself. Also, I'm not someone who does not like to be busy. Not having much to do at the workplace added to my lethargy and it was not going down well on me. I have really good friends at the workplace and they keep me going, but not being that productive takes a toll on me. I've come to realize that it is a double edged sword for me. To keep myself engaged at the workplace, I decided to give Audible a shot. It worked like a charm. I was never the one who would go for an audio book. It took me quite some time to get used to a Kindle in the first place, so audio books were too far-fetched. But when I gave it a shot, I was hooked.