LOL: Life Of Leo

Image Source What do you call that feeling where you want to say so much but are not able to put it into words? Whatever it is called, that is exactly what I'm feeling as I sit down to write this. Honestly, I cannot believe a time has come where writing has become optional for me. It is definitely not out of choice, neither has it been a priority over the past few months. If I were to be more honest, I'd say that I did not even think of writing or miss it even. Writing has been a vital part of my life and it had/has been paused for a while and I'm totally fine with it. Yes, say hello to the new me. 2020 and 2021 have been weird years and we can all agree with it. Every one of us has gone through so much, lost so much, gained so much and what not. I'm sure at the end of the day none of us are what we were two years ago. The pandemic hasn't been easy but it sure did make each one of us look deep into ourselves. One of the biggest lessons that I've learned over the

Image Source My last post spoke about my renewed love for love stories, chick-lits or rom-coms or anything else you might want to call it. While I have warmed up to reading them, watching them is something I'm slowly inching my way through. One of the things that I did not mention in my last post is that my repulsion to romantic reads was triggered by Jane Austen. I've read almost all her books with the hope of finding something good in at least one of them. Sense and Sensibility was the only book of hers that I did not hate. I did not like it, but I did not hate it either. Don't even get me started on her other books. So, when a show called Bridgerton hit our screens and everyone immediately went gaga over it, I watched its trailer. It was as Austenesque as it could get and while everything inside me told me not to watch it, the curious Lioness in me wanted to watch it to see what the hype was all about. Based on Julia Quinn's novels, Bridgerton is the story of the Br

Image Source Everyone who knows me knows how important reading is to me. Right from when I was a child, books have been a close companion. Books are to be thanked to a large extent, for everything that I am or am not today. Like almost every reader, I started with Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Carolyn Keene, Agatha Christie etc. As a young adult, I moved on to Sidney Sheldon, Shakespeare, Mills & Boon and the likes. Since then I have read hundreds of books in diverse genres with mystery/thrillers and contemporary fiction topping my list of favorite genres. As much as I enjoyed reading romance when I was younger, as an adult I was not quite fond of the genre.

Image Source I'm alive! Yes, there is no other way I would want to start this post. No, I haven't been sick or infected, I just have been busy and stressed thanks to the uncertainty around. None of us in Bangalore expected the second wave to hit us this bad and while the Government has continued to let us down, we have been trying our best to stay afloat. This time, Covid hit close home and we lost some close friends and relatives. We also had a bunch of people who were infected and thankfully recovered. The second wave hasn't been easy for any of us I'm sure and this is the main reason I did not want to put up a post here as it would have been a rant. I was angry, upset, sad and what not looking at the situation around me. Survivor's guilt is a real thing and at times I genuinely have felt ashamed about my privilege. Anyway, long story short, we survived and now we have been fully vaccinated as well. Hopefully, the third wave won't hit us so hard. Even if it do

Title: Leave The World Behind Author: Rumaan Alam Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Format: Audiobook Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction/Suspense Price: Rs. 569 on Audible Listening Time: 7 hours and 25 minutes Narrator: Marin Ireland It has been a while since I reviewed a book that I did not enjoy. I usually prefer to talk about a book that I loved, so that it becomes a recommendation for my readers. Occasionally, I also review books that I did not like at all with the hope of saving the time and effort of others by telling them to not pick it up. Funnily enough, this books doesn't fall on either end of the spectrum. In fact, this book doesn't belong on the spectrum at all. 'Weird' is a word that I do not like to use often, but if you ask me to describe this book in one word, it would be that.

Image Source So, women's day is over and we all have put up posts/status talking about how awesome it is to be a woman and what are the changes we would like to see going forward. Stories of many strong and successful women were shared, unheard of stories came to the foreground and every woman was celebrated her own way. God knows we all deserve it. I'm not the one to go ahead and say that why are women celebrated only for a day and all that jazz. If a certain day exists, good. Maybe it is the day we talk about the good and bad of being a woman and strive the rest of the 364 days to make the world a better place for women. Either way, this is not something that can be accomplished in a day or a month or a year. It is going to be a long journey and it is going to take a lot of time to achieve equality. Yes, feminism is all about equality and nothing else.

Image Source I know I wanted to write more often in February, but life has its way of getting in between. Is it just me or did the shortest month of the year seem more shorter this year? Time is flying and we're just flying with it, it seems like. I had a bunch of posts planned for February, but February kept me on my toes. Why? I'll let you know in a while. Work continued to keep me busy with the first release of the year. It is almost a year since I have been working from home now and while I have totally gotten used to it, I still miss office life and meeting my friends. There was something so comforting in it, I think that's the magic of a routine, no matter how monotonous it feels, it still is comforting. I'm very happy with the way I have learnt to manage my time during the pandemic. I am a pretty structured person and the start of the pandemic took me for a ride, but with time I learnt to swim against the tide and came out victorious. Like someone wise once said,

Title: The Poet X Author: Elizabeth Acevedo Publisher: Egmont (1 May 2018) Genre: YA/Literature & Fiction Price: Rs. 359 on Amazon Pages: 320 As an avid reader, it is very important for me to start the year with the right book. Books and stories affect my mind and I wanted the year to start off with a healthy, positive book. I do a lot of research on the book that I would read first at the start of a new year. This year was no less. I go through ample book reviews, check out award winning books, see what my fellow bloggers and bookstagrammers have recommended and then come to a decision about the book. Last year I went with ' The Dutch House ' and this year I chose to go with 'The Poet X'. The Poet X is a much loved book and I had never read anything by the author so far. Shalini has been praising this book and as someone who trusts her reviews and choices, I knew I was making the right choice.

Image Source We're done with January too? Wow, where are the days going? I still remember the first day of the year and now we're already on the second day of the second month of the year. But, you know what, January has been a wonderful month and no matter how fast it whooshed by, it made a huge impact. January helped me get a reality check and sort out and align my priorities better. As a person with multiple passions and interests, I usually have more than what I can handle in my kitty. I try to do too many things and while I usually succeed in getting them done, it does take a toll on me. It also adds to the guilt incase something gets missed out. Now, I'm more realistic about what I should do and how much I can handle. This has simplified my life to a large extent.

Image Source My word of the year for 2020 was ' Balance ' and I'm mighty pleased with myself regarding how I fared. 2020 was a challenging year for all of us, but it was a year of immense learning for me. It taught me so much as a person and helped me look at life in a much better way. Thanks to the lockdown and being safe at home, there was ample time in hand, but it was initially chaos. With time, I learnt to manage time better and was able to balance everything that was on my plate. It wasn't easy and like everything else, it took time, but, I got there.

Image Source Reading has been an important part of my life since I can remember. In books, I've always found solace and peace. In books, I've found companionship and happiness. In books, I've lost and found myself. A large part of the person that I am today is because of the books that I've read. They have helped me look at life differently and taught me innumerable lessons. They have helped me groom myself and let me travel to a gazillion places without moving from my seat. In short, books are a vital part of my life and always will be.

Image Source It feels good to be back here, it has been a while, I know. I wouldn't say that this was an intentional break from blogging, just that other things kept me busy and I decided to focus on that. Before I knew it, the year was done! 2020 has been called a lot of names by many people, but if I were to be honest, I'd say that 2020 was not the worst year of my life. In fact it was a pretty good year for me. I know that it was a tough time for the world and we lost many people, but if there is one thing that 2020 taught me, it is to make peace with the situation at hand. Thanks to this, I come out of 2020 a much better and a much calmer person. When I look back at what I was ten or twelve years ago, and then look at who I am today, I surprise myself. My partner (I'll no longer be using the word husband) recently told me that I have mellowed down so much and he doesn't see that angry tyrant in me anymore. We've been together for a decade, so he would know. I co