LOL: Life Of Leo

Title: The Far Field Author: Madhuri Vijay Publisher: Fourth Estate India (12 July 2019) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Price: Rs. 472 on Amazon Pages: 440 Award winning books are a tricky read, you either love them or hate them. After abandoning 'The White Tiger' and 'The God of Small Things' after a chapter or two, I never thought I'll go back to reading award winning books. This year, since I wanted to read diverse books, I've been open to reading them. The Booker Prize winning 'Girl, Woman, Other' was a splendid read and it gave me the boost to go ahead and read more of them. This book won the JCB Award in 2019 and I had bought the book back in November, but never got to reading it. Although, the reason I bought the book was its gorgeous cover! The reviews I read of this was mixed and hence this book remained on my shelf for a while. This month, I picked it up with zero expectations.

Big Banyan Tree, Bangalore - July 2020 Last weekend, we decided to take a break from monotony and went out for a long drive. We enjoy such drives now as this is the closest it comes to traveling during these times. We usually drive up to some place in the outskirts of the city, get out of the car only when there are no or very few people around and get some takeaway pizza or cheesecake on our way back. Tiny moments of bliss, I tell you.

Image Source Sorted. That is a word people often use to describe me. I'm someone who is very planned, has a set routine and like to have things under my control. This is how it works the best for me and keeps my life going smooth. This helps me have a good work-life balance and gives me time to pursue my interests and passions. When COVID happened, life turned upside down for all of us. The situation forced us to change in our own way. But, how easy is it to change? More often than not when people realize that something is wrong with them or something is wrong with their life, only then they analyze the situation and decide to make a change. It comes from within and it is considerably easy to make that change. When unforeseen circumstances tend to bring a change to our daily life, it is not easy to be okay with it. It wasn't easy for me either.

Burger Factory, Anjuna - Goa 2019 Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

Title: All The Light We Cannot See Author: Anthony Doerr Publisher: Fourth Estate (10 December 2015) Genre: Historical Fiction Price: Rs. 467 on Amazon Pages: 544 This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2015. I bought the book almost immediately, but only got to reading it last month. I only started reading historical fiction a few years ago and today it is one of my most favorite genres. I have read so many books on WWII and it definitely is a period that has some heart-wrenching and heart-warming stories. All The Light We Cannot See is no less.

Image Source So, we're officially in the second half of the year? At this point, I just want 2020 to run with the speed of Usain Bolt and hopefully 2021 will be kinder to us. June has been a month of lows and highs. The first few days of the month was disastrous, but it seemed to pick itself up after a few days. The situation outside is not looking any better, but I guess we have no choice but to stay safe, sit back and watch. I do have my bouts of paranoia and anxiety but they are a lot within check. See, it is hard to not let yourself be affected by what is happening outside. The uncertainty and the prolonged duration of the mess only makes it worse. I just hope that things get better soon for all of us.