My father suggested donating some novels to his friend’s library. I know that Bookworms are supposed to find it difficult to part ways with thier treasure, but I found it quite easy to give some books the boot.
I keep my books in boxes,
though it is my dream to someday have a mini-library of my own, at home. I ceremoniously unpacked all the books and cherry-picked the ones I will be saying good-bye to.
Book Unhaul Criteria
Do not give away my childhood books even if it is the battered copy of Sleeping Beauty or the Community Living books coz these books shaped my reading habit.
Do not give away gifts.
Do not give away the books “borrowed” from my sister coz technically there are hers and I have no right to give them away, even if I won’t be returning them back to her. 😝
Do not give away unread books.
Give a book away if:
I do not like it anymore!
These are the books that I picked:
Normally, I keep a Sidney Sheldon. But the first part of this book was too tedious to read.
I had wanted to keep the Nora Roberts book initially since I don’t own any other book from the author. But I am not going to like it even if I keep it.
A Vintage Affair was a good book when the dresses are described. But once Phoebe tries to chase down the story of a little blue coat, I became detached.
The tagline of Keeping Mum made no sense coz this book isn’t about the mom at all!
To all the Bridget Jones fans, I’m sorry, I found this book to be “the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something.” Hey, I didn’t say that – it’s on the back cover of the book.
I bought The Year I Met You 7 years ago and didn’t read it then. Some years later I attempted again but I just couldn’t get past the first few pages. So, I am making an exception to the rule and giving this away – coz I don’t want to see it again.
I must say I was disappointed in Spa Wars. I had picked it thinking it would be a good chick-lit but it progressively turned blah.
We are packed and ready for a trip to the library!!
I have been reading, watching, streaming all over the place; literally.
Movie: The Sky Is Pink
For a movie that is about impending death, this is a very positive one.
Inspired by a true story; Aisha Chaudhary was a girl who was born with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). She was destined to not live long. The movie traces the journey of Aisha’s parents (Moose and Panda – as Aisha calls them) who vow to give her all the happiness they can for whatever time she has left.
In a voiceover Aisha says, “You know those moments when everything is perfect and you feel so blessed to have this life as yours. My life didn’t have these magical moments – Moose and Panda created them.”
The real life Aisha Chaudhary was a motivational speaker at the young age of 15 and wrote the book My Little Epiphanies, which got published one day before her death. She was 18 when she died.
This is a very heartwarming movie , despite the fact that is about a family dealing with a lot of pain. Maybe because, it is projected with a buoyant lens. And Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar have pulled a fine job being Moose and Panda.
I wonder why real life inspiring stories such as these do not get sent to the Oscars?!
Book: The Single Girl’s To Do List
Rachel Summers is in a relationship for 7 years. She knows that Simon is The One. Meanwhile, Simon….. breaks up with her.
Suddenly, Rachel’s perfect life is in shatters. She can’t figure out what she did wrong or why suddenly everything is swiveling. To get a grip, she does the one thing she is best at – Makes a To Do List.
With the help of her best friends, Emelie and Matthew, they come up with the following:
Get a makeover
Exercise
Do something extreme
Find a date for your dad’s wedding
Do something your ex wouldn’t approve of
Buy yourself something obscenely expensive and selfish
Write a letter to your ex
Travel somewhere you’ve never been before
Contact your first crush
Break the law
This book is a typical chick lit romance and since currently I’m in my chick lit romance book phase, I lapped up all the mushiness and all the bound-to-undergo-a metamorphosis plot. It is not a new story – it’s all expected. But even then, it’s a fun enough read.
But, if you are newly single, this list is certainly not to be considered for pointers. Let’s be realistic 😜
Don’t take notes!!
Youtube: Pretty Fit
Well, Prajakta Kohli is one of my favourite Youtubers but Pretty Fit….umm…
The idea of the show, Functional Fitness, is fabulous. And it also fits in with MostlySane’s RealTalkTuesday Content. But you know, I wished, instead of having a frivolous air, it could have been a bit more serious.
Instead it looked all staged – the Kareena Kapoor pranking Prajakta parts,
felt like it was trying too much – Prajakta trying to distract the celebs from their tasks
and too kiddish – showering the winners with all the “validation in the world.”
It has great potential – I just wish it could be treated as an earnest show committed to the fitness challenge.
I loved all the challenges – they were unique and very creative. Also, it is inspiring to see your favourite women performing these tasks.
We had,
Neha Kakkar making a glass of Lassi from scratch – from cleaning and milking buffalos to churning the milk.
Dangal actress Sanya Malhotra visiting the Dhobi ghats to wash, dry, press and iron an armload of clothes.
Mithila Palkar on a fishing boat, pulling the nets and getting nuste aboard.
Stand up comedian Sumukhi Suresh getting sugarcane juice from the fields to the glass, literally.
RJ Malishka’s Day In the Village – sweeping the angaan, fetching pails of water from the well, making bhakris of rice and gobar cakes.
Finally Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor Khan getting her hands and feet dirty digging the soil and making a beautiful clay pot.
I loved the exercises that were designed by the trainer Urmi, for each challenge. Again unique and creative and very much doable by even common folk like us.
Other plus points, all the heart to heart talk shared by the celebs, the colorful costumes, the way in which every challenge was properly organised.
I would personally love to see another season albeit focused at the tasks in hand.
In these 5 years, I have spoken about a bunch of different topics.
I blog about my interests , which are very varied. One moment I could be talking about a book , a tv show or a movie; Next I’m talking about the Supermoon.
Shweta's diaries 