The Lit Ladki

Hey book nerds! Haruki Murakami is one of my favourite authors. I had a lot of fun recording this episode. 

But I am not the expert here. I did a lot of research and there's one particular blog which helped a lot.

Here's the link for all short stories of Murakami- 

https://bookoblivion.com/2016/12/05/free-haruki-muakami-short-stories-essays/

Here's an interview where he talks about how his journey started-

https://lithub.com/haruki-murakami-the-moment-i-became-a-novelist/

Hey! This Wednesday, I have a reader, Mehak Vohra, reading a passage from Circe by Madeline Miller.

About the book:

In the house of Helios, the god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Hey bookworms! I have curated a list of books in different categories for you to read if you are feeling low and sad.

Here's the treasure:

Fantasy:

1. Beautiful Creatures by Kami  Garcia

2. The Night Circus

3. The Priory of the Orange Tree

4. Court of Thornes by Sarah J

5. Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Fiction on Mental Health:

1. Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T Lee

2. All the Bright Places

3. Turtles All the Way Down

4. It's kind of a Funny Story

5. When We Collided by Emery Lord

6. The Memory of Light

7. Finding Audrey

Workbooks:

1. How to Be Happy (Or at Least Less Sad): A Creative Workbook by Lee Crutchley

2.The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

3. Start Where You Are by Meera

Memoirs:

1. Reasons to stay alive by Matt Haig

2. It's Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies): Inspirational people open up about their mental health by Scarlett Curtis

3. My Sh*t Therapist: & Other Mental Health Stories by Michelle Thomas

4. Shadows in the Sun by Gayathri Ramprasad 

5. An Unquiet Mind

Warm fuzzy books:

1.  Eat Pray Love

2. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

3. Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

4. What if it's Us by Adam Silvera

5. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain 

Hey! This Wednesday, my dear friend and a fellow book nerd, J Varun Iyer, reads a beautiful passage from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Cbhosky.

Drop your suggestions for names at still_a_draft

Hey booknerds! If you are going through a reading slump, I have the cure for you. Here are the 10 ways to snap out of a reading slump-

https://www.bustle.com/articles/148413-10-ways-to-snap-out-of-a-reading-slump

I have also reviewed the book, Havenfall by Sara Holland, that cured my reading slump of two months. You can read it here on Goodreads. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44281011-havenfall?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=HDk3UolVKt&rank=1

Happy listening! 

As promised, I have added a new segment for Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, we hear readers reading out their favourite passage from a book. This is the first one in the series. In this, I read a story from The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I hope after listening to this you find the courage to read out your favourite passage for the world out there.  This is an example if you would like to do something like this. You can submit your recordings at [email protected]. See you on Sunday!

“Once, very long ago, Time fell in love with Fate. This, as you might imagine, proved problematic. Their romance disrupted the flow of time. It tangled the strings of fortune into knots.  The stars watched from the heavens nervously, worrying what might occur. What might happen to the days and nights were time to suffer a broken heart? What catastrophes might result if the same fate awaited Fate itself? The stars conspired and separated the two. For a while they breathed easier in the heavens. Time continued to flow as it always had, or perhaps imperceptibly slower. Fate weaved together the paths that were meant to intertwine, though perhaps a string was missed here and there. But eventually, Fate and Time found each other again.  In the heavens, the stars sighed, twinkling and fretting. They asked the Moon her advice. The Moon in turn called upon the parliament of owls to decide how best to proceed. The parliament of owls convened to discuss the matter amongst themselves night after night. They argued and debated while the world slept around them, and the world continued to turn, unaware that such important matters were under discussion while it slumbered.  The parliament of owls came to the logical conclusion that if the problem was in the combination, one of the elements should be removed. They chose to keep the one they felt more important. The parliament of owls told their decision to the stars and the stars agreed. The Moon did not, but on this night she was dark and could not offer her opinion.  So it was decided, and Fate was pulled apart. Ripped into pieces by beaks and claws. Fate’s screams echoed through the deepest corners and the highest heavens but no one dared to intervene save for a small brave mouse who snuck into the fray, creeping unnoticed through the blood and bone and feathers, and took Fate’s heart and kept it safe. When the furor died down there was nothing else left of Fate.  The owl who consumed Fate’s eyes gained great site, greater site then any that had been granted to a mortal creature before. The Parliament crowned him the Owl King. In the heavens the stars sparkled with relief but the moon was full of sorrow. And so time goes as it should and events that were once fated to happen are left instead to chance, and Chance never falls in love with anything for long. But the world is strange and endings are not truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so.  Occasionally Fate can pull itself together again.  And Time is always waiting.”

“If you don’t like reading, you haven’t found the right book.” - J.K Rowling

For people who want to start reading, I know it's hard to pick the right book. It's like finding a needle in the haystack. This episode is to guide you on how to pick the right book.

For all the avid readers, you are almost always asked for recommendations, right? And most of the time you end up recommending your favourite read. It might not be the right book for the person. The art of recommending books is a serious business and to be good at it, you need to know your books and the person you are recommending the book to. Don't take it lightly.

Also, there must be that one book that changed everything for you.  This episode is a trip down that memory lane.

Don't forget to share the name of your first read with me.

And you can always reach out for recommendations at still_a_draft.

Talk to you on Sunday!