Change your Words, Change your Life by Andrea Gardner

I stumbled upon the book "Change Your Words, Change Your Life" while casually browsing the Toronto Public Library website. The title immediately caught my eye. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about shifting mindsets to cultivate a more positive outlook on life. As someone who is constantly thinking about my craft, I’m always looking for ways to use it to create a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

I’ve been telling people about my trouble regarding the online shop—how it’s not getting many views or sales. Then it struck me: maybe I’m attracting this “no-sale” energy by constantly complaining about it. To bring a bit of brightness into my creative journey, I decided to give this book a try.

As I started reading, I was drawn to the author’s story about how her life seemed to spiral into more and more misery. Inspired to change her circumstances, she began writing down what she truly wanted from life—a process that helped her clarify the kind of environment she needed to foster healing for herself and her family. One particularly striking example she shared was when they were on the verge of being evicted from their tiny cottage. In a turn of fate, she managed to find a larger place to live for free. While it wasn’t the most comfortable house, it had a roof over her head and fit within her budget. It felt like a miracle.

The author emphasizes the power of gratitude, suggesting that by acknowledging and being thankful for what we already have, we open ourselves up to receiving even more things to be grateful for. Inspired by this idea, I decided to start writing down a list of six things I’m grateful for every day.

Around the same time, another book, "Second Chance," landed in my inbox. You might have read my review about it before. As I continue exploring these new perspectives, I’m excited to see what shifts may happen in my life and craft.

This is not the end of the review here. i will be adding more about how I will change my words to change the life in future articles as well.

Second Chance by Deepika Muthusamy

I recently received a truly unexpected surprise gift—a book. 

You might think, what's so surprising about getting a gift?

 But to me, it isn't a usual occurrence, especially when it's a novel. 

The first scene in Second Chance immediately drew me in. Let me set the stage: it was a busy day. My daughter was preparing to go abroad for a week, and I was supposed to help her pack. I thought I’d just glance at the first paragraph and then get back to my responsibilities.

 But the prologue piqued my curiosity, especially about how Kavya and Karthik would cross paths. Initially, I assumed they were just ordinary college students. However, the author, Deepika Muthusamy, had something else in mind—something much cleverer!

To cut a long story short, by the time I finished the book, my daughter wasn’t exactly thrilled with my level of engagement.

The writing style is captivating, with enough twists and turns to keep you hooked throughout. I wish I could say more about the plot, but I’d rather avoid giving away any spoilers.

Initially, I thought Karthik was the sensible one who had been wronged. But as the story unfolds, glimpses into Kavya's life help you understand the reasons behind her unhappiness. The layers of each character are revealed slowly, making them feel real and relatable.

There were enough villains too to ruin the romance. 

As a person originally from India, I can understand the family reactions. The roles of men and women are much different compared to Western world. 

In many ways, India remains a patriarchal society. This novel offers a glimpse into the struggles of modern women as they seek recognition for their talents and efforts. 

Altogether, I will say, the writing style is good. Ms.Muthusamy got my attention till the end. 

Overall, I’d say the writing style is compelling, and Ms. Muthusamy kept me hooked until the very end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories of love, resilience, and the complex dynamics of human relationships

Picture Perfect By Jodi Picoult

 It is a picture-perfect life. 

That is what everyone thinks when they see Cassie and Alex.

Cassie is a well-known anthropologist. Alex Revers is a renowned actor and director who will sweep the Oscars with his new film.

Their wedding and marriage life was picture perfect for outsiders. But, there were skeletons in the closet. 

Both of them had traumatic childhoods. 

Will discovered Cassie when she showed up at the graveyard with a head injury and no memory of how she got there. As the story progresses, Cassie remembers everything that happened. 

Then to protect her unborn baby from Alex, she turns to Will for help. Will helped her to hide from the world she knew. But, when the baby is born, she goes back to Alex. 

Ahe has her past to blame for going back to the abuser. When she realizes for the sake of her baby, she has to leave Alex. 

In the end, she takes her life and freedom back. Picoult is not bringing a happily ever after Cassie with Will, though. 

The book describes the life of the Indians in the Lakota reserve. I liked that. But, I was pissed off at some point with Cassie trying to live the life for Alex. 

But, it is the way the author wants it. 

Ever tried any book by Jodi Picoult?

Who Is Maud Dixon?

 I finished reading my second book for 2022. 

"Who is Maud Dixon?" is a thriller by Alexandra Andrews. 

Look at the book cover: do you see the two faces?

That brown line at the middle from top to bottom is not just a line. Look closely, can you see it?

When the story begins, we are with Florence. She lost her job. Then she got hired as an author's assistant. 

We think we are going to find out who is Maud Dixon, the famous novelist.

The writing style captured my concentration. A real nice book to escape from your mundane life. 

Do you like to read it?

"Malibu Raising": a fire and how it started

 The Reva's are going to have a party. If you know where the party is, you are invited!

Reva siblings were raised by their mother. They have a famous father, who abandoned them years ago. 

Nina Reva, the famous surfer and model, worked hard to raise her siblings and to keep them together after their mom passed away. She didn't want to be famous, don't like the world staring at her. 

The famous father who abandoned them and their mother come to the party. Do Nina and her famous brothers and the baby sister let him in their life?

This is a novel that kept me turning the pages. Very good narrative style. Loved every moment of reading it. 

I enjoyed creating the graphic for this post as well. 

"Hurry Home" : Story of sisters

 "Hurry Home"  by Roz Nay is a recent novel I finished reading.

The story is narrated by sisters Alex and Ruth in alternative chapters. 

We cannot trust either of their versions. 

Chase is Alex's boyfriend. Alex lives with Chase in his apartment.  Ruth shows up at Alex's doorstep pregnant. 

Alex let her live with them. But, she had an agenda. Alex uses her power as a social worker to "save kids" as she tells in the story. She doesn't like her co-worker Minerva. Their boss is not interested in confrontation. Sully is a police officer. Alex is friends with him. But Chase didn't know that. 

Eli Beck is the father of Ruth's child. He is a drug dealer. Ruth brought money and drugs with her when she came to Alex's house. That is missing. 

Chase learns a lot about Alex and her past life from Ruth. While we are nearing the end of the novel, we can trust one of the sisters. 

I cannot figure out why Alex behaves like she does in the novel. 

The photo of the book is from Goodreads. All graphics are done by Bindu

This book tells how an abuser got away

 I finished reading "Secret Life" by Kevin Donovan. Jian Ghomeshi was a popular talk show host in CBC. Kevin Donovan was an investigative journalist at The Toronto Star. 

I was following that case in 2016, then totally forgot about it. The women accused him failed on cross-examination. It was pathetic to see those abused by Ghomeshi had to go through the questioning of his lawyer. 

The book reveals a lot more about the investigation. News media cannot publish an investigation without real proof.  Donovan and his team were working hard to bring solid evidence of abuse. The abused women didn't keep their text messages and emails. But, Ghomeshi did.  He bought powerful legal help with his money. But, CBC acted on the evidence and fired him. 

It was a very courageous act for those women to come forward and to be named as victims. While reading the book, I can understand the agony of those victims in putting their names out there. 

After reading the book, I wanted to know what Ghomeshi doing now. 

He is working with the Roque Media, which focuses on Iranian Canadians. With unnamed investors and prominent Iranians to back him, he is back on the media. 

The book reveals the failure of CBC in addressing issues of sexual harassment reported by female employees. 

I finished "Akin", a novel

 It was a long work week.

The subway train ride gave me a lot of time to read. Having a good book is a reward for the commute.

Noah is a retired professor and widower. He lives in the upper west. He is getting ready to start a trip to France, where he was born. He found few photos his mom had kept in an envelope and curious about why she kept them. Now, he hopes to find out the details of those during his trip. That is when social services called him. He has a great grand nephew, Michael, who needs someone to take care of him. Noah is the closest relative available for that job. Now, he is forced to take Michael for the trip.

A pre-teen and a senior citizen is not a peaceful combination. They argued about Micheal's Coke drinking to writing his travel journal. 

Within the two weeks, time at Nice, they found they like each other. Michael helped Noah to uncover the truth about his mom's photos. Now, Noah is relieved that his mother was helping Jewish kids to escape from the Nazis. Understanding the risks other generations have taken to protect loved ones, both Noah and Micheal grasp how akin they are! 

I loved reading it. The story makes me think about how Michael and Noah going to live their life together. Will Michael ever going to know how his father got killed and his mother got imprisoned? That is the beauty of a good novel. It makes us think and make stories for the characters.

Do you agree?

Who Is Vera Kelly?

 

I was not writing but I was continuing my reading.

It is an interesting title for a book, right? 

"Who Is Vera Kelly?" Then I wanted to know who she is.

She was working for a radio station and became a CIA agent.

How many times we heard about a female spy? 

So, Vera started working in Argentina wire trapping a leading politician. She was also spying few student activists in Buenos Aires. When her trusted allies abandoned her, she had to take extreme measures to save her life and return to America. 

It is an interesting story about a female spy. I came to know that there is one more Vera Kelly book by Rosalie Knecht. I want to read that too. 

Book No:30 The Last Thing He Told Me

 

When you realize the love of your life just disappeared from the life you know, you want to find out what happened. 

Hannah received a note from Owen asking to protect his daughter. There is no other information. If it is you, how agonizing it will be?

Hanna and stepdaughter Bailey did everything they can to find Owen.  The more they dug, the more confused they became. His past was not the one he told them. 

Laura Dave keeps the suspense till the end. I like the style and story. 

I made the graphic to show the inner vibe of the novel. I Hope, you like it. 

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book No. 29: How A Woman Becomes A Lake

 Actually, I finished 3 books last week. It was a bit more than my usual reading. 

I love to write about the book "How A Woman Becomes Lake" by Marjorie Celona. 

Leo took his sons on New Year's eve to the Square point. It was a heavy snow day. The lake was frozen. It was bone-chilling cold. 

Vera was walking her dog there and found Leo's older son standing in the snow. She called the police to report seeing the child. 

Later officer Lewis cote found Vera's car and her dog. But Vera was nowhere to be found.

Leo and the kids tell the police they never saw the woman first. Are they telling the truth?

Danny is so lost after Vera is gone. Lewis later finds out the truth. 

We can feel the melancholy in the narration. Life is not what we really see on the outside. The mind plays a lot of games on how we are treated by our parents. Some people can overcome the trauma. some cannot. 

With the story, we understand how Vera's death affects the characters. How their life turned around because of Vera. Even the dog Scout has to live with the loss of her and the new living conditions. 

Highly recommend this book to you. 

Book no. 28, "The Jetsetters"

 The book, "The Jet Setters" by Amanda Eyre Ward is the 28th book after I started recording the books I read. 

Charlotte attended Minnie's funeral. Now, she is lonely. Her grown children are away from them. 

Lee is supposed to be an actress. Regan is supposed to be happy with her kids and husband. Cord is supposed to be a successful venture capitalist trying hard to find the woman of his dreams. Charlotte herself is supposed to be a very religious Catholic, church-going lady. 

In reality, Lee is deep in debt, without work and dumped by her boyfriend. Regan wants to get a divorce from her husband. She is depressed too. Cord is a struggling alcohol addict and gay. Charlotte herself is hiding her desire to find a man and to have sex. 

Lee was traumatised by finding their dad hanged himself in her bathroom. Under the strict orders of Charlotte, she keeps this a secret. The images of the dead man hanging in her bathroom are haunting her life. 

Regan is keeping the infidelities of her husband from her mom and siblings. Cord is in love with a man whom he wants to marry. But, he cannot tell his family the truth about his sexuality or his addiction. Lee is hiding her depression and her failures in life. 

When Charlotte won the "jet setters" cruise, she invites her children to join her. Charlotte herself is reluctant to open up to the truth. She wanted to make it looks like everything is fine on the outside. 

The truth about all of their lives is unfolding in the Mediterranean cruise ship. 

The novel takes us through the messiness of love and life. 

Book No:27, "The Good, The Bad, AND The Dumped

 

Posy she was over the moon when Matt proposed to her on top of the mountain.   She loved the ring he chose for her. 

She got confused and worried when her sister Fleur, her best friend Leah and her mom were not happy about her and Matt.

She started searching for her exes online and decided to find out why she got dumped by them. 

When Matt found out about Posy going after the exes, he decided to call off the engagement. 

This made her even more determined to find out why her relationships are all come to a disaster. 

Finally, she figured out the biggest lies of all were in her own family.

The ending is good, with Matt and Posy finding out that they love each other. 

I don't like the way Posy was acting stupid in the beginning. 

Yeah, it is a novel. So just go with the story, right?

Have you tried any of Jenny Colgan books yet? 

 

Common Tropes in Books

 I am trying to participate in Book Blog Hop.  The prompt becomes the heading for the blog post.

Tropes means a figure of speech, a common or over used theme, etc. 

With books, trope is the commonly used theme. Thinking about my last book, The Friendship List I think, the trop is friendship turning to love. another one is people connected to the characters are the match makers. 

Falling in love and happily ever after can also be seen there.

The Hunting Party uses the group of friends and the new comer to the group becoming the villain. It leads to the good and evil theme. But, till the end we cannot figure out who is the villain. The psychological obsession is also  identified here. 

Love to know what you think about the common tropes in books 

Book Blogger Hop

The Friendship List: Book #26

 

After finishing the "Witch Elm", I was looking for the next read. Susan Mallery's book "The Friendship List" piqued my curiosity to know how Ellen and Unity did with the list.  

The story happens in a small town. Two close friends stuck at their lives and wanted to move on. Ellen got a baby when she was still in high school. Being a single mom was very hard with parents' strict rules. She was able to become a teacher by working hard. Her life was devoted to her child. There was no room for dating or finding a life partner. Unity married her high school sweetheart. Stuart got killed on duty three years before. She moved back to her husband's childhood home and stuck with the memories of Stuart. Both of them are young and it is time to move on. The women decided to challenge each other with a list of adventures. 

It is an easy romantic comedy. 

Reading is fun! 

Book aweek: Book25, The Witch Elm"

 I don't know why chose that book to read. Think, it was available to borrow right away and the title sounds nice.

The first chapter got me hooked. Toby is a charming young PR person for an art gallery. He has a good life: a nice job, great family, a very good girl friend... He is a charmer, who knows to get his way around. 

In the beginning, Toby tells us how he almost messed up with his job. By providing solutions to get out of the mess he had co-created, he was able to keep his job. Then, his life took a turn and he got attacked in his own home. The attack caused neurological damage to him. 

Toby moved in with his uncle Hugo while recovering. Hugo is diagnosed with brain cancer and not much time left for him. 

Then the story was moving slow, at a crawling speed. Half way through it, I almost abandoned reading. Then, the skeleton was found by Zach. It became so interesting to find out how the skeleton got inside the hole of the Elm tree. Toby even got confused he might have done the crime. But, the way his cousins tells the story and let him know he didn't do anything wrong. But that didn't  bring any comfort to him. He thinks about uncle Hugo and how Hugo might have known the truth years ago. 

I was wondering the criminal mind of Susannah and how she can get away with everything. 

After Hugo's death, Toby happened to kill the detective. In the end, Toby lost everything of his happy go lucky life. But, still he is lucky: in in several other ways. 

The economic disparity is mentioned in the book  a few times. Toby's friend remembers getting in trouble at school. While Dec got suspended for three days, Toby got detention for a day. Toby does't even remember the incident. When he killed a cop, he got sentenced to recover in a mental hospital. If it was some one with a not so privileged background, the verdict would have been different. Toby thinks about it. 

When Toby is out of hospital, he got a PR job because of his family connections. He still don't have to struggle economically, even though he has trouble with his neurological damages.

 If you can handle the slow pace, it will be a pleasure. It was not a great one for me. This is the first I am reading a Tana French novel.

The Witch Elm by Tana French
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It is a murder mystery, a thriller. But moves in slow pace.
People keep a lot of secrets. They are not the ones they appear on the surface.


View all my reviews

Book a week: week 24, Breath

 It is just 5.30 in the morning. I am washing the cups after morning coffee. The pink rubber glove adorned hand feeling the warmth of the water. I am aware of my breathing too. Yes, breathing through the nose.

Last week I was reading the book "Breath : The New Science of a Lost Art" by James Nester. 

The book is fascinating to read. Nester tells the story struggling to breath to becoming an expert in the science of breathing. 

His writing style makes us follow the page after page of information. With so many experiments, we learn how breath can affect our body. 

While, we can see how breathing techniques improved Nester's life, we will doubt about its power to cure Cancer and Schizofrenia.

If you are just interested in the techniques alone, skip to the last part of the book and read that one alone. 

If it is breathing though both nostrils, or through one, or  holding it, breathing is an important part of our life. We do it all the time, till we take the last one.

Breathe, fill your lungs!

Happy reading!

Reading and Me

 I started reading books when I was very little, like age 5. There was no cell phones, computers or internet to make myself engaged. 

But, my parents were bringing a lot of printed material. We were getting 2 newspapers every morning. My dad subscribed several periodicals. Kids have kids magazines, and then ladies magazines and other ones with good literature. 

We, the kids were allowed to spent a lot of time reading all those publications. Then the school had a great library . Teachers were encouraging my reading habits. So, by grade 7 I had finished all books from the books there. 

Parents were willing to buy the books to tame my curiosity. 

It was always a dream to have a library of my own as well as living near a library to get books all the time.

When I first visited a Toronto Library, I was feeling giddy with happiness, because, I was allowed to have 50 books to take out one time. Wow! 

Weekly trip to library was a great fun ritual for my family. When I found the craft books, I got hooked on crochet, wire and bead jewelry and other crafts.

Then, TPL started the online collection of books, audio books, magazines and videos. Wow! I am glad a library can do so much!

I get most of my books from their ebook collection now. 

It is an ever going hobby: that is my reading.

Book a Week: Week23 "Such a Fun Age"

 "Such A Fun Age " is Kiley Reid's debut novel. Once i finished reading it, I couldn't believe it is her first novel!

It is really a contemporary story, which can happen anywhere is America. 

Emira is Briar's babysitter. When Briar's mom asked to take care of Briar on an evening, Emira was in a party. She was offered twice the regular pay to come and take Briar out of the house so that the parents can deal with an emergency situation at home.

Emira took Briar to an upscale grocery store. There she got confronted by the security guard, accusing of kidnapping the white baby. The event was all recorded by a customer in the store. Emira was allowed to go only after Briar's father came to the store to explain the situation. 

With several racially biased situations in the news, we can relate to that incident. 

At first we think that Emira will go with releasing the recorded video. But, she is an aimless young girl and her family don't know she is babysitting. She have no idea what to do with her life. So, she don't want tShe don't want her experience to be known by family and friends. 

After the incident, Alix the boss wanted to make Emira her family. She wanted to project how she is not racially biased at all. But, the story takes an unexpected turn when Emira showed up for Thanksgiving dinner to Alix's home. 

Emira's boyfriend is a white guy who went to high school with Alix. They had a bitter past. Alix tells Emira that Kelley fetishes black people and advised to break up with him. To Alix's surprise, Emira has her own opinions. 

Then Alix leaked the video secretly, by getting in to emira's email. To make Emira feel better, Alix bring a news team to do an interview to tell the world Kelley released the video without her permission. But, she figured out Alix is the one behind releasing the video just before the interview. During the interview, Emira reveals that she is not going back to work for Alix. 

At that moment, I was thinking Kelley and Emira were going to get back. But, Kiley Reid surprises us with story. 

After several years, Emira thinks back to see what life lessons she gained from her babysitting experience. She saw Alix with the kids again while walking on the road. She thinks fondly of Briar and wonders how Briar will be when she grows up!

The story makes us think about our own biased thinking in everyday life. Do we even realize we are so much biased with our behaviour? 

Book a week: Week 22 "The Hunting party"

 

"The Hunting party" is a novel by Lucy Foley.

 The story begins with a group of thirty something friends going for a winter vacation. It is a tradition started 10 years ago when they were studying in Oxford. 

This particular time, they chose to go to a remote place in located in Scottish highland. The place is not easily accessible. They are supposed to stay and celebrate New Year there.

At the beginning, everything seems fun. But, the group has secrets. They are not what we see on the surface. There are secret grudges.

Miranda seems to be the star among the friends. As the story goes on, we realize, their inner secrets and fears.

Then after New Year celebrations, one of them is killed. One of them is the killer.

When the story unravels, we understand who killed whom. 

What happens when friends have secrets? 

An interesting book to read and kill time.