January 2025 Recap!

Posted On February 1, 2025

Hi Readers! We are finally at the end of January. It seemed like a forever month, in amazing ways though. I lived SO MUCH, and that’s not an exaggeration. A homebody going out every weekend is no joke. But I went out on my terms, doing things that I love, with the people that I love who may not love those things but love me so they go along with it! If I had to describe the month in one word, it would be ARTSY.  Art is paintings. Art is music. Art is literature. Art is movies. Art is TV Shows. So, yeah, I lived and breathed art this month. It makes me almost deliriously happy, and isn’t that kind of the whole point? 😊

~~BOOKS READ IN JANUARY~~

So, as usual let’s start with literature! I read THREE books across 912 PAGES in JANUARY. I started off really well. The first book was a 4 star, the second a 3 star and the third 2.5 stars. But the fun part is that with ‘Intermezzo’, I finally loved a book by Sally Rooney. With ‘The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao’, I read the first book in the ‘From the People of Languages’ reading project hosted by Kunal and Misha on Bookstagram. And, with ‘Kitchen’, I read for ‘January in Japan’ like I do every year. That’s not half bad, you know? Since everyone’s reading preferences are different, here are my thought snippets on each of the book I read. Maybe you’ll want to pick your next read from these three.

~~INTERMEZZO by SALLY ROONEY~~

Intermezzo is the story of brothers, Ivan and Peter, who are trying their best to live their lives after the death of their father. Ivan finds himself attracted to a woman more than half his age. Peter finds himself in a love triangle where he is in love with two women. We also see how strained the relationships are between the brothers, with their mother and with their father. We see how already strained relations become more complex while grieving. There isn’t a strong plot to the book. There is no structure to the story or the punctuation. But, these things are never found in Sally Rooney’s books, so you can’t expect them. What you can expect is the nature of human behaviour moulding, evolving, growing, diminishing, flourishing in all its glory. I have rated Intermezzo by Sally Rooney at 4/5 stars!

Intermezzo: Sally Rooney’s Best Novel Yet!

~~THE MEMOIRS OF VALMIKI RAO by LINDSAY PEREIRA~~

The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao is the story about a clash between two chawls for reasons unknown causing disruption among the lives of many amid the Babri Masjid demolition which led to the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai, and all of this with a Ramayana retelling and social commentary. The writing felt slow, repetitive, and charmless. There was quiet when there should have been action. There was action when there should have been restraint. And, there was restraint when there should have been chaos. I have rated The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao by Lindsay Pereira at 3/5 stars.

The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao Book Review!

~~KITCHEN by BANANA YOSHIMOTO~~

Every year I read at least one book for January in Japan, so this year it was Kitchen. This is the author’s debut book published in 1988. It’s a short one consisting of two shorter stories. I felt that the book’s theme mainly surrounded around death and grief, and when that became too intense, it came around food. Many times, Japanese translated novels don’t work for me, because I find the stories to be to plain or in the ‘quiet genre’ side of it. I think this one was like that too. I have rated Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto at 2.5/5 stars! Review to come soon (maybe)

~~JANUARY READING STATS AND MORE~~

All the three books I read were from my physical TBR, so way to go, me! I have no reading goals this year, so I have decided to be happy with how much ever I get to read.

~~LIFE LATELY~~

Slide 1: My brother Ashwin was here in December and January after a long 2.5 month away from home. We had the best time as usual with travelling, eating, watching, reading and of course, arguing.

Slide 2: This one’s the annual Sanskruti Upvan Art Festival. Like every year, it was loud, crowded, bright and noisy. And like every year, we looked at the paintings and then focused solely on food, shopping and clicking photos.

Slide 3: I also went gallery hopping with my parents this month. We went to four galleries, from which ‘Brain Rot’ by Viraj Khanna at Tao Art Gallery was the most mind-bending. You can check out the reel here! We also went to Fictionary, which is a new bookstore in Bandra. I loved the book shop. It’s not too big and not too small, very cozy and it’s also a café. They also had these bookshop Lego boxes there! So fun!

Slide 4: Makar Sankranti black outfit vibes. And, fitness updates. I’m on Day 144 of my Daily Workouts!

Slide 5: I went to India Art Festival with my cousin sister Manasi. There were 4500+ paintings by 550 authors spread out in 150 booths on the two floors of Nehru Center.

Slide 6: Then comes the Mumbai Gallery Weekend! I went with my bestie Suruchi. We visited TWELVE ART GALLERIES in Colaba! (I love saying that, but it’s quite a feat, ok?) You can see some highlights in the reel here!

Slide 7 to 10: Highlight of the Month was Ed Sheeran’s concert in Pune!!! Suruchi and I went to his first ever concert in India back in 2015. And now, 10 years later, we went to see him live again! It was the most amazing experience. I have a very weird connection with the musicians I love. I listen to them every day, I know all their songs and lyrics, their families and see photos whenever they hangout somewhere. It’s like they are a part of my life, like they are my long-distance friends. So when I saw Ed singing in front of the crowd it felt just like meeting an old friend. Because I listen to them so often, I just take it for granted, but when I saw him live, I was once again thrown off by how immensely talented he is! The kind of show he puts on for his fans; the loop pedal technique or his raps or how he engages the audience.. it’s all just perfect.

So that was the longest ever monthly recap post fitting for a long month! Here’s to a restful and relaxing January!

Until next time,