June 2025 Recap!

Posted On June 29, 2025

Hi Readers! June was long, let’s be honest! So much happened in only one month, with still a day (Monday, ugh) to go. For the most part, June was an okay month. The highlight was my dad’s book being published! (Yayyy) I also met extended family and my friends as well. I read less in quantity but good in quality. I watched less new shows overall. For whatever reason, I rewatched Game of Thrones. And, lastly, I think the number of bizarre events that happened in India this month must be some kind of record. Feels extremely unreal, and yet here we are.

When we look at the results, it feels like that was easy, but rarely do we remember how those results were achieved. Whether it’s publishing a book, or a decision at work, or being able to walk 7k. Reading is easy. Going ahead after taking the decision is easy. Posting about that 7k walk is easy. But, oh, the glorious journey of getting there? The one no one talks about. The one which involves tremendous hard work, resilience, consistency. That’s what I want to cherish and celebrate this month. 😊

~~BOOKS~~

I read 2 books across 716 pages in June. Luckily, I loved them both. It was basically a given since I have loved all their previous books! Yukito Ayatsuji and Fredrik Backman are amazing at what they do. Very distinct genres, and yet I am always amazed by their brilliance!

~~THE LABYRINTH HOUSE MURDERS by YUKITO AYATSUJI~~

Four authors, a critic, a publisher & his wife, and our ‘great detective’ Shimada Kiyoshi are all invited to Miyagaki Yotaro’s labyrinth house for his 60^th birthday party. What starts as a harmless April Fools’ joke turns into grim mass murders. They are all locked in the underground labyrinth house. Will they be alive until they figure out how to get out is the real question.

I have read all three of Yukito Ayatsuji’s novels and my love for them has increased with every addition. These are the kind of mysteries that are not a simple whodunit. They are unpredictable. They always have way too many characters. They’re always cantered around a complicatedly built house, all of which are the works of the architect Nakamura Seiji. Whether you enjoy mysteries or not, read Japanese translations or not, you should definitely read this one. I have rated The Labyrinth House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong at 5/5 stars!

~~MY FRIENDS by FREDRIK BACKMAN~~

I completed reading My Friends only yesterday, so I am still processing it, while also forgetting everything I read. But, the one thing constant with Backman’s books is that you remember how you felt reading them. He’s a wonderful story teller, which is testament in this book as well. He has a story to tell, not a plot to build; that’s how I can best describe the book. It’s the coming-of-age story of four friends from isolated or abusive families, who all grew up together for a few years but made memories in that time that would last forever. I have rated My Friends by Fredrik Backman at 4/5 stars!

~~STATS & MORE~~

Both the books I read were recently published. The book buying ban is not eligible when it’s my favorite authors new books. So, I read them from my physical TBR, so to speak. I loved that both the books I read were translations from Japanese & Swedish. And most of all, I loved that I loved them both!

~~LIFE LATELY~~

Slides 1 & 2: My dad published a book!!! ‘शब्द कसे हे पुरे पडावे’ by Ravindra Shenolikar is a collection of poems, written in Marathi language. I feel so amazed at how wonderfully he made this happen. I’m super super proud of his accomplishment. A separate post on this is upcoming!

Slide 3: Daily workouts are going strong! Some times my mom also joins me on walks and strength training sessions!

Slide 4: 💐

Slides 5 & 6: Brunching with bestie at Shy, Chembur!

Slide 7: Turns out you can catch Pokémon on Google Chrome!

Slide 8: Taylor owns everything she has made!

Slide 9: I go from one face to another in a matter of sentence. 🙃

Slide 10: Family get-together!

Slide 11: 💖

I am very keen on reading Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Strange Houses by Uketsu & Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab next month!

Until next time,