{"id":1217,"date":"2021-05-31T07:12:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T07:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1217"},"modified":"2021-05-31T07:12:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T07:12:09","slug":"books-read-in-may-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1217","title":{"rendered":"Books Read in May 2021!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hi\u00a0Readers! We are already on the last day of May! How was your month? It was incredibly hot & humid in Mumbai, which sure sucked. I hate summers & because of the whole covid scenario, we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0eat as much ice cream as we did earlier. Other than that, it was\u00a0a good reading\u00a0month. I read SEVEN BOOKS this month, of which 3 were poetry books & 4 were novels. <\/strong><\/span>It started out slow, but after I read those poetry books, I got a good momentum back. Check out the books below!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~FOUR NOVELS~~\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

~~WHEREABOUTS by JHUMPA LAHIRI~~<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whereabouts is a\u00a0treasure box of untethered creativity & a\u00a0wondrous\u00a0flooding of imagination. Jhumpa Lahiri has taken the ordinary & made it extraordinary. Making the monotonous so beautifully wonderful is an art & Jhumpa Lahiri has made it all seem so simple, that it leaves me baffled.\u00a0Without a sold plot, memorable characters or a purpose, this book has somehow achieved that edge of\u00a0raw simplicity\u00a0where every reader loves to dwell. I have rated\u00a0Jhumpa Lahiri\u2019s \u2018Whereabouts\u2019 at 4.5\/5 stars!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I will\u00a0definitely\u00a0recommend\u00a0reading this book.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the full review here<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by EMILY HENRY~~<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Against my better judgement, I read another boring, predictable, stupid romantic novel. From the theme of the novel to the story writing to the characters, it was all a bit too meh. The reading experience during this one was completely miserable. I have rated this book at 2\/5 stars<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the full review here<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~FIRST PERSON SINGULAR by HARUKI MURAKAMI~~<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Translated to English just this year, I was keen on reading this collection of short stories by Murakami. There are eight short stories in it & each story is unique in its own Murakami way. Here\u2019s my per story rating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cream 2\/5 
On a Stone Pillow 4\/5 
Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova 5\/5 
With the Beatles 3.5\/5 
Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey 4\/5 
Carnaval 3\/5 
The Yakult Swallow Poetry Collection 2\/5 
First Person Singular 2\/5 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading this, I realised that I enjoy reading Murakami\u2019s novels a lot more than the short stories. That way there is a lot of scope for all the weirdness to realise. The characters are also more interesting as is the story. My overall rating for First Person Singular is 2.5\/5 stars!\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~PACHINKO by MIN JIN LEE~~<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I finished Pachinko just yesterday and I am still\u00a0in the process of processing\u00a0it. It is the story of a Korean family told over 100 years. The story writing is\u00a0absolutely beautiful & brilliant. The characterization is also written wonderfully. Apart from this, the major lesson is how Koreans were treated during & after the war. Because of that harsh & unfair treatment, many of them have suicidal thoughts. So, it talks a lot of about mental health as well. I am working on the review & it will take some time for me to put all my thoughts on the review. Either way, stay tuned, it will be a good one! I have rated\u00a0Pachinko\u00a0at 5\/5 stars!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~THREE POETRY BOOKS~~<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

THE\u00a0PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE BY AMANDA LOVELACE<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

LOVE & MISADVENTURE by LANG LEAV<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

THE HILL WE CLIMB by AMANDA GORMAN<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I had to read three poetry books as a part of my 2021 Reading Challenge<\/a>. Because I was a lot behind on the challenge this year, I thought reading 3 short poetry books will help speed the process. I did not enjoy the first two books at all. They were very generic & nothing really hit me. Nothing was relatable & it felt kind of like a drag. There was really nothing that I haven\u2019t read before. On the other hand, The Hill We Climb, was a lot more interesting. I think everyone had heard Amanda Gorman orate her poem on Joe Biden\u2019s Presidential Inauguration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, that\u2019s all for now! I am currently reading Brandon Sanderson\u2019s \u2018The Way of Kings\u2019 from the\u00a0Stormlight\u00a0Archive series. And still reading \u2018Why We Sleep\u2019 by Matthew Walker.<\/strong><\/span> Which books did you read this month? Is your TBR increasing or has it reduced? Let me know in the comments below!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi\u00a0Readers! We are already on the last day of May! How was your month? It was incredibly hot & humid in Mumbai, which sure sucked. I hate summers & because of the whole covid scenario, we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0eat as much ice cream as we did earlier. Other than that, it was\u00a0a good reading\u00a0month. I read SEVEN BOOKS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/MayReads-FI-scaled.jpg?fit=1936%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3798,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3798","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":0},"title":"December 2024 Wrapup!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Here we are at the end of the year already! December has been the best month, full of family, reflections, and a good kind of busy to it. Anyway, all of this will be more in the 2024 Year in Review posts! As of this month, I read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PXL_20241207_163223229-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PXL_20241207_163223229-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PXL_20241207_163223229-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PXL_20241207_163223229-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PXL_20241207_163223229-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=87","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":1},"title":"January Reads!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"February 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! How are you all? How has the first month of 2020 treated you?Well, for me, I\u2019m already kind of beat. I sure started the year with a\u00a0LOT\u00a0of goals, what with the\u00a020 Things to do in 2020, 52 Books in 52 Weeks & the Habit Tracker! All these things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-L9aluLT3bI8\/XkF6-pVPN-I\/AAAAAAAAiek\/MfUa9XpzeLsvLT5z7sxzzvlbc4Sp5rFygCLcBGAsYHQ\/s640\/Shout.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4097,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4097","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":2},"title":"March 2025 Recap!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"March 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Birthday month is finally over, but it was fabulous (mostly!) I took a nice short break at the beginning of the month to be with my friends and de-stress. I also got to live alone for about a week, so yay independent woman! I ate delicious food. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250329_114144864-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250329_114144864-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250329_114144864-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250329_114144864-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250329_114144864-2-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1372,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1372","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":3},"title":"Books Read in July 2021!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"August 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! July is already done and dusted! It was the best month for me reading wise. I read NINE BOOKS this month & I'm super proud of myself. I read THREE CLASSICS, ONE MYSTERY, TWO FANTASY, ONE ROMANCE, ONE AUTOBIOGRAPHY & ONE NONFICTION. Quite a range, am I right?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PSX_20210731_232056-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PSX_20210731_232056-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PSX_20210731_232056-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PSX_20210731_232056-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PSX_20210731_232056-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=136","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":4},"title":"March Reads!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"March 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"March is undoubtedly my favourite month of the year and why shouldn\u2019t it be? It\u2019s my BIRTHDAY MONTH!! I absolutely love celebrating it. I don\u2019t even get morose about aging. But, now that I turned 25, who knows, I might!\u00a0Another reason why March was fantastic is because I read a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-flICBhG5KcA\/XJpfKBFvhpI\/AAAAAAAAheQ\/6Uu6MMzB4P4J6QijbGvjcfBOGQIMCxUyACLcBGAs\/s400\/IMG_20190326_223232_Bokeh-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1451,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1451","url_meta":{"origin":1217,"position":5},"title":"Happy International Translation Day!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":" Hi Readers! Happy International Translation Day! I am a bit behind schedule as this was on 30th September, but better late than never! This for me only means an appreciation post for all the amazing books translated to English from many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PicsArt_10-01-05.19.20-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PicsArt_10-01-05.19.20-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PicsArt_10-01-05.19.20-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PicsArt_10-01-05.19.20-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PicsArt_10-01-05.19.20-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1222,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions\/1222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}