{"id":4191,"date":"2025-05-31T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T13:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4191"},"modified":"2025-05-31T13:52:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T13:52:57","slug":"may-2025-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4191","title":{"rendered":"May 2025 Recap!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 months down, 7 more to go! Unbelievable how fast yet slow the time is going. May has been unpredictable in its entirety, which I equal parts loved and hated. Picnic with a friend, concert with parents, leadership meet in the office, a play with parents, fangirling over Pedro Pascal with a friend, paintings & reading & writing solo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a new record for rains in May in Mumbai for the first time in 107 years. There was a loss of faith and subsequent surprise of acceptance for certain things & people. There was a sense of routine but also a sense of adventure by reclaiming weekends to just do something.. anything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, there was so much uncertainty in the country and even though it was for a short time, it was scary as hell. With so much ambiguity, emotions were all over the place. Can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t let my imagination run amok, but there\u2019s always time for self-regulation, growth and improvement, isn\u2019t there? So, here we are at the end of a tumultuous May!
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~~BOOKS READ IN MAY~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I read 2 BOOKS across 727 PAGES in MAY.<\/mark><\/strong> I have accepted the reading of 1 or 2 books a month as the new normal now. It\u2019s always fun to read latest books than backdated. I don\u2019t really care if it\u2019s the FOMO or just the thought of something new that makes me want to read.. as long as I\u2019m reading, I\u2019ll take any reason as acceptable! Both the books I read this month were latest releases and I enjoyed reading them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS: There are 3 publications next month from my favorite authors, so really looking forward to them! (My Friends by Fredrik Backman, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins-Reid, Strange Houses by Uketsu. Also looking forward to read Thinking About Thinking by Grand Snider.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE by EMILY HENRY~~<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have two authors in a month-long audition to write\u00a0Margaret Ives\u2019 biography. So, the novel is her story right from her great grandfather, and it\u2019s also the story of writes;\u00a0Alice and Hayden. I enjoyed reading Margaret\u2019s story, because how couldn\u2019t I?\u00a0It has a rags to riches story, drama, tragedies, disappearances, too many characters who have too many secrets.\u00a0That part of the book was fun to read. But, of course, because it was similar to TJR\u2019s writing, I immediately had high expectations which were tough to meet. As for Alice & Hayden\u2019s story, it\u2019s nothing we haven\u2019t read before. An empath woman falling for a surly man who is only considerate for her. I didn\u2019t find any typical EH romance elements with these two. Sure, there was a lot of build-up, but it never felt \u2018meant-to-be\u2019. The major problem in my reading experience was the big disconnect between the two story lines, and the very obvious and sole connection which I saw coming early on. I have rated Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry at 3\/5 stars.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~VERA WONG\u2019S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN) by JESSE Q. SUTANTO~~<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Jesse Q. Sutanto is an amazing storyteller. I have read a few books of hers, and Vera Wong series has my heart. I think I always love elderly people solving mysteries as a genre because I love reading The Thursday Murder Club series, and An Elderly Lady is up to No Good duology & love watching Only Murders in the Building. Vera is only 60 years old, but the amount of times she calls herself a frail oldy lady will have you fooled, just like she intends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this second novel in the Vera Wong universe, we see the mystery reaching a more tense and serious situation with higher stakes. I loved that about this one. I\u2019ll share a review soon as well. I have rated Vera Wong\u2019s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto at 4\/5 stars!<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~READING STATS & MORE~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the last few months I thought it would be impossible for me to get back into digital reading, because all my recent reads were from my physical TBR. So, I was pleasantly surprised how easily I could slip back into it and read two books!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~LIFE LATELY~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Slide 1:<\/strong> This month I re-re-started my commitment to health! Daily workouts are back just like before. And, this time no cheat workouts and nothing less than 40 minutes allowed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 2:<\/strong> I went to watch a Marathi play called \u2018Filter Coffee\u2019 with my parents. I had only seen plays twice before, so it was a different experience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 3 & 4:<\/strong> My friend Suruchi and I went to a park earlier in the month, and what fun! I think it was near-perfect weather which we had for maybe 2 days because otherwise it was too hot or too humid or too rainy! Lucky us. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 5:<\/strong> I feel like I have replaced the time I gave to reading with painting. Every weekend I can\u2019t wait to the time I paint. I\u2019m loving this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 6:<\/strong> There was a leadership meet, so obviously I couldn\u2019t go to the office like I always do. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 7: <\/strong>\ud83d\ude0a\ud83d\ude0a\ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 8:<\/strong> The picture says it all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 9: <\/strong>Annual meetup with school friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slide 10 to 12<\/strong>: Went to All Heart Tour \u2013 Mumbai Concert to listen to Shreya Ghoshal live! Parents really enjoyed it, and I realized I need to listen to more Bollywood songs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, that is all, folks! With monsoons coming in, it\u2019s always tough to work in gloomy-lazy weather. Let\u2019s see how well I do this time around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! 5 months down, 7 more to go! Unbelievable how fast yet slow the time is going. May has been unpredictable in its entirety, which I equal parts loved and hated. Picnic with a friend, concert with parents, leadership meet in the office, a play with parents, fangirling over Pedro Pascal with a friend, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4194,"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":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-4191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews","tag-monthly-wrap-up"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Picsart_25-05-26_17-19-03-486-1-1.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1798,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1798","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":0},"title":"The Travelling Cat Chronicles : A Warm Light-Hearted Story","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I am back with another review, this time it\u2019s going to be a mini review after I wrote a big detailed review for The Mountains Sing! After two intense reads, I picked up The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. I had bought this months ago like many\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\/2022\/01\/PSX_20220112_151907-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/PSX_20220112_151907-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/PSX_20220112_151907-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/PSX_20220112_151907-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/PSX_20220112_151907-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3285,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3285","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":1},"title":"January 2024 Wrap-Up!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! After 84 years, January has finally ended! But, what a month to start the year! I feel like I did a lot of fun stuff, read quite less, spent time with my people, worked more than I did all of last quarter, worked out more too, tried new\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\/01\/PSX_20240129_201555-02-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/PSX_20240129_201555-02-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/PSX_20240129_201555-02-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/PSX_20240129_201555-02-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/PSX_20240129_201555-02-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4311,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4311","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":2},"title":"Book Recommendation: My Friends by Fredrik Backman","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! By now you know my reading choices. If Fredrik Backman publishes anything, I am going to read it. Novel? Yes. Short story? Yes. Instagram Post Caption? Yes. Grocery List? Yes. Anything? YES! So, I didn\u2019t think twice before reading his latest book My Friends! And, oh what 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\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=39","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":3},"title":"September Reads!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"September 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Going to make a quick one out of this. As you all know, I have read ONLY THREE BOOKS this month. I have also reviewed all of them, so you can check them out if you haven\u2019t already! \u00a0 ~~THE GREAT ALONE by KRISTIN HANNAH~~ My Rating: 4\/5\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\/-M0-tv9fAeQY\/X3LQ0Cdf5aI\/AAAAAAAAjvw\/LXy5n7vlbxsWJdfGvfMscEwulbjCPtyVQCLcBGAsYHQ\/w480-h640\/PSX_20200928_161127-02.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2971,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2971","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":4},"title":"Books Read in August 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"August 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! August seems like the longest month ever, but in the best possible way. I achieved a lot of milestones and generally had a happy month. My favourite colleague did leave the workplace, which was the saddest moment during the month, but we have the kind of friendship that\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\/2023\/08\/PSX_20230827_144238-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/PSX_20230827_144238-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/PSX_20230827_144238-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/PSX_20230827_144238-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/PSX_20230827_144238-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=75","url_meta":{"origin":4191,"position":5},"title":"Books as Outfits!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"April 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! 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This\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\/-qEWz3Ci44-w\/XqRxoXJKrFI\/AAAAAAAAitY\/o_MxuFilwSMaKQMDqdAyqmUN3jutul6fwCLcBGAsYHQ\/s400\/FB_IMG_1587835117589-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191","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=4191"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4263,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions\/4263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}