Reading is the thing.

Summer is already here. We are a fortnight into April and it’s scorching. I wonder how we will survive May. Just like we do every year I guess. The years keep piling on but my concerns, it seems, remain unchanged. Weather plays a big part in my life because it directly affects my well being so the obsessive checking of the weather app once I get up is justified, I think. Too hot, too cold, too humid, too windy – I must take precautions and dress accordingly. To carry an umbrella or scarf ? The minutiae of everyday life, you know, keeps me going.

In the last week of March I raced through Broken Ground, a Karen Pirie thriller and forced myself to stop there because I like to have all the books that are published in a series, and I’m yet to acquire the latest one, Past Lying. Also, I’m in no hurry. I want to read The Distant Echo again where Karen first makes an appearance. It will be interesting to read after watching Emer Kenny’s fabulous adaptation of the first book where Lauren Lyle plays detective Karen Pirie (She knocks it out of the park in this one.) 

In between I read Colm Toibin’s compelling book about Agamemnon’s family in the background of the Trojan War, which was strangely satisfying after the anguish I felt at the way The Song of Achilles ended. After the bloodbath in House of Names, I needed a break, not from murder and mayhem but Greek mythology! I craved the comfort of the familiar so off I went to another beloved author, Susan Hill.

I recently finished listening to The Shadows in the Street which features DCI Simon Serrailler, and I can’t believe she has done it again. I have been steadily making my way through the Simon Serrailer books and saying I’m a fan is old news because I have gushed about her on the blog before. Though I love the audiobooks (Steven Pacey adds so much atmosphere to the books), I have procured a few hardbacks over the years (I broke my book buying ban in April to get two books from the series, and I couldn’t be happier!) and to say I’m really looking forward to reading them is stating the obvious! Can you believe it took me 6 years to pick up a Simon Serrailler book? I thank my lucky stars I decided to read a couple of pages to decide the fate of the book, and just like that I found a new favourite.

Walking meditation

Walking is integral to my life. I like exploring the city on foot and walking on unknown roads rediscovering the city I call my home. Spring is the perfect time to prance about in delight because it’s not too hot and not too cold, the perfect time to be out and about with a book in tow.  Now the roads are unusually empty because the schools are yet to reopen. I cherish the peace and quiet of these mornings more than words could convey. Nothing makes me happier than walking about the neighbourhood during twilight, exchanging nods with familiar faces, running errands or just walking to the park to sit and read, if I am too tired to walk.

When I read about walking meditation for the first time I thought what is he on about. Then I read it again after my torn ligament, whose recovery was complex as anyone with a torn ligament would attest to. It left me frustrated at being unable to move at the pace I’m used to and that is when walking meditation came to my rescue. Thich Nhat Hanh’s book not only helped me see things in a different light but allowed me to finally accept things as they are. I would have wanted to throw the book across the room if I had read it when I was recuperating at home impatiently waiting to rejoin the world as I left it, but things change, and we have to change with them. As they say timing is everything.

It’s a leap year.

2024 is a leap year. I don’t know why I felt the need to open with that. Perhaps because it is my first post of the year. I know I have been away and then posting became harder and harder. I blamed life and yet at the back of my mind there was always this feeling that I should try to post something meaningful. I should have just done it. After a point you are just done hiding (read procrastinating) because it takes much more energy than actually needed to do the thing you have been putting off. So here’s me restarting again. Please don’t tear me apart.

Dune on my mind

Also, I saw Dune 2 and I cannot stop thinking about it. I saw both the films back to back, and I had no idea what all the fuss was about until a few days ago! The last film I saw of Timmy’s was Wonka, and I can’t believe it’s the same guy. What an actor! Honestly, I have been in awe of him since CMBYN and he just keeps getting better and better. I’m so happy to see it on the big screen. A film like this needs to be seen in the theatre, and I deeply regret not seeing the first one in theatres. It had such an impact on me that now I’m ready to buy a hard copy when I’m supposed to be on a book buying ban until winter. Maybe I will use the women’s day discounts to my advantage!

Book talk – The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill

I am finally making my way through the Simon Serrailler books a year after I read the first one, The Betrayal of Trust, but I didn’t know my heart would be ripped out multiple times while reading them. It was initially supposed to be a three book series beginning with The Various Haunts of Men, which has the worst ending in a book I have read in recent times, and I wanted to throw my copy across the room but I was too busy crying my eyes out! I’m glad I had the hard copy of The Risk of Darkness, the third one in the series, because it would have been hard for me to listen to on Audible (absolutely brilliantly read by Steven Pacey), especially after the second one, The Pure in Heart, which was a sad book to say the least, and listening to it was agonizing. Little did I know what lay in store for me with this one. I was in a funk for days after finishing this even though the cases were resolved (finally!). You live with the aftermath. Quite like life, isn’t it?

I am in awe of the themes the author deals with while juggling multiple plots, but it is for her engaging characters I keep returning to the Simon Serrailler books. For DCI Simon Serrailler himself, and his family – father, mother, sister, brother-in-law, nephew and niece, you continue reading to find out how they deal with what happens as they live through one tragedy after another. It is very satisfying to see how they have evolved through the series.

Susan Hill is a gifted writer, and one who doesn’t shy away from asking difficult questions. She asks us to examine the scenarios we are presented within the stories, the dilemmas they grapple with, the decisions which need to be taken, and the burdensome things one can do nothing about, except live with. You find yourself weighing in, and wondering what you would have done in a similar situation. Her books should not be read when you are looking for escape, dropped deep into the story of various characters you will find yourself examining your own life carefully, things you have pushed to the back of your mind, which come into focus of their own accord.

Book Talk – Out of Bounds by Val McDermid

A while ago I was walking to the bus stop with a spring in my step because I had decided to not leave my book at home. The suspense wouldn’t kill me but even if I only get to read a little bit while in transit, it’s a win. I both love and hate it when substantial effort is needed to physically wrench myself from the book I am knee deep in, and go forth into the real world looking like I belong. (Nose buried in books looks good only when reading in safe places, sigh).

Reading in my backyard

I’m steadily making my way though Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie books, and boy do these books pack a wallop. The Skeleton Road ended on a cliffhanger so of course I had to break my online book buying ban and get the next one which is Out of Bounds. Each book has a strong sense of history (since she heads the cold cases unit) which is seamlessly integrated with the present. I am not a fan of history, and usually get bored, but I found myself looking up stuff she mentioned in her books.

I think now I have got a sense of who Karen is, and I really like the sharp no nonsense persona she exudes. Far from simpering or flattering to be in her superiors’ good books I like how Karen isn’t intimidated by them and makes them eat crow if they are patronizing idiots. For her it’s the case which takes precedence, and not doing things by the book. In Out of Bounds, she takes it a step further and pursues a case which isn’t hers. She has a biting sense of humour which includes poking fun at herself but which fails to endear herself to her superiors because more often than not they are the butt of her jokes. I guess it’s her way of dealing with the office politics, and the the world.

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

It took me nearly a decade and a half to return to JK Rowling (I took my own sweet time to read the Strike books), and now I can’t seem to stop. Now that I have read all the Strike books it was time to tackle the book which has sat on my shelf the longest, her first book for adults, The Casual Vacancy. Let me tell you it doesn’t make for easy reading (understatement of the century!). Why didn’t I know that? Oh wait, I avoided posts and reviews like the plague because hello spoilers. It’s hard to believe it was published 11 years ago and it has been in my possession for 9 years! I even remember where I bought it and how ecstatic I was on having found a first edition of the book. The hardbound edition and the font reminded me of the Harry Potter books I have cradled over the years. It’s nice to have something familiar to hold on to when you are cast adrift because this is a different beast altogether.

The book begins with a man dying and how it sets off a chain of events in a community. A good man who made a difference in people’s lives dies and leaves behind a young wife and kids. Rowling’s preoccupation with death is nothing new and here a dead man tells tales! The book brings into sharp focus the dynamics between parents and their teenage children contrasting different parenting styles and marriages, and the effect (or the lack of it) it has on their children’s lives. Sometimes it feels like these teenagers live on a different planet altogether, the chasm is so wide. The kind of families she writes about is so steeped in reality that they could exist anywhere. You realize people are the same everywhere. The same mix of good and bad, fat and thin, beautiful and ugly, kind and mean, generous and stingy, but beatific angels and wily devils they are not, just deeply flawed human beings.

People are just people.

She went to the kitchen to pour herself some coffee. She was meant to have given up coffee, but what was the point of living without coffee? Living, it seemed to her, was the acquiring of bad habits. Dying, the process of rescinding them. Death was the land without habits. Without coffee.

It was a Sunday evening. While waiting outside the car for my relatives, who were busy running errands, I spotted a tea stall on the road. It was chilly after a downpour and a very active day by my standards and my heart soared at the thought of coffee (It was barely 7pm but I had yawned half a dozen times by then) but I told myself to keep my expectations in check lest it might not be available.

At the stall there was a lady busy brewing regular milky tea (she had a sugar free version too) and serving it from an old fashioned kettle. I asked her if she made coffee as well. She nodded and that is how I ended up sipping hot coffee in a nice paper cup. An unhurried cuppa is a sublime thing and rarer than the blue moon if you don’t plan your day well in advance. While cradling the cup I said it was pretty, and she beamed. The smile stayed on her face for quite some time and her face was completely transformed by it.

Lovin’ each day

Some mysteries remain
to be worked out
adding a touch
of something new
to our drab days
reeking of sameness
monotonous with routine.
Each day holds
the promise
of something new
in its bosom.
We can never say
we have seen it all
until our eyes close
in a forever sleep.
We continue to
take in the world
living each day.

The light, the light.

Always the light
playing games
its inherent nature playful.
Like a toddler with a huge grin
winking at us puny humans
having a right laugh
at our expense
our faces lined with worry
as we go about our days
until we look up
to see the show.

Is it a trick of light
or the eye
who knows?
Does it matter
whether
it is the moon
or the sun?
One celestial body
or the other
does the job,
resplendent
shedding light
on our mortal paths
allowing us to be immortal
in that moment.

I’m alive

Eat your heart out
tempestuous fate
for I plan on
living my life
to the fullest
in spite of the curve balls
you so like to throw
to catch me unawares.
I will stumble
and bend
but won’t break.
Scurry along
and
leave me
in my
imperfect glory.
I have got
a life
to live.