Tag: Books

Short Story Review: Death of a Government Clerk by Anton Chekhov

Anusha Narasimhan1 Comment

Summary:

In this absurd satire, a government clerk accidentally sneezes on a superior’s neck. This makes him worried about how his superior would react and if there would be any repercussions to this. When he apologises, his superior is calm and dismisses the incident. However, he is not able to relax. He apologizes multiple times, each time making his superior more and more irritated. In the end, he passes away simply because he was so terrified of upsetting his superior and possibly facing severe consequences.

Continue reading “Short Story Review: Death of a Government Clerk by Anton Chekhov” →

Book Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Anusha NarasimhanLeave a comment

At the center of the story is a magical school. If you’re thinking about Hogwarts, this is nothing like that. There are no teachers, no holidays and the school kind of tries to kill the students. So why enroll? In this world, magical children are in danger from monsters everywhere. Till they grow old enough and skilled enough to be able to handle themselves, the school acts as a safehouse but still cannot keep all of the monsters out.

Continue reading “Book Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik” →

Book Review: Calculated by Nova McBee

Anusha NarasimhanLeave a comment

I’m glad to have stumbled upon this underrated gem. The main character, Josephine Rivers, is a child prodigy with a knack for numbers. Mathematics is hidden all around us and we can predict many things using applied mathematics. Josephine’s ability to physically see equations in her surroundings or when she thinks of a situation and calculate them in real time lets her make perfect predictions and take precise decisions. This makes her a target of a criminal mastermind who wants to use her powers for profit.

Continue reading “Book Review: Calculated by Nova McBee” →

All Systems Red: Why the Most Human Character Is a Robot

Anusha Narasimhan2 Comments

Many Science fiction books and movies feature sentient robots or Artificial Intelligence that evolves to gain consciousness. These stories often end up in a man v/s machine theme. The robots may crave power and think they are superior to the fragile humans and decide to kill them off. Or they may enslave humans in a matrix to use us as a source of their power supply. They may even decide to end some humans for the sake of preserving humanity as a whole.

There is differing opinion on how close we are to Artificial Sentience or Machine Consciousness. Continue reading “All Systems Red: Why the Most Human Character Is a Robot” →

The Night Circus: A Review and What to Read Next

Anusha Narasimhan5 Comments

This story is set in, as you may have guessed, a circus. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves. As the title suggests, it opens only at night and arrives without warning. Within its black-and-white striped tents is a magical and utterly unique experience. The descriptions of the setting was the main focus of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style.

Continue reading “The Night Circus: A Review and What to Read Next” →

How to Get Out of a Reading Slump

Anusha Narasimhan7 Comments

My experience with a long reading slump:

In 2020, I stopped reading.

I would pick up a book out of habit, read a page, and immediately put it down again. Trying to keep up with the coronavirus news, being anxious about the state of the world, taking precautions like washing hands and obsessing over cleanliness in general leaves you physically and mentally drained.

Also, I just could not bring myself to read books and gush about them during a pandemic. It would be similar to Nero fiddling when Rome burned. Not that I have the power of an emperor to make a difference to the situation, but it still felt that way. Continue reading “How to Get Out of a Reading Slump” →

40 Long Books Worth the Commitment (1000+ Pages)

Anusha Narasimhan2 Comments

Hey there! Tired of staying at home during the lockdown/self-isolation/quarantine/whatever you want to call this situation? If you are like me, you are probably having a hard time processing strings of words longer than a blog post and finding creative ways to procrastinate your reading habit. Maybe you are reading more than usual and the act of finishing a book a day is making you realise how long you haven’t stepped out of the house.

If you fall in the latter category, then fret not. I’ve collated a list of books over 1000 pages across genres to make you forget that you are in quarantine. (Yup, I just procrastinated my reading by compiling a booklist)

Read more

Book Review: On Immunity – Eula Biss

Anusha NarasimhanLeave a comment

This book is a collection of essays from the author’s perspective as a doctor’s daughter and a mother. It informs the reader about immunity, viruses, history of some diseases, clinical trials and vaccination. It also explains the concept of herd immunity and the process involved in finding a vaccine for a disease. All these are very relevant to the current crisis of coronavirus. Continue reading “Book Review: On Immunity – Eula Biss” →

Revisiting the Pale Blue Dot

Anusha NarasimhanLeave a comment

Today, February 14, 2020, is a very special day. It marks the 30th anniversary of the “Pale Blue Dot” image. This is a picture of Earth taken by NASA’s Voyager-1 after passing Neptune on its way out of the solar system. In this image, Earth appears as a speck of pale blue light. You could even say it looks like a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Continue reading “Revisiting the Pale Blue Dot” →

How to make your reading habit less expensive

Anusha Narasimhan5 Comments

This post is part 3 of the Reading 101 series. Say you’ve taken an interest in reading, formed a reading habit and learned to make time for reading. Sooner or later you will find that it can be pretty expensive to sustain a reading habit. Depending on whether you like to read only physical books or if you are okay with any format of books, there are ways to make your reading habit cost less or nothing at all. Continue reading “How to make your reading habit less expensive” →

Equal Rites: A Review, and Where to Start with Discworld

Anusha Narasimhan6 Comments

Equal Rites at a glance: Third Discworld novel (1987) and the first of the Witches books. It introduces Granny Weatherwax and Eskarina Smith, the first girl to inherit a wizard’s staff.

  • Publication order: #3 — after The Colour of Magic (1983) and The Light Fantastic (1986), before Mort (1987).
  • Witches sub-series: Equal Rites (1987) → Wyrd Sisters (1988) → Witches Abroad (1991) → Lords and Ladies (1992) → Maskerade (1995) → Carpe Jugulum (1998).

Review

The story starts off with a dying wizard passing on his power to the newborn Eskarina Smith without knowing that she is a girl. The only people who witness this are her father and the midwife, Granny Weatherwax, who also happens to be a witch. Continue reading “Equal Rites: A Review, and Where to Start with Discworld” →

3 Simple Tips To Make Time For Reading

Anusha Narasimhan6 Comments

It is New Year’s Eve! The time of the year when people who either don’t read much or have drifted apart from their reading habit take up a resolution to read more. It is also the time when many bibliophiles decide what reading challenges to sign up for in the upcoming year and wonder if they can read ‘X’ number of books. Whichever category you belong to, it can be difficult to find time for reading. Continue reading “3 Simple Tips To Make Time For Reading” →

How to Build a Reading Habit That Actually Sticks

Anusha Narasimhan10 Comments

This is Part 1 of my Reading 101 series. If you are one of those people who really wished they read more books but could not start and/or maintain a reading habit, then this post is for you. Even if you are a disbeliever and think reading is only a substitute for sleeping pills, do try the tips below and you just might cave in and enter the wonderful world of literature. Continue reading “How to Build a Reading Habit That Actually Sticks” →

42 Quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Anusha Narasimhan4 Comments

If you’re not familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (or H2G2 in short), you’re probably wondering why I’m listing 42 quotes from a series. It’s kind of unusual to make a list of 42 quotes right? Well, the answer is at the end of the post. And if you read the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, which I strongly recommend, you may also develop a liking for this number.

Continue reading “42 Quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” →

The Little Prince: Meaning, Themes, and Why Adults Need It

Anusha Narasimhan12 Comments

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a French children’s book. This classic is suitable for readers of all ages. I’d particularly urge adults to read it. The story is narrated by a pilot who crashes his plane in the Sahara desert and encounters the titular little prince. The little prince tells the narrator thought-provoking stories about his planet and his travels.
Continue reading “The Little Prince: Meaning, Themes, and Why Adults Need It” →