Books
On my journey of finding joy in reading + preview of books I intend to read in the coming months
Happy Sunday!
And welcome to today’s edition of ‘Conscious living with Purnima’. In today’s post I share with you my journey of cultivating a reading habit, its weakening over the years & how I wish to revive it. I will also be sharing with you what I intend to read in the coming months. I also have a few asks of you towards the end of the post that I hope you will answer ☺️
So, let’s get started.
Down the memory lane:
By virtue of my dad’s transferable job, I found myself travelling from one city to another every 2-3 years. I spent initial years of my life in the North - Chandigarh, Ambala & Jalandhar (Punjab) to be precise. From Punjab I moved to Madras (now called Chennai). I was 8 years old at the time and could converse very well in Hindi & a bit of Punjabi 😀 Sadly, those language skills were of no use to me at my new destination where children mostly spoke in English & Tamil. Lost would be an understatement for what I was experiencing that year.
Luckily, books came to my rescue.
By stroke of luck, I made a friend who was into reading. My journey with reading began with the classics. The first book I read was the abridged version of “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. I loved it and after that there was no looking back. My English language skills improved & in no time I was at par with my peers. And because I had company, I also enjoyed the reading journey. My friend & I would use our meagre pocket money to buy secondhand books from the raddiwala (one who takes old books, magazines & newspapers), summer holidays were spent reading late into the night, journey back home from school in the bus was spent reading. To think of it, whole of my schooling years and beyond were filled with finding joy from reading. As I transitioned into adult life, books continued to remain my favourite companions.
Infact when I got married & moved homes, my most precious and heaviest possessions were trunk load of books 😅. But after that as work life & family life took over, the reading habit started to weaken. Over the years I have been reading a LOT less than I would prefer. And going forward I would like to change that. End of the day it is about prioritising what’s important for one, isn’t it?
Books for the upcoming months:
Here are some physical copies of books that I intend to read in the immediate months ahead 🤩
Some of these like “The body keeps the score” & “Curious lives” have been lying on my bookshelf for a long time. “Curious lives” is a book I never get around to finishing. Somehow! Though I love it while I am reading it. Richard Bach has a way of making me stop & contemplate. But this book is nothing like his previous ones and for me to not lose the plot, requires that I not give too many days gap between reading this.
“Zen, the art of simple living” is a lovely little book with simple yet profound daily practices. I love the simplicity & practical application of it.
“Meditations”, “Thirukkural” & “Essentials of Rumi” are for my morning reading to set an inspiring tone for my day. I intend to pick a page to read every morning.
Subroto Bagchi’s, “The Elephant Catchers” caught my attention in the business section of the bookstore. I found the first few pages highly engaging and couldn’t stop myself from bringing it home. “Mind over Money” is a random pick as the topic as well as the authors writing style appealed to me. I hope it turns out to be a good read.
“The Psychology of Money” would be a reread. I enjoy Morgan Housel’s writing. I am subscribed to his Newsletter, the Collaborative Fund that my cousin introduced me to. I relish it & make sure I read all of the blogpost written by him & his team at the Collab Fund. You should check it out if you haven't already. If you are anything like me, then you will like it too 🙌
And here are 3 books I have on Kindle that I intend to read in the coming months:
I completed my 8-week MBSR (Mindfulness based stress reduction) course last year and want to now read this book “Full Catastrophe living” by Jon Kabat Zin as a refresher to the course.
I have come across many excerpts and quotes from the book “The Soul Solution” that have spoken to me at a deep level. I am now waiting to see what practical guidelines this book offers that I am not already aware of.
“Women talk money” has been on my mind. I have read an essay or two from the book and found them powerful. I am looking forward to reading the rest now.
My ask of you:
Now coming to the last part of this post, a few things I would like to know from you. I know that many of you who read my Newsletter read a lot. So, tell me:
A. Which was the first book you read & fondly recall? (from your memory of course)
B. What are you currently reading or intend to read in the coming months?
C. Do you know of any small reading community that takes interest in reading, sharing, & discussing ideas? I know of large groups but am looking for something small. If yes, then do let me know 🙂
FYI:
I will be taking a little writing break for the next two weeks. I have a few professional projects to wrap up & I also want to spend sometime away from social media. You can call it a social media detox to engage more with the real world 🙂
You will hear from me in June. Until then take good care of yourself. Know that no matter what your life circumstance, and no matter how you get treated by others, if you can be there for yourself with love, compassion & kindness, everything will be alright 🙂
a. I have always been a poor reader of books during school days - except The Hindu and The Indian express, but if my memory is not wrong - remember reading The famous five series.
My reading picked up pace from college years, and still engage with them over weekends and free time, gives me lot of happiness and sense of calming down. I pick up new genre of reading, everytime i pick a new book.
b. Currently, am reading The Earned Life by Marshall Goldsmith.
c. We can start a small WhatsApp group and invite common minds to it
The first big book was from an Enid Blyton school series called St. Clares. I am rather challenged too with keeping up with reading. Still reading the book I borrowed from you "The Bullet Journal" :-) and have quite a few others lined up to read.
Maybe you can check out Atta Galatta , they seem to have some reading communities....