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Hema Kanagasabai

@hemareads

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B̶O̶O̶K̶S̶ M̶Y̶ K̶I̶D̶ L̶E̶T̶ M̶E̶ R̶E̶A̶D̶ T̶H̶I̶S̶ Y̶E̶A̶R̶ BOOKS READ IN 2024 SO FAR THE 5⭐ READS 1) THE WILL OF THE MANY - The Hunger Games+Red Rising+Harry Potter vibes all in one 2) THE BONESETTERS DAUGHTER - The mother daughter dynamics seems to be the same as in her previous books but yet the way Amy tan writes about mending relationships is so real and raw 3) THESE PRECIOUS DAYS - A non-fic , collection of essays by Ann patchet. I'm only half was through this but I'm not going to rush in and get it over with. There is so much to takeaway from this, the casual wisdom she throws away makes me feel calm and enlightened at the same time LOVED IT BUT COULD-HAVE-BEEN BETTER READS (THE 4⭐ READS) 1) IF I HAD YOUR FACE - A short read that just dips it's toes in a lot of various issues in Korea.Amidst all the very unethical shady things these characters do blooms a very beautiful sisterhood which i loved 2) STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND - This one was super creepy and dealt with so much trauma yet the author makes you laugh too. At its core it's all Eleanor Oliphant vibes but don't end up giving the same happiness like that book did 3) DOWRY OF BLOOD - Epistolary novel written by Dracula's bride Constanta after she murders him. The writing is so rich and luscious i finished it in one sitting. Explores abusive relationships that iff only there were 100 more pages to flesh out all the characters it would have been so much better THE PAGE TURNERS (THE 3⭐ THRILLERS) 1) I FOUND YOU - Lisa jewel is that author you want to pick up when you feel like you want to read a thriller but don't want it to be too dumb or too jaw dropping 2) THE WHISPERS - I recommend this and The Push both , stuffs the author writes about motherhood is eerily relatable and scary at the same time VERY QUESTIONABLE READ (2 ⭐) BRIDE - I should have stayed away but the words like Twilight's Jacob Renessme fanfic drew me in and surprisingly i enjoyed the first half. A vampire undergoes arranged marriage with a werewolf and not so serious things happen setting the tone to light & funny & steamy. Then comes the second half where the author forever ruined werewolf for me and makes it traumatic porn.Eww by @hemareads
74
2 years ago
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I used the term "permanently homesick" a lot in this last decade. I might be 33 living away from my family for years and years making a happy home with the found family , yet the feeling of leaving your parents who are also growing old feels like cotton stuck in your throat. Train good byes are not new to us , my dad keeps waving till he is just a tiny speck from the train window. If that felt like someone made a pretzel with my insides , then this , THIS , This feeling of taking not only you but also your daughter away from them feels ten times worse Maybe somewhere in a parallel universe, let's hope , the groom moves in with the bride's family and that there are no fathers waving goodbyes to their beloved daughters ❤️ #fatherdaughter #grandfatherlove #goodbyes #goodbyesarehard #homesick #bookstagram by @hemareads
41
3 years ago
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Hello 🤗 A post after almost 6 months Also Swipe to see how the photo session for this post ended 🙄 Without further ado let's get into 2023 reading updates This lil ball of energy let me read just 24 books in 2023 and here are the top 5 1)THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE BY AMY TAN - I read this right after reading wild swans memoir which made me well aware of Chinese history and made the experience more immersive. I still vividly remember all the story lines in this one and it's been almost a year since i read it. Best one ever 2) YELLOW FACE BY RF KUANG - I have been reading all of her books since poppy war release and this one made a lot of noise over Bookstagram. Bloody hell what even was this book? Damn , just read it 3) DIVINE RIVALS BY REBECCA ROSS - I'm new to this whole romantasy thing. This one was so good , 10% of fantasy that reminded me of Persephone and Hades and 90% of epistolary romance! What could go wrong? 4) THE MAKIOKA SISTERS BY TANIZAKI - read this one when i was in the final leg of my pregnancy. It's a big book and it was so meditative to read. I mean i was lying on the hospital bed with my water already being broken and was reading this in my Kindle. You can get it right? It's that meditative, calmed my nerves. Now I'm a TANIZAKI fan 5) RED RISING SERIES BY PIERCE BROWN - this one was so fast paced that i binge read all 4 books. Best sci-fi dystopian series after a long time ! Loved all the characters in this one. DID YOU READ ANY OF THESE? WHAT'S YOUR FAV 2023 BOOK ? #bookstagram #top5books by @hemareads
93
3 years ago
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Confessions... Transferring to a new school for a 7 year old introvert was scary. My new school bench-mate was the tiniest girl in class. This tiny human who makes everyone laugh ended up being my worst nightmare. One purple bruise if i don't show her the homework , two purple bruises when i try to answer the teacher's question, three four five kept blooming when her tiny hands pinched and twisted my skin under the desk. It lasted until i found new set of friends at the school with whom I'm still close with and moved away from this tiny bully of the class What's alarming in this incident is not the bullying but me who didn't talk about this incident to anyone all this time. Only while reading Confessions by Kanae Minato did i text my friends about this incident which happened 25 years ago and they were shocked i didn't complain about it to any authorities at school. What would a 7 year old know about bullying then? Another thing you need to know about this bully is that she has the kindest parents and sweetest sister.Why this irrelevant piece of information is put out here? The saying "the apple does not fall far from the tree" is a quote that always didn't make sense to me. No matter how good the parents are and how well they bring up their child has nothing to with the child's behaviour. The children are seperate individuals with their own mind and parents can't be blamed for that Confessions by Kanae Minato... Thriller is a genre i inhale every other week but when you ask me about the plot or the twists i usually tend to forget in a matter of few days. It's not the case with this Japanese thriller (read this book a year back) The story is set in a middle grade school where a teacher's 4 year old daughter dies and she suspects that her class students are the reason behind this. The events happened on this tragic day is told in multiple povs and each confession is bone chilling, grisly, makes you uncomfortable like scratching your nails against the wall and shows the dark side of human nature . Overall a ride you will never forget and digs up things you tried so hard to forget #japaneseliterature RATING - 5⭐ by @hemareads
84
3 years ago
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LIFE LATELY PIC 1 : This is my current life where i live like padayappa movie nilambari in a room 24/7 with all my essentials nearby PIC 2-10 (from August 2022 to April 2023) : I have always appreciated my spoiled rotten stomach that stood by me all my life, be it the road side cauliflower roast to the famous coimbatore kaalan seasoned with sand and stones, my college hostel half cooked meals , tubs and tubs of cup noodles, numerous packets of lays and kurkure to the local elanthavadais (ber fruit candy) , food from the floor considering the 10 seconds floor rule , from thalapakattu briyani to it's local namesake thalaalkattu briyani and thattivillas kaiyendibhavans (Street food) , from raw fish to pork you name it and i have had it This iron clad stomach failed me when this lil peanut rented it. Half a chikoo made me sick all day all the way from Ambattur to RA Puram (two localities in Chennai which are 20km apart) (P.S: it's true story).Bin bag became my best friend When people told me pregnancy is not a sickness but a beautiful journey , all i wanted was to throw a saucepan on their head just like that grudge movie opening scene Eventually everything eased up and there i was giving hi-fi to my kid in the womb (she gave it right back every time 😊) The urge to meet this lil human whose personality i felt like i already knew became too strong day by day that even when i was taken for an emergency c-section and the anaesthetist told me that the drugs will make me sleep for 3 hrs i didn't sleep. I was awake through it all to create my first memories of her. That first cry , her curled up position when they showed me right after she came out and again the cleaned up version of her side eyeing me when they kept her near , that right there was my first hi to her and with so many things stuck to my arms during surgery i did find one loose finger to caress her cheek. Legend says that i didn't sleep for the next 6 hrs too watching my baby .... And it's been a month and half , I still didn't sleep 🥱😭🥹🥲 #bookstagram #pregnancy #birthstory #newmom #newmomlife #pregnancylife #lifeinayear #lifelately #newmommy #pregnantlife by @hemareads
141
3 years ago
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#weekendmood #bookdragon #bookstgrammerindia #indianbookstagrammer #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #reels #reelsinstagram #reelsofinstagram #bookreels #bookishreels #booksbooksbooks #bookandtea #bookowl #bookreels #aesthetic #bookaesthetic #teaaesthetic #bookishvideo #aestheticvideos #ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ #beach #beachtherapy #beachvibes #booksandtea #aestheticedits #aestheticvideos #staycation #bliss by @hemareads
50
4 years ago
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It's always better to start with #whatthisweek post when you are back from a pretty long break . Let's do this then... CURRENT MOOD Living in my own bubble! Taking self care to a whole new level which i have never done before in my life. It's so peaceful in my head, all you got to do is take a step back , breathe in , meditate, exercise , block those relatives without a second thought who don't post but are just lurking around to see what's going on in your life (they just view they don't even like😂), exit that toxic family watsapp groups, mute stories if it's too much unnecessary trauma dump,don't scroll those reels where anyone and everyone are educators now a days screaming at you about the right way to do things,surround yourself with things and people that make you happy or just leave the room coz there is nothing like your own company , breathe out CURRENT MUSINGS I visited some peaceful places last week and noticed how people sit infront of beach /garden/even temples(i kid you not) and scroll their phone where YouTube shorts or Instagram reels screams through like a banshee. Did we forget what it is to sit in silence?People never cease to annoy the living hell out of me 😂 maybe I'm turning into grumpy 60 yr old, that must be it CURRENT DRINK(S) Switching between Almond milk, turmeric cinnamon milk , apple spiced tea , English breakfast tea CURRENT READS Half way through "Wild Swans " memoir, it's so immersive and also informative . No wonder it's banned in China ! To see the unfolding of Mao's China slowly but steadily in such close proximity from 3 generation of women is making me speechless.Also started listening to "Then she was gone" by Lisa Jewell on Audible CURRENT TV SHOW/MOVIES Rewatching my fav "Gilmore girls" and understanding Rory a Lil better this time !Also Emily Gilmore has my heart. This time i hated Dean and Jess both, rooting for Logan. Loved Kantara and love today, liked the funny Monica oh my darling thriller and looking forward to watch Wonder Women on Sony liv CURRENT MUSIC Good old ilayaraja cover songs , blasting dua lipa,sia,dojo cat on the other side 😊 #bookstagram #currentreads #readersofinstagram #booksandtea by @hemareads
99
4 years ago
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WHY THIS PICTURE : The moment you turn the pages of this book your toes will curl and the cold will settle on your shoulders making you seek a blanket,the writing is that atmospheric and immersive The book took me back to one particular summer vacation at grandparents place. I was sitting in the balcony elbow on knees when my grandma narrated the story of this big house they lived in when my mom was 10yrs old. The day they moved in grandma started sensing "Surutu" (cigar) smell (none in the family smokes) and sometimes she even saw the coiling smoke coming out as if the invisible person is just sitting infront of her clearing his throat (this sound was heard often too) and puffing cigar after cigar. After a lot of gossiping in and around the neighborhood she came to a conclusion that the "kaavaal deivam" ( guardian deity) at the end of their Street visits her house. Grandma started making food offerings and kept it near the well as the old tales say that this particular guardian deity resides in houses which has a well in it. My aunts were too young to notice these things but my mom's first encounter with the guardian deity scared the life out of her and she came down with a fever. They lived in that house for years and all that time my grandma coexisted with this guardian deity/ spirit/ chyerti or call it whatever you may. The owner who bought the house from my grandparents got scared by this sightings and demolished the well and the house & reconstructed it, now they say the guardian deity lives there no more, the people residing there keeps facing one problem after another .Till date when my maternal side never fail to pay a visit to Bodyguard Muneeswarer temple near Chennai Central station as they strongly believe that he is the one who made my grandma live through tough days by staying by her side Just like my very brave Grandma, Vasya from this book has the sight which leads to a lot of talk about her in the village. This spine chilling first book introduces us to Slavic folklore, establishes a strong bond with Vasya & her family , the coexistence of nature and religion and how at the end family is everything. I'm smitten can't you see? by @hemareads
141
4 years ago
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Pic 1 - Kindle version of the book snapped in the kitchen ,Pic 2 - Sister & I making Mysore Pak cake for her dad's 60th birthday, Pic 3 - I found this candid picture of mother-in-law and I in the kitchen taken in 2018, Pic 4-9 : the dishes I made along with my father-in-law "ANGRY , FRETFUL, OR CHEERY, I COOKED THROUGH IT ALL " - KITCHEN BY BANANA YOSHIMOTO I was raised by a woman who considered cooking as just one of the chores and never loved spending time in the kitchen, but both her offsprings, brother and I love to cook . Every summer holidays and birthdays the 6 kids (my cousins, my brother and I) of the house try to whip up a special dish and we immensely enjoy the process. All this happened occasionally and later when i got married i started learning from my mother-in-law and father-in-law. There is something so therapeutic about writing down the recipe the night before , procuring the ingredients beforehand, waking up the next day grinning ear to ear thinking about the dish you are going to make, making sure the kitchen slab is clean and all the ingredients are lined up in order near the stove , the crackling of the mustard and urad dal, the aroma that brings everyone in the house to the kitchen and the joy doubles up when the loved ones wipe the plate clean piling compliments on the dish Only much later i discovered that i can cook through grief , strangely the kitchen soothed me into a trance and kept me going even when i thought i can't move a muscle in my body. I found myself in the kitchen few days after grandpa's funeral making elaborate dishes to feed my grandma, nothing compared to the joy when she finally ate stomach full. Since then there has been no looking back, I sought solace in the kitchen , i know that the kitchen and food healed me and put me back together one piece at a time The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is a short book comprising of Two stories both dealing with grief in their own way, for a book dealing with grief it's surprisingly not depressing.The author doesn't sugarcoat grief and it's so honest and relatable. It felt like a balm to my grieved heart and i highly recommend it #womenintranslation #grief #kitchen by @hemareads
127
4 years ago
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My first #whatthisweek post!! Also say hello to my fantasy tbr🙈 Qotd: LET ME KNOW YOUR "WHAT THIS WEEK" IN THE COMMENT SECTION & DO YOU SPOT ANY OF YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKS? CURRENT MOOD This week is all about being sane & grounded, a lot of yoga & deep breaths and if it's not clear from the picture I'm seeking comfort reads to keep my soul happy. I can't read sad books when reality demands me to be stress-free CURRENT DRINK Do you get annoyed at humans who just wake up early morning singing sunshine is here and can survive without caffeine yet be all energetic? I'm that human, it's always water in my hand just like this picture, I have never touched coffee, I cut down on teas and only take them when I get headache or feel tired. This photo would have looked more good with wine in my hand but hey let's keep it real CURRENT READS Just 3 chapters done in "The Maid" by Nita Prose, so far it's good but it's not giving me the urge to pick it up when I'm free instead I scroll phone 🤐 someone tell me it's the best thriller so that I will give it a chance!? I have picked up all unread fantasy from my shelf and leaning towards "bear and the nightingale - The winternight" trilogy , "sorcery of thorns" and " half a king - shattered sea" trilogy. One of them is going to be picked this week! CURRENT TV SHOWS By this time you should have guessed it's comfort week and I'm watching "Friends" for the umpteenth time & one episode everyday of "only murders in the building S2" with the husband CURRENT MUSIC "Adheeraa" from Cobra, "Megham karukatha" from Thiruchitrambalam & old Ilayaraja music forever #fantasyreads #bookstgrammerindia #indianbookstagrammer #aestheticphotography #ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ #fantasybooks #comfortreads #booksbooksbooks #booksaesthetic #reader #readersofinstagram #readingspot #thewinternighttrilogy #magicalreads #tbr #bookdragon #bookphotography #unreadbooks #sarahjmaas #veschwab #erinmorgenstern #melinamarchetta #leighbardugo #hollyblack #brandonsanderson #robinhobb by @hemareads
137
4 years ago
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WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH RECOMMENDATIONS Thanks to Bookstagram I was introduced to all this translated gems and each and every one of them ended up being my favorite Qotd : Spot any favourites from this list? Recommend me one women translated fiction which you want me to read.. 1) #anelderlyladyisuptonogood by #helenetursten , Swedish 2) #thehousekeeperandtheprofessor by #yokoogawa , Japanese 3)#iwhohaveneverknownmen by #jacquelineharpman , French 4) #thevegetarian by Han Kang, Korean 5) #theeighthlife by #ninoharatischwili , German 6) #mybrilliantfriend by #elenaferrante , Italian 7) #confessions by #kanaeminato , Japanese 8) #Elenaknows by #claudiapiñeiro , Spanish 9) #kitchen by #bananayoshimoto , Japanese 10) #giligadu by #chitramudgal , Hindi #womenintranslation #womenintranslationmonth #translatedliterature #translatedfiction #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #reader #bookdragon #bookrecommendation #favouritereads #readingnook by @hemareads
95
4 years ago
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Elena Ferrante is a revelation, a bucket of cold water dumped over your head and unraveling parts of you which you have never dared to before School and college were confusing times, a shy kid in a pinafore dress resting a little above her ankle introduced to the class of 1st grade, the math of gaining a friend and losing another, the gnawing feeling in your Stomach when your friend took your idea and bagged second place while you were pushed to third, the social status differences where you still cringe when you think of your middle class mouth gaping when your friend said that they had air conditioner at their house, so thin like a wraith that you were called a stick, the changing bodies and insecurities that comes hand in hand , their fairness to your darkness, the so called toxic friend who snatches your exam paper to see how you scored more than her, that another friend who never returned your scholastic books wantedly, the self sabotaging behaviours, the venomous jealousy, the unfathomable comparisons and the gossips that followed In this Neopolitan quartet, Elena Ferrante doesn't play around , don't ease you into the plot instead she throws you into a unknown neighborhood in Naples with 60+ new characters and feeds you gossips unabeshedly. The plot revolves around two friends named Elena and Lina , their life from elementary school till old age, it's a plot where disaster is waiting to happen at the end of every chapter . It covers every major political and cultural changes throughout the years as they grow up filled with family drama, friendship, human weakness, infidelity, domestic abuse and toxic relationships. The success of the novel is in its characterization that when i was in the second novel i could easily predict what one of main character was thinking even though completely different words came out of her mouth On the surface you can read it for the entertainment value as it is 100*times the plot of gossip girl/desperate housewives taking place in the poor neighborhood of Naples or you can also dig deeper and there my friend you will finally feel validated❤️ It was impactful, delicious and I will reread this series in the years to come by @hemareads
92
4 years ago
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