Miss Clueless

Not all books are forgettable. Some linger like ghosts or old friends. Here are 5 that won’t leave me alone. 📘 The Bell Jar , Sylvia Plath What it’s about: A story about a young woman struggling with mental health and feeling out of place in the world. Read this if you like  emotional, honest stories that go deep, even when they’re hard to read. I’m scared of this book. And yet, I can’t stop thinking about it. Sylvia Plath doesn’t hold anything back; her words cut deep. If you’re someone who prefers cozy reads and gentle narratives, this is your warning: The Bell Jar is neither cozy nor gentle. It’s haunting. Somehow, it made me question other authors I once admired. It’s too intense to reread and too powerful to forget. 📗 Letters to a Young Poet , Rainer Maria Rilke What it’s about: A series of thoughtful letters full of gentle advice about life, art, and being true to yourself. Read this if you enjoy  quiet, reflective books and need a little creative encouragement....

Some of my encounters with racism in India. To the guy in college who thinks Northeast girls are "easy" and talks shamelessly with insensitive comments—your entitlement isn’t flattering; it’s disgusting. To the colleague who jokes about my race, saying,  “The more you laugh, the less you see,”  mocking our  “small and squinty eyes.”  Do you even realize how that would make us feel? Or do you just not care? To the ignorant person who says things like,  “You all look the same.”  Is it deliberate, or do you genuinely not think before speaking? To the guy who looked at me, turned in my direction on the side of the road, and spat—literally. I know what you meant. I know what you were trying to say. To the young boys who shouted  “Chinese! Noodle! Chow mein!” at   me as if it's hilarious. Where are you now? Have you grown up? Or are you still the same pathetic person, passing your bigotry onto others? And then to be denied entry at a certain palace, wel...

April made me stronger than ever. It’s the books that I read, the characters, and the authors. These books will shock you, break your heart, heal you, inspire you, educate you, and, above all, make you stronger than ever.    ~The Color Purple by Alice Walker ~Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston ~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou ~Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin ~Beloved by Toni Morrison I have added some lines from each book that I'd like to revisit. The Color Purple by Alice Walker I started the month with this one. Published in 1982. Miss Celie finds her voice and healing through letters, sisterhood, and self-love. I’ll remember her and Shug Avery. It is because of this love that racism, as evidenced by belief in superior and inferior looks and mentalities, failed to impress me. if we persevere, we may, like her, eventually settle into amazement that by some unfathomable kindness we have received just the right keys we need to unlock ...

I've read Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Men without Women, First Person Singular, and The Strange Library. If there's one book I regret reading, it's Norwegian Wood. I was curious about the title, and it is quite famous, so I picked it up. If I had known what I know now, I would have never read. That book is so depressing. But boy! Was I excited to find cats carried mysterious significance in his writing, like in Kafka on the Shore? Oh yes! The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle took me to strange wells and shadow worlds. That was something. And The Strange Library was quite interesting. But that's all. I don't think I'm going to read another Murakami book. I have my reason.  After reading a few of his books, I started to see a pattern that I did not like: his female characters. If you've read his books, you may know what I'm talking about. I get it; his protagonists are solitary, introspective men, flawed, lonely, and even emotiona...

A little recap of what I've read in the past three months.  January ~Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery ~A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul ~Arrival/Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang ~Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw February ~A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf ~Winter Recipes from the Collective by Louise Glück  ~Dottie by Abdulrazak Gurnah  ~The Enigma of Arrival by V. S. Naipaul  ~The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón March ~Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ~The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman ~Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery ~Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan ~The Stranger by Albert Camus ~The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekhov To pick a favourite from each month: For Jan, I liked  A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul so much. I've been reading books by Western authors, mostly by white people, about white people. I've also read some Asian authors, but I...

Some titles describe. Some titles intrigue. And then, some titles don’t just name a book—they  whisper a feeling. For me, the most beautiful of them all is On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous  by Ocean Vuong I picked up this book following Andrew Garfield's book recommendations. (Thanks, Andrew). When I first heard/saw this title, I was like, "Wow! Such a pretty name!" I love it. While I may not like the book as much (I mean, my favourites are other books), the title of this one tops all else I’ve read. I just want to appreciate it by making a blog post about it. It's a sentence that feels like a sigh. A title that holds love, grief, beauty, and brevity — all at once. It doesn’t ask for attention. It deserves it. And a few others that live rent-free in my head (some of these may not be what you call beautiful, but I just like them): To Kill a Mockingbird The Book Thief One Hundred Years of Solitude Howl’s Moving Castle The Catcher in the Rye A Midsummer Night’s Dream...

I finally ticked off a major milestone this month—I went on my first international trip! Vietnam was the destination, and I went along with my sister and a friend.  We planned it all within two months, which, in hindsight, felt a bit rushed. In our excitement, we tried to cover too much in too little time. Our itinerary was built for seven days, but when you take out the travel days, we were really left with only five. We now realize we could have planned it better—maybe focused on just one or two regions instead of trying to do everything. Still, no regrets. We took a ton of photos, shared some laughs, and made memories. A Few Reflections from the Trip One of the biggest takeaways for me was realizing how much I value solo travel. Don’t get me wrong—traveling with friends and family is lovely. You share the highs, split the logistics, and there’s always someone to take your picture. But I did find myself longing for the kind of freedom that only solo travel allows. To go whereve...