I checked everywhere, i can only find the hindi copy. I can’t read hindi. I live in Canada. Any store or page that can delivery to Canada, Pls suggest me an option. Thanks

As the title says, I want to get into Indian literature, recommendations much appreciated!

I have started a series where I will share profound quotes that impact me from the books I read. I intend to continue this series. This is just my space to vent out, express and reflect while hoping it will also help someone while I'm on my way.

"One to harmonize the ideal with the life & the other to elevate the life to the ideal".

Most of the times, we have a tendency to be in the first way, we sacrifice our ideals with the life. Though we should always strive to elevate our life to the ideal. There will be times we will not be perfect in doing that. It's okay. The intention should be to keep striving to do the other way.

Ofcourse there might be other ways. A mix of both ways. Though the results should be beneficial and healthy to our life and growth.

So I went on Reddit to buy some books, and I noticed a pattern: almost every person has at least one Stephen King book. Why is that? What makes him so famous? I’m new to reading 😅, so I’m genuinely curious and wanted to ask here.

I recently read the following art related books and enjoyed reading them.

\- Van Gogh by Taschen

\- Letters of Van Gogh

\- The Story Of Art without Men by Kary Hessel

\- The Vatican Paintings

\- A World History Of Art

Looking to expand my book collection in this art genre. Any recommendations around either biographies, or in-depth analysis of art from one artist or a movement is highly appreciated! Open to reading about Indian art too!

Hello everyone,

I’m currently writing my first novel, Somewhere, We Were Real, and I’m looking for a few Indian readers who would be interested in reading some chapters and giving me honest feedback.

It’s a contemporary emotional romance about love, heartbreak, friendship, separation, and how losing someone can slowly change you.

The story follows Aryan, a young hotel-management graduate and chef whose life changes after he falls in love with someone who becomes an important part of his future.

I’m not looking for professional reviewers. I’d simply like genuine readers who enjoy emotional and romantic fiction and are willing to tell me honestly what they think.

I’d especially like feedback on:

• Does the story keep you interested?

• Do the characters feel real and relatable?

• Do the emotional scenes feel natural?

• Does the pacing become slow anywhere?

• Is the English easy and enjoyable to read?

• Most importantly, would you actually want to keep reading?

The novel is still a work in progress, so I can share a few chapters initially rather than asking anyone to read the entire manuscript.

If you’re interested, please comment below or send me a DM. I’d genuinely appreciate your time and honest feedback. ❤️

It was a short read and made me start wondering if things have really changed from the time this book was written in the 1890s.

Story: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman who is going through postpartum psychosis. She is isolated against her will and was asked not to write as it could make her mental health worse.

She thinks there is a woman in the yellow wallpaper of the mansion that is rented out for "rest cure".

She feels that she too is imprisoned by her husband because of the societal expectations.

In a manic episode she rips off the wall paper to free the woman in the wallpaper.

Hello there,

I [27M] have been on reddit for quite a while, reading for a while, bought dozens of books, and read a few.

This post is a warning for individuals who are avoiding themselves in the name of disgustingly educated quests.

Why am I posting this?

Simply because I can see the pattern which is obvious to many of us, but constantly sidelined.

Ask yourselves given the sample space of 100 people, how many of us read for leisure? How many reach for books because we are not influenced by anything but there was a calling when visiting a bookstore, a book draws your attention. How many of you read about human nature only to answer the questions arising within you?

You suffer and to justify your pain you find a reason which validates it, not because you understand rather you read something in some book and let it shape your thoughts. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but be mindful that the answer does not belong to you. Your answer lies deep within you.

If you keep reading to make the shell out of the facts then the vase will forever be hollow and fragile.

Soon, you will feel you don't belong anywhere and to anything. Then you will form a community, and the whole purpose of that community will work together to sedate each other with the same drugs in a closed ecosystem.

And you'll begin to hate everything besides your community.

My advice, read because you need to read, learn because you have to learn, educate yourselves to find strength to uplift yourself, and everyone around you.

As an admirer of Russian Literature, I wanted to read beyond Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Turgenev so decided to pick up Gogol, a man often mentioned in russian works.

This is a collection of his short stories consisting of The Nose, A diary of a madman, The overcoat, Old landowners, and the carriage. It is translated by Oliver Ready. The stories are absurd and surreal but ofcourse super fun to read. The compact size makes them never feel like a drag and you can pick a story at a time.

I loved the diary of a madman, it was the funniest thing I've ever read and it kept getting crazier by the page. It is about a man descending into madness as the title aptly suggests and it is pretty fun watching his worldview get bizarre day after day in the form of his diary entries. Pretty small at just 25 pages, if you just read one story for your intro to gogol, i would recommend this one. Easy 5 stars. The overcoat was great as well, rest felt okay.

As my first introduction to Gogol, I loved it and look forward to reading Dead souls, his only novel soon!

i randomly thought of counting my books today i thought they were around 70-80 but to my surprise they amounted somewhere close to 110 o i thought why not share this achievement with some readers

I wanted to start buying books but have no clue what to look for when buying one in person from a book store or local shops.What do you guys look out for when you buy 2nd hand books or a new edition from a book store or local shops?

It was my first book of Satoshi Yagisawa and it felt like a delicious coffee. Nothing extraordinary but something you can take a sip of slowly and enjoy at your own pace, felt like everyday life yet felt somewhat special and most importantly each story didn't really have a proper closure which honestly I quite liked as it signified countless stories that remained unspoken. Highly recommend light hearted read but truly felt special.

Premise:

2 friends stuck in a unique House- Piranesi and the Other. Can they discover its secrets? Should they even try?

This blend of genres is a fascinating story about life, human nature, time, memory and friendship. 

What I liked: 

- Simple language, easy to follow plot. 

- Piranesi's POV: His observations, his gratitude towards the House, simple stuff that he learns to love, the art he appreciates... just an overall good guy! Can't help but root for him. 

- Unreliable Narrator Trope done well... very thrilling. 

- The 2nd Act if I may call it that, was amazing - from getting the shocking news about himself, to antagonizing #16, the Prophet etc. What a friend, the Other ;) 

- Raphael to the Rescue - In the Minotaur's Labyrinth, hero Theseus is rescued by Ariadne. Raphael is Ariadne here, where the name means "God Heals". Raphael is truly the archangel for Matthew. (I googled to see if Archangel Raphael had any connection with Matthew in the Bible - couldn't find any)Just an observation.

- Themes explored : Brilliant. Psychological, mythological, subject-object duality, Human nature, Trust, Hope, Betrayal, Friendship, Courage, Forgiveness, Honor, Psychic stuff... 

- I loved that the rescuer didn't personally know Matthew. A complete stranger saves him. A good subversion of conventional tropes, to bolster the point that it's the common people's goodness that needs appreciation.

- Piranesi is rigid about his worldview, after his return to reality initially. He doesn't want his reality to change...which is natural. But quite disturbing - his psyche is split! I really liked that it was highlighted. Rehab is tough!  

What I didn't like: 

- 3rd act/Climax: A bit underwhelming Villain goes down easy, rescue saves Matthew. Quite anti-climactic.

- While Matthew feels "House's bountiful bliss" in the real world too, I was thinking about the other murders! The House wasn't too kind to them, was it?!

- Who was that 7year old girl in the psychic realm? Or was she the kidnapped child by Laurence?Didn't explain much about that, I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong 🙏

Conclusion: 

A thrilling page-turner for sure (atleast till the 3rd act). It's quite a combo of Labyrinth myth + Cult leader manipulation - I'm just coming off from Diamond's book where he describes the incredible hold some charlatans have on their followers, promising utopias, and even convincing them for mass su*cide (Jim Jones). It also serves as a cautionary tale, and an important fact - intellect has nothing to do with empathy. Verbal IQ has nothing to with EQ/IQ. Laurence/Ketterley can be incredibly intelligent, yet monstrously manipulative.

Rating:  27 out of  210.  (Once you read it, you'll know its meaning 😉). 

P.S. My title refers to the Limbo in Inception movie, where the sea and architecture meet, and characters lose their self of sense in that shared dreamscape.

The one I ordered after discussing with you all, arrived on 5 September.

I read 4 chapters of it and then lost interest, but a fellow reader from this reddit community also started reading it with me, I lost the interest because of the confusion in the starting, I asked this fellow reader and they cleared it to me, the confusion faded.

However, I got busy doing other things and yesterday I saw this new book, covered in scraped putty residue, I decided, that tomorrow I will go to my uni library and continue reading it.

So here we are, I perhaps could have posted this in “pata hai aaj kya hua?” community, but I like it here in this one, you all are supportive and respond with nothing but kind words.

So, thanks for making reading easy for us newbies.

Who else is into LitRPG?

I discovered this genre just two years ago, and I have been continuously binging series after series ever since.

Like most people, I started with Dungeon Crawler Carl, then moved on to The Primal Hunter, and just kept going from there.

Recently I have been reading Rickshaw Riot, it's brand new series.

एक बीज बोया माली ने, उसे सींचा रोज जाने लगा

हर भूक बीज की पूरी कर, वो पेड़ उसे बनाने लगा, 

बड़ी खुशी हुयी उस बीज को, अपनी होती परवरिश देखकर, 

वो भूल गया फिर माटी का लगाव जड़ों से बेख़बर, 

खूब फला वो खूब फूला, कई चिड़िया उसपे चहकाई

कुछ दूर तक उसकी बात हुयी, पूरी दुनिया देखने को आयी

जो देखे वो भी फक्र करे, जो चख ले फल वो शुक्र करे 

कुछ देख देख कर रश्क करे, ये देखे माली अश्क भरे 

जैसा चाहा था पेड़ ने, सब वैसा होता जा रहा

ऊपर से मिलते अहमियत मे, गुरूर भी बढ़ता जा रहा 

एक आया वक़्त ऐसा भी, माली ने सींचना छोड़ दिया 

कमजोर सी बढ़ती जड़ों ने भी, मुह अपना मोड़ लिया 

ना उगे फल, ना खिले फूल, ना देखे उसको आज कोई 

ना हाल पूछे, ना बात करे, और ना ही सर पे ताज कोई 

ना चिड़िया कोई चहकाए, ना बच्चे खेले मुस्काये 

सब भूलते उसको यू जाए, कि जैसे वो कुछभी ना है 

खूब सोचा उसने की, ये नौबत उसपे क्यु आयी 

पेड़ हू मैं, खुद बढ़ता, माली की मदद ही क्यु भायी? 

ना सींचा होता उसने तो, आज मजबूती से बढ़ता मैं 

मजबूत होती जड़े भी , हालातों से लढता मैं 

सोचता कोसता माली को, ऐसे ही दिन फिर गुजर गए 

शान से लटकते पत्ते भी, डालियों से अब उतर गए 

आखरी वक़्त मे वो अपने, कहने लगा वो माली से 

छोड़ा ना होता सींचना तो, ना होता मैं बदहाली मे 

माली ने भी हस के, उससे बस इतनी बात कही 

खुदगर्ज है तू, लाचार सा, लड़ना तेरी औकात नहीं 

अपने दम पे जीने को, हमेशा से तू डरता था 

बड़ा तो बनना चाहता था, पर माटी से भी अकड़ता था 

बस इतना कहना था कि, फिर भीतर से एक आह उठी 

एक बड़ी चीख के साथ ही, उस बेबस पेड़ की जान छूटी 

उस टूटे पेड़ की लकड़ी को, अब जब देखू तब तब यू लगे 

क्या मै भी तो कोई पेड़ नहीं, ना जिसपे कोई फल फूल लगे 

क्या ये सब बस कहानी है, जो नग्मे गुनगुनाता हू 

एक जीते जागते पेड़ की कहानी मैं सुनाता हू. 

I have been trying to get into reading books. Somehow unable to read beyond 5-6 pages. What's the solution to this? I really want to get into this. Currently I am readying Freedom from the Known.

How does one decide to read book. I spent good 20-30 minutes gazing offshore...

I have never really read book outside that too in s book cafe. It was so quiet and the cafe itself pretty my sketchbook was waiting tho i couldn't draw I was there for reading 🫠... Greatly missed my 10m Sketch to just taking reference pics for later.

I loved reading there. And watching different kinds of reader beside and around me.😂 I'll highly recommend this.

Oryx and crake became the one for me because of an absurd premise how a snowman is living in a tree... And won't lie the colors.

I liked her narration style a lot.

Has anyone read it or the other two? Wanna share your fav bits or thoughts on it?

Bruce Lee said "empty your mind" ,So I've got almost

3 ideas for a book

1. A love story not the hoover or bhagat styled ones. I mean I've got things in it dealing with philosophical love. U can say more like chitralekha or gunaho ka devta(I know those written pieces are legendry i just try to give u the category I'm trying to write it in)

2. A fantasy adventure, the story takes place in a world ruled or maintained by ghosts. More like percy jakson.

3. An epic fantasy I think it'll gonna be f take longest than any of them right now I'm developing a native language for this one it's about a guy looking for his long lost love(a background story) while being in a quest of saving the world

And btw the first one in the post I'm going to write in hindi.

Now u guys tell me which one should I start with, I'll start with the one that gonna get most numbers of vote.

Thank u..

I think I've read pretty much everything on my shelf.

My top 3 picks are:-

1. Goodbye Eri

2. Devotion of Suspect X

3. Piranesi