Ms. Marvel, Turbulence, Underland; Let's Pretend This Never Happened: This Week~My Life

It's Gulmohar season out here...
Photo Credit: Chenthil Mohan

This post is too late for last Sunday and too early for the coming Sunday but, oh well...

After an almost month long reading slump (filled with TV series) I got some real reading done in the last 10 days. I finished Mastani by Kusum Chopra and Twin Reflections by Elizabeth Joseph.



Detailed reviews coming up but for now... I enjoyed the detail and research in Mastani, I'm now a little more educated on the Marathas. Twin Reflections took me by complete surprise, this book has so much detail and thought put into it. The end left me itching and craving more! And to think it's written by a 14 year old!

I've just started The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, which was recommended to me ages ago. It's going great and I'm glad to get one book off the #ForeverTBR.



The last 10 days haven't seen me do much except focus on my TCS10k run that's coming up this Sunday. So wish me luck guys. Che took over my training and he's been grilling me. It's been tiring but also so satisfying as I've pushed limits and found new ones.



In the last 10 days I've learned the importance of pushing when you think you can't do more and discovering you can, realised the role food, sleep and stretching plays, and the value of massages - I've gotten two deep tissue massages with Dipali Patel at Peak Performance and man, are they painful. But the muscles feel like new on the next run after that!

My TCS10k is also a run for a cause. I'm running for the organisation Bal Utsav that works in the education for children space and believes that #EducationCanMakeAllTheDifference. In 2016 they hope to reach out to over 10,000 children and changes their lives with education.

I didn't believe I'd be able to make a big difference to the cause but my friends thought different for we've raised over Rs.47,000 as of now. I can't be thankful enough to all my friends who believed in me.

My target's 50K and I need just that little push, so if are reading this and can help, please do, every little bit counts. Click here and just follow though. It's super easy and works for all currency and amounts. :)



That's about all from me this week. It's a relaxed week (after 8 weeks of training) as I recharge for the run and I'm off to get back to my reading. ;) Oh and yeeaaah, my interview about the run is also up and you can read it on the Bal Utsav blog here.

Also if you have a minute please stop over at Bhawna's blog (YellowMellowLife.com) and wish her too. She's my running partner and the one behind getting me back on my feet and running. She's running the TCS10k too, so send us both good vibes!

 

More in the overflowing #TBR

 

I did make up for that TBR addition slump over the last few weeks. :D This week there are loads of books. Feel free to add some more in comments if you think I'll love them. And don't forget to tell me which ones of these you've read or plan to read.


The Tusk That Did The Damage by Tania James
(Get Booked #25)

Set in South India this is a book about the Ivory trade, only it isn’t just one side of the story but rather the story of the poacher, the documentary filmmaker and the elephant. James weaves all the perspectives into one tale. I’m in an Indian books phase and this one is so it...


Art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein
(Get Booked #25)

I’d come across this book many months back and it’s been on my list since then, this is like a reinforcement. :) I’ve read A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron and loved it, told from the perspective of a dog, humans and their lives seem so odd and there’s a lot of insight to be got. This is another one from the 4-legged perspective.


Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote
(Get Booked #25)

The story of a stray dog that adopts a house and a human. This one pulled the strings of my heart as soon as I heard of it. I’ve been meaning to read some dog books and this one’s now on my list!


Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
(Get Booked #25)

I’ve followed The Bloggess for so long on twitter now but didn’t know about her myriad warped past and I’m stumped. I just have to know more about this woman who has a wacky amazeballs sense of humour. Go check her out on Twitter… @TheBloggess


Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
(Get Booked #26)

I’ve been meaning to learn about comics and understand the craze around them for a while not. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read a lot of comics as a kid but the world of comics seems different now, so when this book was mentioned as a book at explains all about comics, I was awesooome!


Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wison (Author), Adrian Alphona (Artist), Jacob Wyatt (Illustrator)
(Get Booked #26)

I’ve repeatedly heard about this one for multiple reasons, it’s feminine lead role, the colour and race of the main character, diversity and it’s awesomeness. So.. enough said right?


Turbulence by Samit Basu
(Get Booked #26)

A plane full of people experience turbulence but it leaves lasting effects and leaves them all with superpowers they have always wanted, only they don’t know it as they disembark. The book is about all that happens next as they discover their powers while someone is trying to kill them. Sounds interesting nah?


Underland by Chanda Hahn
(From Twitter)

It was a couple of years back that I stumbled into Chanda Hahn’s books and fell in love. This isn’t a part of her first Unenchanted series but rather a new series and I can’t wait to get started!

It’s a bigggg haul this week. I got through a lot of podcasts you see. ;) What have you been reading? What news?
BTW are you running the TCS 10K? Tell me?

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Angelmaker, Before We Visit the Goddess: #TBR Adds This Week

My Mom - The Birthday Girl :)

The last week was full week. Come to think of it, that's kinda what I say every week. Looks like I live a full life. Lol :D

Che came back from a long trip this week, after 20 days the house had more life in it as the dogs got all excited to have him back and he made his presence felt.

The washing machine got installed too and I love it. Our previous one (Samsung) could be heard across the house and it danced as it washed. This new one (Samsung again) is so silent and doesn't budge through the whole cycle!

I took a day off from home and spent an evening with Mom as it was her birthday. She turned 69 this year!

I got this lovely bag from the Ahambhumika guys, this is an organisation working towards empowering rural women and young girls belonging to lower income communities.



Some doggie pictures!





With my running schedule and the house-dog routine, finding time for new stuff is tough but I managed to fit in a class on the basics of zentangle art which is a beautiful meditative technique. It's looks so complex and intricate but it's so simple and easy, and the making of a tangle is just so zen. :D



Last week was also the last week of the #AtoZChallenge and I survived! I completed another #AtoZ and I'm so excited about that. I didn't do so well on the follow and comment part of the challenge. I managed to stick with it in the first half but in the second half I just didn't manage to keep up. Oh well, I'll try again next year. As with the previous years though I made some wonderful friends and found some amazing blogs to follow.

 

And more additions to my #TBR

 


Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
(Get Booked #24)

This one sounded like the perfect action novel. The hero is trying to live the quiet life until be accidentally activates a doomsday machine. Now he and the spy-lady who brought it to him much solve things and stop it. Life isn’t so quiet anymore!


Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
(Get Booked #24)

I fell in love with Divakaruni when I read her book The Palace of Illusions, which is about the Mahabrata war but from Draupadi’s perspective. This story is about 3 generations of women and it’s a latest book. I just have to read it!

So what have you been up to this week? Been busy too? What are you reading right now?

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I Know What I'm Doing -- and Other Lies I Tell Myself: On the #TBR This Week

Max and My New Running Shoes :)

Some days I’m just grateful for the chance I get to sit down and put my feet up, to relax even if just for a moment and this week’s been filled with those days.

The week started with the maids taking unannounced leave, the washing machine packing up, the microwave walking out with it, and me just starting at it all, my week going belly up.

It’s been a maniacal week, one through which I’ve just about managed to maintain my sanity. Ok, I’ve seen worse, this wasn’t that bad but it was bad and nothing went to plan, but I survived and that’s the big thing, nah?

This week, the up’s were that I managed to hold onto my running schedule and ran an 8k, which is my longest ever, until now. ;) We got a new washing machine and I can’t wait to start turning all those dials and playing with it. We also had our first decent rain, it didn’t pour but it did drizzle for 4 hours; heat's back with a vengeance though.



I also held on to the #AtoZChallenge and didn’t miss a post. This week my android app selections were - Gardroid for Gardening, Player FM for Podcasts, Quiz Up for Productive Time-Pass, Strava for Running, Period Tracker - My Calendar and Todoist for those Pesky To-Do’s.

It’s the last week of the challenge now and I’m gearing up for it. Got to keep the ball rolling, right to the end.

 

Another addition to my #TBR

 

Another rather quiet week in this section. But I did find one book that caught my eye...


I Know What I'm Doing -- and Other Lies I Tell Myself by Jen Kirkman
(All the books #49)

A memoir of her life, Jen shares her stories and talks about a myriad bunch of things. But what struck me when i heard of the book on the All The Books podcast was that she talks about having children, the choice of having or not having them and the dealing with people bit if you choose not to.
I’m also considering the book as an audio book as it is narrated by Jen Kirkman herself and she’s a stand-up comedian. It would be fun.

That’s about it from me here this Sunday. What have you been unto this week? How has it been - good, bad, ugly? What are you looking forward to next week?

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Once Upon A Time, An Empty #TBR This Week

This week has been a rather quiet week. Elu seems to be recovering well after her foreign body adventure last week, she’s back to being her rascally self. I on the other hand have been lazing a bit, relaxing after all the excitement of last week.

I didn't get much reading done this week but I've been binge watching Once Upon A Time (TV series) and have finished 3 seasons, just one more left to catch up with the current airing of Season 5. ;)

This is a TV series I absolutely love and I'm hooked. Once Upon A Time is all about those fairy tales we grew up to but with a twist or rather many twists. The Evil Queen curses all of the land and sends all the people to our world in Storybrooke, Maine.

That's Colin O'Donoghue/Captain Hook, and isn't he just gorgeous xxx ;)

The curse is supposed to last 28 years before Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter arrives to break the curse. That's where the series begins, and as it progresses tales get woven in, Peter Pan, Mad Hatter, Elsa (of Frozen fame), The Wicked Witch of the West, Mulan, Jack and the Beanstalk are some of them. But all of them have a twist.

I love fairy tales, folklore and mythological stories so this one has me completely addicted. I can’t stop watching but as I’m getting closer to the end of Season 4 and I’m also wishing it’d never end.

And that makes for an excellent segue to two blogs I’ve been enjoying reading in the #AtoZChallenge. Csenge’s (The Multicoloured Diary) theme is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. She’s tackling questions like -

"Why are stepmothers always evil? Are there any kind ones out there?
Can you name any folktales that feature female friendships?
Why are there so few traditional tales with LGBT+ representation?
Are there any stories where a male and a female hero fights side by side?
What about legends where heroes of different religions coexist?"

and I am so enjoying reading the stories she shares. They come from all over the world and there are even some from India. :)

Erica’s doing a Greek Mythology series on Modhukori, most of these characters I know about but she is still surprising me with some I don’t know or somethings I don’t know about them.

As with my last two years, my challenge even this year is keeping up with other blogs daily, reading and commenting on them. I’ve been missing a lot of days and have a large backlog to read but with themes like Csenge’s and Erica’s, this year it might be easier. Once I’m done with Once Upon A Time, that is. :D

My #ForeverTBR

 
For the first time there are no books to be added to my #ForeverTBR this week. And it isn’t completely Once Upon A Time’s fault, surprisingly I haven’t come across anything on podcasts or through friends either.

It feels odd, but considering my teetering TBR pile, maybe it’s a good thing.

What have you been up to? Do you have a favourite TV series you are addicted to?

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Elu and The Foreign Body Adventure, and Other Books

This week was a week of adventure, not the fun kind, but adventure still. And I can say that, now that it’s over.

Two days ago Elu started throwing up in the early morning. Throwing up is fine, the dogs do that once in a way but Elu continued doing so at regular intervals. She was drinking lots of water but throwing it all up; in three rounds she must have thrown up about a litre. That’s a lot!

A vet visit late in the evening and an x-ray revealed a blockage in her intestines. I admitted her as she needed to be kept under observation and surgery was scheduled for the next day. I returned home to a quieter house and a restless me.



Come time for surgery the next day Elu looked frisky and happy; she looked too happy to be going into surgery. Another x-ray revealed the obstruction had moved from the intestines to the rectum. That's a simple statement but there's nothing simple about it, it's a big deal. It's super good news!



Foreign body surgery is a big deal. One - it's a delicate surgery, two - recovery from it takes long and three - it’s expensive. A Gastrointestinal Foreign Body surgery involves opening up and re-closing the intestine. Any leaks left behind would cause a toxic leak. The surgery leaves the intestine weakened and it’s takes time to strengthen it. This is a surgery best avoided, if it’s possible.

And that’s why the movement of the obstruction was a big deal. It meant the surgery got called off, and Elu got sent home, along with instructions to be constantly observed, to be given some more laxatives and lots of bananas. She’ll be back to normal within a week.



She passed the obstruction out this morning. Turned out to be a bone, of a size that should never have gotten stuck. In my 5 years of feeding my dogs Model Prey RAW, this was the first time this had happened. Guess the freak weird odd thing can happen anytime!

Special thanks are due to Anitra and Preeti who stood by me as always through it all (couldn't have done it without you guys xxx), the Cessna Lifeline Team with extra thanks to Dr. Pawan & Dr. Nitin and loving hugs to Akhil and Dr. Anusha for watching over my girl during her stay there.

And there ends the Elu adventure, but this week also had me falling sick with what looked like a simple eye infection turning out to be conjunctivitis. Between my sickness and Elu’s adventure, I missed out on my running and will have to buck up next week.

Yep, scarrry... :D

I did finish Menaka’s Choice by Kavita Kané this week and have started with Mastani by Kusum Chopra.



We’ve also reached the letter ‘H’ in the #AtoZChallenge and I’m so proud of managing to write in spite of all that’s been happening. I’ve also found some interesting blog that I’m enjoying reading everyday through the challenge. I share the posts I enjoy on twitter so connect with me there - @freya3377 and I’ll also list them here on the blog sometime.

In other news, I had my first mangoes of the season and enjoyed attending the Decutter Flea Market held to help Roxanne Davur's Probably Paradise Animal Shelter.





 

This weeks additions to my #TBR

 


Happenstance by Carol Shields
(The Readers #149)
Two Novels in One About a Marriage in Transition: one direction is the wife’s story and turn it upside down to read the husband's story. Just that makes me want to read the book!


One Point Two Billion by Mahesh Rao
(The Readers #149)
13 stories from 13 different states of India, should make for uninteresting read.


The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
(All The Books #47)
I’ve heard of those before and even then this book about cancer had piqued my interest. Maybe it’ll get picked this time.


Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julie Quinn
(All The Books #47)
The lastest from Julia Quinn in the Bridgerton series. I enjoy Historical Romance and I should pick up this series sometime, especially since I’ve read her before and liked her writing.

What news from you this week? Any adventures? ;)

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Menaka's Choice, Association of Small Bombs: This Week in Books

It’s been another week with not much reading done but I did get started and I’m halfway through Kavita Kané’s Menaka’s Choice, which I’m enjoying so much, I’m unable to put it down and complete watching the last two episodes of House of Cards.



I spent another week with my niece and family and here are some pictures from it.

I love Pani Puri, it's my favourite chaat. (It's a crisp fired ball, filled with boiled peas & potatoes and topped with sweet chutney and spicy water; sorry no description can do justice) Since my Ayurvedic medications do not allow for tamarind I haven't eaten these in over a year but my Aunt and Mom made these for me with out tamarind! You should have seen me hog!

The harvest this week. We got some early brinjal surprises, lots of methi, some tomatoes and even some spinach. I’ve been trying to grow spinach for a while now and failing. This bunch had me so excited, I was doing a little jig.

Two ends of a family tree. My Granny and her Great grand daughter.

Mom's been wanting to do this for a long time. Finally she got her chance!

This week also started off the #AtoZchallenge in which participants blogs a letter a day through the month, A to Z in order, except for Sunday. This year I’m sharing 26 Android Apps I use, so if you use an android phone, do stop by and see which ones I like and do tell me which ones you use. I’ve got A and B done until now.
A for Audio Books: Audible App
B for Books Books Books: Goodreads App
 

Adding to the #TBR This Week

 

Just one book this week! [And maybe that’s a good thing considering my overloaded TBR list :D ]


Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
(All The Books #46)
Small bombs explode almost all the time around the world and these bombs don’t get much of a mention in the news or don’t get noticed much by the world as the devastation they cause is just too small. But the destruction isn’t small to those who experience it.

That’s the story, the story of a survivor, his life and his guilt. The motivations of the bomb maker, what is it that lies behind these acts and those who help bring them fruition. It’s a story that’s calling me. :)

That’s it. Really. No more books this week. But tell me what have you been reading? What have you been upto this week?

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Horn Ok Please, Long Born Family At Home: This Week in Books

It's not Summer yet and the heat is already blinding!

The last week has been a packed one, loaded with fun, drama and excitement. My brother got married and the whole family turned up. (See the Wedding Pics on Chenthil's FB Page)

I love it when my family comes together, it makes me so so happy. Che loaned me his Instax Wide and I had such fun taking pictures for a day. (sometimes he's just chosweet) ;)



With all that's been happening, I stuck to my running schedule and that made smile all the way though my weekly long run. I'm enjoying running, especially once I get into a stride but have got a nagging pain in my heel to be figured out. :(

We also harvested some potatoes and tapioca this week. :)



I also got two hampers this week. :D



I got this from the Burrp guys at the food tasting they organised at Horn Ok Please - a desigastro pub. The decor was fascinating and I really liked their posters, milk can seats and tiffin lights.

Each of their cocktails has a desi twist and a found a couple quite appealing - do try the Kala Katta and Spice Trade

I also got a hamper from the ITC guys. A collection of four delicacies and two chutneys from their ready to eat Kitchens of India line. We've tried out the Yakhni Palao and Awadhi Halla and enjoyed both. Can't wait to get started with the chutneys.



I haven't been keeping up with the news in the middle of all this, so, got some catching up this week.

Some #TBR Additions

 


Longbourn by Jo Baker
(Get Booked #20)

I had found The Help by by Kathryn Stockett fascinating, the story from the perspective of the house-help is an different tale. In Longbourn, Jo Bakers goes belowstairs and tells the Pride & Prejudice story from the view of the maids and footmen. The Help meets Pride & Prejudice, this one, I can't wait to read...


At Home by Bill Bryson
(Get Booked #20)

I've read Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything and I'm a fan. This one's about the history of rooms in houses - bedrooms, dining rooms, drawing rooms,... Sounds interesting, nah?

Not many books this week and not much reading either. I'm hoping to fix it in the coming week. How has your reading week been? What are you reading? What have you been up to?

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