June turned out to be an excellent month on the reading front. I read five books, reviews aren’t up yet but they will be soon. 😉

This week’s video is a wrap up of the books and my thoughts on each of them. Have you read any of these? Did you like it?

Books I read in June –
Six Degrees by BlogAdda
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
The Devil and The Deadly Peace by Sindhura Chamala
First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
Destiny of Shattered Dreams by Nilesh Rathod

Something I’ve been thinking about:

 
In an extra marital affair the woman gets referred to as the other woman, blame is heaped on her for tempting the man, she is held responsible for breaking a marriage. But why is it her fault? She may have loved a married man, but that’s not wrong. The married man had a choice, he crossed the line, it’s his infidelity and yet he hardly ever gets thoo-thooed at.

The Bratpack Update:

 
Cuckoo been going for hydrotherapy!

A video posted by Freya (@freya3377) on Jun 30, 2016 at 6:52am PDT

What started as first rare, then off and off muscle pulls four years ago had progressed to an almost constant limp that seems to be causing constant pain. Over the years her stance, walking and running styles have changed to accommodate for the inadequacy of her right hind leg. She’s also become a more cranky dog, we guess because of the pain.
We’ve been trying to figure out what’s wrong for years now but no definite reason has been found and no medication has worked. Then recently a friend recommended hydrotherapy.
We’ve heard good things about hydrotherapy and are hoping it will help Cuckoo with the muscle wastage the hydrotherapist found in her right hind, which in turn will increase mobility and lessen pain.
She’s been to three sessions now and is finally getting used to the idea of swimming but we are already noticing little improvements.

Wish her luck 🙂

The other day I had this profound conversation with a friend about guilt and guilt ridden lives. I realised that I’ve spend most of my life feeling guilty – guilty for either having done something or not having done something. And this applies to all the mundane things.

For example if I sit down to read a book for an hour on a busy day (which is almost all days), I’m guilty about not finishing tasks. And if I don’t read, I’m guilty about not reading. Either choice has a layer of guilt, so I’m never fully present and fully enjoying what I’m doing.

But this Sunday wasn’t like that. I lived a guilt free day and it was an amazing experience.

It started in the morning when I woke up early and felt like reading. But when I sat down to read I felt my focus drifting. I noticed my mind was channeling my day’s to-do list and I decided to try my no-guilt mantra.

I had a little chat with myself and we talked about being in the moment, about not worrying about all that had to be done, not letting it overwhelm the now and just enjoying the moment.

It was the most wonderful hour I spent reading, fully present to the words and my dogs who cuddled up. It was beautiful! And then I managed to do it through the day. It was just a wonderful day.

And I enjoyed it so much, I didn’t land up getting this post done. 😀

Last week I also discovered book-photography challenges on Instagram and I’m hooked. They are so much fun to create. Here’s what I post this week. Connect with me and see more on Instagram.

In other news, I’ve just finished 6 Degrees – Game of Blogs published by BlogAdda and written by over 25 authors. Review coming soon. 🙂

Book Arrivals:

Last week I’d talked about paper books, so this week it’s the eBooks I received this month. I also tried out a few new things when making the video. Do tell me what you think of it. I need the feedback. 🙂

Books Mentioned in Video –
The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp
The House at the End of the Street by Stephanie E. Kusiak
The Kashmir Trap by Mario Bolduc
Iron Goddess by Dharma Kelleher

American Quartet by Warren AdlerThe Fiona FitzGerald Mysteries
(Book Riot #159)

Fiona is a Sergeant in the Homicide Division of the Metropolitan Washington Police Department. But isn’t the reason I picked this series, rather because Jeff O’Neal highly recommended it on his podcast and because it’s set in the city my bestie lives in. It’ll be a good way to get to know her city. 🙂

Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
(Get Booked #31)

This book has been surfacing on my radar for a while now. Then this week when the whole guilt-ridden-life conversation happened (check above) and the book surfaced again, it was like serendipity. I just have to read the book, no?

Off the Page by Jodi Picoult
(@JesseTheReader)

I’ve been trying my hand at audio books and I’m listening to Sheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things (narrated by her) and I liked it don’t get me wrong but it’s not got me hooked, I’m not in that place where I can’t stop listening. I’m still undecided if audio books are for me.
So, when Jesse in his favourite audio books video talked about Off The Page having multiple narrators, I thought this my be a good one to try. Plus the story sounds promising.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Series)
(@JesseTheReader)

Another book that’s been popping up often as a recommendation. Got to give it a spin and the fact that it’s got fairly tale characters is a definitely plus.

That’s about it out here this week. I’m working on having a guilt-free week. What have you been unto this past week? Do you feel guilt ridden too? How do you deal with it?

This week I finally got over my reading slump by jumping out of the Review TBR list and reading an all out romance by Loretta Chase. Lord of Scoundrels is just such a fun read. It has a head-strong rebel hero and that quite the usual thing but this one also has a cool-headed I-never-lose-it pistol-shooting heroine which makes for such a refreshing read.

And that momentum carried me though another book too. I’ve just finished ‘The Devil and The Deadly Peace’ by Sindhura Chamala, my detailed review is pending so for now I’ll just say I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it!

I went through my podcast backlog with a vengeance this week and got through a lot of them. If you are wondering which one’s I listen to, The Book Riot Podcast, The Get Booked Podcast and The Readers Podcast are my top 3 to listen to when it comes to books. Between the three I get book world news, so excellent book recommends (the Loretta Chase came out of here) and some bookish banter.

I also experimented with video this week as I’d like to do more videos in future and learned a few things, though it’s a longways to becoming a good editor.

Book Arrivals:

I received a lot of books this week both in paper and ecopies, so I did a video about the paper books on my reading list this month. Check it out, I’d love to hear thoughts, feedback and tips to make it better.

Books Mentioned in Video –

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Reaves
The Englishman’s Cameo by Madhulika Liddle
Destiny of Shattered Dreams by Nilesh Rathod
Game of Blogs by BlogAdda

And if you’ve read the books on my list, I want to know what you thought of them. Tel me, tell me in comments. 🙂

Books I Discovered This Week:

The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne
(Get Booked #28)
The tale of a girl travelling from a futuristic Mumbai to Ethiopia across a forbidden bridge. This in itself is enough but there’s more to the story and I’m piqued. Got to read this.

Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda
(Get Booked #30)
I’ve loved the Artemis Fowl series and the Percy Jackson series, this one is quite like that I’ve been told and set it India. What more?

Not too many books this week, in spite of a lot of podcasts, but that’s a good thing considering my sagging TBR pile. 😉 What have you been unto this past week? Read anything interesting?