Book Review #141 : Forgiveness Is a Choice

 

Imprint: Ebury Press

Published: Dec/2021

ISBN: 9780143450573

Length: 224 Pages

MRP: ₹299.00

The words such as forgiveness and peace have always represented abstract ideas and thoughts, something to be understood by the intellect rather than a viable experience. Kia, however, provides a more integrated wisdom that allows moving such concepts from the head to the heart. A potentially life changing approach with a deeper understanding of why I suffer, and how to gently let go, and later the realization of the true nature of things is presented in this beautiful book. 

Forgiveness, a priceless gift from the beloved presence dwelling within our hearts, is like a soothing balm for healing all our wounds. The pain we feel when we lose our home or other material possessions. The pain we experience in our body when we face a physical illness. The pain of separation from a loved one – from loss due to death of the body or the death of a relationship – so that our beloved is no longer part of our everyday social fabric. The pain we feel when we believe we have disappointed someone we love by our actions, or when we feel a sense of shame or regret and judge ourselves as failures.

We need the comforting presence of forgiveness to dry all our tears. Whenever we feel lost, confused, lonely, upset or disconnected, a steady practice of forgiveness anchors us in the truth of our being—a changeless, timeless, deathless, and birth less reality that is pure peace, love, and joy. In our fast-paced lives mired in space, time, and form where the only thing that is constant is change, forgiveness helps us shift our perspective, so we see our situation differently. Herein lies the true gift and healing that forgiveness offers. It is a medicine that we take and allow it to work inside us at a pace that is comfortable for us; we cannot and must not rush this process. However, it is our choice that only we can make. Only we have the power to choose forgiveness. While it may seem that we are forgiving another person or situation, in reality, it is we that are in most need of forgiveness.

The conscious choice made to not allow an unpleasant event to become frozen in our minds and hearts, but, to allow all the painful emotions to flush up in a safe space; the anger, the sadness, the hurt, the confusion – all must be bought into awareness. Only then can we go deeper into the peace, love, and joy that are buried underneath. This inner sanctuary of peace, love, and light can never be hurt or taken away from us. It is our treasure to claim hidden right underneath all the pain and darkness. And forgiveness can light our way, so we may fully allow this healing to truly wash over us, so we may feel whole once more – perhaps even stronger and more resilient than before. When we begin to practice forgiveness, the world becomes a better place to live. Forgiveness is essential to releasing fear and living in peace. In fact, forgiveness is the single most important thing we can do to create a life of love and happiness. This is the essence and teaching of this book.

This book is a practical guide to forgiveness. It reveals how we unconsciously carry old wounds into our daily lives, and then guides us through a simple process for identifying and releasing these emotions. An everyday approach to identifying hurts and angers in the moment and releasing them through forgiveness allows us to lead happier and stress-reduced lives.

The usage of simple words and lucid language helps to maintain coherence throughout the book. It is a manual for hard times - a gem, indeed! Anytime I'm unsettled, I know, I will turn to this book to feel grounded again. An inspiring book you MUST get. Also, a worthy gift you can give to anyone you love and care for. 

Review copy courtesy – PR, Penguin Random House India.

Book Review #140 : Written in the Stars

Book Name: Written in the Stars

Author: Divya Anand

Pages: 270

Genre: Romance Novel, Fiction

Price: 225 INR

Set in Bangalore, ‘Written in the Stars’ has a lot of interesting elements that bring the story beautifully together. The challenges of a start-up, the process of product design, everyday office politics, and unrequited love make it seem like just another day at work. However, the horoscope element gives the story a neat, unique, unexpected twist. Girl-bonding is the best thing at the centre of all this madness.

This book is a romantic comedy about whether life and love are shaped by your choices or are written in the stars. Sitara, the protagonist works for a start-up and is almost living on an edge to prove her worth for a promotion. And how she uses the marketing head Abhimanyu Singh's obsession with astrology to her advantage and later falls in love with him. Sitara must now choose what she really wants, a promotion or true love. The story revolves about Sitara's professional and personal life and how she balances the two. The book gives a real feel of corporate culture, over ambitious people, politics, love, hatred, deadlines everything you can think of. 

Author, Divya Anand has scripted the character Sitara in such a manner that every working girl can relate to it. The hassle of work-life balance, friends family balance, and boss, and employee balance. You get to see all the aspects of the urban woman in the book in a sync manner. The love aspect of the character is explored yet it is so subtle in the storyline. Sitara’s love interest, Abhimanyu in the story is adorable. Kavya is the darling friend we all need in our lives and Inaya is the all-knowing cute niece anyone would want to have around. Abhimanyu Singh, despite his strange astrology obsession, is irresistible. His self-assuredness and chiseled features make you fall head over heels in love with him.

‘Written in the Stars’ is a light-hearted, humorous book.  I totally admire the author's sense of humour. In many places you won't be able to stop yourself from laughing out loud. This book deals with every emotion and relationship so beautifully.

The astrology angle is interesting and adds the freshness required to help this book stand out from others in the genre. Haven't read such a relatable and laugh-out-loud funny book in ages. After months of working from home, I felt the familiar madness, tension and hilarity of office life - as if I were back in its midst.

Verdict: Divya has done a great job of creating characters, dialogues and adding a pinch of drama to the romance. The language is easily understood and the book is just the right length. The novel clearly picturizes today's corporate world in a very simple language. I always look for a positive ending and this book has given me the one. With a proper closure and happy ending, this book has won my heart. I strongly recommend this book as it is enjoyable, humorous and a fun read.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review copy courtesy - author.

Book Review #139 : Atomic Habits

In my humble opinion, this book is so good that I would like to file it under the elite category of books that can actually change your life!

In this book published by Penguin Random House India, the author focuses on “atomic habits” – a term that he uses to describe small improvements made on a daily basis so that small wins and tiny breakthroughs add up to noticeable change that can be celebrated. He builds out a nice 4-point framework for building habits and explains some good practices built around behavioral trigger that can help us reshape our lives.

Atomic Habits is a great book if you are looking for some prescriptive which will lay out a bunch of do’s and don’ts for creating new habits and breaking old ones. It is full of directly actionable advice. James Clear — presents in this book, very compelling arguments and examples from his in-depth research spanning multiple areas like sports, arts, science, business, history etc., to pick interesting nuggets that serve to push his framework. And his frameworks are very practical, with a good mix of examples and some thought-provoking life philosophies as well.

What is the reasoning behind the idea that tiny improvements made consistently are far more meaningful in the long run? The author offers a useful analogy. He writes, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.”

It is not just pages of pep talk stuck together. It offers a step-by-step plan for building habits that can serve us for a lifetime. The author translates research into everyday language that can be grasped quickly. Another valuable suggestion is the practice of habit stacking, wherein you “tie your desired behavior into something you already do each day.” The author also suggests using habit trackers and accountability partners to help you. Perhaps the best way to use this book is to study the main principles, and not take the recommendations too literally. People live under different circumstances, and what autonomy means to one person may not mean the same to another. Do not miss the appendix because it has pointers for additional reading, and links to online resources for readers who are keen to understand how the ideas in this book work!

Overall, I recommend ‘Atomic Habits’ because of the way it blends in some practical tips with powerful stories that align with those tips. As someone who has been trying to change habits since quite a few years (and failing miserably), I concede that this book helps me take my efforts a bit more seriously. This definitely helped me not only increase awareness in matters like health & fitness and hobbies, but also made me create some systems around these that brought to life some intentionality into how I approach these. That, to me, is the biggest take-away, from this book. I’d strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and read the rest for yourself. If you’re struggling with your habits, this is very much a book for you.

Ratings: 4.8/5

Book Review #138 : The Right Escape

 

If you love to read small poetry or micro tales, this book is for you! This book is inspiring, relatable and profound.

A published book in your hands is someone's hard work, sweat and efforts. Hajra is a beautiful soul and it shows through her writing. This book is a perfect cosy winter read for a sore heart. Needless to say, I was baffled with what I found folded into the pages. I was expecting an inspirational slightly tacky read much like how I viewed poetry prior to this. What I found was vulnerability, startling bluntness, and a pure and raw story laced into the pages!

The poems are sweet and idealistic. Overall, I really enjoyed this compilation of poems and would totally recommend to anyone who is looking to heal from a bad experience in life. I do not subscribe to the belief that poetry must be difficult to be meaningful, hence, I truly enjoyed this book.

VERDICT – ‘The Right Escape’, is a ‘modern classic’, worthy to be read out loud, written in texts to loved ones, and learnt by heart. The reminder to appreciate yourself and to embrace love, separation and the process of self-discovery is timeless.

RATING – 4/5