Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it’s so important that we don’t rely on it. – Veronica Roth The Venus World by Hywel Richard Pinto is a dystopian novel set in the year 2100 where women came into power after a lethal biological terrorist attack in the year 2025 that threatened the male population, leaving it on the brink of extinction. It’s the year 2100 and six Queens rule the new world. The male population is either used for reproduction purposes or for labor and slavery. But with an effort to create a sustainable and healthy male life and conflicts between the queens, men will ..read more

Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together. – Eugene Ionesco Growing up, we have learned things in a pre-defined, whitewashed, patriarchal, and gender conformed way which is so deep-rooted that we often fail to spot racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, toxic masculinity, body shaming and romanticization of all kinds of problematic content. Recently, I came across some posts and articles that pointed out some books/movies that promote this type of content but I realized that I failed to notice this at the time of reading/watching. In the 90s when I was only a kid, I did ..read more

Sometimes, you recognize truth because it destroys you for a bit. – Akwaeke Emezi I stumbled upon this book while I was scrolling through NetGalley, I liked the cover, title and description and fortunately, the book was available to read. Then after days, I saw it on Mridula’s feed @ecstatic_yet_chaotic and her praise for the book made me pick up right away. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi is a coming-of-age coming out story about Vivek and people around him. It goes back and forth Vivek’s death and we get to see this unjust world that brings this unfortunate moment that shatters a ..read more

Listening taught me that the labels that confined me could liberate others. That the right answer for one person could become the wrong answer for another, and that all we could do was lend support in our shared individuality. – C N Lester My love for HP is immense and it will be there in my heart forever because it has helped me in ways I can’t explain. It has been my safe place and it has provided me the comfort and sanity when nothing else seemed to work. Last year in December, I binged watched the whole series 3-4 times and then binged re-read the series. So, I know why would someone hav ..read more

What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation. – Glenn Close Hope and Beyond: A Journey Through Mental Health is a collection of short stories reflecting mental health and Hope in the times of crisis, co-authored by 12 authors. Every story was different in some way, some with characters dealing with outside monsters and some with their own inner demons. For me ‘The Beginning of Kai’ and ‘A Combat with My Comrades’ expressed the human emotion and conundrum fairly and they managed to make the characters alive. The book talks about days of dep ..read more

Even when we are confused about someone’s gender, and don’t have a greater awareness of what it means to be trans, we have a choice to respond with kindness rather than cruelty. Trans Like Me by C N Lester is a collection of insightful and thought-provoking arguments about issues like misogyny, transphobia, gender norms, and wrong representation. It’s a great book, to begin with if you want to understand Transgenders and be a better ally, if you want to understand the difference between gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This book talks about the abuse, hatred ..read more

Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading. – Lena Dunham Hi guys, if you have always wanted to get into a reading habit or if you are looking for books that might help you with reading, read this article till the end. Here are some easy tips and amazing book recommendations with various genres for everyone. Books 1. Animal Farm by George Orwell A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. 2. Wonder by R.J. Palacio ..read more

Humans are too prideful to feel threatened by those beneath their noses. Humans have the tendency to undermine other races but in this world of human dominance, Sophia John, the author of The Axis Quartet introduces us to four intelligent, clever, funny, and loving creatures. Not only are they ready to sacrifice themselves, but they also take it upon themselves to save the world. Meet Axis the Roomba, Taco the cat, Jane the turtle, and Noal the puppy who live together in a house with human parents and their kids. They talk in their own language but they can communicate with the kids. Noal is ..read more

Much of life is timing and circumstance, I see that now. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is about a newlywed couple Roy and Celestial but their life turns upside down when Roy gets wrongfully incarcerated for raping a woman and was sent to prison for 12 years. (*SPOILERS AHEAD*) What follows after is changes in Celestial and Roy’s relationship dynamic which was predictable to begin with because it was clear that their relationship wasn’t strong enough to take the blow of this tragedy. They had no chemistry and understanding and it definitely wasn’t a healthy relationship. The strongest ..read more

That’s the thing about death—even when you think someone is gone, glimpses of them remain in those they loved and left behind. The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton is about three women from different places with their different lives and how their journey entwined amidst the most powerful hurricane in history in 1935. The story has three narrators, Helen, Mirta, and Elizabeth and it is set in different Keys of Florida after World War II and the great depression, destroying many lives in the process. Helen is married to Tom who is a domestic abuser, Mirta is married to someone she bar ..read more