Nidhi Srivastava's Blog, page 18

Book Review: Finding your way

Title: Finding Your Way – How to Navigate Yourself Back from Depression, Personal Crisis, & Life’s Mistakes

Author: Drake Taylor

ASIN: B08RDYWM3D

Rating: 4/5

Review: I can gladly mention that this is likely to be my first blog of the year 2021. I cannot experience my feeling of starting this journey, yet again after a lot of struggle. What a start of the reading journey this year, reading a self-help book. I couldn’t compose myself to read this book on the go. I would admit that I did finish this book in bits and pieces. Reading whenever I got some time out of work. The author of self-help books draws life experience and jots the moment which we would have experienced in life. Self-help books are most of the realistic approaches to fight and win battles going on within us. The author has described his life and miseries coming along his way. Could you possibly think of a military-trained person to quit his/her life? It is too difficult to even imagine that as they are trained to be rock solid. I couldn’t believe the author’s suicide attempt. However, then came the part about self-realization and holding oneself accountable for the life we have. In most of situations, it is our decision that would have been accountable for our misery. In the case of the author, his personal life suffered due to his work life. But when he got a chance to live the life again, his partner wasn’t willing to give in. Many times, you would be betrayed by loved ones or they won’t be supportive enough for the change in you. Also, I completely or partially agree with the fact that friends are wolf-skin, some of them of course. However, you might find some great friends in this life. However, that doesn’t bring you to the end of a relationship. We should reflect on our decisions and try to overcome stressful moments. The author has mentioned about self-reflection question exercise, dietary plans, calendar planning, and many other exercises in the appendices of the book. The book is a short read, including the exercises.

Our lives are a series of calculated decisions that we consciously or
subconsciously make

In every hurricane, there is an eye of calm

There is always
someone out there
who will help you
or give you what
you need in your
darkest hour

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Thank you Vinfluencers for the review copy

Book Review: Cyclogeography

Book title: Cyclogeography – Journeys of a London Bicycle Courier

Author: Jon Day

Publication: Notting Hill Editions

Format: Hardcover

Blurb:

Cyclogeography is an essay about the bicycle in the cultural imagination and a portrait of London seen from the saddle. The bicycle enables us to feel a landscape, rather than just see it, and in the great tradition of the psychogeographers, Day attempts to depart from the map and reclaim the streets of the city.
Informed by several grinding years spent as a bicycle courier, Day lifts the lid on the solitary life of the courier. Travelling the unmapped byways, short-cuts and edgelands of the city, couriers are the declining, invisible workforce of the city. The parcels they deliver – either commonplace or illicit – keep the city – and capitalism – running.

‘This is a street-smart, super-sharp exploration of the “soft city” as seen from the saddle; Jon Day has written a bold and clever book about the zone where capital and cycling collide. It fascinated me from first page to last.’ – Robert Macfarlane

‘Magically good. Jon Day conjures the secret city of the cyclist, revealing himself over the course of his swooping journeys as an astonishing writer, capable of dizzyingly elegant and thrilling flights of thought.’ – Olivia Laing

My Rating: 4/5

Review: I think I am glad I found Notting Hill Editions this year. I did receive Cyclogeography sometime back in November. I have been trying to read this book for a long time. I did pick up this one last week and completed it in a day. A journey about the bicycle couriers running in London over a decade. The author has described nooks and corners of London, and a distinct smell that every city beholds in itself.

You learn the secret smells of the city, summer’s burnt metallic tang, the sweetness of petrol, the earthy comfort of freshly laid tarmac

It is a really interesting read about a profession which lets you travel, but yet you miss out on a lot of moments. A distinctive culture running in the courier community about race day has been described in the book. It has been mentioned in the book that “Cycle couriers live as parasites on the city.” It has shaped in bringing a sense of happiness in poverty, well it is quite a personal opinion while I was reading this beauty. The book is a small read which would help you learn about London and professions that have died down the lane. I have been mesmerized reading these books by Notting Hill Editions. I am really looking forward to read some more books from the publication.

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Book Review: Life Extension Design

Book Title: Life Extension Design: Redesign your life for optimal health, performance, and longevity in order to become part of the first generation to choose whether to age and die … or not

Author: Tassilo Weber

Format: Kindle

Blurb:

In this book, you’ll find a workshop of sorts. A workshop to redesign your life for optimal health, performance, and longevity in order to become part of the first generation to choose whether to age and die … or not.

If you’re reading this, you live in the most exciting time of human history. Within the next decades, exponential technologies will not only dramatically change the world we live in, but also the biology of our bodies. By using cellular and molecular repair therapies and reprogramming our DNA, we will be able to reverse the aging process and make aging and death optional. Although we’re talking about the world of tomorrow, there is so much you can do today to become part of that future.

This practical handbook empowers you to experiment with ways to playfully improve and optimize your health and extend your healthy lifespan. Find out how to increase your energy level and overall well-being while simultaneously adding healthy years to your life. And you don’t have to torture yourself, thanks to design-thinking methods; this redesign of your life can be done in a fun way. Just think of it as a workshop.

My rating: 4/5

Review: The book is one of the self-help books that I have read so far this year. I think I have delayed writing this blog, waiting for the right moment. I have been immensely moved by the introduction chapter, where the author has described about silent revolution and how exponential technologies have contributed to it. I haven’t read a self-help book where someone has actually mentioned about genome sequencing and artificial intelligence. Aging has been described quite scientifically, I should highlight on that. The author mentioned that “Aging can be defined as damage and loss of healthy cells through accumulated cell junk, mutations, and incomplete reproduction.” The author has also described that aging is still not considered as a disease. We are a generation of people who are fighting with the greatest pandemic of decades. The next segment describes about design thinking. “Design thinkers say: we don’t know what works, we can only assume.” Design thinking mentions on the process of problem solving in a very unbiased manner. Then, the warm-up begins with the exercises giving by the author to help you design your life in a better way. I am not gone to reveal alot from the book, but I enjoyed working on the exercises given in the book.

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Book Review: The Kitty Party Murder

Book title: The Kitty Party Murder

Author: Kiran Manral

Publication: HarperCollins India

ISBN: 9390327628

ISBN13: 9789390327621

Format: Paperback

Pages: 252 pages

My Rating: 4/5

Review: The book is a complete package with humor and wit entangled. The author has tried to bring a murder mystery to the reader, with a hint of humor to it. Most of the time, we relate to the characters as we turn the pages. It’s a novel where you can relate to Kay (Kanan Mehra, the main character), who is not very fond of running to the gym and finding it hard to cut out ounces. Kay couldn’t avoid the dilemma of not gaining weight and getting invited to dinner and lavish lunches. I could relate to how women are obsessed with sugar in their cups and on their hips. I loved the fact that there are different characters, though cutting out much drama of remembering names. We have an interesting character Runa, Kay’s detective friend, who hired Kay to work for her on a murder or suicide case. I was flipping the pages quickly to reach to the scene where the mystery kicks in. There is alot to learn while you read this novel. I was impressed by the wit used by the author here. The novel has been quite metaphorical at places. A woman has been so observational during her lifetime, this fact has been well-depicted in the novel. I would also like to highlight, the character you will eventually fall in love, Kabir! Kabir, Kay’s child, the way his dialogues has been written amidst conversation with his mother is just commendable. I won’t break suspense by revealing how and when the Kitty helped in revealing the murder mystery. But, I would like you to grab your coffee and this book soon to explore humorous murder mystery.

30 is considered fodder for the graveyard. Fossils!

Husbands are best dealt with from a distance

Misery loves company

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Thank you HarperCollins for sending this beautiful copy.