Have you ever visited a city without much expectations, but when you got there, you weren’t just pleasantly surprised but you loved it? Well, that happened to me when I visited Portland. Here are some of the spots and things I enjoyed during my four day stay there.
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I read an article a couple of months ago on the Washington Post which listed every book to read for every year of your life from age 1 to 100. Well, if someone lives longer then they might have to extend this list. Americanah was the book suggested for my age. If you’re curious as to how old I am then you now have a way to find out. I have had Americanah on my TBR list for a long time now. But, because my list only grows sometimes books get buried there and never make it to the top of the list. I took this as an opportunity to bump this up. I started reading it and the first few chapters captivated me. I was eager to know where the story was going and how the characters would develop. The book follows Ifemelu, a sharp and observant girl from Nigeria who moves to America and faces a lot of racism sometimes directly and sometimes in the most subtle ways.
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There’s a book club nearby which I have been trying to go to ever since I found out about it. But, for several different reasons I haven’t been able to make it to any of the meets. Never Let Me Go was the book for the June meet. So I picked up the book, determined to finish it and make it for the discussion at the end of the month. As soon as I got the book, I dove right into it without even reading what it was about.
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One of the longest holds I’ve waited for. So when I got a copy at the library I was thrilled. Let me start by saying that, I really enjoyed every part of this book. Trevor Noah shares stories about his childhood in South Africa which gives us insights into what it was like towards the end of the apartheid and in the years that followed.
Read More »Starting a new series of posts here on this blog –
I haven’t been posting a lot recently. But I plan to change that soon. I have been rethinking the direction of this blog. When I started this blog last year I wanted to just post book reviews and travel stories. But, I also do a lot of things outside my day job which I wanted to write about. I didn’t know how to structure it and where to share all of this and what readers of this blog would make of this. When I named this blog – The Tiny Storyteller, I didn’t really know why I was naming it this except that I really liked the name. I have realized that everyone’s life is made of moments and when we share these moments with each other they become stories. After a lot of thought, I decided that instead of making separate posts for the stories in my life which aren’t about books, travel or write ups I’ll start a series of posts here called – Among Other Things. In this series I’ll share what I enjoyed in the past month and stories from my life. Here are the roundups for May. Hope you enjoy!
Read More »Sit with your demons
Reflect on why they haunt you
Offer them comfort
After all, they were created
from unhealed wounds
– Aashi
Whitey and Blacky were my furry siblings. Here’s a letter I wish I could have read to them.
Dear Whitey and Blacky,
I know you can’t read this. I wish I could have read this letter to you both and you definitely would have appreciated it. Just like you appreciated a lot many things. Never really could tell if you understood everything I told you. It’s been a few years since you both left us but the void you left in my heart is hard to fill. I miss you every single day.
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Reading becoming by Michelle Obama was a great start to the year. This book took me longer than I thought it would to read it. Wait, don’t get me wrong. It’s not because it was boring or a drag but because there’s so much to read and reflect on. Sometimes the book made me so emotional that it was hard to go on. Michelle Obama is a wonderful storyteller. She starts her story back to when she lived with her parents in a too small for four upstairs unit of her aunt’s house. As she mentions, “My father, Fraser, taught me to work hard, laugh often, and keep my word. My mother, Marian, showed me how to think for myself and to use my voice.”, you can see how her parents taught her very simple yet powerful lessons and laid strong foundations for her life. Finding your voice is one of the central themes of the book.
Read More »running out the door
rain in the sun
promised a rainbow
– Aashi
pressed flat between pages
a leaf from last fall
why did I pick you?
– Aashi
The Tiny Storyteller 