Reads

Enlighten, inspire...

This page is filled with footprints left by my big passion for stories, books and words. The following list holds most of the books I’ve read over the last few years, as well as some of my thoughts and reactions to them.

The titles in purple are the most re-read ones, books I warmly recommended. .

CURRENTLY READING:
- Through Thick and Thin by Gok Wan
- Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

…and then there’s my list of books to read »

Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer
Opening line: I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to.

I was a bit late getting into the Twilight series, I actually watched the three films back to back only last week. And yes, I’ll admit that I rushed to the bookshop the very next day to pick up this book… hehe. I enjoyed it a lot, not only for the strangely likeable characters but also for how well Stephenie tells the story and the way she plays with the words. I really really hope she decides to release Midnight Sun at some point, because I’d love to read it. (2010-11-10)

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(From here downwards the books are listed in no particular order.)

The Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Opening line: Through the long, lonely years of my childhood, when my father’s palace seemed to tighten its grip around me until I couldn’t breathe, I would go to my nurse and ask for a story.

The Hand That First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell
Opening line: Listen.

O’Farrell is without a doubt my most favourite writer (find out why). I absolutely adore each and every book she’s written, including this one. It’s simply beautiful beyond words.

The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems – Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi, translations and commentary by Coleman Barks.
Opening line: Let love lead your soul. Make it a place to retire to, a kind of cave, a retreat for the deep core of being.

Ribhu Gita
Opening line: May the Lord Sri Mahaganapati – who joyously holds the Mount Meru as if it were a madi berry, who then being pleaded to by the frightened celestials lets go of it, only to capture the blue expanse of the sky taking it to be a jambu fruit – may that Lord with huge belly protect me.

The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes
Opening line: June the first, a bright summer’s evening, a Monday.

Vår man i Bollywood – Zac O’Yeah

Kallare Än Kargil – Carina Rydberg

Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing – Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi, translations and commentary by Coleman Barks.
Opening line: Excuse my wandering.

The Essential Rumi – Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi, translations and commentary by Coleman Barks.
Opening line: In the tavern are many wines – the wine of delight in color and form and taste, the wine of the intellect’s agility, the fine port of stories, and the cabernet of soul singing.

The End of Your World – Adyashanti
Opening line: There’s a phenomenon happening in the world today.

Emptiness Dancing – Adyashanti
Opening line: The aim of my teaching is enlightenment – awakening from the dream state of separateness to the reality of the One.

Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-healing – Usha Lad, Dr Vasant Lad
Opening line: The concept of constitution (prakruti in Sanskrit) is the main framework and the very heart of Ayurveda.

The Distance Between Us – Maggie O’Farrell
Opening line: He wakes to find himself splayed like a starfish across the bed, his mind running at full tilt.

Absolutely beautiful. A gorgeously written story, bittersweet… has a romantic feel and resonance to it that I really loved. It’s one of those very rare books that I keep reading over and over again.

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