{"id":12343,"date":"2020-03-31T18:20:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T12:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.wordpress.com\/?p=12343"},"modified":"2020-08-03T18:57:29","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T13:27:29","slug":"what-i-read-in-january-and-february-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/31\/what-i-read-in-january-and-february-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Read In January and February 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Hi everyone! How are you all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really hope you all are safe and staying in. If you get too anxious, just breathe and pray. Let&#8217;s hope this too shall pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was there ever a time I used to post monthly wrap-ups on time? I certainly can&#8217;t recall. As far as 2020 goes, it completely slipped my mind to post a reading wrap-up of the first two months. Yeah, I know that doesn&#8217;t paint me in a good light. Anyways, I am quite happy with the amount of books, and the kind of books I have been reading so far this year. Of course, I&#8217;m blissfully ignoring the list of books I need to read for college, but I am making a lot of progress with my physical TBR books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">January Reads <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/40090596-art-matters\">Art Matters by Neil Gaiman<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I started my year with a re-read. <em>Art Matters <\/em>by Neil Gaiman is a treat and an inspiration for readers, writers and all kinds of artists around the world. It is the kick in the back and the spark of encouragement you need to get back to creating your art. It also gives us the much-needed reminder of how valuable and resourceful libraries are. This is a book I would recommend to everyone, whether you are a writer, painter or someone who wants to try their hand at any art form but they are holding themselves back. Imagine and create because art matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/78411.The_Bad_Beginning\">The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room (Book 1 and 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/image-1.png?w=917\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12370\" width=\"428\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-1.png 1146w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-1-269x300.png 269w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-1-917x1024.png 917w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-1-768x858.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll admit, these books have their charm. They are very cleverly written and are quick to read. Once you start, you do wanna know what happens to the characters. But also, what the hell? I couldn&#8217;t help asking myself why I was reading about bad things happening to children. Well, Mr. Snicket does warn in the beginning so I can&#8217;t blame him. But anyway, I&#8217;m not sure what to say more about these two books. I enjoyed them but I also didn&#8217;t like them. I think I&#8217;ll continue with the series but I&#8217;m not in a hurry to at the moment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 3\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/50645941-a-line-in-water\">A Line In Water by Amrita Pritam<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Amrita Pritam is an Indian author who fascinates me and I really want to read more of her poems and other writings, especially in Punjabi and Hindi. This book was alright. Perhaps the English translation lost the essence or maybe the story didn&#8217;t touch me. Read my short Goodreads review of it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/3158710440?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 4\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/40591267-girl-stop-apologizing\">Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I listened to this audiobook every day for about a month while commuting to college. It made me feel like a badass (or at least inspired me to become one) every day. Its a self-help book, especially for all 21st-century women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/157993.The_Little_Prince\">The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t think I understood this book<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And believe me, it is very hard to admit that after only hearing magical things about it from everyone. I did get some of the life lessons it was trying to convey but this book didn&#8217;t make an impact on me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 3\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/32618967-an-era-of-darkness\">An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi Tharoor<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The history textbook that I definitely needed to read. I needed to expand my knowledge of colonialism and its impact on India beyond what I learned in school, and after touching on this subject once again in my second semester of college, I had to pick up this book. It served its purpose. I gained detailed insight into the &#8220;era of darkness&#8221; and came to know about the repercussions of the British Raj we are facing even now. This book is filled with information and historical events and I read it, I didn&#8217;t study it. But even if I just remember 20% of this book, it was worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 4\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/28919058-autoboyography\">Autoboyography by Christina Lauren<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This book gave me all the feels. I blushed, I laughed, I cried. It follows Tanner, a bisexual teen who recently moved to Utah. He joins a writing class and starts liking Sebastian Brother, the mentor of the class. This was the first time I read a YA novel that also had a religious element to it. I was apprehensive about how the author would deal with it and how the story would conclude. However, I wasn&#8217;t disappointed at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">February Reads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/48739402-harnessing-light\">Harnessing Light by S.B. Goncarova<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/image-3.png?w=841\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12373\" width=\"410\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-3.png 1051w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-3-246x300.png 246w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-3-841x1024.png 841w, https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-3-768x935.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I posted a full review of this book! You can read that <a href=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.wordpress.com\/2020\/02\/01\/harnessing-light-by-s-b-goncarova-book-review\/\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 4\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/9026225-total-law-of-attraction\">Total Law of Attraction by David Che<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Honestly, I barely remember this book. This was a short audiobook I listened to on Storytel. I don&#8217;t remember it being much different than other books on the law of attraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 3\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/23498965-13-steps-to-bloody-good-luck\">13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck by Ashwin Sanghi<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/image-2.png?w=819\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12371\" width=\"382\" height=\"475\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to this, I had read <em>13 Steps To Bloody Good Wealth <\/em>by the author. The same thing goes for both the books &#8211; If you follow the techniques and tips that are given, you will benefit a lot from this book. If you don&#8217;t, you won&#8217;t get much out of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While this book is a fast read and I found a lot of logical and useful things, I felt that the same thing was repeated again and again. Seek more opportunities, grab the right ones, follow your intuition and be nice. There are also stories of many people on almost every other page and while that may be interesting to many readers, I found it quite tedious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 3.5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/49057616-the-rudest-book-ever\">The Rudest Book Ever by Shwetabh Gangwar<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I have been avoiding writing anything about this book because I know whatever I say will not do it justice. The sole purpose of this book is to make you think. As the author says, it&#8217;s not a self-help book, it is a book of perspectives. I definitely need to read this book again to grasp its full glory and to talk about it more, This book is written by one of my favorite Youtubers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC2gQaoCItAC-IbT8RNwWqLQ\">Shwetabh Gangwar<\/a>. I would highly recommend you all to check out his channel. To put it simply, his content is enlightening. He looks at every situation in life logically and gives you something to consider. He also has an English channel- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCSXFaThRuBGbqOaZsTxZnTQ\">Mensutra<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/29641.The_End_of_the_Affair\">The End of the Affair by Graham Greene <\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/image.png?w=819\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12369\" width=\"359\" height=\"446\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This is one of those rare cases where the writing gets to my heart rather than the story. There are many passionate and heartbreaking passages in this book. However, I couldn&#8217;t get emotionally invested in the story. I think that&#8217;s because it was hard to decide what to even feel for the characters- pity, hatred, or affection. As the name suggests, this book is about an affair. I liked that it showed the story from the perspectives of all the three people involved in the affair. The book talks about love, death, religion, and even about writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rating- 3.5\/5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you liked this post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><strong>Have you read any of these? Which books did you read recently? Comment down below!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Connect with me on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tavleen_words\/\">Instagram<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tavleensoni\">Twitter<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/user\/show\/32793447-tavleen-kaur\">Goodreads<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tavleen-words.tumblr.com\/\"><strong>Tumblr<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/31\/what-i-read-in-january-and-february-2020\/#more-12343\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &#10142; <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What I Read In January and February 2020<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[83,86,101,108,301,379,499],"class_list":["post-12343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-lists","tag-book-recommendations","tag-book-reviews","tag-books-2020","tag-books-reading","tag-monthly-wrap-up","tag-reading-wrap-up","tag-wrap-up"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/image-4.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11541,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/03\/november-2017-wrap-up-nonfictionnovember\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":0},"title":"November 2017 Wrap-Up #NonFictionNovember","date":"December 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone! How are you all? November was tough. It was probably the most stressful and emotionally draining month I've had this year. I'm glad its over. My reading suffered too and I was only able to read 3 books and 1 very short book. I have a lot of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miscellaneous&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.gr-assets.com\/books\/1310136461l\/264390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6830,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/02\/april-2017-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":1},"title":"April 2017 Wrap-Up","date":"May 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"April was an okayish month for me in terms of reading. The first two weeks I wasn't reading much and my school started after that so it got quite busy. The good thing is that I managed to read 6 books and that, good collection too. Two books had been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miscellaneous&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/travellingthroughwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/game_of_thrones_season_6-150x150.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11689,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/16\/january-march-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":2},"title":"January-March 2018 Wrap-Up","date":"April 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey everyone! How are you all? Did you miss me? Did you miss me? Yes, read that in Moriarty's creepy voice. Anyways, its the middle of April and my exams ended about a week ago so I'm back to blogging and reading. These past months were really stressful.\u00a0 However, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miscellaneous&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Books I Read This Month (2)","src":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/04\/books-i-read-this-month-2.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7795,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/04\/may-2017-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":3},"title":"May 2017 Wrap-Up","date":"June 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In terms of reading, May was a good month. In the beginning, I was reading very slowly but towards the end my summer holidays started and then I was reading like crazy. I managed to complete\u00a08 books out of which 4 were sent to me for review. Also, 6 books\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Lists&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/06\/0601171351a-1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11723,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/03\/april-2018-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":4},"title":"April 2018 Wrap-Up","date":"May 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone! How are you all doing? April was a strange month for me. Both in life and in reading, I was just trying to figure things out. I managed to read six books and I am happy to say I enjoyed most of them. Books I Read 1. Black\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miscellaneous&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Books I Read This Month.png","src":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/05\/books-i-read-this-month.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9224,"url":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/04\/july-2017-wrap-up-blogging-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":12343,"position":5},"title":"July 2017 Wrap-Up &#038; Blogging Update","date":"August 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey everyone! You may or may not have noticed that I posted less times this month than usual. Those of you who have read my post\u00a0Stressed by reading and blogging (Sharing my thoughts)\u00a0will know that I needed a break. I considered this month as a little break from blogging. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miscellaneous&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.gr-assets.com\/books\/1327871054l\/24128.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travellingthroughwords.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}