Run Report 2022

2022 was purely Georgia miles with a few in Dallas for Thankgiving week. I added some walks in my regime just to be able to go out.

 

In December 2021, we moved to a new home. So my run routine changed again. The route around my neighborhood was a mountain. A torture which nearly tempted me with run-retirement. So I made the expensive decision to keep my hobby alive. I decided to burn my precious gas and drive to a trailhead 3-5 miles away. Gas was expensive in the beginning of the year, in case anyone forgot. And later that's how walk was introduced into my routine. Rather than let a day get wasted, cause I missed the run-bus, I introduced walking around my mountainous neighborhood. 

In the very first week of June, the mood was complete HOTlanta with missing MinneSNOWta very badly. June & July are killer in humidity. But August the rains have transformed the sidewalks. The algae coating makes it as slippery & dangerous as black ice sidewalks in Minnesota. October was pleasant till the cold blast for a week. Then it was a warm first-half of November. But December was all sleet & tropical rains along with 2 weeks of Artic blast cold wave. That brought down my Dec mileage immensely. 

Runkerchief - so nice to see another runner flaunt the huge mens-handkerchief. It was that kind of June morning. I am not the only one carrying handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat & blow snot. And in summer I bought the cooling towel. That's definitely needed in South on just regular outings in summer.

For the last day of Dec, I scrambled to join my run group - but surprise ! It was hurricany weather, so stuck to treadmill walk. My GPS phone walk mode did not match with treadmill and showed 0.5 miles on watch for the 2 miles of treadmill walk.

I thought I had run less, but at 471 miles of running it was still more than last year. And add the 84 miles of walking. But my pace has dropped to 15-16 min/mile. Its a very depressing number which I attribute to increase in weight & age, and add Georgia's topography to it.

Another milestone - I did one of a Georgia things. So as soon as we landed in the heat of August, I saw people walking everywhere - every sidewalk of every crowded road. Anytime of the day - even 90F afternoons. I knew of hiking on Appalachian Trail but Hiking as such was a big thing everywhere. Saw glimpses of that in different Hiking FB groups where people hiking in different state parks & mountains posted theirs. As much as I grappled with the nuances of hiking vs trekking vs walking, I wanted to Hike with a group. I got to do that this November. Went with a big ladies gang to the Sawnee Mountain Preserve (4075 Spot Rd, Cumming GA 30040).

I did become a morning runner this year finally. Because morning temps are pleasant and not freezing like MN and it gets hotter later in the day. I tried a few evening runs & couldn't imagine, how I did evening-runs so many years in MN. It's too much effort after the exhausting efforts of the day.

I had one very interesting Saturday long run in last week of July. After moving to Georgia, I looked up and joined a few local Run Groups via Facebook. I ran with only Lifetime group but followed rest for local trail info. This Saturday I decided to turn up at one groups starting point at Halcyon at 6:30am. Waited awkwardly in dark for strangers to turn up with the same confidence as my MN run groups. There was another group gathering & I kept looking at them, asking telepathically if they were Wind Runners. Finally 2 dudes came asking about this group & I introduced myself. Since they were fast runner, I decided to skip this and went back for breakfast and went to my usual  trail. When I was about to start, the second group from Halcyon reached here by running. Haha & chatted. Its 5.3 miles from there and took them an hour. Later I remembered they must be the Peachtree group. I started my run and ran into a few women who looked like 'She RUNS This Town' run group. After a pause I asked them and they did turn to to be. Lot of good natured Runners Yelling. So thrilling. And in my return trip I ran into my Lifetime run group buddy. So one Saturday morning run and I bumped into 4 run group runners !

My only race of the year was Alpharetta Women's Half Marathon on 23-Oct.

Races here are just not like in MN. In MN there were races across seasons. All routes were beauty areas with definitely flat-ish routes. Format were classic plain vanilla; which is very comforting. Now in Georgia I have found only one in my hometown which works for me. Then rest are quite a driving distance. And I found all really weird ones. There is Alien Half in Rosewell with Alien theme & it's at night ! There is another Marathon which is run around a 1 mile loop - its a good way to ensure the entire race is on a flat route. Plus Georgia is a mountainous state. The inclines are killer and we don't need it in a race routes. I don't know how I will find other races that work for me.

All of my yearly Run Reports are here.

Wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !

Rest of the Read Books of 2022

My notes on reading experience July onwards. The books I read before July in this year 2022 are here.

My immediate  next step is I need to memorize the spelling of my new favorite author Sylvain Neuvel. I read 4 books by him in 2 months. First 2 books of 2 trilogy. Last books of both are not in library yet. 

Most of the books this year brought me personal comfort & peace; answered the questions that were pestering me. Appropriate Self-help books have a good reason for existence and I am just finding out.

My book count is up. My count is almost 18+ books this year. I re-read my old favs for comfort (like Hunger Games, Tintin, etc). I think this count has been going up every year. Nice change, I say. I started reading more books to get away from the mindless-scrolling phone addiction that has been on steroids' this year.

Em And The Big Hoom - by Jerry Pinto

I have always been aware of the caliber of Mr Jerry Pinto by his newspaper & magazine publications and fame; this was the first book I read. This book won the Shahitya Acakami award in 2016 and I feel very well deserved. And I was happy to find his book in a GA, USA Library.

Very well written book, it has brought immense comfort to me. I don't even feel guilt, on how much pain & suffering is captured in the book and all of it non-fictional. Its because it got me answers to many questions. The book captures the grudge holding that happens in large family through their long-lasting relationships, even if in begrudged way.

No movie or even OTT series can cover the roller coaster of his family. No acting can convey what even the bland reporting is doing. I can almost see all of them; maybe I already have.

80s Bombay almost had an epidemic of such cases. I have always been curious why? Also depicted in movies like "Honeymoon Travels" - Bomen Irani part of movie. 

Something about restrictions telling against marriage, not wanting kids but having them , all pile up in their head. Also the suffocations induced by financial limitations, no resources , no budget for travel or hobbies or acquiring beauty objects to satisfy or divert minds. 

This superstition of acknowledging love or good stuff or happy birthday to their children. It’s almost like they are worried someone will hear & spoil it. Power of superstition can drive anyone batshit crazy. "Angel roaming around can hear what you say & make it true" was used as caution to stop any kids or naïve people from bragging or saying ill. Extrapolated someone believing it from childhood will start seeing things.

But it always bothered me that when there is no financial or health or personal or other misfortune, why they create relationship troubles ? Because once broken or splintered, they were never fixed again.

PSA ask us to limit resource usage to save earth from thrash. But that is a surefire way to drive 7 billion humans to craziness..

Noteworthy passages:

Page 21-22: "Em's mother spoke in code. She omitted almost all the important words in each sentence. She had had far too many languages drummed into her ears - first Konkani in Goa, then Burmese in Rangoon , then Bengali in wartime Calcutta and now English, in which her children spoke and dreamed. It had taken away most of her vocabulary. She communicated through gestures, facial expressions and the assumption that everyone knew what she was talking about. "

Page 26 - "Hierarchy breaks down and revenger must be had." to describe a class which just got a nervous teacher.

Page  68 - Analogy of tower is perfect - 

"Love is never enough. Madness is enough. It is complete, self sufficient onto itself. You can only stand outside it, as a women might stand outside a prison in which her lover is locked up. From time to time, a well-loved face will peer out and love floods back. A scrap of cloth flutters and it becomes a sign and a code and a message and all that you want it to ne. Then it vanishes and you are outside the dark tower again. At times, when I was young, I wanted to be inside the tower. so I could understand what it was like. But I knew even then, that I did not want to be a permanent resident of the tower. I wanted to visit meant nothing because you could always leave. You're a tourist; she a resident."

Page 137 - "It puzzled me, this ability to fight over things that had happened years ago until I realized that Em and Granny could only fight over things that had happened years ago. They used them as placeholders for the slights and hurts of the present. In ten years time, whatever was bothering them now would spill out in the open, when it could be handled just that much better"

The Art of Gathering - How we meet and why it matters - by Priya Parker

I managed to scrambled through and finish this book on the last day of Dec, so I had to update it in this blogpost.

The book is very impressive. Given the authors extensive work, every chapter is filled with different instances of gathering. And each kind of meeting, conference, wedding, parties etc is used to explain a certain principle. That makes it all interesting.

The only other book I found talking formally about hosting was the fiction novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I found it hard to follow, because of its hard language. But at an young age, I got an idea of the power of a party.

Most of my work life have been defined and structured by meetings. So with The Art of Gathering, I found the great breakup and methods for different aspects of a meeting. Some of them may sound incredulous to apply in our situation. But it obviously worked in that situation. What might be missing in the book, is the resistance to some of these methods, that would have happened. Knowing those, would help in being prepared to be mocked while we try it out.

But the good part is reading all this, opens our mind to find solutions to better our own gatherings.

I heard of this book after attending a live event by Priya Parker hosted by MURAL. Now MURAL is a great tool for making even remote meetings very interactive. So it made sense for her to share about the book. To know more, here is the YouTube interview of Priya Parker.

Noteworthy passages:

The one on Page 132-133 is something I have been repeating a lot in my house about device usage - there are millions of dollars & hours of work involved in overcoming our willpoer of giving up device.

Page 120: If etiquette is about sustaining unchanging norms, pop-up rules are about trying stuff out.

Page 121: Etiquettes allows people to gather because they are the same. Pop-up rules allow people to gather because they are different - yet open to having the same experience.

Page 132-133: Making it an individual's responsibility not to be distracted, Harris told The Atlantic, "is not acknowledging that there's a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job is to break down whatever responsibility I can maintain."

A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman

 

I LOLed at many places. I read it all in 3 days of reading. It's a fast pace book; pages keep moving from one to another. Its set in a cozy setting - a housing community with an assortment of interesting characters. 

This para summarizes the book aptly:

Page 230: Considering how they are constantly preventing him from dying, these neighbors of his are certainly not shy when it comes to driving a man to the brink of madness and su?ci?e. That's for sure.

The book is a gem and ends with a happy ending. Found it after seeing the Tom Hanks movie trailer. 

Third Culture Books - The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds - By David C Pollock and Ruth E Vad Reken

Most emotional book for me, in a long time. I filled up a separate blogpost with notes from this book.

The book lists a load of frustrations that we suffer all our life, Not knowing the real reason & assuming our reaction from a totally different reason like family background or luck or the entire world. This book lists them with all with explanation & hence brought me peace with a lot of points.

Steal Like An Artist - by Austin Kleon

I can't every begin to say how beautiful and important this book was. I want to buy & gift it to my favorite people.

Starstruck - Cosmic Journey of Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Good one. When NDT wrote on his FB abut the book being banned in some Philly library, I needed to check it out; so got it from my local library.

Take Them To Stars series - by Sylvain Neuvel - A History of What Comes Next (1)  & Until the Last of Me (2) 

 

Since I couldn't finish the previous trilogy, I hopped on to the next trilogy by same author. Totally different in tone, language, setting & everything.

Again my favorite genre of space science fiction. Here the desire to reach the stars, so no real space adventure. But lot of adventure on earth, in different countries, in innumerable time-eras and cultures.

First of all such an intriguing premise. And then executed well. The multi generation of ladies meant multi stories from decades & centuries & cultures. Multi cultures are refrenced - those who have been involved in astronomy in some way but yet to spot India yet; lets see in 3rd book, not a big deal.

The gore in Book One was hard to digest and one particular story gave me nightmares I have to say. Back story for it based on true incidents upset me & I had to take a break from reading the last of the book. No such violence in the Book Two. 

About the violence in the Book One, made me doubt about maybe the villain & victim are interchanged & not what is portrayed. 

In Book One, the information section in the end is multiple pages. Every historical reference in the book (which is a lot) is provided its real back story. That was very educational.

The Further Reading section in Book Two is an entire chapter in itself, with each that can send you down the wiki rabbit hole.

There is even a Spotify playlist of songs which named the chapters. Haven’t enjoyed a true blue space s I-go in a long long time. 

The Diet Trap Solution - Train Your Brain To Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good - by Dr Judith S Beck & Deborah Beck Busis 

 

I found this book useful, as it was not about dictating what to eat or recipes. It was about how to handle situations, which throw us off from our diet. Holidays, traveling, family pressures, eating to seem nice, etc there is a chapter & different strategies for each.

Older Reading lists: Entire Book list  | 2022 (1) | 2021 (2) | 2021(1) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |

2022 Banquet of Movies

New generation of movie makers are gems, in all language. They have varied plots. And most of the conflict conclusions are with so sabya-vyavahar, its inspiring - as compared to alpha macho-male ways of resolving conflicts which are dangerous actions to replicate in real life.

One of the tricks which helped increase our family viewing, was to merge profiles. So many OTT apps, so many show/films options, so many varied personal choices. We all ended up just scrolling & not seeing anything. So this year, I suggested we merge the profiles so there is one Profile for grownups & one kid version. Now one profile for couple, meant one set of recommendations to choose from. It actually helped increase our viewing.

Other Phenomenon of this year were South films. I have always been watching. But my eye opener for this phenomenon was when a Bihari friend said she was Mahesh Babbu fan & watches all Telagu films dubbed in Hindi on Youtube. Seems like its a far & wide thing as proven after Pushpa success. Slowly details came out from many North Indian friends that their parents & relatives have been watching South movies for a long time, ofcourse in dubbed or subtitles version.

KANNADA

Kantara - in theatre. Very impressive 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 Language, background music & songs, sub-plots, characters, performances, stunts, pacing of story & closure. 

Kshamisi Nimma Khaatheyalli Hanavilla - Diganth. Language play kept it engrossing.

MALAYALAM

Tovino Thomas is the flavor of this year and my new favorite actor.

Minnal Murali - on First class. Mallu Super-hero movie. It had the familiarity of Kerala setting & people, along with Hollywood elements of super-hero origin movie. Background music for every sequence was ah heart-beating one. Like all Kerala movies, filled with 100s of characters and each interesting than the other with separate background story and quirks. 

Forensic (2020)

Kilometers and Kilometers (2020)

Dear Friend (2022)

Naaradum (2022) - Ok movie with the weakest part being the faulty background music and other being the simplistic story & arc of the bad guy.

Night Dive (2022) - on Netflix. Spread over one night, good thriller with twists. And good acting by Anna Ben, Roshan Andrews, Sukumaran and others.

TELUGU

And flavor of Telugu cinema would have to be Nani & Allu Arjun

Shyam Singha Roy (2021)

Ante Sundaraniki (2022) - rollercoaster of events and hence engrossing comedy. 

BENGALI

Thanks to Prime & Hulu , saw a few of Bengali movies this year - old & new

Ahare Mon - Always wanted to see this movie  esp for the lovely song Ogo Bideshini. Good 

Banshewale - Its the quite peaceful approach movie; through the storyline involves lot of complicated drama. Sent me down the rabbit-hole about Sayan Munshi's whereabouts.

Sweater (2019) - Darjeeling views.

Mukherjee Dar Bou (2019)

MARATHI

Marathi film industry has a huge legacy and hence the lovely movies, excellent acting and music they create.

66 Sadashiv - Fun involving movie on the topic of skill of arguing. Lot of story sub-plots working together towards a satisfying conclusion.

Mogra Phullala - Movie as soft as Mogra scent.  Story-line is as usual family drama as it can get - what brings this movie up is the acting skills of the leads ( Swwapnil Joshi, Sai Deodhar, Neena Kulkarni) & others, beautiful language and lovely 4 songs.

Jhimma - Ladies group tour to UK with male tour owner & guide. Great visuals, beautiful Marathi dialoges, multiple stories with ups & downs. 

TAMIL

Beast (Tamil) / Raw (Hindi) - Enjoyable masala movie - spiced with action, gore, comedy and good 1 song (Arabic Kuttu). First there was Phanthom on ship, then John McClane on skyscraper and now Beast in mall. And the movie ending was Top Gun. Perfect.

Love Today - on Netflix. Its as fun as fun can be. Every subtle thing in that situation is exaggerated very imaginatively created scenes.

HINDI

Kaun Pravin Tambe - Good one. Firstly for Shreyas Talpade. Next Parambratta C & other actors. Story unfolding with interesting flashbacks. And then for the cricket bits sprinkled right.

Jaadugar / Love Goals - TVF & Jeetu Bhaiya movie on Netflix. It had magic, football, MP small town underdog. Brilliant movie.

83 -  Such a lovely movie in every way and I feel bad about missing it in theatres when it released. So many scenes & such lovely progression of storyline. So endearing in not a emotional manipulation way. Story unfolds very realistic & believable fashion like it happens in any of the sports teams.

Gehraiyan - 

It was genre breaking. Was it romance or thriller or suspense (like in second half). And then a open ending as in more to follow. And later when I was thinking, I realized that they will wiggle out of this one too. 

Also, so the only untainted characters turned out to be Nasser, Karan & to a large extent Tia. 

Pushpa - Hindi dubbed from Telegu. Shreyas Talpade dubbed for Allu Arjun & Rashmika looks & acted good. 

dubbing - Ek Saal Ke Pehle.

Visually powerful movie - grand locations, hundreds of people in every frame, black stained clothes. Clothes of girls, ladies & men is as casual as Magadi Road, Bangalore. Worn in full pride with no apology or sub-texting & that's a win.

Power of dubbed movies. Friend from Mithila first told me, she watched Telegu dubbed in Hindi movies on YouTube. It hardly registered. But that trend reached its full power with Pushpa being 300 crores+ super hit.

I learnt of the gravity of Telegu film industry, historically & today from Mahanati (Savithri).

Full on masala movie with lot of swagger, violence & gore. Stunts, Story plots, songs, swagger.

Background music was appropriate even when loud. Songs were cool & catchy.

Initial credit sequence animation was a great opening. I would be disappointed if it turns out to be inspired or from Blood Diamond or some such thing.

Atrangi Re - The damn movie used every single social issue to move the story forward. I guess that's the left & right critics cribs - the movie did not use their platform for highlighting or solving the issue, just used it like a tool. Their is Tamilian in Delhi, groom-kidnapping in Bihar, forced marriage,  psychiatry used in casual terms.

Jersey - Good remake of Nani's Telugu Jersey. Worth a watch.

Good Luck Jerry - Good remake. Fun watch.

Darlings (2022) and Thappad (2021) are like from same universe but way different tones. Both equally good. Darlings was delicious in its wickedness and Thappad for being evocative. Good work.

Love Aaj Kal (2020): Finally saw it on Prime. Avoided it when released coz negative reviews. Now Youtube played its songs one after other. And one fine lazy night, play the movie. Very worth a watch. Almost poetic in the way it proceeded, and maybe that why the scenes didn't work in trailer. Also might have failed coz the 90s pair did not end up together - that's usually a dhak-kha. Movie covered work life balance question and resolved it so well. But very poetic flow for existential pain.

Dobaara (2022) - fascinating & watched it twice.

Jayeshbhai Jordar - good treatment for a serious topic. Ranveer is always a dearie.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 - Kathik Aryan best as ever. Perfect songs. 

ENGLISH

Top Gun Maverick- music, bikes, planes, boats & fireworks. Worth the wait for theatre. 

Gift (Netflix) - African movie. Lovely background singing & music, cicadas. Located amidst greenery & woods & farmlands. It was like watching a Malayalam movie. 

Lots of movies on OTT

My Yearly Movies List here.

TV Shows & OTT 2022

Once upon a time, say 1985 or so, we would hire a VCR Player and a few VHS tapes of latest movies and nostalgia Kannada movies. This would be for some bank & school holidays long weekend. Then all bank expats would gather around in one house have a communal movie marathon. Even late nights, which was fun for us kids.

Now the entire process is with OTT. When everyone began with Netflix, it was like cable subscription. Once & forever. 

Now there are like a thousand OTT and a million new series or movies to choose from. It impossible to subscribe to all at the same time - because of the cost and who has time to watch it all ?

So we subscribe to 1 or so OTT at a time, watch all wanted shows, unsubscribe and then repeat the process another OTT. The OTT guys have understood our play. So now for new hyped show or season, they release 1 or 2 episodes each week. This way they ensure we stay subscribed for longer or atleast till end of season.

These Shows which required a seated viewing. Not the ones to play on TV for background noise which we do other chores. 

OTT

Other popular ones we watched on OTT

Panchayat - Lovely as widely well reviewed show. But the gut-punching ending in the last episode totally destroyed the happiness 

Aranyak - Because Raveena Tandon, Parambrata Chatterjee and hilly woods.

Fame Game - only for Madhuri. At one point I forwarded other actors parts & stay on Madhuri scenes. That's the only way to survive 8-10 episode in these time crunch times.

Never Ever Have I - every season deserves an immediate watch.

Cobra Kai

Reacher S1

Jack Ryan S2

Inventing Anna - The kind which is all consuming and holds a tight grip on you till its done. Production value wise its big screen quality. Storytelling is at its refined peak. Brilliant unfolding of each episode. Anna actress as standout - delusional, unempathatic, twitching lips, wet eyes and ratty nose. Show was amazingly impressive. Overdramatic reactions of Vivian, dramatic emotional conflict in brilliant situations. Only things that mattered were to see the dramatization of wiley debacle in financial situations.

The Playlist 2022 based on Spotify - Unique way with each episode being from each roles perspective .

TV Shows

Father Brown - S10

Sister Boniface S1 - How delightful. Such a surprise that a character who appeared in only 1 episode of Father Brown & 10 years back, got her own spinoff. Its set in 60s and very delightful.

Bob Hearts Abhishola

Ghosts

Alpharetta Women's Half Marathon 2022 - Race Recap

 I signed up for  Alpharetta Women's Half Marathon  immediately after last years (2021) race. This year it was on 23-Oct-2021 Sunday starting at 7:30 am. Not as dark as last year, but colder than last year. This week was some unseasonal cold blast through the country.

Start point is in Avalon Mall, which is an open outdoor mall. Parking was in the usual mall places. Route experiences were entirely like last year's.

Once more thanks to those who wrote funny & motivational quotes throughout, I mean throughout, the 5-6 miles of Greenway. Kept us going throughout he difficult 2nd half.

Official race results says 3:28 finish time. The route had 0.40 miles more than the watch. I am taking this my new HM time benchmark considering current age, weight & inclines. Maybe I need more HMs in a year for practice & to increase my speed. But it was not lonely at the finish line. For that matter, throughout the second half, while I was chugging all engines fired jog, I was surrounded entirely by leisurely walkers - all.

Thanks to the Water support volunteers for the frequent water & Gatorade (watermelon flavor). Guides at almost every turn. The MC announcer with powerful voice. Starting point warm-up. Perfect parking spots. Spacious spread-out waiting areas.

Race gear was interesting. Pickup at Big Peach Running Store. Medal was a wine bottle cap - so multipurpose medal, that's good. Race shirt was comfy cotton - but if it was a tech material, I could use it in run training.

IISc Memory Refresh

 I worked at ERNET for 3 years and each month was filled with rich experiences. IISc campus and ECE department were my mother-ship for that duration.

Begining with an exhaustive joining interview with Vinay and SVR Ananad which invovled actual programming. Interacting Prof Anurag Kumar while building VoGram prototype and during renovations. All my ERNET interactions with Prof Malati Hegde, SVR Anand, Gopi and Chandrika Ma'am. Programming time goofing off with Ajit and Aditya in Network Architecture Labs.

ERNET training session in Delhi, which I attended with MCR, to support the new labs and equipment.

Delicious and super affordable lunches & coffee at Coffee House.

One time one user forwarded something which had disturbing content, and I lost my cool that day and brokedown. And I went to NetOps labs room and ranted looking at the wall, with Chitra & Gopi listening. I felt better after the talk with them. But Gopi called the user and told him 'clearly' about this being a misuse.

Those years were my personal version of Big Bang Theory.

Looking back I learnt everything or stregtened my skills here - computer programming, network technologies, co-worker interactions, reporting in multiple areas, inter-departmental relationships, project management.

Its been years since I left. We had so strong bonds then. With time we may be out of touch. But all the memories are so clear.

This year, I got a chance to visit the campus and ECE department and ERNET lab and meet Anurag sir and Anand sir. 

I got to show my kids, the very room I worked in way before they were born. And those rooms haven't changed a tiny bit - just frozen in time, thank god.

I was reliving this campus memories by watching Rocket Boys. Am so grateful, I got to visit here 

again.

Sylvain Neuvel novels - Themis Files & Take Them To Stars series

My immediate  next step is I need to memorize the spelling of my new favorite author Sylvain Neuvel. I read 4 books by him in 2 months. First 2 books of 2 trilogy. Last books of both are not in library yet. 

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

Sci-fi yes. Existing, additive - no - Based on the book blub comparing with Martian & all.

This fascinating first novel is told mostly through conversations between an unnamed interviewer and the book's other characters, along with newspaper articles, government memos, and various characters' journal entries.

Narative style is something to note. All of it is interviews or meeting discussion between the different characters and an unnamed all-powerful co-ordinator. Each chapter covers the interaction between one character and this unnamed co-ordinator. Its never a group interaction. The one characters tells the events in their own style. That moves the story forward; but culls the excitement of certain event when described by author rather than by a character. 

Hence, though the scope of the book is at epic level, its dulled away by the narration style.

I wasn't mighty-excited interested about the book. Its not the rousing kind. But gosh I was so happy to know its a trilogy and there are 2 more. I immediately ordered the next one in my local library.

Walking Giants (Themis Files, #2) by Sylvain Neuvel

2nd book in the series. Finished the first book "Sleep Giants" in June. And then the 2nd book in a weeks time. And when I looked up for the third in this series, only digital version in my local library. No book ! Oh the scandal. I need print copy to stay away from devices. That's the whole reason I got back to book reading. Phew.

Lots happens in this book as well. Remember when 8 people get killed in Sleeping Giants and guilt. Well here, one incident after other, thousand & then millions die. 2 of the very main characters are killed off too.

Take Them To Stars series - by Sylvain Neuvel - A History of What Comes Next (1)  & Until the Last of Me (2) 

 

Since I couldn't finish the previous trilogy, I hopped on to the next trilogy by same author. Totally different in tone, language, setting & everything.

Again my favorite genre of space science fiction. Here the desire to reach the stars, so no real space adventure. But lot of adventure on earth, in different countries, in innumerable time-eras and cultures.

First of all such an intriguing premise. And then executed well. The multi generation of ladies meant multi stories from decades & centuries & cultures. Multi cultures are referenced - those who have been involved in astronomy in some way but yet to spot India yet; lets see in 3rd book, not a big deal.

The gore in Book One was hard to digest and one particular story gave me nightmares I have to say. Back story for it based on true incidents upset me & I had to take a break from reading the last of the book. No such violence in the Book Two. 

About the violence in the Book One, made me doubt about maybe the villain & victim are interchanged & not what is portrayed. 

In Book One, the information section in the end is multiple pages. Every historical reference in the book (which is a lot) is provided its real back story. That was very educational.

The Further Reading section in Book Two is an entire chapter in itself, with each that can send you down the wiki rabbit hole.

There is even a Spotify playlist of songs which named the chapters. Haven’t enjoyed a true blue space s I-go in a long long time. 

Read List of First Half of 2022

Here is what I read in the first half of this year 2022.

I went through a lot of YA books - the non-fantasy ones. They are my way to slide into reading current authors as compared to classics or established authors. They are categorized YA, but I wouldn't let high-schoolers read some of it. College pass-out, new job folks could make sense from these.

American as Paneer Pie - by Supriya Kelkar

A Middle-school YA book but I had to read it. Which also meant I speed-read and finished it in 2-3 days. Loved it. I recommended to my high-schooler but she is too busy. 

Very Bollywood finish, which meant fine & satisfying. Includes lot of aspects of Indian kid growing in America. Swim classes & meets, sleepovers, middle school, desi parties & events. For those familiar with it, its a good reflection. For those outside America, who view NRI lives through movies/tv shoes, this is another honest documentation to check. 

This is a good post by RandomlyReading on American as Paneer Pie book.

The Jasmine Project - by Meredith Ireland

Comfort reading with insights into many aspects of large families, the good the good from bads and grudges. Also anxiety over upcoming long-distance coming over long, deep relationships like childhood friends & extended families. Many theme was a Bachelorette like setup for Jasmine during summer break.

Permanent Record - by Mary HK Choi

  

First interesting thing is the cover. Its interesting first thing, not just beautiful or crafty or something. When I gave the book to my kid, to drop it in the library returns, she was captivated too. So I am not the only one. Its in plastic layers; requires more than one peek to understand it all. And then lift the jacket to see a different scenario with partial from before.

Story was captivating enough. Not jarring, exiting, provoking, instead soothing. Moves on from one drama of life to other; present in every relationship of life - parent-child, sibling, roommates, employer, celebrity, etc. Post-college age adulting & paying bills seem simple now, but in that age it is dauting. This is not talked about a lot in non-American culture. But I guess those kids could read these books to get an empathy.

Among other things, Pablo mentions many things familiar to us Indians. His dad is Pakistani, hence the connection. About Parle-G, Maggi, Mangoes (desi vs american ones) Dad endearingly calling him Babu. Authors friendship with Sabaa Tahir can explain this choice for this character.

His mom is Korean. He hasn't been to either of those countries. Now this detachment seems provocative to someone from those countries, but how pragmatic reasons there are become clearer to only someone living in this country. Its hats off to the resourcefulness of numerous Indians who maintain and visit India frequently in this age.

Kids Are Gonna Ask by Gretchen Anthony

 

Written by Minnesota author & set in Minneapolis ! Yeah that's why I got it. Story is set in MN but the location doesn't really play any role; except to talk a little about the winter. Its set in summer, so winter doesn't feature live as well. Then there are other location important to the story - Colorado and eventually Georgia !

Story is set in modern times, so the search for bio-parent uses the modern tools of this decade - podcast, emails, social-media manipulations, viral and then good old TV show and how these tools can be useful but also be manipulated to hurt the good guys.

The Full Cupboard of Life (2004) - by Alexander McCall Smith 

5th in the series. Again a leisurely read. No mystery or crime this time. But the main characters stories move ahead & book ends with a wedding.

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

Sci-fi yes. Existing, additive - no - Based on the book blub comparing with Martian & all.

This fascinating first novel is told mostly through conversations between an unnamed interviewer and the book's other characters, along with newspaper articles, government memos, and various characters' journal entries.

Narative style is something to note. All of it is interviews or meeting discussion between the different characters and an unnamed all-powerful co-ordinator. Each chapter covers the interaction between one character and this unnamed co-ordinator. Its never a group interaction. The one characters tells the events in their own style. That moves the story forward; but culls the excitement of certain event when described by author rather than by a character. 

Hence, though the scope of the book is at epic level, its dulled away by the narration style.

I wasn't mighty-excited interested about the book. Its not the rousing kind. But gosh I was so happy to know its a trilogy and there are 2 more. I immediately ordered the next one in my local library.

Walking Giants (Themis Files, #2) by Sylvain Neuvel

2nd book in the series. Finished the first book "Sleep Giants" in June. And then the 2nd book in a weeks time. And when I looked up for the third in this series, only digital version in my local library. No book ! Oh the scandal. I need print copy to stay away from devices. That's the whole reason I got back to book reading. Phew.

Lots happens in this book as well. Remember when 8 people get killed in Sleeping Giants and guilt. Well here, one incident after other, thousand & then millions die. 2 of the very main characters are killed off too.

Mr Monk Books

Mr Monk and the Second Lieutenant

   

I finished the first book on the list & it sounded like a finale for the books. Left me head-scratching and confused for many days. Then I realized this list in reverse & started ordering them that way now.

The end of overeating - David Kessler, MD

For most of human history we survived on unadorned animal & vegetable products. Now we eat mostly optimized & potent foods that bear little resemblance to what exists in nature. 

Talks about the Sugar-Fat-Salt factor that restaurants & packaged food industry use to make people addicts. How habits cause conditioned hyper-eating. And that looking for tasty food is chemical.

Validates my frequent saying - There are millions of dollars & hours of work that goes into breaking human will & discipline. 

Enjoyable read. Small bite-sized chapters so easy to digest & get the message. And sections all tackling different topics & all progressing. Lot of revelations even for things we know or have heard before. Simple but interesting style of writing for a book packed with lot of research data.

Best followup book explaining the same concepts in a more direct Indian English is Rujuta Diwaker's "Dont Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight".

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Joys of Minnesota

  When I landed in Minnesota and lived on borrowed chunks of time, I would compare stuff with India, as that was my only point of reference. With time, the novelty wore off, but these things still stuck in mind.

Library system - now this is across USA, but I will comment as a MN user.
Its unbelievable how many things are free ! Books. Magazine even. DVDs of movies & TV shows, and learning stuff too. Children's books. Do you know how expensive all of these are to buy ? And then to store books & dispose later. Big Thanks to Libraries.
Online system makes life easier. Search & order books. Stop-by the library for only a few minutes to pick it up. Return books via a slot in drive-through window. Renewal in the online-account. Late fees are just a few cents generally.

Trails - nearly every city has one. Or atleast the sidewalk system is far & wide & clean to go run.

Lakes - water & ponds everywhere. Not called "Land of 100 thousand Lakes" for nothing.

Strawberry - I am always in awe of the Strawberries. Each one being juicy, chunky and large size. 

Caribou Coffee - Now that is coffee. Its really good.
Plus this is the store I approached when I got lost driving through highways without GPS & cellphone. They let me use their landline. Those were olden days, I was new in USA and only a person in my situation can appreciate their help.

Clear Blue sky, lush greenery which pops out every spring. Winter has its share of evergreens to look at.

Winter wonderland after every snowstrom, snow shower, snow blizzard. When bare trees, fence frames and random still objects are like coated in snow. Its called hoar-frost. 

In Feb, Mar & April, there is so much snow, there is no place to shovel it. Its spilling on sidewalks & roads. We run out of place to push it in. The 2-car driveway narrows down to cycle-width.

There are a whole lot of memes that perfectly capture the living in MN experience. Especially the winter MinneSnowta. That's what the real thing is.