portal to life's little big joy

Still struggling with reader's block but I have to admit things are taking a turn for the better. Something's beginning to stir and I'm slowlyyyy getting back to enjoying reading again. 

Yet, it has not been easy. The journey's been slow and, to be honest, quite tedious. It takes me painfully long to complete a single book. Sometimes, I manage to whiz through many chapters in one sitting. Most times I barely finish a couple of pages. 

But despite all these challenges, one thing I have always been able to count on is the wonderful feeling of comfort and joy I get when I meander through my ebook folder. 

It's like having a friend who I know for certain will always have my back. 

I have lots of folders within that folder and it is amazing to take a look around and see all the treasures they contain.

I add new books. Or delete ones I've already read (though that is rare these days as I've been struggling to read). Rifle through the folders to find a particular one I want to send to friends.

Oh what joy that folder holds. Is this what happiness is? LOL

Life's little big pleasures. 

brainfood

• Text of Indian writer Arundhati Roy's speech in 2018 - in-what-language-does-rain-fall-over-tormented-cities. This is jam-packed with historical, political, literary, religious, and cultural references. It requires a bigger brain than mine to fully comprehend. But it is a must-read. Be warned - it is very long.

• RM's interview where he talks about his first mixtape. It gives an interesting insight into his mind. The 2015 Namjoon talked honestly about his art, his mistakes, and his aspirations. I also loved reading about the kind of relationship he has with his agency and the misgivings he had then as a Kpop idol. I can see how the path he was on at that time led him to be the man he is today.

• This 2011 article, republished in Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies, talks about the accessibility, and lack of, education and the English language- and the way it was/is being used as tools against the poor and marginalised in India.

• I came across this blog piece titled 'Mimetic Traps' after listening to the 'Not Over Thinking' podcast. Very interesting and thought-provoking. It talks about how a lot of us could be caught in jobs, situations, a life that is essentially a reflection of other people's desires, and not truly our own. The trap is basically us 'inheriting other's desires' and thinking we want something very badly. We invest energy and time on that specific thing but we might find out too late that it doesn't hold any value for US. I want to read it a couple more times to make sure I understand it as perfectly as possible.

books

These are not listed in any particular order of preference.

A lot of these, I read more than 5 years ago and so the details of the story are quite hazy. But I can still recall how I felt while I was immersed in the story and the lingering emotions at the end of the journey.

The stories belong to different genres. There is a couple of Korean webtoons. I have some thrillers, a poetry collection, a fantasy steampunk series, a few classics.

Waiting by Ha Jin

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Village by the Sea by Anita Desai

Cheese in the Trap (season1-4) by Soon Kki

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl

The Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker

Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth by Warsan Shire

Our Relationship Is.....by Yunji Lee

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

        The Vegetarian by Han Kang

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

                                                              

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

 Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

excuse me, why are you not reading!

there's a deep deep place within me for words, stories and the imageries they gift us. but somehow, i haven't been taking as much joy in reading these past couple of years. i cannot blame anyone but myself because i easily fall into the clutches of social media and Netflix. then it is goodbye, books- who needs youuuuuu

well, i do, dammittt

so this year, to get back into the world of beautiful stories, i will read only genres that truly give me joy. 

one of the things i have really been loving so is Soonkki's  'Cheese in the Trap' manhwa. this manhwa/webtoon/comic has a unique story with characters that Soonkki has really spent time developing. bear in mind, this is an ongoing series and she publishes a new chapter every Sunday, and i read the latest one 30 minutes ago. 

reading the first three parts of  Cheese was so exciting. i was reading it in the bus, during work breaks, and excited to come home and start reading again. i was totally obsessed and because i didn't have to wait for the next chapter, i was so fucking invested in the story unfolding in front of me. one was on a seesaw of emotions. arghhhhhhhhhhhh......those were the times!!sighh

but now that i've caught up with the series, i gotta wait like a good little human for every Sunday.

oh, and i like the way she draws. i prefer reading colorful webtoons- somehow makes it all a happier experience for me. the story itself is a gem. which one of you will not love the twists and turns, the emotions, the words she uses, the atmosphere she can create, the everyday-ness (wtf is this word!! hahaha but i'm trying to say she makes living boring and interesting at the same time) of life!

is this turning out to be a Cheese in the Trap post?

essentially, what i'm trying to say is i will read more. and read more of what i love. thank you, god, for Soonkki. thank you, Soonkki for Cheese in the Trap. also, why are you so mysterious and unreachable?

i opened a Naver account just to see more of her work or to understand her thoughts but the entire website seems to be in Korean and is not useful to me. (plus i did something stupid and i can't access my account now..:0)