The Psychology of Books Series – Book Review: Close to The Bone by Lisa Ray

Being a lifelong learner, I hardly create my reading lists. Instead of me needing to choose books, the chosen books reach me in a magical way. ‘Close to the Bone’ is one such book that captured me. If it has reached you too, I suggest not missing reading it at all.

While the words in golden beautify the book cover, the real gold is hidden inside this memoir of Lisa Rani Ray, a popular name in the world of modeling and cinema. It’s her soulful saga that begins with her heartwarming childhood stories and family incidents. There is a lot interesting to read, from carrying a mixed-race legacy with her to the experiences she gained from her time spent with family, relatives and friends in two different countries, India and Poland, where her father and mother respectively belong to.

Lisa has also wonderfully written an account of her life in Calcutta, Canada, New York and London, among other places, and her professional life that ‘accidentally’ started in Bombay. Her inclination to writing and poetry, practicing yoga and meditation, mural painting, and travel and adventure is all mentioned beautifully. From her inner conflicts, failed relationships, bulimia issue and fears in life to her graduation from the deadly disease of multiple myeloma/cancer, she has very honestly penned it all down.

What most appealed and related to me was the storytelling of her deep spiritual adventures and her quest to understand and achieve a balanced life by believing constantly in her positive thoughts and not in the norms and fears that prevail around one’s choices in life. She has shown the courage to rise above societal tags and bound beliefs to spread awareness about issues close to her heart.

Whether it is about undergoing stem cell treatment or attending red carpet events with her shaved head, Lisa, through her life experiences, teaches the world to shed its inhibitions and find the real ‘self’ to manifest what seems impossible.

Although I found the book slightly dragged by the end, it’s actually a page turner, even if it’s not a fiction book. That’s simply because Lisa’s life is so real, yet unreal; so intuitive and random, yet cosmically planned; and so inner-oriented, yet extremely candid. I strongly recommend the memoir to all.

Lead a happy life, reading and growing…:)

How Book Lovers Can Contribute to the Environment this Earth Day

On Earth Day today (April 22), we all need to take a pledge to contribute to saving our environment in one way or another. Recycling can be the first important step to get started to care for your environment and Mother Earth. I know most of you may already be doing that, and thus, you must pass on the knowledge to those who require such inspiration.

Photo by Perfecto Capucine on Pexels.com

Moving further, I have an Eco-friendly suggestion for a particular group of individuals. Especially to ferocious readers and book lovers, I want to say that your first step can be to move from physical books to e books. While I understand your sentiments of loving the touch and smell of a new book, it is also critical to realize what you would be leaving for your children and grandchildren to enjoy!

Did you know that just 1 ton of non-recycled printing paper takes the lives of about 25 trees? You may now count and assess how you, as extensive readers, are contributing to environmental damage. I share your passion for book reading and must tell you that I moved to e books long back. For years, I have not bought any physical book. The ones I have are a few gifted by authors or those I rented from an e library. That leaves a lot of space inside my study, keeps my library organized on my phone/tab, and of course, saves trees from dying before time.🌲🌴🌿

I appeal to reading enthusiasts to think of it and try contributing positively to the mother that feeds them. Read green, recycle paper, and pass on your extra books to not-so-privileged individuals to read and gain knowledge from them. Protect Mother Earth in your own little or big ways, reader friends. Yes, you can do it too. Begin now, if you have not yet!

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How to Grow and Develop with Poetry

If you always thought that poetry is just a way of the poet to self-express, then think again. You may still be at a nascent stage and far from self-actualization. However, you are not alone in thinking that. Many individuals believe that a poet pens down his/her personal thoughts, feelings, and past or present life in his/her poem. They don’t see any way it could be useful or helpful to them.

However, you can grow and develop yourself if you open your mind to understanding what poetry can do to you. Read on to find out.

Know yourself: Poetry can appear to be sad or happy, dark or positive, and hopeless or hopeful. Sometimes, you may find a poem as the description of an event in the poet’s life, which may actually not be the case. At another time, you may find the same poem as the description of an event in your own life. Similarly, you may find the poet’s perspective very different from your perspective on the poem’s subject. All this happens because you and your environment are unique, yet you share similar emotions, feelings, experiences and more with other humans. Poetry helps you know your real personality by the way you react to the words of someone else.

Explore your inner self: It is not only about your overt personality but you may also explore your core through poetry. I have seen readers who start interpreting a poet’s thoughts and life as soon as they read their poetry. However, a poet may pen down a poem for any purpose, to explain any concept/thought, to express their experience in any manner, and to tell their own or someone else’s story in any context. It is very complex to arrive at an exact understanding of a poet through his/her poem. Moreover, how does that knowledge add to a reader’s own growth and development? A better use of poetry is for exploring your own inner self.

Stir your core: Reading poetry is highly enriching. There are several things that may be taboo in your family, society, community, etc. Poetry is so versatile that it can break all such taboos and bring to your mind’s surface all the emotions, feelings or perspectives that you’d never share in your real life, with people around you. This is because you may not want to create a negative or rebellious image of yours. With poetry, you can actually stir that suppressed subconscious and unconscious that you’ve been carrying in your head. It gives a release/clearance to your true emotions and any negativity. When you get rid of that, you turn to be more positive, humble, compassionate, understanding of others, and energized. You start moving beyond what was blocking your growth and development as a human. You become more open and accepting of your and others’ thoughts and feelings, because you become aware of a world that’s similar to who you are.

Grow and develop your soul: When you read a variety of poetry, you explore a variety of experiences, stories, and people! Sitting on your couch, you gain the deepest understanding of the universe and the souls inhabiting it. You learn about cultures, rituals, boundaries, actions, nature, heart and soul, and what not! It may or may not resonate with you all the time, but it gives you an understanding of psychology. It’s like looking at an abstract painting and deriving your own meaningful picture from it. The purpose is not to understand an artist’s life and mind but your own! Release your emotions and leave negative traits in a painting, a poem. Believe me; you won’t get empty inside. You will glow with an inner light to take you on a path of growth so you may reach the next destination of your soul.

Go on…success is waiting for your self-actualization. Break your boundaries, know your soul, enrich your self, and light up your life with joy. (Poetry = Joy)

How to Identify Good Authors to Read

In my last blog, we discussed about the junk information widespread on social media, and how such information should be replaced by healthier knowledge from books. As promised, I’m passing on a few tips to identify the best of authors (in this blog) and the best of books (in my next blog), because the world of writing is vast and you may get lost in your quest for healthy content. So, here you go.

1. Again, you don’t find a good author on social media, selling one piece at a time. There are many authors who try to force you to read their books. A few may send a personal message, post links on your timeline, or simply keep posting in reader groups. While books marketing is done by authors, good authors have structured marketing techniques. Avoid those who have ample time to not create new knowledge but to keep reminding you in your inbox.
2. There are stereotypes among readers about authors from different countries and their ways of publishing. By ways of publishing, I mean traditional vs. independent. Let me tell you that you can come across a good author regardless of these factors. Unless you move out of stereotypes, you won’t find a diamond and you won’t become a diamond. Thus, explore authors from varied backgrounds, cultures, and nations. Sometimes, independently publishing authors are much more aware of the technicalities of editing, formatting, illustrating, publishing, printing, selling and marketing processes. Sometimes, traditional publishers may have cheaply hired inexperienced editors to work on authors’ books, resulting in low-quality work.
3. Check reviews on the books of authors, but don’t take your decision on the author’s writing quality based solely on these reviews. There are many perfect reviews given by friends and family. On personal book review blogs, there are high chances of seeing paid reviews. There are many reviews where the reader may not be capable enough to judge a book. Some readers simply pick up books by their covers and review the author negatively when they don’t find a book meeting their expectations. Actually, the author may not have written for that reader and the author may not have designed that cover!
4. While the strong reputation of a bestselling author can be helpful, the bestselling tag should not blindfold you. It’s based on several factors that a bestseller becomes a bestseller, and not always by the highest number of sold copies. Instead, you may read some freely available written resources from an author to see how you adapt to their style of writing and whether you want to read more of them.
5. If an author is consistently progressing on his/her journey for years, it is a strong indicator that he/she is a good writer. Perseverance is a quality of good authors, while others may perish after a book or two.
6. When you read an author and find that their book is unedited or badly formatted, you might not like to wait for their next one. Good writers not only devote time to high-quality writing but also to crafting and editing to near perfection. If some reviews talk about bad grammar or formatting issues, better avoid the book. There are authors who are devoted to their craft, while there are also those who just want an author tag on their chest.
7. Finally, explore the kind of knowledge you’re seeking. If you’re looking for a business management book, check the author bio to read about their business background. Similarly, if you’re seeking a self-help book, check whether the author has authority on sensitive subject matters. Read the book’s description to find what the author is offering you. Sometimes, a poorly written description is a good-enough sign of a bad writer.

 

So readers, those were a few points that might or might not help you in identifying good authors. While you can’t judge a new author and an experienced author on the same factors, I’d recommend reading the good ones in all categories. The talent of writing in an author is not determined by factors like the author’s appearance, age, experience, place of residing, number of books written, publishing style, etc. If they have passion for authoring, it will reflect right in their first book. So, you need to be a diamond-grader!

Happy reading…