Today I have with me another book lover I’ve connected with on Instagram. In her bio she says that “Life is all about learning from me, from life or from books.” Kiran is a researcher and mathematician, who believes in the power of science, live in a world of calculation and logic, but after the real world of work related to Artificial Intelligence or maths or neuroscience, poetry/reading/scribbling gives her meaning towards her life.
Like all posts in the 2019 in books series, remember that Kiran’s words are in italics and since this is a bookish discussion, all book links open in a new tab so that you can refer to them afterwards.
Welcome to Armed with A Book, Kiran. 🙂 Tell me a little bit about your love for books.
I am today, what books have made me. Reading from school hindi syllabus books to reading english novels made my life journey as beautiful as I would never have imagined it to be. Nowadays, I am learning through life experiences by living in a different world with its own different challenges. Where sometime I don’t find people to talk or get advice, then books do wonders. I like to talk to people, still books become my best companions sometimes. I also like to write, this whole scenario of reading and writing is as soothing to me as a cold breeze on your face during hot summer or as soft and natural as the taste of warm tea during the rainy season.
What do you think the best things have happened to you just because of your reading habit?
Reading a lot of different styles and perspectives has made me more open minded. Being accepting of other people’s experiences is something that reading has encouraged me to do. 🙂 It has also made me a better writer and given me ideas to share with others about.
Do you participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge or set reading goals for yourself? If yes, how do you usually choose this goal and what was your goal for this year?
To be honest I put some challenge on Goodreads, but I have never taken them seriously. But if I choose, I mark all the books, which I want to read to the ‘want to read’ list and then I start moving them from ‘want to read’ list to ‘reading’ list. Also, sometimes I come up with random books, which is according to the situation of life, I find important and interesting then I add them to my Goodread reading list, then I keep track of my reading list. But these things are really new to me. As I said, I started reading from hindi syllabus books, during my childhood there was no library and there was no such thing of buying or reading novels.
How do you keep motivated to read?
I just make sure I read a little everyday but when they are the days when I can’t or feel like I don’t want to, I don’t push it. I have a couple of books every month that I prioritize to finish and anything apart from them is a bonus. I also read in all formats – books, ebooks, audiobooks – and mixing them all up allows me to not get fatigued.
How do you choose your books to read?
Depends what I want to learn at that moment of my life. For example, if I need motivation I read some biographies, if I look for life purpose kind of thing then I read ‘meaning of life’ kind book.
About the books this year
Were there any books this year that challenged your thinking or you learned a lot from?
I read Michelle Obama’s autobiography. This book gave me a whole different view of looking at personal and professional life. It gave me confidence to achieve and do something. It made me realize that even if I differ from people in some kind of mentality that doesn’t mean I am aiming wrong, it just means that life’s purpose is different and we should really believe it.
Did you read any books that had practical strategies to apply to life?
I am reading a book ‘How to stop worrying’, this book has given me some strategy to go through life without losing you and your actual purpose of being a human.
I know it is hard to give recommendations, especially when we read so many books in a year! If you had to choose, tell me about four books that I should check out and why.
- The moment of lift by Melinda Gates, just to know the reality of women empowerment and how blessed we are as a women, and we should definitely help society in some way or other to make a beautiful life for others as well.
- Becoming by Michelle Obama, to get to know that for having an extraordinary life you do not need to belong to an extraordinary place. What a fulfilled life and a best woman means, she is a perfect example of that. This book has a value of having a great vision in your own life.
I didn’t read much this year, but in general I can tell two more books, I really like:
- Mahashweta by Sudha Murthy, beautifully explained the dark side of being a unlucky beautiful woman in traditional indian society. The author depicts the emotions of the character so well, that you feel well connected to story and the end will give you a great sense of being.
- ‘The Secret’ One of the best books I have ever read. It gives you a different perspective to look at the universe and life events. It gives the answers to questions like, ‘why things have happened the way they have happened’?
The Year Ahead
Would you change anything, whether it is your reading habits, review routine or reading goal, for 2020?
I would like to make a habit of reading everyday, might be for 10 minutes but everyday!!!!
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Kiran! You can connect with her on Instagram.
With Christmas around the corner, there will be a little break between this post and the next one in the series. Meantime, there will still be content about reading and Christmas books, some gift ideas and more, so come back tomorrow!
Thanks for reading! ❤️
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