The 100 Books Pact - 70/100

61/100 Let Them Eat Dirt by B. Brett Finlay & Marie-Claire Arreita

For the most part I enjoyed this book and found it interesting. Personally for me I found that my mind wandered a bit as they seem to repeat themselves in parts. Much of this book covers microbiota, the connection between the pathogenic microorganisms and how they share our body space. It begins prior to conception to birth and beyond. This book is an all-encompassing, from dirt, to germs, breastfeeding, vaccinations, ADHD, and diet. So maybe we will now pass on that hand sanitizer and get some dirt on our sleeves!

62/100 Hopeless – Hopeless Book 1 by Colleen Hoover  

I am not a kind of person who enjoys all the romances. I usually find them very cheesy or unrealistic. However this book is not one of them. I was on the verge of discarding this book after reading the first few pages (I am on a discarding spree these days, I discard books left, right and center). Glad that I didn’t. It’s an emotional roller coaster. Simply put, this is a beautiful story about love and survival. About hope and healing. About life and death. About coping with tragedy and finding forgiveness and peace. About being strong. About being a victim, but also a survivor.

63/100 The Twentieth Wife – Taj Mahal Trilogy Book 1 by Indu Sundaresan

I had never read any book based on History dating the 15oos. However I always liked History as a subject in my school and was fascinated by the Mughal Empire. I don’t remember what/who prompted me to place a hold on this book, but I am so glad I did. When I started reading this, I was almost sure that I won’t like this book and I was so wrong. I loved this book and finished it in two days which speaks volumes looking at my schedules. This is a book based on the life of Nur Jahan or Meherunissa, the twentieth wife of Jahangir who was formerly known as Prince Salim. The story unravels from the day Mehrunnisa was born to the day she would conquer one man’s heart, hence bearing all the consequences that came with it. Mehrunnisa saw Jahangir at his first wedding and at the tender age of eight, was determined that she will one day become his wife. Even though she only became his twentieth -and last- wife, it is said that she was the one he loved the most. The story is about knowing what you want and making sure you have enough faith and courage to achieve your goal. What an amazing woman she was and full points to the king for standing by her and her unusual ways. It also goes to prove that feminism is nothing new!

64/100 How to talk so kids will listen and Listen so Kids will talk

It is one of the good books I have read on parenting. It was definitely worth a read for me. It’s full of practical and common sense advice for parents. My favorite sentence from the book has to be – “The whole world will tell them what’s wrong with them – loud and often. Our job is to let our children know what’s right about them”

65/100 Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

It’s a love story, it’s a thriller, and it’s a science fiction book. It’s thought-provoking, gripping, action-filled. It makes you think about life and family and what matters most. There is no way to close this book and not ponder tiny, big things in your life. No way to not question some things or not smile at others. I won’t summarize the story, because I read this having no prior knowledge of what it would contain, and the reading turned out amazing for me. You won’t see a thing coming. Even the ending is not what you’ll expect at the beginning. But it’s good. It’s very good.

66, 67 and 68/100 The Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley and Delhi is not far by Ruskin Bond

I read Ruskin Bond after a long time, after a dear friend reminded me of him. The second is the sequel to the first and the third is a standalone book. The Room on the Roof was written by the author when he was just seventeen. It describes in great detail the town of Dehra – its hills, lakes, people and has an old world charm which made me nostalgic. It makes you rethink about your life and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. This is a story about Rusty who runs away from his guardian, who hates Indians and considered them to be inferior, to live with his Indian friends. Great books, loved the feeling of freedom that is portrayed.

69/100 The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

I read this book again and it never fails to amaze me. I always make notes while reading this book (I never refer to them, that’s another matter). It might be strange, but some of the best things have happened to me while I am reading this book at various points since the time I’ve discovered this. Or maybe it’s just that I got to know “The Secret”. It requires many reads though to practice what it says. This was one of those readings and I am sure I will read it again.

70/100 A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto

This is the first book I read of a Japanese author. It belongs to the genre of mystery. For me it was too plain. Maybe the writing was lost in translation. It was a little slow but the Japanese aspects were interesting. Not so much of a mystery but it was more like an account of the murderer’s mistake which led to his downfall eventually. It was not to my taste.