Take a photo of a barcode or cover
466 reviews by:
allthatissim
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Craig Thompson's memoir 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 is an amazingly crafted graphic novel that talks about love, religion, and memories. This super touching autobiographical novel is about Craig's coming-of-age and the struggles he faced with his identity, as well as his first love in the context of his strict religious upbringing.
One of the coolest things about Blankets is that Thompson creates a story that's both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. The novel focuses on more than just Craig's romantic relationship with Raina; it's also about his equally important relationship with his brother. Thompson does an excellent job of balancing these two relationships, which represent different sides of Craig's life, perfectly reflected through the book cover as well.
Snow and blankets are two major symbols in this graphic novel. While snow symbolizes all the hardships and challenges, blankets show the warmth of the relationships and the protection they provide. Through these symbols, Thompson captures the beauty and fragility of different forms of love, from the love of family and friends to the love between romantic partners ❤️
Raina's character showcases the intensity and passion of young love and new experiences, as well as the heartbreak that often comes with it. Meanwhile, the complex relationship between Craig and his brother, Phil, highlights the love and loyalty that exist between siblings despite their differences.
Blankets also dives into how memories shape people throughout their lives. Craig details the memories and trauma from his childhood and adolescence that shaped who he became, making the novel a powerful testament to the impact of past experiences on our present and future selves.
It's also covers the themes of faith in it, as Craig grapples with his strict religious upbringing. The novel highlights the harm that can come from blindly following dogma and the damaging effects of religious intolerance. However, it also showcases the beauty and comfort that faith can bring, as Craig finds solace in the idea of a higher power during his darkest moments.
“How satisfying it is to make footprints in the snow, to leave a mark, no matter how temporary.”
Thompson's artwork is stunning, and his storytelling is masterful. Blankets is a beautiful and complex novel that captures the joy and pain of growing up. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the genre or those who appreciate well-told stories.
One of the coolest things about Blankets is that Thompson creates a story that's both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. The novel focuses on more than just Craig's romantic relationship with Raina; it's also about his equally important relationship with his brother. Thompson does an excellent job of balancing these two relationships, which represent different sides of Craig's life, perfectly reflected through the book cover as well.
Snow and blankets are two major symbols in this graphic novel. While snow symbolizes all the hardships and challenges, blankets show the warmth of the relationships and the protection they provide. Through these symbols, Thompson captures the beauty and fragility of different forms of love, from the love of family and friends to the love between romantic partners ❤️
Raina's character showcases the intensity and passion of young love and new experiences, as well as the heartbreak that often comes with it. Meanwhile, the complex relationship between Craig and his brother, Phil, highlights the love and loyalty that exist between siblings despite their differences.
Blankets also dives into how memories shape people throughout their lives. Craig details the memories and trauma from his childhood and adolescence that shaped who he became, making the novel a powerful testament to the impact of past experiences on our present and future selves.
It's also covers the themes of faith in it, as Craig grapples with his strict religious upbringing. The novel highlights the harm that can come from blindly following dogma and the damaging effects of religious intolerance. However, it also showcases the beauty and comfort that faith can bring, as Craig finds solace in the idea of a higher power during his darkest moments.
“How satisfying it is to make footprints in the snow, to leave a mark, no matter how temporary.”
Thompson's artwork is stunning, and his storytelling is masterful. Blankets is a beautiful and complex novel that captures the joy and pain of growing up. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the genre or those who appreciate well-told stories.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
This book is not for everyone. It is for those who understand technology a bit and are interested in knowing the inner workings of an organization like Microsoft. Not just about Microsoft, you need to learn what a person Satya Nadella is how is reached from a small place in India to where he is today.
Now let’s move to the probable reasons as to why you should read it.
1. To know Satya Nadella’s journey from India to Microsoft
Satya Nadella’s journey is encouraging as well as powerful. His story shows us that how hard work and talent can lead you to the places you only dream about. Satya belongs to a middle-class Indian family. He talks about his life and friends in India and how his parents shaped his future to be a better human being. He was and is a big cricket enthusiast and he explained how the game of Cricket actually helped him to learn the qualities like leadership and empathy. The part where Satya told about his initial move to the US was very moving. His wife was having trouble in getting the visa and he was ready to give up his green card in case she did not get it. But luckily she got it. I was surprised to know that their first child is disabled. I can understand the difficulties that they would have faced. There were so many things to learn from Satya’s examples. He encourages you to take challenges and to listen to your heart sometime. He tells the importance of family and how it helps make your future.
2. If interested in knowing more about Microsoft and how actually Microsoft did “hit refresh”
It was fun to know the internal working of Microsoft. When Satya became the CEO, and even the years before that, Microsoft was going downwards. He took many decisions which not only changed the face of Microsoft but allowed them to transform the Microsoft completely. The decisions were not at all easy, but it was important to take those. Satya Realised that except Office, none of their products were selling as they had speculated because of the competition going on in the market from the rivals like Amazon and Apple.
Satya did many changes in the company’s culture and took a complete 180 degrees turn (Hit Refresh) to not only encourage the employee’s satisfaction but also encouraged them to have more empathy. He encouraged them to learn more, to ask questions and to participate fully.
3. If you want to know what actually goes behind successful companies and their struggles
This is not a hidden fact that so much politics go inside big companies like Microsoft. It was amazing to know the work culture of Microsoft, its various work programmes, its team divisions and inside details. If you are someone who likes to join Microsoft someday or is simply fascinated by it, you would find it particularly interesting. It doesn’t matter how big is an organization. There is always a room for more improvement and growth. Microsoft was too lenient a few years ago and employees were unsatisfied. Satya tried to change this and thus helped Microsoft to come out of the difficult phase.
4. If you are a tech person or love technology
Oh yes! If you simply love technology you should read this whether you are in a technical field or not. Satya has talked about many technologies which I was amazed to hear for the first time. There was seriously so much to learn about the new products that Microsoft is making or the current projects they are working on. I had heard many of the names before, but I had never gone into the details of things like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But Satya’s words will take you on that amazing journey. As per him, currently there are three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing and they have to work towards making a hold on those.
5. If you want to learn the basic importance of leadership, empathy, equation of trust etc.
This was my favourite part of the book. It was more like a moral teaching. Satya told that in today’s world we should try to make friends even with our enemies. He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple have provided benefits to Microsoft and have given future alliances to strengthen themselves with a clear focus. With making the enemies friends (fre-enemies) often we can get profits in some fields, if not at all. He talked about the importance of leadership and how that leadership quality helped him to overcome the failure that Microsoft was going towards.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to learn from this book. Not only you can learn many things about Satya himself, but also about the Microsoft’s journey and the changes, it incorporated in order to survive. This book can get a little technical in between. But if you are a technology enthusiast you should definitely read this. You should read this to understand how technology is going to change and is going to affect YOU and what role you can play into this.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
This book is not for everyone. It is for those who understand technology a bit and are interested in knowing the inner workings of an organization like Microsoft. Not just about Microsoft, you need to learn what a person Satya Nadella is how is reached from a small place in India to where he is today.
Now let’s move to the probable reasons as to why you should read it.
1. To know Satya Nadella’s journey from India to Microsoft
Satya Nadella’s journey is encouraging as well as powerful. His story shows us that how hard work and talent can lead you to the places you only dream about. Satya belongs to a middle-class Indian family. He talks about his life and friends in India and how his parents shaped his future to be a better human being. He was and is a big cricket enthusiast and he explained how the game of Cricket actually helped him to learn the qualities like leadership and empathy. The part where Satya told about his initial move to the US was very moving. His wife was having trouble in getting the visa and he was ready to give up his green card in case she did not get it. But luckily she got it. I was surprised to know that their first child is disabled. I can understand the difficulties that they would have faced. There were so many things to learn from Satya’s examples. He encourages you to take challenges and to listen to your heart sometime. He tells the importance of family and how it helps make your future.
2. If interested in knowing more about Microsoft and how actually Microsoft did “hit refresh”
It was fun to know the internal working of Microsoft. When Satya became the CEO, and even the years before that, Microsoft was going downwards. He took many decisions which not only changed the face of Microsoft but allowed them to transform the Microsoft completely. The decisions were not at all easy, but it was important to take those. Satya Realised that except Office, none of their products were selling as they had speculated because of the competition going on in the market from the rivals like Amazon and Apple.
Satya did many changes in the company’s culture and took a complete 180 degrees turn (Hit Refresh) to not only encourage the employee’s satisfaction but also encouraged them to have more empathy. He encouraged them to learn more, to ask questions and to participate fully.
3. If you want to know what actually goes behind successful companies and their struggles
This is not a hidden fact that so much politics go inside big companies like Microsoft. It was amazing to know the work culture of Microsoft, its various work programmes, its team divisions and inside details. If you are someone who likes to join Microsoft someday or is simply fascinated by it, you would find it particularly interesting. It doesn’t matter how big is an organization. There is always a room for more improvement and growth. Microsoft was too lenient a few years ago and employees were unsatisfied. Satya tried to change this and thus helped Microsoft to come out of the difficult phase.
4. If you are a tech person or love technology
Oh yes! If you simply love technology you should read this whether you are in a technical field or not. Satya has talked about many technologies which I was amazed to hear for the first time. There was seriously so much to learn about the new products that Microsoft is making or the current projects they are working on. I had heard many of the names before, but I had never gone into the details of things like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But Satya’s words will take you on that amazing journey. As per him, currently there are three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing and they have to work towards making a hold on those.
5. If you want to learn the basic importance of leadership, empathy, equation of trust etc.
This was my favourite part of the book. It was more like a moral teaching. Satya told that in today’s world we should try to make friends even with our enemies. He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple have provided benefits to Microsoft and have given future alliances to strengthen themselves with a clear focus. With making the enemies friends (fre-enemies) often we can get profits in some fields, if not at all. He talked about the importance of leadership and how that leadership quality helped him to overcome the failure that Microsoft was going towards.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to learn from this book. Not only you can learn many things about Satya himself, but also about the Microsoft’s journey and the changes, it incorporated in order to survive. This book can get a little technical in between. But if you are a technology enthusiast you should definitely read this. You should read this to understand how technology is going to change and is going to affect YOU and what role you can play into this.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
There are some books which make you feel happy and leaves you with a light mood. Then there are a few which are on difficult topics and make you want to discuss the theme. And finally there are a few ones which neither have a difficult topic nor the entertaining one, but yet they make you question your surroundings and beliefs. [b:A window to her dreams|33290207|A window to her dreams|Harshali Singh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481204123s/33290207.jpg|54020190] falls in the last category.
This book offers a sensitive theme underlying a simple looking story. And that being said, the theme is – Emotional and physical abuse in a marriage and living your life beyond it. Yes, you read it right! If you look at the cover and the title, you would think it as a simple story. Yes, I agree, the story is simple but behind that simplicity underlies the darkest truth of our society (basically the Indian society) and the condition of women in it.
This is a story about Aruna, a young divorcee, who marries Bhuvan. Bhuvan is a simple man who loved Aruna since the college days. Though married again, Aruna was not able to forget his first marriage which was abusive. Her first husband Rafi abused her physically as well as emotionally and that created a long-lasting effect on Aruna. She expected Bhuvan to behave exactly like Rafi and was not able to feel secure no matter how hard Bhuvan tried to make her feel. Their marriage was at stake. Will Bhuvan and Aruna be able to save their marriage? Would Aruna be able to leave her past behind and see Bhuvan as a different person? To know answers to these questions you need to read this book.
Many of the Indian readers can connect with it instantly as the script is similar to a Bollywood movie in many aspects. What makes it different is the narrator! The narrator is not a typical person, but it is the Haveli! Yes, the Haveli in which Aruna’s family was living. Now that is totally different, isn’t it? Imagine a house telling its own story, telling what secrets it has confined in its walls, the stories of all the generations that lived in it. This point was really interesting.
The underlying theme of the story is that of domestic abuse. In a country like India, it is a common topic. I feel ashamed while writing this, but this is the truth. Domestic abuse is a topic about which we hear stories on the daily basis and Harshali Singh has managed to portray those things perfectly. Rafi, Aruna’s ex-husband always treated her like dirt. She was not even allowed to go her parents’ house without his permission and if she did so, she was beaten by him. Rafi had wrong intentions about Aruna’s younger sister Bhavya which ultimately broke their marriage and also created a wall between Bhavya and her family. Harshali Singh has perfectly captured the feelings of a person who was in an abusive relationship.
This story also tells the struggles of a middle-class family especially if the family has so many children. Here Aruna had 5 siblings and we can imagine how difficult it would have been for her parents to manage the family within the income of a single person. Harshali Singh has beautifully described all their struggles and make us feel what it is to be grown in a large family.
When we reach halfway through the book, then we came to know more about Dheeraj, Aruna’s brother. Dheeraj wanted to be a chef but like a typical Indian family, it was a profession considered to be for females so Dheeraj’s father didn’t allow him to do so. Instead, he wanted him to continue working on his Saree shop. The author has portrayed another issue here that still exists in the Indian society – Children are not allowed to do whatever they want. It is like a taboo in Indian society that a few professions are more suitable for girls than boys and vice-versa. I can’t see why this differentiation? Any job is not defined by a gender role but this discrimination still exists.
Apart from this, it was also portrayed how important it is, in our society, for women to have a son. This is a really disgusting thing that still exists in our society. if a woman can’t bear a son then she would not get the respect she needed and Harshali Singh has written very wisely about it.
A unique thing that Harshali Singh included in this story was a disabled character. Now, tell me, how many Indian stories you have read where the author includes such a character? Not many, I guess? Here that character was Aruna’s second younger sister Charu, who was blind. But the thing to be applauded here is that besides this disability, Uma doesn’t let her daughter be left behind. Instead, Charu gets out of the city and persuaded to follow her dreams similar to Bhavya. This is a really great emphasis shown on the strength of women.
Apart from these good parts of the story, obviously there were faults too. It was hard for me to get into the story from the beginning. There were a lot of good vocabulary used so it would not be suitable for the beginners.
Sometimes it felt that there were unnecessary descriptions. At some places, those descriptions were filling the pages and I felt that the story could not have been affected if those were missing. Also, there were so many characters involved in the story which made it confusing sometimes. Each chapter was dedicated to the story of a different character so it was little difficult to regain the reading flow.
The end of the story was totally in a typical Bollywood movie style and it felt unreal. Though I expected a good ending but nothing like a typical end.
Final thoughts:
---------------
[b:A window to her dreams|33290207|A window to her dreams|Harshali Singh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481204123s/33290207.jpg|54020190] is a heroic tale of a woman fighting from her past and growing out of her abusive relationship. It is a story of courage and determination. With amazing descriptions, it clearly depicts what it feels like to be in an abusive relationship. If you want to read a story about a survivor then I would definitely recommend it. You won’t feel like you are reading a debut novel of the author [a:Harshali Singh|16171119|Harshali Singh|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
There are some books which make you feel happy and leaves you with a light mood. Then there are a few which are on difficult topics and make you want to discuss the theme. And finally there are a few ones which neither have a difficult topic nor the entertaining one, but yet they make you question your surroundings and beliefs. [b:A window to her dreams|33290207|A window to her dreams|Harshali Singh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481204123s/33290207.jpg|54020190] falls in the last category.
This book offers a sensitive theme underlying a simple looking story. And that being said, the theme is – Emotional and physical abuse in a marriage and living your life beyond it. Yes, you read it right! If you look at the cover and the title, you would think it as a simple story. Yes, I agree, the story is simple but behind that simplicity underlies the darkest truth of our society (basically the Indian society) and the condition of women in it.
This is a story about Aruna, a young divorcee, who marries Bhuvan. Bhuvan is a simple man who loved Aruna since the college days. Though married again, Aruna was not able to forget his first marriage which was abusive. Her first husband Rafi abused her physically as well as emotionally and that created a long-lasting effect on Aruna. She expected Bhuvan to behave exactly like Rafi and was not able to feel secure no matter how hard Bhuvan tried to make her feel. Their marriage was at stake. Will Bhuvan and Aruna be able to save their marriage? Would Aruna be able to leave her past behind and see Bhuvan as a different person? To know answers to these questions you need to read this book.
Many of the Indian readers can connect with it instantly as the script is similar to a Bollywood movie in many aspects. What makes it different is the narrator! The narrator is not a typical person, but it is the Haveli! Yes, the Haveli in which Aruna’s family was living. Now that is totally different, isn’t it? Imagine a house telling its own story, telling what secrets it has confined in its walls, the stories of all the generations that lived in it. This point was really interesting.
The underlying theme of the story is that of domestic abuse. In a country like India, it is a common topic. I feel ashamed while writing this, but this is the truth. Domestic abuse is a topic about which we hear stories on the daily basis and Harshali Singh has managed to portray those things perfectly. Rafi, Aruna’s ex-husband always treated her like dirt. She was not even allowed to go her parents’ house without his permission and if she did so, she was beaten by him. Rafi had wrong intentions about Aruna’s younger sister Bhavya which ultimately broke their marriage and also created a wall between Bhavya and her family. Harshali Singh has perfectly captured the feelings of a person who was in an abusive relationship.
This story also tells the struggles of a middle-class family especially if the family has so many children. Here Aruna had 5 siblings and we can imagine how difficult it would have been for her parents to manage the family within the income of a single person. Harshali Singh has beautifully described all their struggles and make us feel what it is to be grown in a large family.
When we reach halfway through the book, then we came to know more about Dheeraj, Aruna’s brother. Dheeraj wanted to be a chef but like a typical Indian family, it was a profession considered to be for females so Dheeraj’s father didn’t allow him to do so. Instead, he wanted him to continue working on his Saree shop. The author has portrayed another issue here that still exists in the Indian society – Children are not allowed to do whatever they want. It is like a taboo in Indian society that a few professions are more suitable for girls than boys and vice-versa. I can’t see why this differentiation? Any job is not defined by a gender role but this discrimination still exists.
Apart from this, it was also portrayed how important it is, in our society, for women to have a son. This is a really disgusting thing that still exists in our society. if a woman can’t bear a son then she would not get the respect she needed and Harshali Singh has written very wisely about it.
A unique thing that Harshali Singh included in this story was a disabled character. Now, tell me, how many Indian stories you have read where the author includes such a character? Not many, I guess? Here that character was Aruna’s second younger sister Charu, who was blind. But the thing to be applauded here is that besides this disability, Uma doesn’t let her daughter be left behind. Instead, Charu gets out of the city and persuaded to follow her dreams similar to Bhavya. This is a really great emphasis shown on the strength of women.
Apart from these good parts of the story, obviously there were faults too. It was hard for me to get into the story from the beginning. There were a lot of good vocabulary used so it would not be suitable for the beginners.
Sometimes it felt that there were unnecessary descriptions. At some places, those descriptions were filling the pages and I felt that the story could not have been affected if those were missing. Also, there were so many characters involved in the story which made it confusing sometimes. Each chapter was dedicated to the story of a different character so it was little difficult to regain the reading flow.
The end of the story was totally in a typical Bollywood movie style and it felt unreal. Though I expected a good ending but nothing like a typical end.
Final thoughts:
---------------
[b:A window to her dreams|33290207|A window to her dreams|Harshali Singh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481204123s/33290207.jpg|54020190] is a heroic tale of a woman fighting from her past and growing out of her abusive relationship. It is a story of courage and determination. With amazing descriptions, it clearly depicts what it feels like to be in an abusive relationship. If you want to read a story about a survivor then I would definitely recommend it. You won’t feel like you are reading a debut novel of the author [a:Harshali Singh|16171119|Harshali Singh|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon