fathima_ashab's Reviews (159)

52 things, spiritually, mentally and physically to do over 52 weeks in a year - A précis of this book.

Eika and Siddharth, corporate professionals, decided to bring their minds and efforts together to share their hyper-learning journey with the world. They tried learning/following different things each week for a year and have shared their experience with us through this book.

The concept was really cool and I am sure it's a perfect thing to do if you want a challenge in your life. However, since it would take at least a series of 12 books ( a book for a month) to explain everything in detail hence we get to read only the snippets and what they gained from it. But I did get a clear idea on how to work this out. As I said before, the concept was really awesome and this book would be great for beginners who are just diving into self-help books world, but I think, those who have read more on that before, might find this book vague and inadequate without a strong hold. You will be only reading the snippets what you already know in detail. This is definitely for beginners in that case.

Ikigai: Purpose in life aka the reason to wake-up in the morning (something most of us are trying to find)


I had been meaning to read this book for a long time until I could get an audiobook on the same. I was excited because I have heard a lot about this concept and I wanted to know more. But the hell, this book was a mess and so unoriginal. The author didn't talk about Ikigai for a long time and just ranted about different things that you could find anywhere and in any self-help books. Even after started talking it, he couldn't stay on the track and wandering between different things.


And on top of all that, it felt like he has put so much effort and time in gathering information from other authors like Victor Frankl and Mihaly than spending time on Okinawa, Japan to actually absorb the concept from the old people living there. Even the things he mentioned were vague and didn't have a base.


Some people might have found some stuffs in there useful because they weren't original and you could find them in most of the self-help books. I wouldn't recommend this book. Never! But I can suggest you to watch YouTube videos on Ikigai if you are interested in the concept.

This story of an orphaned boy named Dev revolves around him building friendships, solving the mystery of who paid his fees and finding his home was a good one with a fun and interesting plot with friends and a deep content that raveled the life of an orphan, how it effects him mentally, how he is coping up and things like that. This is also a story of a reader who is finding his way through books and a budding author who writes his own book one day.


There was a character 'Gramps' who was the grandfather of Dev's friend. A philosophical, content and super cool Gramps made the days with him poetical and classy. Dev's friend, Rehaan was an interesting character too. A typical romantic young boy if he had been a protagonist. But loved him nonetheless.


Though I liked the plot and characters, it was not impacting and strong as I expected. Hence 3

Books like this makes me want to read more and explore every possible plot out there in the world. This book deals with time traveling in a cafe. I know time travel isn't a new thing but this book had some rules which made it all the more interesting and so weird. The first chapter was honestly 'meh' but from the second till the end, it was so surprising and thrilling. Like, it was Surreal - Yes, that's the word, I was wondering how to describe it

I am generally wary of reading YA contemporaries because you-know-what-our-all-knowing-protagonists-do to prove themselves and getting smacked by wolf, complain all the time, whining, whining and whining and they prove themselves stupid. BUT THIS FRANCES ISN'T ONE OF THEM. Guys please take notes when I say that. It's very rare to find such leading characters. Having said that, I really loved her so much. She was so pure. Not just her, every single character. may God protect them at all cost. So cute, matured and adorable. The friendships, exploring sexualities, relationships was the basic theme along with a character named Aled making a super interesting podcast named 'Universe-city' and Frances being a fangirl of it, making fanart and stuffs like that. Even though the plot wasn't anything brand new, It was totally awesome and definitely had a new perspective to it which became so close to my heart and I was literally caring for the characters and worrying what's going to happen next.

The audiobook was super fun to listen to which was basically because of the narrator and of course, the story which had emotional abilities attached to it. I would highly recommend this book. I swear, it's one such book that everyone would find something cute about it

I went into this book without reading the blurb like I always do and I thought this was a fiction but this was nothing like I expected. It is a nonfiction with a correct blend of humour and Information. This is about relationships, fidelity and sexuality, and what problems arise in love, marriage and due to extramarital affairs. It was kind of an eye opener for me. Like, it had few things that changed my perspective and made me ponder upon them for a while. I wouldn't have thought about them otherwise. Also, the practical solutions and advices at the end will be so useful for those who are seeking it. And what I loved about the book was, the author is nonjudgmental and totally unbiased. Like, she is looking upon those problems from far distance even though she gives her own life examples in many places. And maybe that's why she could analyze things and think about them rationally. I totally enjoyed the book. It is what it says in the cover. And do remember that it's a nonfiction and brownie points, it has some funny and witty illustrations inside. You wouldn't want to miss it if this is the kind of book you want to read.

In the world where success is entitled to survivors, a group of business school students decides to join in a high paying company to get rich overnight (I mean to grow exponentially in a fast pace). The setting is based upon stock market where we get the clear picture of how employees are employed, how they are checked for quality, the training they get, the fraudulent activity that goes behind the scene, literally everything that happens right from the peek of stock market to how people are getting cheated is perfectly portrayed in this book. The characters were chosen according to that and the development in their personalities and skill sets were remarkable, be it negative or positive. but the honesty of this book is on different level. we get to see the dark side as well as how one can benefit if they work it out in their way is explained. The writing was smooth. Such a thrilling and a compelling read.

If this book is the epitome of 'Adulting', then I think I am doing way better than the three characters of this book. Their life is pretty much surrounded by struggling to look good, feel good, eating disorders, party, love, hate, love, hate and then back to love, finally ends up in friendship. What even?! At least I am good with me surrounded by books, tea and loads of memes. Okay back to the characters, there are three of them -- Ruhi, an editor and a reader. Aisha, lifestyle blogger and a social media manager. And Tejas, a wannabe handsome writer who can't keep up his flirtatious skills intact.
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It started out good defining each of their characters seperately but somewhere they all became one and making the same mistakes, falling for the same person, struggling to get self-confidence again and again. And voila, there's even triangle love story umm-hum. I cannot say the narration of the story was bad but the characters were. as in, they were supposed to be struggling being new adults and they did exactly that, even worse sometimes. You might even mistake them for teenagers. They really need to get their priorities straight.
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You can read it to lighten up your mood and could be read anywhere with a beautiful cover like that. It was fun reading it for me.