In Reading i found Peace.

09/07/2026

Book Review

Before Your Memory Fades
By Toshikazu Kawaguchi

★★★★☆/5

"Before Your Memory Fades" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, the third book in the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series, continues the popular premise of time travel through a unique cafe. This installment transports readers to Cafe Donna Donna in Northern Japan, run by Nagare in his mother Yukari's absence, and featuring the familiar faces of waitress Kazu and her daughter, Sachi, who now possesses the time-traveling ability.

The novel presents four distinct stories, each centering on a new customer seeking to revisit a moment with a loved one from their past. These individuals include a woman wanting to confront her deceased parents, a comedian with news for his wife, a woman desiring to speak with her sister, and a man with something to say to the woman he loves.

True to the series' style, the book explores themes of grief, loss, and the importance of living in the present. Through the characters' journeys, Kawaguchi masterfully delves into the complexities of human emotions, particularly regret and unresolved feelings. While each story is unique, they all resonate with a shared desire for closure and connection. The unchanging nature of the past, a key rule of the time travel, serves as a poignant reminder to accept life's circumstances and find strength to move forward.

Ultimately, "Before Your Memory Fades" is a deeply emotional and hopeful read, emphasizing the enduring power of relationships and the significance of cherishing the present moment.
It is more than just a tale of time travel; it's a testament to the enduring power of connection and the profound importance of cherishing what we have, right now. It's a book that leaves you with a quiet sense of hope, a gentle nudge to appreciate the people in your life, and perhaps, a renewed appreciation for the simple act of living.

28/06/2026

What Book Changed Your Life?

28/06/2026

Lawson has been open for years about living with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and ADHD, the kind of conditions that don't fully go away no matter how much someone wants them to. This book isn't a memoir the way her earlier ones were. It's closer to a survival kit, over a hundred small, specific tools she actually uses to keep functioning and creating on the days her brain refuses to cooperate.

There was a stretch where getting through an ordinary day took more out of me than it should have, and I kept waiting to feel like myself again before I let myself rest, celebrate anything, or ask for help. I treated all of it as something I had to earn first.

Here's what landed hardest for me.

1. Rest isn't something you earn after proving yourself.
I kept treating sleep and rest like a reward for getting enough done first. Lawson flips that completely, she treats basic care of your own brain as the requirement, not the prize at the end.

2. Working on easy mode still counts as working.
I've spent so much energy feeling guilty for needing accommodations, simpler systems, lower bars on hard days. Reading someone say plainly that this isn't cheating, it's just a different way of getting through, loosened something in me I didn't know was clenched.

3. Celebrating small things has to be done on purpose, or it won't happen at all.
I tend to only acknowledge the big wins, and let everything smaller pass by unnoticed. This book insists on celebrating the small ones deliberately, since on hard days, the small ones are sometimes the only wins available.

28/06/2026

Today marks the birthday of Helen Keller, the remarkable American writer, lecturer, and advocate who, despite being deaf and blind, became one of history's most inspiring voices. (1880–1968) 📚📖💕

Artwork by Gamze Tavukçuoğlu 🎨🖌

11/02/2026

Jaycee Dugard was eleven years old when a stranger pulled up beside her on her way to the school bus, stunned her with a stun gun, and threw her into the back of his car.

She would not see her mother again for eighteen years.

"A Stolen Life" is Jaycee's memoir, written in her own words, about what happened in those eighteen years. About being held captive in a backyard. About the man who took her and what he did to her. About surviving when survival seemed impossible. About the two daughters she gave birth to in that backyard, both fathered by her captor. About finally being discovered, freed, and having to learn how to be a person again after spending more than half her life as a prisoner.

This is not an easy book. And I'll even add that it's not supposed to be.

You see, this is a devastating read. Jaycee writes about sexual abuse, captivity, psychological manipulation, and trauma that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. If you've experienced abuse, again, pleaseread with care. Take breaks. Put it down if you need to. But if you can bear it, this book is also a testament to something extraordinary: the human capacity to survive the unsurvivable.

Jaycee doesn't write like a professional author. She writes like someone who's never told this story out loud before and is learning, word by word, how to make sense of what happened to her. The prose is simple, sometimes choppy, and occasionally uncertain. And that's exactly what makes it so powerful. This isn't a polished narrative crafted for maximum impact. It's raw. It's real. It's Jaycee trying to reclaim her own story after someone else controlled it for so long.

Here's what will haunt you:

1. The captivity began with terror but became something harder to name.
Jaycee describes the first days and weeks after being taken. The fear. The confusion. The realization that no one was coming to save her. But what's most disturbing isn't the initial violence. It's how her captor, Phillip Garrido, slowly convinced her that this was her life now. That she had no choice. That resisting would only make things worse.

He didn't just imprison her body. He imprisoned her mind. He made her believe she was complicit, that if she told anyone what was happening she'd be blamed, that her mother had moved on and didn't want her anymore. And Jaycee, a child, believed him because what else could she do?

2. She gave birth to two daughters in captivity, and loving them saved her.
At fourteen, Jaycee gave birth to her first daughter. At seventeen, her second. Both were fathered by Garrido. Both were born in that backyard with no medical care, no help, just Jaycee and the horror of becoming a mother in the worst possible circumstances.

And here's what breaks you: Jaycee loved those girls. Fiercely. Completely. They became her reason to survive. She describes moments of joy with them, playing games, teaching them things, creating a semblance of normalcy in an abnormal hell. And those moments of tenderness existing alongside the abuse is what makes this so unbearable. Because even in captivity, even in trauma, love still found a way to exist.

3. Freedom didn't feel like freedom at first.
When Jaycee was finally discovered and rescued, you'd expect relief. Joy. The happy ending. But Jaycee writes about how terrifying freedom was. She'd spent eighteen years in captivity. Her entire adolescence and young adulthood. She didn't know how to be in the world. Didn't know what was normal. Didn't know who she was outside of what had been done to her. And you know this is the part people don't talk about enough: surviving trauma doesn't mean the trauma is over. It means learning to live with what it took from you.

4. This book is her reclaiming her voice.
For eighteen years, Jaycee's story was controlled by someone else. Her captor decided what she could say, what she could do, who she could be. Writing this memoir was an act of taking that power back. Of saying: this is my story, and I get to tell it. As I said before, the writing isn't perfect. But it's hers. And that matters more than polish ever could.

This book will wreck you. It should. What happened to Jaycee Dugard is unconscionable. The fact that she survived it, that she's still here, that she found the courage to write it down and share it, is nothing short of miraculous.

10/02/2026

"Far from the Madding Crowd" is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1874. It marks Hardy's first major literary success and was initially released anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine. The story is set in rural Victorian England and revolves around the life of Bathsheba Everdene, a strong-willed and independent woman who inherits her uncle's farm.

The plot centers on Bathsheba's relationships with three suitors: Gabriel Oak, a humble shepherd; Frank Troy, a dashing but irresponsible soldier; and William Boldwood, a wealthy and reserved farmer. Each of these men represents different aspects of love and desire, and their interactions with Bathsheba explore themes of romance, ambition, and the complexities of human relationships.

As Bathsheba navigates her role as a landowner and the challenges that come with it, she faces various trials that test her character and resolve. The novel delves into the struggles of rural life, the impact of societal expectations on women, and the consequences of choices made in love and life.

Hardy's writing is characterized by its rich descriptions of the English countryside and its deep psychological insight into the characters' motivations and emotions. "Far from the Madding Crowd" remains a significant work in English literature, celebrated for its exploration of love, independence, and the human condition.

23/01/2026

The Smartest Giant in Town is a delightful children’s picture book by Julia Donaldson (words) and Axel Scheffler (illustrations), the same dream team behind The Gruffalo. The story follows a giant who wants to be kind and helpful, so he trades his old, shabby clothes for smart new ones to make the town look nicer. Along the way he discovers that true kindness comes from giving away what you have, not just looking good yourself.

The rhyming text is catchy and easy for kids to chant along with, while Scheffler’s bright, whimsical drawings bring the giant, the animals, and the quirky town to life with loads of fun detail (like the giant’s oversized shoe that the mice are inspecting on the cover). The moral about generosity and self lessness is wrapped in an entertaining adventure that keeps young readers engaged.

Overall, it’s a charming, heartwarming tale perfect for bedtime or classroom reading, and it encourages kids to think about how they can help others in simple, everyday ways.

Must buy this book for your kids !!

21/01/2026

I sat with this book for a long time before I was even ready to talk about it. For most of my life, I believed that "family is everything no matter how much it cost me. I thought that being a "good" person meant absorbing the hits, the guilt trips, and the manipulation, all in the name of loyalty.

Then I read Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members by Dr. Sherrie Campbell. I’ll be honest: it was a hard read. Not because it’s poorly written, but because it’s like looking into a mirror you’ve been avoiding for decades. Sherrie doesn't use fluff or "soft" language. She calls it exactly what it is. For the first time, I didn't feel like I was "difficult" or "overly sensitive"I felt seen. If you’ve ever felt like your family of origin is a minefield you’re tired of walking through, this book is the map you’ve been looking for.

Dr. Sherrie Campbell provides a definitive guide for adults who have grown up in the shadow of narcissistic or abusive family dynamics. Her core argument is that "blood" does not give someone a license to mistreat you, and that "forgiveness" without change is just an invitation for more abuse. This isn't just a book about identifying toxic traits; it’s a clinical yet deeply empathetic manual on how to detach, set iron-clad boundaries, and deal with the "hoovering" and "smear campaigns" that often happen when you finally stand up for yourself. It’s about moving from a state of survival to one of thriving by building a "chosen family" that actually loves you.

5 Life-Changing Lessons I Learned

1. It’s Not Your Fault (Really): We spend years trying to "earn" love from people who aren't capable of giving it. Sherrie makes it clear: the dysfunction was there before you were born. You were never the problem; you were the target.

2. Low-Contact is a Valid Choice: Society screams that we must reconcile. This book gave me the radical permission to realize that "no contact" or "low contact" isn't an act of hate it’s an act of self-preservation.

3. The "Flying Monkeys" are Real: When you set a boundary, toxic family members often recruit other relatives to guilt-trip you. Understanding this "smear campaign" tactic helped me stop explaining myself to people who had already decided I was the villain.

4. Emotional Detachment is the Superpower: You can’t control them, but you can control your reaction. Learning to "observe, not absorb" their chaos changed everything for my daily anxiety levels.

5. Grief is Part of the Healing: You aren't just grieving the family you have; you’re grieving the family you deserved but never got. This book taught me that it’s okay to mourn that loss while still choosing to move forward.

The book focuses heavily on the Psychology of Narcissism within the family unit. Campbell is excellent at breaking down the roles we play—the Scapegoat, the Golden Child, the Enabler and how these roles follow us into our adult lives and careers.

Another major theme is The Myth of Unconditional Loyalty. Campbell challenges the cultural and religious pressures that demand survivors stay in harm's way. Her approach is clinical and direct she speaks as someone who has lived this herself and coached thousands of others through it. There’s no "sugar-coating" here. She prioritizes the survivor’s mental health over the "reputation" of the family, which is incredibly empowering. It’s a book about reclaiming your narrative and realizing that you are allowed to be happy, even if your family isn't "proud" of your boundaries

21/01/2026