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The Stationery Shop of Tehran – I was glued to this book for the past two days. What a terrific read it was!

A love story between Roya and Bahman, two teenagers whose lives take very different paths amid political unrest in Tehran during the 1950s. Roya, an intelligent girl who loved reading translated books, and Bahman, a passionate boy who wanted to change the world, met in a stationery shop — a meeting that sparked passionate young love but fate had its plan the other way around!

Love, heartbreak, healing, war, jealousy, death — the book lets you devour every emotion.

This book will linger in my heart forever.

Would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Happy reading!

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Guess the book?

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Idk how some people can give words to feelings. When I see wind flickering the leaves of trees under a gray sky right before a storm, how do I explain my melancholic happiness? Can I ever term how the smell of earth before rain gives me an urge to belong? Belong to a place I do not know of. I often watch the big mighty birds soaring through the clouds just before the sun is setting. My heart wrenches. But my mind tells me at least they have a place to return to. Everytime I see a shooting star, I close my eyes, I desire something, yearn for a glimpse of someone. Then I remember this is just a light from the burning dust of a meteor. Can it ever make my longing come true? I once visited the sea, admired the countless roaring waves. As soon as I was almost in love with the pristine blue water, the vastness triggered an ache I didn't know exit. After all these years, I've made myself believe that I only have distorted emotions.

I wish I could put up words for my thoughts, understand and express how I feel. I wish feelings were not individualistic. Only then I would watch the same sky as everyone else, drench in the same rain and we would feel the same.

- Just my midnight scribbles

24 March, 2025

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This one is my most favorite letter from Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka.

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I instantly fall in love with a book when it is written in an evocative writing style: simple yet so vivid that one can easily visualize the story, feels like watching a movie playing in the back of my mind. The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is one such book!

It offers the reader a warm and cozy experience.

The book is about loss and second chances. The transformation of the characters from a state of sorrow to embracing life is truly profoundly moving. One important takeaway from the book is its message that there’s no tomorrow. If you want to buy someone a gift, have a conversation, or do something for yourself, don’t wait—do it today, do it now!

I would personally rate the book an 8.75 out of 10.

Happy reading!

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Norwegian Wood was my first Murakami. The book explores deeply into human relationships, grief, isolation, love, and sexuality.

I’ll focus on the deaths mentioned in the story. If I recall correctly, as Watanabe, the protagonist, reflects on events from his teenage years, he narrates three suicides. Two of them involve major characters—Kizuki and Naoko. The third was Naoko’s elder sister, which, in my view, played a key part in the initial development of Naoko’s emotional struggles. These three deaths made me wonder whether suicide rates were notably high in Japan during the 1980s.

Most of the characters do not fit into the ideal society I’ve inadvertently imagined in my mind. I found Watanabe quite unlikeable. However, I realized that the characters are intentionally written to be so twisted that they might even make readers feel uncomfortable to some extent. Setting aside my personal sensibilities, if I consider each character as unique individuals, it is easier to accept and appreciate their journey.

I loved the way the story ended, especially how Murakami used such a romantic line:

‘I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning,’

and yet left it figurative, leaving readers to wonder whether Midori and Watanabe ended up together or not.

I would personally rate the book a 7.5 out of 10.