random ramblings

One thing that gives me a high is reading something so well written that it makes me think – “wish I could write one sentence like that”. Books are the main course, but choosing a good one feels like a finding a perfect match these days. One other source of such joy is long form essays. Not fiction (yes – there are such good short stories), not news or analysis ideally. Personal stories, blog types. I asked Grok AI yesterday to give me five recommendations of latest good essays or articles published, since it has access to what people are sharing and liking in X/twitter. First it gave me news, then some billboard music analysis, some about sports and none anywhere near good. I used to discover such through a few sources – but it is like digging for diamonds, one might find a perfect piece rarely. Hacker News (HN) is one – but it is mostly technical articles, with occasional non technical reads coming up top. Longreads is another, but often has American overdose and I felt I need some...

New year resolution to read, listen, learn more. Keeping record of it, as a way to keeping a commitment. Hope to keep this updated. Books read Milkman – Anna Burns. 3 / 5 All the Bright Places – Jennifer Niven. 3.5 / 5 Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson. 4 / 5  A Contract with God - Will Isner. 3.5 / 5 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi - 4 / 5 Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - Marjane Satrapi - 3.5 / 5 The Best We Could Do - Thi Bui - 4 / 5  A Man of the People - Chinua Achebe - 3 / 5 Sabrina - Nick Drnaso - 3.5 / 5 Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupéry - 4 / 5 Normal People - Sally Rooney - 4 / 5 The Vegetarian - Han Kong - 3.5 / 5 Jazz - Tony Morrison - 3.5 / 5 Sula - Tony Morrison - 3.5 / 5  Maus - Art Spiegelman - 4/ 5  Khasakkinte Itihasam - O. V. Vijayan (Malayalam) - 4 / 5 Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James - 3 / 5 Looking for Alaska - John Green - 4 / 5 The Women's Courtyard - Khadija Mastoor - 4...