The First Glorious Month on Medium

The best of everything related to books — Volume 1

Hello readers, writers, and book lovers!

Books are our Superpower has completed one month on Medium. In this time, we have had some absolutely amazing writers contribute some brilliant pieces on so many varied topics. Our stories have been read for 12,000+ minutes by over 250 unique readers each day. In addition, we have built a community of 130 followers in the first month here on Medium.

We take this opportunity to thank you for sticking by us, and to let you know that we have some amazing things planned for the days ahead. Till then, here are some of the most-read stories on Books are our Superpower in the past thirty days.

Happy reading!

Musings on the Books We Loved

Esther Perel is My Dream Relationship Therapist, and Here’s Why by Aldís Elfarsdóttir — Double Curated

I first encountered Esther Perel through her TED talk, “The secret to desire in a long-term relationship.” I was in what I hoped would be a long-term relationship, and I was cooking dinner. My speaker’s volume maxed out as I strained to hear her every word over the kitchen fume hood. Read more.

I Owe An Apology to Mostly Harmless by Anangsha Alammyan — Curated

I was fourteen when I first read Mostly Harmless — the fifth instalment in the science-fiction/comedy book series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I thought this book was bleak and dreary compared to the first four books in the series. The teenage reader in me didn’t enjoy it at all. Read more.

Lessons I Learned From Michelle Obama’s Becoming by Anangsha Alammyan — Double Curated

Michelle Obama is an inspiration. She is a self-made woman with unflinching zeal to leave her mark on the world. She isn’t someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Rather, she fought tooth and nail to achieve whatever she has and ended up becoming the FLOTUS — married to one of the most powerful men in the world. Read more.

A world away from Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde by Jasmin James — Curated

Swashbuckling pirates, a treasure chest full of gold and speaking parrots- for many readers, that is Robert Louis Stevenson’s literary essence distilled into one. Read more.

Are you still Hungry for the Games? by Ben Shelley — Curated

The Hunger Games re-enforced the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There will always be a divide and we should not forget this. Suzanne Collins embedded this core concept into her internationally best-selling series of novels, which were later made into a successful movie quadrilogy. Read more.

On Art and Fear by Gioacchino Difazio — Double Curated

Art and Fear — Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles & Ted Orland. This is a book I love and recommend to all those who have decided to devote their life (or part of their life) to art (any kind of art). Read more.

Zadie Smith’s Ignorance Is Our Bliss by Deets Sharma — Curated

reedom of ignorance characterizes Zadie Smith’s collection of essays, Feel Free. Her subjects range from politics to pop culture, Brexit to Bieber, Jay Z to Jeremy Corbyn, and display Smith’s ambivalence towards intellectual authority. No cultural stone is unturned. Read more.

Reading the Witcher by Ben Shelley — Curated

IfBuffy the Vampire Slayer and Game of Thrones had a child, then this would be it. The Witcher is a collection of short stories, focused around a demon hunter. Geralt is a Witcher and as such charged with keeping cities safe. Read more.

The Phantom of the Opera is Not Alone in His Infatuation by Zera T. — Double Curated

In 1909, Gaston Leroux published a novel, whose posthumous musical cemented by Andrew Lloyd Webber, transformed Broadway’s dynamic in the portrayal of love and reached an audience far beyond the confines of France. Read more.

Reading and Productivity

How to Get the Most Out of Every Book by Betsy Ramser Jaime — Double Curated

Have you ever finished a book but could hardly remember anything about what you’d just read? For those of us that read regularly, it’s important to have good systems in place, to get the most out of every book that we read! Read more.

Speed Reading Is Not That Helpful and Is Mostly Pointless by Jason Ward — Curated

There are two things you should focus on if you want to ‘up your reading game’: becoming a better reader and read quality work. Speed reading leads to a loss of comprehension, which defeats the purpose. Read more.

How to Make the Best of Your First Audiobook by Ruchi Das — Curated

I was scared of audiobooks before I finished my first one yesterday. I’d seen so many of my reader friends enjoy them. Being an avid reader, I too wanted to savor the newfound joys of dabbling in audiobooks. After a lot of research, I picked my first audiobook four days ago and finished reading it yesterday. Read more.

Is it Okay to Skip Reading Days? by Ruchi Das — Double Curated

I’ve let an entire day go by without reading a single page today. I call such days as “Zero-Reading” days. These are the days when you get zero reading done. Read more.

In A Reading Slump? Here Are 6 Ways To Read Differently by Jim Kwik — Curated

It’s summertime and the reading is easy. Or is it?

Summer is often the time we equate with vacation. We bring a book to the pool, the beach, or even the playground, and escape into an activity that perhaps we don’t make time for throughout the year. Read more.

Do You Have Too Many Books? by Jackie Stormer — Curated

Do you have friends to spare?

It’s been said that a good book is like a good friend. If that’s true, then I have a lot more friends than the number that shows up on my Facebook page. Read more.

6 Inexpensive Resources to Enrich Your Reading Experience by Ruchi Das — Curated

A few weeks ago, I found myself wasting a lot of time I could have otherwise spent reading. Sometimes I spent the better part of an hour searching for a pencil to mark a quote in a paperback book. Read more.

Book Recommendations

5 Exciting Young Adult Books You Should Read as Adults by Ruchi Das — Curated

Do you feel overwhelmed by life sometimes? Even with the books you read? Want to take a break from an intense reading marathon? Want to lose yourself in the happy world of books? Try young adult novels. Read more.

10 Fiction Books by Black Authors You Haven’t Seen on Other Reading Lists by Holly McKie — Curated

There are a lot of recommended reading lists floating around ever since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter protests, and rightly so. Read more.

5 Books to Read When You’re Grieving That Will Help You Feel Less Alone by Isabel Cohen — Double Curated

It comes to different people in different ways but it shows up in the same dark clothing, screaming and wailing as it swoops down to pelt us with insufferable pain. Grief is powerful and icky, a goopy moaning thing that tastes like tears and snot and plants itself firmly in the chest or stomach where it creates a persistent ache. Read more.

Influence of Literature: Books Still Change the World by Electra Nanou — Curated

Literature has a lot to offer. Entertainment, education, psychological and cultural enlightenment, even a hefty profit. But, now and then, a publication comes along that actually makes reality shift. It opens our eyes to truths we’re either oblivious of or avoiding. Read more.

Five Classic Books I Actually Really Enjoyed by Holly McKie — Curated

When you are English Lit student/graduate or a self-confessed bookworm, it is always kind of assumed that you have read a lot of the ‘classics’. Of course you know exactly what happened in Wuthering Heights and 1984. Why wouldn’t you? Read more.

Miscellaneous

Are Literature’s Women Struggling for Private Space? by Ruchi Das — Triple Curated

When I started reading Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”, I expected the book to bury me under the deluge of feminist barrage: caustic slogans, sarcastic jibes, loud accusations, and a non-negotiable foot-stomping demand for every woman to have a room of her own. Read more.

Why Are Readers So Mean in Their Reviews of Grief Memoirs? by Isabel Cohen — Curated

I love reading memoir. Memoirists are brave individuals who launch their stories into the abyss in the hope of connecting with others. The best memoirs I’ve read draw me into the writer’s world and give me a new perspective on life. They inspire, commiserate, give meaning to life, and reinforce the human connection. Read more.

Harry Potter’s Butterbeer and Muggle Drinking Culture by Jennifer Harrison — Double Curated

Food, whether it is real or literary, is deeply nostalgic, intensely social, and fundamental to personal and cultural identities; in children’s novels it serves a range of symbolic purposes, from the development of realistic worlds, to the exploration of character, to the socialization of readers. Read more.

Seven Things That Only True Book Lovers Will Understand by Anali Aksoy — Curated

Books are the source of all creativity they have for people who fell in love with books. They are the type of people who see a lot of new adventures and new friends when they are in a library. Read more.

Are You A Dreamer Or A Cynic (Why Not Let Your Books Decide?) by Anangsha Alammyan — Curated

Did you know the books you like could tell a lot about your personality? When it comes to an outlook on life, there are two kinds of people in the world. Read more.

Thank you for contributing your bit in taking Books are our Superpower to where it is today. We will see you again soon.

Till then, keep reading, keep writing, and keep sharing your stories. As long as you have anything to say about the books you loved, Books are our Superpower would always be a home for your stories.

Love,
Anangsha