It's hard to explain an eight-month-long hiatus without starting with an apology for both the break and not informing any interested readers about it. But as it happens, it was a fruitful eight months spent studying for a postgraduate degree in Politics and International Relations: a fascinating experience which has helped me learn more in eight months than I had in the last couple of years. I've been so busy reading non-fiction: academic journals, articles and books that the number of novels I've read during this time has been embarrassingly low (which explains my reluctance to blog). But the fiction I did read was wonderful (I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is without a doubt one of my all-time favourite books now, I adored Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and the non-fiction was inspirational and thought-provoking (Michael Billig's Banal Nationalism, Ashis Nandy's The Romance of the State, Srirupa Roy's Beyond Belief: India and the Politics of Postcolonial Nationalism, among others).
My areas of interest would have been very obvious to anybody who has read my blog: Indian history (especially the colonial Raj and Partition), politics and diplomacy. I've been focusing on these very topics during my studies and it has been a wonderful learning experience that has lead to a passion for understanding postcolonialism, nationalism, gender in politics and foreign policy and the annoying habit of trying to slip in the word 'subaltern' as much as I can (as you can see..).
I will be busy with my thesis/dissertation for the next couple of months and therefore, I cannot promise to be back to blogging as usual. But I do hope to share what I'm reading (and my thoughts about it) in the coming weeks/months, possibly in a new blog (Wordpress? Tumblr?).
Thank you to those who messaged me/left comments saying they missed my blog posts and asking me if I was alright. It was touching to know that people enjoyed reading my blog so much. I hope all my favourite readers and bloggers have been doing great. I certainly missed reading the classics and genres I so adore and blogging about it, but I'm very thankful for everything I have been learning during this break.
Edited this post to add that I have just updated my list of India-related book recommendations with the best books I have been reading recently. Do check it out (and feel free to leave any suggestions you have)!
My areas of interest would have been very obvious to anybody who has read my blog: Indian history (especially the colonial Raj and Partition), politics and diplomacy. I've been focusing on these very topics during my studies and it has been a wonderful learning experience that has lead to a passion for understanding postcolonialism, nationalism, gender in politics and foreign policy and the annoying habit of trying to slip in the word 'subaltern' as much as I can (as you can see..).
I will be busy with my thesis/dissertation for the next couple of months and therefore, I cannot promise to be back to blogging as usual. But I do hope to share what I'm reading (and my thoughts about it) in the coming weeks/months, possibly in a new blog (Wordpress? Tumblr?).
Thank you to those who messaged me/left comments saying they missed my blog posts and asking me if I was alright. It was touching to know that people enjoyed reading my blog so much. I hope all my favourite readers and bloggers have been doing great. I certainly missed reading the classics and genres I so adore and blogging about it, but I'm very thankful for everything I have been learning during this break.
Edited this post to add that I have just updated my list of India-related book recommendations with the best books I have been reading recently. Do check it out (and feel free to leave any suggestions you have)!
10 comments:
Nice to see you in my reader again! I'm in a similar situation - I'm working on a master's degree and it's been so much work! I'm reading like crazy, but it's all academic journals and textbooks. Blah.
Good luck with your thesis/dissertation!!!!
Kate, thank you! I can definitely relate to how hectic and even draining the academic reading can be. Good luck with your master's degree too. All the best! :)
It's good to hear from you, Kals. Sounds like a very productive hiatus... good luck with your thesis and dissertation. I'm cheering for you!
That's very nice of you, JoAnn. Thank you so much :)
I was missing too :D And I had none of the nice reasons you had/have :)
Hope to see you around :) I am not reading yet, but I am sure I will find something that will restart the reading bug for sure :)
Veens, it is very good to hear from you! Hope you've been doing great.
I hope you'll find a lovely book to get you back to reading :)
I'm glad that all is well in your life and that you've been learning so much. Thanks for the update!
I read I Capture the Castle for the first time a few weeks ago and it was so wonderful - definitely a favorite for me too!
Thank you for your comment, Alyce! Hope all is well with you too :)
I fell in love with the book! It has been quite a while since I read such a captivating novel. Cassandra Mortmain is such a memorable protagonist too. Have you seen the movie starring Romola Garai? I thought it was lovely :)
Good to hear from you! I am glad to hear you are Ok- sounds like you have been very busy over the break - good luck with your studies!
Great to hear from you too :) And thank you so much! I hope you've been doing well too.
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