Happy World Book Day Everyone! You’re obviously reading this because you like to read my ramblings and what good taste you do have! On this glorious occasion I just wanted to share with you my thoughts on reading and about a few of my favourite authors.

Firstly, Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and how And The Mountains Echoed has the ability to take you to a world completely unknown to your own. A writer whom I have admired for many years now. One of the things I love about Hosseini too is that no matter where you come from, which walk of life, every person can relate to his work. Obviously I love this writer and I rhapsodize about him but it got me thinking that books and stories are a part of our lives since we are born and continue to do so until the day we leave this world. I remember when I was a kid my mum used to tell me the tale of the mouse with 7 tails, then I was at school we learn to read and the Topsy and Tim books played a massive part of this. As I got older books like Charlottes Web were ones I read at primary school, Shakespeare at secondary school as well as books like To Kill a Mockingbird. As I reached adulthood I began to read chick lit books and then into my late twenties and to this day the books I chose to read are ones that stimulate my mind and provoke thoughts.

For a while I hadn’t read anything which did stimulate my mind but then the new Hoseeini book came out and I began to become immersed in the world of Pari, Markos, Nila, Nabi et al. I have certain friends who also enjoy reading and it is fabulous when a single girl, a married woman and a high profile celebrity can relate to that one one.

Another one of my favourite books is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts – about a man who escapes from an Australian prison and ends up living in the slums of Mumbai, a film being made into a movie. During the time I read this book I had highlighted paragraphs in the book because they were so insightful and they meant so much to me; and I am sure other people did too. When films are made into movie’s they sometimes do lose their essence, Shantaram is 900 odd pages long and I do hope that the producers keep as close to the story as possible.

Finally, Roopa Farooki, author of Bitter Sweets, The Way Things look to me, Half Life and more is someone I have had the pleasure of meeting (someone on my ‘to meet before I die list) One of my all time favourites is The Way Things Look to Me and the character Lila who suffered with eczema just as I did and still do is one character who I will never forget. What I love about Roopa is that the reader can just so easily follow and understand what she writes, relate to them personally and go through a series of different emotions in one book.

If you love reading always make time to read. Whether it is poems, short stories, even articles online. Nothing is better to stimulate your mind, improve your vocabulary, inspire you and transport you to a different world. If you don’t like reading but want to give it a go then imagine watching a film but instead of having a person play a character and a scene set out in a studio; you are using your imagination to see what the character looks like and you are setting the scene from the colours to the smells and sounds. Reading helps you create your one world and sometimes it’s good to escape.

Another few of my favorite books which I recommend reading are The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Beauty by Raphael Selbourne, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Kite Runner/A Thousand Splendid Suns/And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, He’s just not that into you (the book version) by Greg Behrendt – those will do for now!

Read my interview with Childrens writer and speech therapist Priya Desai here.

Priya Mulji

Picture source- wikipedia