Book Review: Strange Medicine

My Rating:

Strange Medicine by Mike Rusell is a collection of 8 short stories. These stories are bizarre, to say the least. Having read his previous collection of short stories, I was definitely stoked to read this one. But I was apprehensive of the fact that the stories might feel repetitive. Well, that was definitely not the case. I enjoyed this collection as much as I enjoyed the previous one.

The stories were enchanting and kept me hooked till the end. The subjects ranged from strange telephonic conversations to mime artists to missing brains. The book is not a simple read. You would try to find hidden meanings behind the stories but end up confusing yourself even more. A good kind of confusion, I swear. My reading journey was purely a bliss and this got me out of my reading slump.

The author has beautifully woven the narrative in simple language.

Though the collection contains only 8 stories, the diversity in the characters was intriguing. Each story is weird in its own unique way. Some stories were fun, some were crazy, some had a deep meaning and some didn't make sense at all. But these twisted tales will leave you wanting for more.  

Leaving you with my favorite quote

Sometimes the suffering of one individual is so great that it renders unjustifiable any purpose that the universe could possibly have.

PS: I received the digital copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

5 stages of Reading Slump

Hi, guys!

How are you? I missed blogging so much. So, I am back almost after a month. I was away for this long owing to the worst and the longest ever reading slump of my life. I couldn't read or write anything. And now, that I have started recovering(somewhat) I thought I should tell you guys what I was going through this past month. So, presenting to you the 5 stages of a reading slump.

Stage 1: Denial

It has been 2-3 days since you last read anything. You know something is missing. The day feels incomplete. But you don't want to acknowledge. You blame it on your ever increasing To-do list at work. You don't have time to read because you are busy hanging out with your friends ( FYI: I only talk to 2 people, that's the only social life I have :p). You give random excuses to yourself because you don't want to use the dreaded s-word.

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Stage 2: Try, try and you shall exceed. Or not.

Now, that you are slowly coming to the terms with the fact that you haven't read anything in a week, you decide that you are not going down easily. You pick up the book that you wanted to read since forever but haven't had the time to read. You set up a cozy reading nook and brew your favorite coffee and dive right into the book. But it ain't this easy, is it?


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Stage 3: Distractions! Distractions!

Just as you finish reading page number 1, your mind wanders off to a completely different tangent. You start making up scenarios in your head. What if one day you get a chance to meet Channing Tatum?( Come on ladies, don't deny that one :p) Or how would you react if you meet a guy exactly like your book boyfriend in real life? Or what will you have for your next meal?( Happens with me a lot :p ) And as one thousand thoughts keep racing on in your mind, you have already read 10 pages without understanding anything. Scary, right?

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Stage 4: Panic Attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now the most dreaded stage of all. This is where the panic sets in. You are not able to get into new books so you try going back to your favorite books/authors. You google everything that is there to know about the slump. You keep pestering people to tell you how to get out of one. You cry. You rant. You go crazy. And then the most terrifying thought enters your mind. " What if you are not able to read however hard you try? WHAT IF YOU ARE NOT A READER ANYMORE?


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Stage 5: Acceptance.

This is where you finally accept that you, in fact, are in a reading slump. And the only way out is to wait it out. And hope for the best.


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So, this is how I deal ( deal?) with the reading slump. Do let me know what you guys do. Until next time! Ciao!