Author: garima

This mental health awareness month we asked our team members about the things they do to take care of their mental health. Read below to know their mental health mantra!

Nora Nazerene shares with us, ‘I never miss my daily runs. Running is my alone time—it clears my head and always helps me find a way through muddled thoughts.’

Ishani says, ‘I have frequently found myself drawn to meditation and the at-home prayers routine to find balance and peace. Working in content means ideas and thoughts keep demanding attention, but a growth state of mind is hard to achieve if one is constantly churning in the here and now. My morning or evening prayers, or a meditation session, help me reset everyday. As someone who has recovered from #burnout, I am mindful of anything that disturbs this peace. I highly recommend meditation, especially when you feel you have lost control of the day!’

Pallavi shares with us, ‘Mental health is a fairly new addition to my understanding of an overall healthy life. All my life, I have had to struggle with body weight issues and to now realise that a lot of it starts from how we feel about ourselves rather than how we appear has been a revelation. Since the epiphany, one of the most important mental health mantras has been to give myself grace. Most of us are our own worst critics, never giving ourselves a break, never taking a moment to appreciate the good we do, and always focusing on our failures and flaws. Giving oneself grace means that we accept who we are as we are, for both the good and the bad, the virtues and weaknesses. Treat yourself as well as you’d treat others means interacting with yourself with kindness and consideration.’

Chaitanya shares with us, ‘My mantra is to read a real angsty romance. Brownie points if it has a second chance trope!’

Rupal tells us, ‘Differentiate between big and small battles. Set boundaries. Take the time off. Breathe. Reflect. Restart. These are the few things, or more like actionable points that I have slowly-and-gradually implemented, and it has significantly helped in maintaining a healthy balance at work and personal front. I resort to music, books, coffee and conversations when I am in a loop, and giving yourself a break when your mind gives a hint is the best favour you do on yourself. So take that hint, address it well, soak in that day and take one step at a time.’

Garima says, ‘I get overwhelmed quite easily and that knowledge has now allowed me to identify triggers that cause anxiety and to deal with them accordingly. Understanding yourself and what your mind and body need is the key. Also, sunlight! It is an excellent way to uplift your mood and reduce stress.’

Share with us the things you do to elevate your mood and uplift your mental health here.

The year is 2023. You have a new perspective to most things, and you have your reading goals set in place. But weren’t these the same goals that you didn’t follow in 2022?

Take a pause; don’t set a goal for the number of books to read this year. Let it flow, let your reading habits breathe, let your headspace decide what to read next, and not your #TBR pile. Feel invited to take a pause and look at reading from a new perspective. 

Read the unconventional way

Often, we read books as a task, as something we need to get off our checklist for the day and more often than not, this leads to slump. Reading when we don’t have a headspace to read that particular book, reading when we don’t like what we are reading and when it doesn’t align with our thoughts. Next time, when you attempt to read something, read about it and what it talks about first, analyze if you are in that headspace, and then pick it. Never worry about finishing a book (though finishing one gives closure) for it can wait.  

It should be for pleasure; it should be for imagination. Let the words sink in. Let, what you are reading, soak your mind for a while and that’s when the real process begins. Of reading mindfully. This January, read No Wonder, Women by Carissa Foo, a collection of stories about women. A glimpse into the lives of women who are trying to love without unloving themselves. You will fall in love with yourself, and the art of telling stories – it easily offers both.  

Give books the time they deserve

I have often come across books that need more understanding of the scenarios than usual. You won’t want to read a historical fiction without knowing about the events it is associated with. In such cases, highlight more, read more, read diversified perceptions about it, and you’ll feel a sense of fulfillment. Fulfillment of knowing what the author is talking about, without jumping in the sea cluelessly. Pick a book that interests you, read an article associated with it, listen to a podcast where the speaker is talking about a different idea about the event and you’ll be more interested in getting back to the book. You might enjoy reading Destination: SEA 2050 A.D. It’s an anthology that’s based on scientific projections. It showcases the world of the year 2050, the same year when 90 percent of the planet’s coral reefs are expected to decline, when plastic is found inside 99 percent of all the world’s seabirds, when there is severe water shortage in Asia, and so much more.  

Read to reconnect

There is a book for everyone, and there is a book on everything. Pick an author whose writing you adore, see what they like to read and maybe that way you stumble upon your next read too. Quite often, we get influenced by what’s out there, and quite often we get influenced by who we trust. Reading is just that, putting faith into something that could ignite that spark in you. Reconnecting with our older selves sometimes help, re-reading books help, and often reading new books from the authors we liked earlier, helps. So, give it a try and maybe you’ll enjoy the journey you have earlier experienced, only this time you’ll find more things in that book that you missed last time. Try reading We Are Not Alone Here by O Thiam Chin who has also written before, The Dogs. 

Consume a book the way you want

 Be it an audiobook, be it on your e-reader, or you like carrying the paperback around – it’s your wish and there is no correct way of consuming art. You could be the one who likes to knit and listen to the audiobook alongside, you could be the one who relies on their e-reader and read multiple books at the same time, or you could be the one who carries one book for a week and believes in the process of annotating with pencils , highlighters and colorful tabs. There is no correct way of reading. Surprisingly, you could also switch the mediums and often that increases your capacity to read more on a particular day. Whether you are on your way to the office in a public transport or are on your evening run, a good book’s company can never disappoint. Read this exciting book titled Kopi Dulu by Mark Eveleigh that talks about a journey of 15,000 kilometres – by rail, road, on foot and under sail – through about 50 Indonesian islands, shining a light on what has been described as the world’s most invisible country. 

As the clock strikes midnight, and we hit the refresh button. A new day is upon us.

But shouldn’t it be more in the flow, rather than a goal setting process?

It’s a thing with New Year’s Day – most of us wish to start everything afresh – including the books we want to read. This year, however, make it count not by the number of books you read, but by the lessons you learn, and fulfillment you get. This is a safe space for your to rediscover your love for reading.

Happy Reading, and happy rediscovering-your-love-for-reading!

– by Rupal Vyas

 Today we are in conversation with Eva Wong Nava, Jeffrey Say and Quek Hong Shin about their latest series of four picture books. The series encourages young children to read about artists who had made an impact on the art scene in Southeast Asia. 

Q1) How would you describe the ‘Exploring Southeast Asia with’ series in a sentence? 

Eva: It’s a series of creative non-fiction picture books targeted at middle grade and primary school children taking them through four Southeast Asian countries — Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia – by exploring the lives of four prominent artists and their artworks. 

Jeffrey: The series of books aims to educate young readers about the art and culture of Southeast Asia as seen through the lens of famous visual artists. 

Hong Shin: A celebration of Southeast Asian landscape, arts, and aesthetics.   

Q2) How did this series come into being?
 

Eva: Each story is unique to the lives of the artist and the country they come from. Southeast Asia is made up of eleven countries. It would have been ideal if we had the time and resources to cover each one. However, scholarship of Southeast Asia and their artists is still scant for some countries. So, as art historians, Jeffrey and I chose four countries and artists that are relatively well-known amongst scholars of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art histories.  

Jeffrey: Eva and I were sitting down and having coffee about four years ago and I lamented about how there are very few books on Southeast Asian art for young readers. We decided to change that. The idea was to create four books one after another, but our Publisher insisted us to write all the books at the same time so that they can be bought together as a set. I came up with the idea for the four artists and bounced the idea off Eva to see if these artists would make for an interesting children’s story. The rest is history.  

Q3) What did the research process for the picture books look like? 

Eva: Both Jeffrey and I read the same articles and journals with information about the artists – Liu Kang, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Chuah Thean Teng, and Affandi – as well as the histories of these countries. From these, I came up with the story line and Jeffrey did the more academic work – their biographies and the questions in the back matter of the book. The work was split up this way because I have experience in writing creative non-fiction for children. As a team, we worked together collaboratively: Jeffrey read my parts and the two of us had to come to agreement on how the story was written and I read the bios and questions, and added some of my own, and we edited the manuscripts together. 

This project took us four years to complete. The challenge was managing a big project like this with me in the U.K. and Jeffrey and Hong Shin in Singapore and each one of us living with Covid restrictions and its aftermath.  

Jeffrey: As an art historian with access to databases, I sourced scholarly articles related to each artist. To reimagine the lives of the artists and their works in a picture book, I had to gather as many materials as possible for each artist so that some of the most interesting details can be captured in the texts and illustrations. The research entailed approaching the sons of Chuah Thean Teng for archival materials on their late father. As such, the research process ensures that the story told in each book is as accurate as possible. 

Hong Shin: Quite some time was spent scouring the internet for visual references of the artists and their works. One of the biggest challenges was to reimagine many of the (creative fictional) scenarios as there is certainly no photographic evidence of them. I did have some fun and lots of artistic liberty to depict the artists’ appearances when they were younger.

Q4) What was the process of illustrating the book? 

Hong Shin: After gathering images from the internet, I spent time trying to imitate and emulate the artistic style of the artists by observing their paintings. Each of them has a very distinctive style and I wanted to showcase that in my illustrations. This meant making many preliminary sketches and letting their respective artworks inspire me. Eva’s words are vivid and descriptive, so I chose the best visual compositions in an attempt to capture the mood or atmosphere. The illustrations were all done digitally, so it was quite interesting for me to use the digital medium to recreate the look and feel of fine art paintings.
 

Q5) What was the best part about working on this series of picture books?
 

Eva: For me it was being able to tell the stories of four Southeast Asian artists in collaboration with a respected colleague and cherished friend, and a fellow art historian. This is a series of picture book biographies, which is a genre of picture books. Picture book writing is a craft and differs from writing novels and academic writing. It is a structured and tight form because we have up to 1,000 words to tell the story, still keeping the story arc — beginning, middle, end — intact. Then, there is also the character arc, where the story needs to show the main character learning and growing as their story progresses. And I had to do all this creatively, which doesn’t mean I make up information because these are biographies, the story of a moment in someone’s life, but that I had to write creatively, using accessible, child-friendly words, and choosing the point of entry to start each artist’s story. I had to work with the facts to extract a story, and that requires separating the husk from the rice grain. While doing this, I had to be mindful of the illustrator because Hong Shin will need to animate my words with his art, so I had to leave him space in my text to do this. All said, picture book writing is a collaboration, always. It takes two authors — the writer and the illustrator — to create a picture book. (In our case, it took two authors and an illustrator.) Hence, publishers have come to call picture book creation a craft. As a picture book author, I have honed this craft over the years in my career as a children’s book author. 

And, so we have it: 4 artists, 2 authors, 1 illustrator, and 3 cheers!  

Jeffrey: This series of books was my very first foray into the world of kid lit. The best part about working on it was about learning what it takes to write a children’s book. In this regard, I have learned much from both Eva and Hong Shin, who have won awards for kid lit, respectively. I also found it interesting to find an academic like myself collaborating with Eva, and we enjoyed exchanging ideas with one another. It was a fun project all in all. 

Hong Shin: Being given the ‘power’ to embody the spirit or emotion the artists were feeling at the turning points of their artistic careers. For e.g. The anguish in Affandi’s brushstrokes and the tenacity, and feminine sensitivity of Anita Magsaysay-Ho. And also, it is quite a dream come true to work on the subject matter of art. This is because when I was young, I was truly inspired by great artists like Monet and Van Gogh, so I appreciate this great opportunity for us to introduce prominent artists in the region to the younger generation via picture book stories.

Q6) What do you hope the young readers will take away from this book? 

Eva: As an author, giving children a reason to read for pleasure is why I write. Though these are picture books, filled with Hong Shin’s gorgeous artwork, they’re also good for adults to read. These are short stories, if you will, and they inform readers, younger and older, about the artist, their country and their life’s work. It’s a fun way to learn some art history (the study of humanity through its art) without having the pressure to pass exams or learn facts by heart. And as many of these artworks are found at the National Gallery of Singapore or in galleries and museums in the artist’s home countries, readers can see the works of art for themselves IRL. 

Southeast Asia is lacking in books for children about our own artists. More needs to be done and written about lest our children think that Southeast Asia as a region lacks art and history.  

Jeffrey: As an arts educator, I have been a firm believer that to nurture a cultured population, children need to be taught how to appreciate the arts from a young age. An added motivation for conceptualizing these books is the desire for our local children to get to know famous artists from our very own backyard as most children’s books on art are on Western artists. 

 Hong Shin: Being able to introduce these Southeast Asian artists, and their works and hopefully help the readers recognize them in galleries around the world would be very gratifying. I also hope that children reading these books will realize that there is beauty in daily life, as shown in the stories of the artists. 

Q7) 3 emojis that best describe your feelings about the books.  

Eva: ? #representationmatters ? collaboration ? love art and history  

Jeffrey: ???

Hong Shin: ??? 

Exploring Southeast Asia with series is now available at bookstores near you and on Amazon. Grab your copy of these amazing picture books today!

– by Garima Bhatt

This November we bring to you five book lovers and content creators from Southeast Asia and beyond, and talk to them about their passion for reading, their penchant for creating content and learn how they built a community online. Join us as we explore their journey, understand the platforms they prefer to talk about books and get some tips for building a digital presence.

Meet John Lloyd Canlas Dion, a bookstagramer from Philippines

1) How did your bookstagram journey start?

During the pandemic, I started using bookstagram. I created an account as I had been stuck at home for a few months with nothing to do. It was one of my best decisions since I got to know other readers and make new friends, learn about their culture, and also grow as a person.

2) How long did it take to grow your audience on Instagram and connect with the reader’s community?

I had to wait over a year to see my audience grow. It is a difficult thing to achieve as I have to actively interact with my audience on the platform.

3)  What is the best thing about bookstagram?

It is a place where you can meet friends who consider you as family.

A tip for fellow bookstagram influencers – Be active and interact with your audience. Make an effort to publish a post every week. Additionally, share your opportunities with them.

Your most recent read from our list – My most recent read was Vincent C. Sales’ The End of All Skies. I truly liked reading it since the storyline was so original and meaningful to me as a Filipino – it blew my mind.

Meet Sonia Singh, a book blogger from Malaysia

1) How did your blogging journey start?

During the pandemic, I was in my last semester at university and had nothing much to do, so I decided to rekindle my childhood hobbies such as reading and writing. Naturally, it made sense to put the two together and start book blogging!

2) How long did it take to build your platform and grow your audience? Do you have a preferred platform to create content? 

When I first started, I knew nothing about the blogging world. I spent my hard-earned money on courses to learn more about getting readers to my blog. It took me a year and a half to finally achieve my first 50,000 readers because there were times I was not consistent in publishing. Imposter syndrome kicked in and made me feel like I’m not good enough to run a book blog because I can’t read hundreds of books a year like other book bloggers.

Soon, I realized it’s not about how many books you read a year but how helpful your content is to other readers. In all honesty, I prefer book blogging over booktok. It is the right platform for me because I do not like creating videos as I’m not comfortable being on camera. 

I must admit though, I started off my book blogging journey with bookstagram which gave me the initial push to create content and be comfortable with putting myself out there. It has helped me meet like-minded readers in my country and make some friends! I will always be grateful to those who supported me in my early bookstagram days.

A tip for budding book bloggers – Create content consistently, have patience and be kind to yourself. You’re not going to go viral overnight, you might not even get 100 readers when you first start book blogging. It takes time to build a good bank of content to attract readers. Also, not everyone will like or agree with what you write and that’s okay. Finally, you are more than your blog metrics.

Your favourite from our list – My favourite would be Prisna by Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit. It was a heart-warming historical fiction romance written by a Thai princess during WWII. Fun fact, it was my first book blog post!

Meet Sandra Kleppe, a booktuber from Norway

1) How has your journey on BookTube been so far?

I started my channel 7 years ago because I wanted a place to talk about the things I love. That later grew into just being a booktube channel. I think I have grown the most in the last 2 years. It took a long time for me to be brave enough to engage more with the community. The best thing so far has been making friends who also love books.

A tip for fellow BookTubers would be – Talk to people! That is how you will feel like you are a part of this amazing community. Don’t be scared to reach out and make friends.

Your current read from our list – The book I read the most recently is My American Sister by Judy Tham. It is a touching story with a lot of heart.

Meet Puty Puar, the founder of Buibu Baca Buku Book Club in Indonesia

1) How did the BBB Book Club start?

BBB in BBB Book Club stands for ‘Buibu Baca Buku’ which means ‘Mothers Read Book’. It was started in 2018 as a movement on Instagram because I thought, “Okay, we all want our children to be readers, but how would they do that if there isn’t any role model in the family?”  I hope more mothers will read and enjoy it for themselves. Also, we realize that reading books is a habit that sharpens literacy skill, which is crucial for gaining knowledge. And knowledge is power. In short, we’re trying to empower women and more families through reading! 🙂

2) How has the journey been so far?

At first, we started posting book-related content on social media. When the pandemic hit, we started to engage in virtual discussions. To engage more people with a relatively small team of volunteers, we collaborate with other communities, publishers, and institutions to create awareness. It has been almost 4 years now and we have an audience of 30,000+ readers on social media, mostly women but not limited to mothers. We regularly create book-related content including book recommendations and reviews, we do discussions, competitions and also reading challenges. We hope that we can continue creating impact while spreading our love of books!

2) What is the most amazing part about leading a book club/being a part of a book club?

I think it is when someone said, “Oh you know what, it’s been a while since I read a book. After I discovered your content / joined your discussion, I started to read again.” Or when participants of our discussion said they got a new perspective. It feels amazing! I might be biased but I feel energized by the interaction sparked with curiosity and insight every time we hold a book discussion.

3) What’s a book from our list that you are excited about introducing to the book club?

The First Decade by Vivy Yusof. Personally, she’s a woman-crush, a fashion blogger who turned into a successful entrepreneur and a mother. Not to mention a funny one! So, yes, can’t wait to read everything from her POV!

Meet Jessica Tay, a bookstagramer and budding booktoker from Malaysia

1) Tell us about your book blogging and booktok journey so far.

I started book blogging journey around 2016 but I wasn’t very consistent as I had just started picking up reading at that time. Soon, I discovered bookstagram in 2017. I was attracted to the visuals and the aesthetics that bookstagrammers provided. Plus, the community projects positive vibes. That’s how my bookstagram page was born. Over the time, I begin to focus more on reviewing books on my book blog and bookstagram. I’m still trying to figure it out  BookTok! If you like to talk in front of camera and deliver brief yet compact book reviews, it is definitely the right place for you. Instagram is where my reading journey started and it the platform where I feel most welcome and find comfort in interacting with other readers here.

A tip for fellow content creators – I’ve made many good friends, who are all book lovers, from around the world. I think being genuine with others, creating honest content, reading at my own pace and not feeling the need to follow the trends all the time or stick to certain themes has given me the best time on these platforms.

Your current read is – I’m currently reading My Lovely Skull & Other Skeletons by Tunku Halim. So far, everything has been described vividly which helps me to visualise the gory details even better! (Not sure if this is entirely a good thing, especially for those who are faint-hearted.)

That’s all for today, folks! See you next time with some book recommendations for #NonfictionNovember

– by Garima Bhatt, Senior Executive – Digital & Marketing

I was a pre-teen when I picked up Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends by Anita Nair from my father’s bookshelf. It introduced me to the many, many characters and stories that encouraged me to make a habit of picking up random books and reading them during our library hours at school. Reading the social science books, especially history, started to feel just like reading stories when I reached high school. I was the book nerd, and I had my circle of book nerds. We read about everything, borrowing books from each other, discussing them on our way to and from school, extra classes, sometimes on the back bench in the classes too. As I moved to University, there was no doubt that I wanted to continue my passion for reading, no matter how much I score on papers assessing my reading material. I no longer care if I received 68% in my graduation because, I am here, talking to you about my love, excitement, and adoration for Reading, while I work at the world’s largest publisher of stories.  

As someone who has often wondered and been frustrated by how few hours there are in a day to make time for reading for leisure, I implore on you, dear fellow reader, to not be hard on yourself. The joy of consuming stories has many avenues now. It can come from shorter pieces on some topic, from turning back to books you have already read (Rick Riordan is a returning favourite of mine), from reading a recommended chapter in a Classic. Reading for me has often become more about spending time with a few chapters, absorbing the words, reflecting on the sentiments, and finding inspiration, than about finishing the damn book. So, when I am recommended a Sally Rooney, I read a few chapters and put the book down, notice when I wonder about what happened next in the story and then I know, I know I like the writing.  

As working in publishing gets me all the access I may need to an unending pile of unread books, I am often torn between new author, old stories, beautifully produced, gold-foiled, heat-stamped leatherbacks, and quick reads which I can finish on my way to a holiday. So, I browse catalogues, I pay keen attention whenever new projects are discussed and for the next few months, I have my eyes open for the following few books, 

1) The Light of Stars by Leslie W coming out this November. It is the second book in The Night of Legends Trilogy. 

2) The First Decade by Vivy Yusof coming out this December!

3) No Wonder, Women by Carissa Foo is an ode to women—to hearts that love fiercely and feel deeply. A glimpse into the lives of women who are trying to love without unloving themselves. Releasing in early 2023. 

4) Sweet braised Duck by Chew Ngee Tan is about a young man paying homage to his hometown cuisine, Teochew lor ark png (braised duck rice) to change the life of his family. The story will provide insights in the hawker culture in Singapore, and I am intrigued! Releasing in early 2023. 

5) Mami Suzuki: Pearl City Private Eye by Simon Rowe is the adventure of a quick-witted, intuitive, and follows her ‘gut instinct’ private investigator.  Releasing in early 2023. 

I have learnt that our reading habits change as we navigate through life. We can reminisce of days when finishing seven hundred pages in one night was normal, but I have stopped regretting having shorter attention spans for the words on a page. Bookstagram and Booktok can create a lot of FOMO and we may feel there is not enough that one is reading from a favourite author or about an important, trending topic, or expanding our boundaries by trying new genres. My learning has been to read at the pace which inspires you than what can become a demanding chore. It is ok if you read one book a year. It is ok if you read ten. It is ok if you prefer the OTT adaptation of a book you have been meaning to read. The ideal purpose of stories is to inspire, so align your expectations and actions with that. 

Happy Reading! 

 – By Ishani Bhattacharya, Senior Publishing Executive, Penguin Random House SEA