Top Ten Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life

It's one thing to write about a topic directly. It's another, intriguing, thing to write about a topic using different tools which restrict what you can say. And, in a way, isn't that where creativity lies—the connections we make between "random" things and having fun with restrictions which can lead to discoveries?

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) prompt is so cool. Shoutout to Susan @ blogginboutbooks for suggesting it. I spent quite a while thinking about it and choosing titles. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed making it!

The prompt: Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life (Example titles: Well Traveled could describe you if you like to travel, Hotshot Doc could describe you if you’re an awesome doctor, Falling into Place could describe a life where things are starting to work out, An Infinite Love Story could describe your relationship, It Could Have Been Her could describe a thing you’re happy you avoided or a path you could have taken but didn’t. You can explain your choices or not, and they can be as specific or as abstract as you’d like.) 

1. death to valentine's day by catherine cowles

This might come as a surprise since my favourite genre is romance. I read a lot of romance books but I'm not a fan of romance in real life. I read them because they're usually low stakes, easy to read, have a predictable ending (again, low stakes), are great for escapism, and show a lot of perspectives. It's not my favourite genre because I like love or romance.

I am not a romantic. I do not care for Valentine's Day. I don't like that it's such a commercialised thing. I hate that it's heaped with expectations while simultaneously giving people a free pass to make others uncomfortable. I hate that I have to analyse interactions with any new people around that time (or any time, to be fair).

2. don't go back to school by kio stark

Academics doesn't work for me. Maybe it's a problem with the way academics are in my country and maybe I'd like it if I studied somewhere else. But I was in it for the required amount of time and I was not impressed or happy with it.

I learn better by doing things—by making mistakes, by finding out the required things when I need to do something. Life doesn't come with a handbook and a lot of careers don't either. Beyond the basics that a person needs to know, I believe that they learn the most while on the job. I hated the academic format of learning things and being tested on them before applying them. It did not help that the places I studied at cared more about churning out students with good grades more than actually teaching or raising knowledgeable people.

I am staunchly against going back to school. Even though I may enjoy certain courses like literature ones, I like being out of academia a bit too much.

3. my friends by fredrik backman

I have many friends that I'm grateful for, from various times in my life. They are a huge part of my life. I may not talk to all of them regularly but I love hanging out with them and having different experiences with different friends. I put in quite a bit of effort to stay in touch with people differently too.

In real life, I talk about my friends a lot. I talk about friends to each other and even pepper random conversations with stories or facts about them, or what I did with them. I talk about them to anyone who'd listen. "My friends" shows up often in my daily vocabulary haha.

4. the vegetarian by han kang

I'm vegetarian. Very on-point title for me.

I'm vegetarian by religion. My entire family is vegetarian. I grew up not having any meat or eggs or fish. It's actually a taboo thing in my religion and any association with non-veg food is considered "unclean". I spent a lot of time unlearning such ideas because it's one thing to be vegetarian yourself and a totally different thing to expect it from others or expect others to accommodate you at their expense.

My being vegetarian does add a lot of restrictions, unfortunately. It's fine in India where a big portion of the population is vegetarian and hence there are options for me in every restaurant. It's hard in other countries, though. It was quite an issue when I went to Japan, especially since I was the only vegetarian in the group. It was tough to balance my necessities while not taking away options from my friends.

I have started eating omelettes recently, though. I still can't stand eating eggs in any other format, or the smell of meat or fish, but I eat omelettes. I am so deficient in some nutrients that even having it occasionally makes a difference, lol.

5. yours truly by abby jimenez

I love writing emails and letters to friends. The earliest memory I have of writing letters is from 6th grade (I think?). My mom got me a letter writing set and I wrote a few but never gave them to people. I even wrote one for my future self which is very funny to me now because I was so young and didn't know so much. The first letters and emails I exchanged were in high school which really grew my love for conversing through them.

It's a very different experience to know someone through writing letters and emails because it's in a conversation in which both sides are given space to go on monologues and there's no expectation of immediate responses. It allows for more details and depth and grace.

Yeah, I like it. I don't end my letters or emails with "yours truly" but it does describe me in a way.

6. the answer is no by fredrik backman

This one's funny. I was actually known for "no" for a few years. It was my most-used phrase. I was very comfortable saying no to things and it showed, especially since most people are used to being people-pleasers. My college friends and fellow interns from my senior year internship knew "no" to be my my phrase. It's still a running joke with my college friends. I'm quite good at it, considering all the practice I've had 😂

I don't say "no" that much nowadays and I'm learning that there are ways to say no without being rude. But honestly, I love the simplicity and directness of the word. I'm the friend who would encourage you to say no to things if you're struggling to.

7. in a holidaze by christina lauren

I love the holiday mood. Be it while travelling or just taking a day off at home—the holidaze feels amazing.

Listen, I'm an appreciator of the daily life. I think it's important to find joy every day and have a good day every day. We shouldn't save happiness for the holidays or be living always thinking about the next holiday. Every day is a worthy day.

However, because we live in capitalism and it's just so hard to do enough in a day to make it a good day, no matter how much you try, I'm a lover of holidays too. I'm a homebody and love staying in at home. I've taken 2-week vacations just to stay at home. On the other hand, I fell in love with travelling in the past few years and it feels amazing to explore new places. I'd love to be in a place where I've always got a future trip in the works. There are so many places I want to visit and friends I'd love to keep travelling with.

8. i'd rather be reading by anne bogel

As if it's not obvious already, with this very bookish blog 😂 I read a ton. I don't read every day but I read fairly often. I love reading and it is a huge part of me. You don't know me if you don't know that I'm reader. "I'd rather be reading" is a phrase that I think fairly often. Especially when I'm in long unnecessary meetings or talking to someone I don't like.

I actually didn't find this book title myself. I wasn't finding the right title to explain the reader part of me. I was discussing this TTT prompt with a friend and she picked this book and I was like, "yes! I'm stealing this" 😂 Thanks for the title, Vaish <3

9. never thought i'd end up here by ann liang

The city that I'm currently in was always the one city that I never wanted to live in. I always said that if I were to move away from Bangalore, I'd consider going anywhere but this city. It’s funny that I ended up here in the end. I didn't think I'd get such a good opportunity that I couldn't say no to even though it is tied to this place.

Now that I'm here and looking at it with new, wiser, eyes, I'm finding that it's more than the memories I have with this place. I'm making new memories and finding good aspects about the city that I refused to see earlier.

Isn't it funny, how life works? I'm still baffled sometimes that I'm living here, the one place that I didn't want to even visit.

10. the art of solitude by stephen batchelor

Maybe because I'm an only child, I'm very comfortable with solitude. I have a lot of solitary hobbies that I find joy in. I'm more comfortable being alone than with people in most scenarios. I have chosen to do things alone even when I could have asked someone to go with me. I have only a few friends with whom I'm as comfortable as I am being alone.

It's definitely an art, in my opinion. It's not easy and it comes with a lot of practice, self-kindness, and grace to yourself. Being alone does mean that there's no one to constantly look towards for second opinions and you have to face who you are when there's no one else to define you. I'm aware that a lot of people aren't comfortable in solitude (or even a few minutes of silence...) so it becomes a differentiating aspect when I'm in conversations with them. I just don't get why people do some things because it feels so obvious to just.. be alone. It always takes me a few minutes to understand that not everyone is good with solitude.

(bonus) 11. sapiens by yuval noah harrari

I am a homo sapien 😆

chat with me!

What are some book titles that describe you or your life? Do we have any in common (at least number 11, surely?!)? Do share your TTT post in the comments if you've written it!