Unread. The title of the book is contradictory to the nature of a book, isn’t it? I had two reasons to read Unread. No, three actually. 1. The name of the book. 2. It’s a mix of 100 stories in English and Hindi together. 3. The cover of the book. The book cover shows numerous crumbled sheets of paper. The sign of writing something on a paper and then throwing it away. 

The word Unread and the cover say so much about it, you know. How many people out there have the craft of weaving magic in words, but just brush it away thinking it may not be that good. And hence, there are numerous crumbled sheets of paper lying around in the room, crushed feelings lying in the heart, words never heard. 

How was reading Unread

The feeling that the word Unread and the cover said so many things together made me pick the book. And thanks to Blogchatter for sending it over. 

So, I never before read both English and Hindi languages in the same book. But because it’s a compilation of poetries/stories from different writers it makes for a good read.

I would admit that initially, it was a bit difficult to sail through the book. It’s like you’re reading poetry in English on one page. Your mind is in a different frame and suddenly when you turn the page, the feelings, the words, the setting, everything is in Hindi. So, making the switch was not that easy. 

Reading Unread (I just love using this phrase) was a one-of-a-kind experience, I must say. 

There are certain pieces that actually aren’t poetry but more like a story. Some of the poetry/stories could have done better with a good editor. There are typos in the Hindi pieces (I’m a bit particular about the written Hindi language. Not a maatra should be idhar se udhar or missing.) And this kind of puts me off. 

However, there are certain pieces that strike the right chord with you. Some of these, one feels like, are written straight from the heart and are absolutely raw. Like how we write in our journal/personal diary? And this, kind of, was unexpected. I mean you would expect a book to have all polished and properly vetted pieces, right? But then if I think of it, doesn’t Unread relate to those very pages from a personal diary?

Some of my favorite pieces in Unread are (numbering as per the book): 

11. My Love Story
12. बात कुछ और होती
15. Life
16. Sticky notes
23. Of melancholy and poetries
33. One or the other one
43. Her
45. We
52. धुंधली यादें
71. Dream. Believe. Do
81. Father
85. Bloom
92. बिन पर परिंदा
97. Women 
99. मग़रिब
100……

Now, I thought of giving a gist of the each of the above, but then it wouldn’t do justice. These are one-page poetries/stories and so just one-liner for each doesn’t seem fair. Plus, this review will become lengthy, because I sure can talk about each of them at length. (Maybe in a book review video?)

Some of the above fill you with motivation, inspiration, and most importantly that belief in oneself, which sadly we tend to lose thanks to the pointers thrown at us from the society. 

The 99th story will definitely leave you surprised and smiling. And the best is kept for the last, in the 100th story. 

It’s a blank page! 

To be filled in by the reader and share the unread story penned by them. 

What I also liked in the book is how the page numbers are written. These are struck through for don’t know what reason, but it sure looks different. 

Why should you read Unread? 

• To read through some good self-realization type short pieces. 
• If you wish to experience reading English-Hindi mix (It’s actually a challenge, you know. To shift from one language to another on every page? You really have to focus.) 
• For a quick read.
• To say that you Read the UNREAD? (Bear with me, but m in love with the term Read Unread.)

Thanks to Blogchatter for sending me Unread as part of their book review program. 

P.S.- Do let me know if you would like to watch book review videos. 

Rating- 2.75 Stars

You can buy the book here.

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5 Stars: I loved it!
4 Stars: A good book. But not 100%.
3 Stars: I really enjoyed reading the book. However, certain things didn’t fall in place for me.
2 Stars: It was an okay read.
1 Star: Didn’t enjoy reading at all.