What Are You Reading Today?

In this age of pressing time and schedule, where exists a Netflix series for every book around, I’m often asked – why I *still* read. 

Why, indeed? 

A picture forms in my head when I read, and I don’t want to peddle my imagination for a screen. 

It’s hard to sum up what reading does to me in a phrase or paragraph. It’s an alternative universe where you time-travel, jump into another realm, or live a thousand different lives. One moment you are looking at the view from a restaurant in Capri, in another you find yourself hitching a ride with a stranger on a highway. Sometimes, you sit with an old friend, in his new chamber, wondering what happened in between, or walk the anxious neighbourhoods of childhood, where you grew up ages ago… 

You are that invisible person for whom a story unfolds; the reason why the characters behave the way they do. To make you think, to make you feel, to make you realise that you are not alone; that there are others like you; opening up your mind to new situations, saying things that have been, or could have been a different way. A story warns, it makes you aware, it takes you away, it brings you back; and then you read some more, for shock and comfort, and ultimately, a fix for your soul. I can’t really decide what a story is all about. It stays with you long after you’ve read it, and you dig it up from the recesses of memory, if and when the need arises.

And the need does arise. Ever so often. 

It is for this reason that I drew up this platform – What Are You Reading Today? To help every reader find their story. Because way too often we don’t end up reading anything or go through a ‘reader’s block’. Our to-be-read piles keep growing, along with our confusion about what next to read. The thing is after you’re done with a book, you really can’t go back – to the person you once were that wanted to read what you thought you wanted to read once upon a time. A book changes you in ways unknown, you feel things differently and forever, and you want the future to be in sync with that feeling. 

What Are You Reading Today? chooses books based on your mood. It curates reviews from ardent readers, whom we ask to describe what they feel or felt about a certain book, hoping this would connect with you differently. If you are going through an existential crisis, or in the mood to have some fun, our reviewers will have the perfect suggestion for you. 

Browse through our recommendations and let us know what you feel on hi@whatareyoureadingtoday.com. We would love to hear from you.

P.S. If you would like to be a reviewer too, send in an email on hi@whatareyoureadingtoday.com

Meet the Founder

A late bloomer, Mansi started reading way past the Enid Blyton age. While bookworms around her spoke of Nancy Drew and The Famous Five, she knew the likes of Sweet Valley High, Fear Street and Roald Dahl. Disillusioned by how little she knew about books, she gave up reading altogether through her growing-up years, only to be introduced to Jeffery Archer, five years later. After that, there was no turning back. Mansi is a voracious reader who devours books by the dozen and flits from one to the other, almost like she is programmed to do so. A content strategist, amateur blogger, armchair traveller and a foodie who prefers vegetarian fare, Mansi would readily retire if she was paid to read!

To get to know our other reviewers better, visit http://whatareyoureadingtoday.com/reviewers/.