People First: The Manager's Guide to Leading with Humanity by Suman Saurabh

 

Somewhere between targets, meetings, appraisals and endless "performance conversations", I think we forgot something rather important — the person. ✨ 

That thought stayed with me while reading People First: The Manager’s Guide to Leading with Humanity by Suman Saurabh. 📖

What I genuinely liked about this book is that it doesn’t present leadership through polished corporate theories. It goes straight into situations that feel painfully real. One example that stayed with me was the employee who suffers second-degree burns yet still feels the pressure to return to work because staying home means losing earnings. Another is the employee struggling with mental health, while the workplace responds with policies and procedures but somehow misses the person who actually needs help.

Those moments made the book feel less like a management guide and more like a mirror.

I also found myself thinking about the chapter on the self-serving manager—the kind who takes credit, holds people back or becomes more concerned with protecting their own position than helping their team grow. It’s uncomfortable because these behaviours can easily hide behind words like performance, visibility and leadership.🎯

The chapters on respect, genuine care and psychological safety were equally impactful. I liked how the author goes beyond simply saying "care about your employees" and shows what that can actually mean: listening properly, creating an environment where people can admit mistakes, noticing when someone is struggling and treating respect as a requirement rather than a perk.

The section on feedback also stood out to me. Instead of treating feedback as another corporate ritual, the book focuses on trust, timing, specificity and actually listening to the person receiving it.🗣️

By the end, I found myself thinking less about "How do I manage people better?" and more about "What does my team experience because I manage them?"

That’s a powerful shift.✨

People First is thoughtful, honest and at times uncomfortably relatable. If you’re a manager, team leader or simply someone curious about what good leadership should actually feel like, this book is an absolute read.❤

Paladin of God - Ascension: The Pilgrimage of Light by Ruben D.A. Barco

I kept thinking I had figured this book out and then it introduced something else. 👀

That’s probably what I enjoyed most about Paladin of God - Ascension. It doesn’t hand you the whole picture at once. Instead, Vorákin’s journey keeps opening little doors and behind almost every one is another mystery.

It starts with Vorákin simply trying to get by, but things take a much stranger turn when he finds himself in the Forest of Lost Souls. The encounter with the Bargest was enough to make me realise this wasn’t going to be a simple fantasy quest. Then comes the Book of Nomolos—and suddenly I was asking myself, okay… what exactly is going on here? 📖👀

I also really enjoyed Vorákin and Wandora’s dynamic. They aren’t the instantly-perfect adventure duo. There’s hesitation, disagreement and a gradual sense of trust between them, which made their interactions feel much more natural to me.

And then the Broken Seas happened. 🌊

The Kraken sequence genuinely caught me off guard. The panic on the ship, the fight for survival and the sheer scale of what they were facing made that section one of the easiest to picture while reading. 🐙⚔️

But what has stayed with me most is the feeling that we’ve only seen the surface of this world.

The Crimson Flame Knights, ancient mysteries, World Trees, strange creatures and the mysterious Pilgrimage of Light all feel like pieces of something much larger. ✨

This book definitely asks you to pay attention but I actually liked that. Not everything is explained immediately and sometimes, that made me even more curious.

Because when a fantasy leaves you with more questions than answers, you know there’s something worth discovering.

And I’m definitely curious to see where Vorákin goes from here. 🔥📚

 

Legacy of Ash by Wouter van Wyk

I went into this book thinking I was going to read a mystery. I didn’t expect to end up questioning how much of history we actually know. 👀🔥

What hooked me first was Adrian Ward. He’s not the usual action-heavy protagonist. He thinks, calculates, decodes, questions and then finds himself in situations where logic alone isn’t enough. His discovery of the strange manuscript and the Orobas sigil was one of those moments where I knew things were about to get complicated. 🕯️📜

I especially loved the contrast between Adrian’s world of computers, algorithms and A.V.A. and the ancient secrets he keeps uncovering. Watching him use technology to decode things that have survived for centuries was genuinely fascinating. And when A.V.A. begins detecting strange activity around him, that unsettling feeling of "someone has been watching you all along" really kicks in. 😳

Then comes Ambrose Hale and honestly, I loved his character. His conversations with Adrian feel less like ordinary dialogue and more like two intelligent people trying to figure out how much the other knows. The antiquarian shop, hidden manuscripts and coded information slowly reveal that Adrian has stumbled into something much bigger. 🗝️📚

Abigail was another character I really enjoyed. Her dynamic with Adrian adds a different energy, especially when they’re forced to rely on each other while being hunted. Their escape through the underground passage, with mercenaries and the Vatican closing in, had me genuinely tense. 🔥🏃‍♂️

What stayed with me most was the combination of ancient languages, strange symbols, the Watchers, the Vatican and the possibility that some truths were deliberately buried. 🖤

I loved that the book doesn’t simply hand you answers. Every discovery creates another question and every answer seems to hide something underneath it.

By the later chapters, I wasn’t just reading to see what happened—I genuinely wanted to know how deep the conspiracy went. 👀

If you enjoy ancient mysteries, secret societies, cryptic manuscripts, technology and conspiracies, this is one to put on your TBR. 📚✨

 

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝘆 𝗞𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗚𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗮 📖✨

 

Some stories are written in sentences.

Some are found in the spaces between them.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 is a poetry collection that journeys through 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲, and the quiet process of 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴.

With each poem, the book moves through the experience of surviving what once felt impossible, finding strength in the aftermath, and slowly learning to reclaim your own voice.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲.

🏆 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱

If contemporary poetry, emotional journeys, and stories of becoming are your kind of reading, 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 is one to add to your reading list. 🤍

TULIP: Stand tall in every phase of life by Sipra Supriya Naik

 

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found its words.”

That is exactly what came to mind while reading 𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗽 by Sipra Supriya Naik. This collection feels like a quiet conversation with the different versions of ourselves..who we were, who life made us, and who we are still becoming.

The title poem, 𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗽, was one of my favourites. I loved how the flower becomes a beautiful metaphor for self-respect, individuality and finding the courage to stand on your own. The line “𝗔 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲” stayed with me long after I finished the poem.

𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜 felt especially poignant. The reflection on childhood, perfection, obedience and the gradual loss of innocence made it one of the poems I connected with most. There is something very human about looking back at the person we once were and realizing how much life has changed us.

𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲 was another poem that really stood out. “𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗱 / 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘄” captures emotional exhaustion in just a few words.

What I enjoyed most about 𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗽 is its range. It moves through vulnerability, nostalgia, resilience, relationships, faith, failure and self-discovery, while still leaving room for hope and reflection.

𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗽 is a thoughtful and emotionally layered poetry collection. It is the kind of book where you read a line, pause, and find yourself thinking about it long after turning the page. 𝗔 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹, 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝘆 𝗖.𝗠. 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀

Some meetings change more than you expect.

Rhiannon arrives in Ohio with one simple plan: keep to herself, get through her final year and eventually leave everything — and everyone behind.

Austin has a completely different life. He has the parties, the popularity, the talent and the kind of future that seems already mapped out.

Until they meet.

What begins as an unexpected connection slowly becomes something neither of them can simply walk away from.

But there is more beneath the surface.

A girl trying to escape what happened to her.

A boy who has everything except a clear sense of where he belongs.

And a relationship that brings both of them face-to-face with the things they have been avoiding.

The Night at Times Square is a story of romance, healing, growing up, and finding an unexpected person who makes you question the life you thought you wanted.

💫 A romance with heart.

💫 Characters with more beneath the surface.

💫 A story about losing your way — and finding a reason to stay.

Will Rhiannon let herself love again?

And can Austin finally figure out what he wants?

✨ Turn the pages and meet them in The Night at Times Square.

 

Missed by Siva Prasad

 

What happens when the meaning of a moment becomes clear only after the moment is gone?

That question runs quietly through MISSED, and it is what makes this book so compelling. Siva Prasad brings together a series of stories about love, family, friendship, loss, missed opportunities and things left unsaid, but what makes them stand out is the way they are rooted in ordinary, recognisable moments rather than dramatic situations. 

At the centre of the book is Arush, whose life & memories gradually reveal how easily we overlook the people who matter most. His relationship with his father is particularly powerful. The bicycle rides he once took for granted acquire an entirely different meaning when viewed through the eyes of the adult Arush. His father had been expressing love through actions that Arush understood only much later. 

That idea of realising too late appears in different forms throughout the book. A friendship that was never given enough attention. Words that were always going to be said “someday.” A hug that seemed insignificant at the time but becomes unforgettable later. The story of Arush & Seshu captures this beautifully, particularly through the regret of having understood the importance of their friendship only after there was no longer an opportunity to say it. 

What stayed with me was how quietly emotional the book is. It doesn't rely on excessive drama to create an impact. Instead, it takes familiar experiences & makes you look at them differently. Even something as simple as a bicycle ride or a hug can carry an entirely different meaning when you realise what it represented.

And that, to me, is what makes MISSED different from many books dealing with loss and regret. It isn't simply telling us to value people; it shows us how easily we fail to do it.

This is a book I would genuinely recommend to readers who enjoy emotionally rich, thoughtful fiction with stories that stay with you after you've finished reading. More importantly, it is the kind of book that makes you want to pick up your phone, call someone you love, and not wait for another day.

Definitely worth reading !!