The Man who Never was

How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali by Prabhavananda My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is one of the older translations, one with much simple language and none of the more convoluted esoteric diction seen in some of the newer age, self-help tomes taking inspiration from spiritual texts. At the beginning of the book, the translators explain how, since Sanskrit followed an oral tradition of passing down knowledge from teacher to student, a lot of the Yoga Aphorism were more of a shorthand that mentors would then expand upon using their own knowledge and sensibilities. This approach appears efficient and contrary to what one might think, helps preserve the pith of the message better. There are some parts of the book which deal with supposed real-life instances of 'abilities' that the practitioners of Yoga acquire. But to those who're interested in learning a structured approach to Yoga and the Sanatana principles that it represents,

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega My rating: 3 of 5 stars Going blind into the book, I had no idea or expectations towards 'The Middle Ages' by Eleanor Janega. For the first third of the book, we got a clear, concise, easy to understand, cliff notes version of the medieval world, following the split of the Roman Empire into West & East. I call it a cliff notes version, because a lot of events are summarized, and we get synopsis breezing through some key events which characterized the times. Most of the book deals with what is essentially the histories of Europe, as well as some supplementary stuff that happened when they interacted with Asia & Africa. Despite not being of said cultural background, having had some exposure to the subject, through similar academic works, many of the things described in the works were familiar to me (Although, full disclosure, the only reasons I even know the distinction between various cultu

Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Junji Ito is to Graphical body Horror, what Lovecraft was to cosmic existential horror.  His stories are anthologies, often set in the Japanese countryside, where mysterious things are afoot, and just around the corner one might encounter the paranormal, that can, for no particular reason latch on to you, ruin your life, and oftentimes end up taking it as well.  They often feature a coterie of everyday people, who are afflicted with, or experience the horrors on the other side of the veil. Where malicious, whimsical and mostly evil incarnate entities toy with you for their own perverted amusement. And there is little you can do to combat them.  The characters of Junji Ito rarely try to fight against their oppressors; you won't find wooden stake wielding, silver bullet shooting monster hunters. Just what one would expect if you were to encounter the monster that goes bump in the night. You know the