Ƶ

Book Review: ‘My Musings’

Book Review: ‘My Musings’
Short Url
Updated 15 sec ago

Book Review: ‘My Musings’

Book Review: ‘My Musings’
  • The book reminds us that meaning often hides in the everyday, waiting for us to notice.

JEDDAH: “My Musings” feels less like a book and more like a long, unhurried conversation with someone who has lived, laughed, lost, and learned, and is generous enough to share the journey.

A.G. Danish has a gift for noticing the small things most of us overlook and then weaving them into reflections that suddenly feel universal.

What’s refreshing is how ordinary moments, like staring at an empty fridge, fighting with a remote control, or sipping a cup of tea, become mirrors for bigger truths about life, love, and resilience.

He doesn’t preach; he observes. And in those observations, there’s humor, honesty, and sometimes a quiet ache that stays with you long after you’ve put the book down.

The beauty of “My Musings” lies in its balance: One page makes you smile, the next makes you pause, and before you know it, you’re looking at your own life a little differently.

Danish is not afraid to show his vulnerability, especially when he writes about family and loss, and that honesty is what makes the writing so relatable.

His pain of losing his wife Farida Danish can be felt in some parts of the book.

This is not a book to rush through. It’s the kind you keep on your bedside table, picking up a piece at a time, letting each thought breathe. Each chapter is a saga in itself.

If you enjoy writing that is simple, reflective, and deeply human, “My Musings” is worth your time. It reminds us that meaning often hides in the everyday, waiting for us to notice.

A warm, thoughtful, and quietly powerful read.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Earth and Life’ by Andrew H. Knoll

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Earth and Life’ by Andrew H. Knoll
Updated 15 October 2025

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Earth and Life’ by Andrew H. Knoll

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Earth and Life’ by Andrew H. Knoll

How did the world as we know it—from the soil beneath our feet to the air we breathe and the life that surrounds us—come to be?

Geologists have proposed one set of answers while biologists have proposed another.

Earth and Life is the first book to reveal why we need to listen to both voices—the physical and the biological—to understand how we and our planet became possible.

In this captivating book, Andrew Knoll traces how all life is sustained by Earth’s geological and atmospheric dynamics, and how life itself shapes the physical environment.


What We Are Reading Today: Seven Rivers by Vanessa Taylor

What We Are Reading Today: Seven Rivers by Vanessa Taylor
Updated 14 October 2025

What We Are Reading Today: Seven Rivers by Vanessa Taylor

What We Are Reading Today: Seven Rivers by Vanessa Taylor

Vanessa Taylor’s “Seven Rivers” tells the story of the Nile, Danube, Niger, Mississippi, Ganges, Yangtze and the Thames.

At its heart are the empire-builders of the Chinese dynasties, Romans and Hindus and their river gods, the Habsburgs and Ottomans, Mughal emperors, the people of the Niger from Mali’s golden age to today, struggles of life and death on the Mississippi, and the dethroning of the British on the rivers of their unruly imperial subjects.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘I Was Working: Poems’ by Ariel Yelen

What We Are Reading Today: ‘I Was Working: Poems’ by Ariel Yelen
Updated 13 October 2025

What We Are Reading Today: ‘I Was Working: Poems’ by Ariel Yelen

What We Are Reading Today: ‘I Was Working: Poems’ by Ariel Yelen

Seeking to find a song of the self that can survive or even thrive amid the mundane routines of work, Ariel Yelen’s lyrics include wry reflections on the absurdities and abjection of being a poet who is also an office worker and commuter in New York.

In the poems’ dialogues between labor and autonomy, the beeping of a microwave in the staff lounge becomes an opportunity for song. 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Beyond Anxiety’

Photo/Supplied
Photo/Supplied
Updated 12 October 2025

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Beyond Anxiety’

Photo/Supplied
  • The book suggests that personal regulation and social well-being are intertwined: Cultivating creativity and connection at the individual level contributes to healthier communities and more humane institutions

Martha Beck’s “Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life’s Purpose” examines why modern life leaves so many people on edge and proposes a clear, practical route out of chronic worry.

Rather than treating anxiety as a defect to eliminate, Beck reframes it as a misdirected guidance system. She contrasts the “anxiety spiral,” a loop that keeps the body in threat mode, with a “creativity spiral” that restores flexibility, connection and purposeful action.

The book’s strength lies in its accessibility. The author distills neuroscience into plain language and focuses on short practices that fit into daily routines.

It invites readers to interrupt worry loops through curiosity, sensory grounding and playful problem-solving. These micro-exercises shift attention from scanning for danger to exploring options, gradually teaching the nervous system how to settle.

A social perspective complements the individual guidance. Drawing on ideas akin to Max Weber’s “iron cage,” Beck argues that systems built on speed, metrics, and profit amplify vigilance and crowd out meaning.

The book suggests that personal regulation and social well-being are intertwined: Cultivating creativity and connection at the individual level contributes to healthier communities and more humane institutions.

I appreciate how practical it is — offering prompts for five-minute experiments, reflections that encourage noticing small changes and gentle checkpoints that prevent perfectionism from derailing progress.

Newcomers will find plain language and doable routines; experienced readers may recognize familiar ideas but will appreciate the renewed emphasis on creativity as a regulatory tool.

Those well versed in mindfulness, somatic work or habit change may still welcome the way Beck links curiosity to nervous-system flexibility, giving an immediate lever to pull when worry spikes.

The message is ultimately hopeful. “Beyond Anxiety” does not promise a life without fear; instead it shows how to transform anxious energy into fuel for discovery, relationships and purpose.

Readers who want steps they can try today — without jargon or heavy time commitments — will find the approach inviting. As a field guide for overwhelmed beginners, it is clear, humane and designed for real life.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Costa Rica’s Rainforests’

Photo/Supplied
Photo/Supplied
Updated 12 October 2025

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Costa Rica’s Rainforests’

Photo/Supplied
  • This lavishly illustrated book provides a fascinating, up-to-date, and accessible introduction to the natural history of this forest and its flowering plants

Author: SCOTT WESLEY SHUMWAY

The lowland rainforest of Costa Rica is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet.

This lavishly illustrated book provides a fascinating, up-to-date, and accessible introduction to the natural history of this forest and its flowering plants, ferns, fungi, birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, fishes, and insects.

The book focuses on La Selva Research Station, one of the best-studied tropical forests in the world, but it applies to all of Costa Rica’s lowland rainforests and the species it covers are common throughout much of Central America and the Neotropics.