Blog 1

Quite recently, I began reading the novel Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. My interest in this book was spurred by my interest in Indian history, which plays a significant role in the plot of the story. Midnight's Children is set in modern India, and the time period of the book ranges from 1915 to the 1970s. The book is the life story of the main character and narrator of the novel, Saleem Sinai. The book starts with the story of Aadam Aziz, Saleem's grandfather, and his transformation into an atheist in 1915 in Kashmir, India. Aadam Aziz has 5 kids, one of them being Mumtaz - Saleem's mom. Mumtaz first marries the refugee Nadir Khan but after her father finds out that she's a virgin two years after marrying him, she divorces him and marries Ahmed Sinai, who changes Mumtaz's name to Amina Sinai. Time passes by and in 1945, the Sinais move to Bombay, which is on the West Coast of India. In late 1946, Amina Sinai becomes pregnant with Saleem, and a cou...

Fat Girl on a Plane targets the modern-day issue of fat-shaming. The main character, Cookie, ironically named after a dessert, has weight issues and a supermodel mother who often leaves her with her grandma. Because of her work at a fashion blog, she gets an opportunity to attend an event where she can apply for a scholarship and show off her fashion portfolio. However, when she arrives in New York to pitch her portfolio, she finds her slot has been replaced by the fashion blog’s boss’s daughter, who is skinny and extremely rich, and much more “acceptable” in the fashion industry compared to 330-pound Cookie. After experiencing many realistic instances of fat-shaming prejudice, Cookie Vonn vows to lose weight and become recognized.  Flash forward, where Cookie is skinny after more than a year in a NutriNation plan. She gets the offer of a lifetime when she is allowed to work with Gareth Miller, an icon in fashion design, and eventually becomes his girlfriend. Because Cookie...

Recently, I started reading Tensor Analysis  by Schade and Neeman. At first, I read this book because I needed to research tensors for a project (and partially out of my own interest). I started getting really interested in the book and kept reading it. The book obviously covers tensors, geometric objects which obey certain transformation laws and can act as maps between different spaces. I find that while the authors may take a rigorous approach, with enough reading you should be able to understand what they are talking about. Before I start my review of this book, there is one important thing I need to say. This book has some heavy math so it would be nice to have some knowledge of slightly higher-level math before you start reading it. With that being said, this book still isn't nearly as loaded with prerequisites as other books are on this subject. But, like I said before, it makes up for it in rigor. A lot of times you will find yourself rereading a page trying to understa...