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_askthebookbug's review
5.0
From My Balcony to Yours by Nino Gugunishvili
Pandemic has changed us all. Being confined to our homes for several months with little to no physical contact with friends and extended family, left us alone with our thoughts; sometimes tranquil and at times frightening. I was vacationing in Kolkata just a couple of months before the virus hit the news and everything has been a blur ever since. Nino's From My Balcony to Yours hits home as she records her time spent during the pandemic. Often, it felt like reading my own diary entries. These are intimate, fun, clever and also full of raw emotions. I began reading these vignettes in the morning and within just a couple of hours, I was finished. I was left with a feeling of relief, that I'm not the only one to feel so disconnected and dazed the past year.
Nino's writing is refreshingly good, something that makes any book an instant hit. Documenting her life during the lockdown, she goes through different phases from enjoying being at home in the comfort of her quiet and then you notice a shift that comes from being confined for too long. There's existential crisis, the fear of what the future holds and finally there's reminiscing of childhood and age old memories. So many instances made me go 'This is exactly how I feel!' because there's an honesty in what she puts down on paper. By the time I was done reading the book, I felt a warm flush pass through me.
Nino's book has a great way of connecting with the readers. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this lovely read to everyone. Let her words embrace you into a warm hug :)
Thank you so much for sending me the ecopy @ngugunishvili
Pandemic has changed us all. Being confined to our homes for several months with little to no physical contact with friends and extended family, left us alone with our thoughts; sometimes tranquil and at times frightening. I was vacationing in Kolkata just a couple of months before the virus hit the news and everything has been a blur ever since. Nino's From My Balcony to Yours hits home as she records her time spent during the pandemic. Often, it felt like reading my own diary entries. These are intimate, fun, clever and also full of raw emotions. I began reading these vignettes in the morning and within just a couple of hours, I was finished. I was left with a feeling of relief, that I'm not the only one to feel so disconnected and dazed the past year.
Nino's writing is refreshingly good, something that makes any book an instant hit. Documenting her life during the lockdown, she goes through different phases from enjoying being at home in the comfort of her quiet and then you notice a shift that comes from being confined for too long. There's existential crisis, the fear of what the future holds and finally there's reminiscing of childhood and age old memories. So many instances made me go 'This is exactly how I feel!' because there's an honesty in what she puts down on paper. By the time I was done reading the book, I felt a warm flush pass through me.
Nino's book has a great way of connecting with the readers. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this lovely read to everyone. Let her words embrace you into a warm hug :)
Thank you so much for sending me the ecopy @ngugunishvili
sarahclee's review
5.0
I think this book explained everything I’ve felt since March 2020. Wow. Absolutely adored this short story.
emilydaisyreads's review
4.0
From My Balcony to Yours is a collection of short stories, written by Nino in the first Coronavirus lockdown.
It is extremely honest, with her thoughts and feelings during the global pandemic. I found it so relatable, as I feel many others will too and so it is such an interesting read, especially two years on.
Thank you to Nino for sending me a copy to read. I really enjoyed it!
It is extremely honest, with her thoughts and feelings during the global pandemic. I found it so relatable, as I feel many others will too and so it is such an interesting read, especially two years on.
Thank you to Nino for sending me a copy to read. I really enjoyed it!
andshe_reads's review
5.0
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I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
We've all lived it... that bloody pandemic, 2 years of pure hell... or was it? We all have our own experiences of what lockdown meant for us!
This is Nino's experience of Coronavirus, the pandemic, & lockdown. I loved how Witty her story is right from the very first page. The humour and sarcasm had me grinning until the end. Her story is so relatable as I'm sure many of us had thoughts just like hers in the beginning and then towards the end when all we wished for was freedom!
I'm a homebird and would easily choose staying in over going out anyday but when someone else is telling you you're not allowed out I found myself craving the outdoors more than ever!
I think my fave bit was when Nino questions what happened when the pandemic is over? What would we change? Are our goals going to be any different? Have we learnt anything?
Overall a quick easy to read book which truly captured me.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
We've all lived it... that bloody pandemic, 2 years of pure hell... or was it? We all have our own experiences of what lockdown meant for us!
This is Nino's experience of Coronavirus, the pandemic, & lockdown. I loved how Witty her story is right from the very first page. The humour and sarcasm had me grinning until the end. Her story is so relatable as I'm sure many of us had thoughts just like hers in the beginning and then towards the end when all we wished for was freedom!
I'm a homebird and would easily choose staying in over going out anyday but when someone else is telling you you're not allowed out I found myself craving the outdoors more than ever!
I think my fave bit was when Nino questions what happened when the pandemic is over? What would we change? Are our goals going to be any different? Have we learnt anything?
Overall a quick easy to read book which truly captured me.
pkrantz's review
3.0
This book is a short story that consists of blog posts written by Nino during the lockdown due to the pandemic.
I thought this was a really interesting setup and I find it interesting that books about covid are now starting to get published, when for me it feels like covid hasn't even ended.
The posts are funny, very easy to read and gives an honest glimpse of lockdown. There are some fun anecdotes that made me smile! I had a hard time relating though that's not the book's fault! Since I live in Sweden, we didn't have a full lockdown. I also work in care (albeit not in a hospital) which meant that for me, covid wasn't getting bored with Netflix, it was working 60 hour weeks at the very least, my work phone constantly ringing around the clock. Then again, while we couldn't gather together, and I did in fact not shop in stores etc. I wasn't confined to my home either.
I am not saying lockdown wasn't hard! I do get that. I just think that while I loved the idea of this book, and it was a fun read, I can't rate it 4⭐ because I just couldn't relate. But that's how it is sometimes! I definitely think it's a nice read and I think that someone who has experienced lockdown would enjoy it even more than I did!
I thought this was a really interesting setup and I find it interesting that books about covid are now starting to get published, when for me it feels like covid hasn't even ended.
The posts are funny, very easy to read and gives an honest glimpse of lockdown. There are some fun anecdotes that made me smile! I had a hard time relating though that's not the book's fault! Since I live in Sweden, we didn't have a full lockdown. I also work in care (albeit not in a hospital) which meant that for me, covid wasn't getting bored with Netflix, it was working 60 hour weeks at the very least, my work phone constantly ringing around the clock. Then again, while we couldn't gather together, and I did in fact not shop in stores etc. I wasn't confined to my home either.
I am not saying lockdown wasn't hard! I do get that. I just think that while I loved the idea of this book, and it was a fun read, I can't rate it 4⭐ because I just couldn't relate. But that's how it is sometimes! I definitely think it's a nice read and I think that someone who has experienced lockdown would enjoy it even more than I did!
beccakateblogs's review against another edition
4.0
From My Balcony to Yours is told through Nino Gugunishvili’s perspective and her time in the midst of the most life changing event in our lives. She shares her view alongside thoughts, feelings and most prominently, nostalgia. Remembering the time before and the realisation of life’s changes. The longing for our old lives but the newfound gratefulness for all we have.
Told in a chronological month-by-month fashion, it’s fascinating to see the way her ideas and thoughts change as the months pass. The fear, the boredom, the hopefulness. The pandemic and lockdown really provided an array of all emotions at different times and it’s reassuring to read that the emotions she felt are extremely universal.
Reading about the beginning of the pandemic, now more than a year ago, and being thrown back into the unknown, the uncertainty and the fear we all felt right at the beginning is quite a reminder of how things were. Nino Gugunishvili is extremely good at portraying these feelings with an air of positivity or hope, which makes it feel that little bit less intimidating to read about, as we still live through it.
Everyone handled their lockdown time differently and I think reading another perspective is quite wholesome. The realisation and conclusions that Nino draws from it and the knowledge that, essentially, life is short. We all take things for granted and it’s definitely a reminder of this. One to keep and read back over in the years to come, when the pandemic is a mere memory and story to tell our children and grandchildren.
An enjoyable, relevant and extremely relatable personal account of the beginnings of the pandemic.
Told in a chronological month-by-month fashion, it’s fascinating to see the way her ideas and thoughts change as the months pass. The fear, the boredom, the hopefulness. The pandemic and lockdown really provided an array of all emotions at different times and it’s reassuring to read that the emotions she felt are extremely universal.
Reading about the beginning of the pandemic, now more than a year ago, and being thrown back into the unknown, the uncertainty and the fear we all felt right at the beginning is quite a reminder of how things were. Nino Gugunishvili is extremely good at portraying these feelings with an air of positivity or hope, which makes it feel that little bit less intimidating to read about, as we still live through it.
Everyone handled their lockdown time differently and I think reading another perspective is quite wholesome. The realisation and conclusions that Nino draws from it and the knowledge that, essentially, life is short. We all take things for granted and it’s definitely a reminder of this. One to keep and read back over in the years to come, when the pandemic is a mere memory and story to tell our children and grandchildren.
An enjoyable, relevant and extremely relatable personal account of the beginnings of the pandemic.