In Conversation With Dilip |The One Who Stays With Hagrid.

In Conversation With …has been a long overdue project I have been wanting to start.. with an aim to reach out to the community and interact more while highlighting amazing people that I come across in this fandom journey.
Here’s to moving the spotlight to yet another book lover.

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Meet Dilip

I am Dilip, and I am from a little town called Ambernath. I am 29 years old, married and a father to a 10 month old super cute kid. I was not sorted in any house of Hogwarts so I stay with Hagrid. 😛 I am a MSBI Developer by profession and I first started reading in the year of 2014. Ever since then, I have read a total of 130+ books . Over the years I have discovered my preferred genres to be fantasy, historical fiction and contemporary.

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I hate! I mean I absolutely hate romance and love stories. I find it stupid. I do believe in love but not the cringe-worthy love stories we have in books.
– Dilip

Do you have a reading ritual?

I have almost a 4 hour train commute everyday. So I usually read in overcrowded Mumbai Local Trains when I travel from home to office & vise versa. As it is super crowded I prefer the kindle. Although, I always carry a physical book with me and will read it if I am lucky enough to get a place to sit.

Now that you are a dad. Do you also read to your kid? Do you hope your kid ends up being a book lover like you?

I do not read to my kid. However, I do tell him bed time stories even though he is too young to understand . I will act while I tell the stories so he does enjoy my monkey acting.
Yes. I am planning to build a reading habit in my kid as well.Just this year I have finished collecting all the Harry Potter First Editions. Although, I will start with small stories. Maybe a few books in my own mother tongue if possible. Harry Potter has to wait at least 14 years more.

What’s a trope you like to see in books?

Mostly I like books that feature ordinary people living a simple life but the story has extra ordinary narration and writing style. One such author that writes such books is Fredrik Backman.

What’s a trope you dislike in books

I dislike YA Shit! Like super cool dude attitude for a character or making a female protagonist seem really beautiful but entirely dependable on the male protagonist. I hate! I mean I absolutely hate romance and love stories. I find it stupid. I do believe in love but not the cringe-worthy love stories we have in books.

What was your last 5 star read? What makes a 5- Star Book for you?

The book which makes you think about it’s plot characters and writing when I am sitting on a toilet seat and wonder how can someone write such amazing stuff. I guess what I like most is a book with good character building even if it is slow in it’s plot.

My last 5 star read i remember is Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. It was very funny. Second, I like his mother. Don’t we all have mothers just like her who always try to push you towards getting a better life. Also, his writing makes it easy to understand the hardship that black and colored people suffered.

Your favorite bookish merchandise?

I like fancy bookmarks. Magnetic ones are my favorite as I can customize it. I have a collection of anime bookmarks like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and My Hero Academia. I also own superhero bookmarks like Spider man, Dead pool & Captain America.

What are your bookish pet peeves?

I can’t read more than two books together.

Favorite Fictional Character?

Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. He is honest, smart and humble. I want to raise my kid the way he did to his.

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What’s your mantra for overcoming a reading slump?

To be honest, I never had a reading slump. I am always planning my next read. I often browse books on Good reads . You can say I stalk books. 😛
I’m often asked what to do during a reading slump. I simply reply – Just don’t read until you feel it. Do anything else but don’t read.Once you start missing your books, go start reading again.

What are your thoughts on Diverse Reading?

Strange Weather in Tokyo by [Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell]

Well, I don’t have any definition. For me, books which are written on ordinary people with ordinary lives but with extra ordinary writing skills are diversified. For example my recent diverse read is Strange Weather In Tokyo. It’s a Japanese Translation and has a plot which included two lonely Japanese people who come close to each other without knowing it, The age gap between them is 30 years.