Books to podcast: Here are some fun and interesting finds you must check out

We recently tried out a new mobile phone stand and came away impressed with the sheer number of purposes that we could use it for The collapsible stand is around 20 cm when retracted and close to 100 cm when fully extended and also has a retractable tripod base which lets one play with a lot of levels as per the height of the subject Over a span of two weeks this writer used it for video calls taking timed selfies and recording videos The actual mobile holder can also be bent forward and backward letting us experiment with angles as well A great accessory for selfsufficient content creatorsIt also has an inbuilt light but we werenrsquot too impressed with it as we found it too dim and the battery runs out quickly Best to use in well lit environments and depend on the automatic light adjustment that most mobile cameras have todayInto the world of online comicsFor anime enthusiasts who also love to read manga comics and just about any kind of graphic novel these apps will come in handy when on the go Therersquos Webtoon which features over one million comics across genres such as Fantasy Romance Scifi and Thriller with detailed artwork and interesting stories You can subscribe to comics you like and yoursquoll get regular updates when new episodes are released The best part is that itrsquos completely free and yet there are no ads at all Some episodes are even set to music adding to the immersive experience while reading Tapas is another app serving freetoread comics but the range of stories is lesser and is mostly geared towards romance and fantasy And if you want desi stories log onto Pratilipi one of the highestranked storytelling platforms for Indian content We love the range of language options availablemdashHindi Marathi Bengali Gujarati and Tamil However there is a limit to reading free episodesmdashyou can either subscribe to the app for Rs 99 a month or watch a video ad every time you want to catch a new episodeGiltedged editions to gift your loved onesWhats a more perfect gift for the season than a hardcover giltedged edition of a book all glossy and glamorous We came across new reprints of Little Women and Arthashashtra Fingerprint and we couldnrsquot stop running our fingers over its spines and thumbing the pages These tomes are the original much loved stories in a newer aesthetic collectible editions that can be gifted to a loved one or simply add gravitas to your shelves In the Little Womenrsquos turquoisecoloured edition a blackandwhite picture of Louisa May Alcott greets the reader at the first chapter and a blueribbon bookmark threads through the pages The Arthashastra volume is all redandblue glory To reading and looking your bestBerry cuteIts the time of year when the nights grow cold and the winter berries sprout Apart from the joys of consuming the sweet red berries you can also sport them as a fashion accessory thatrsquos fresh The Crochet Diaries an indie crochet platform has bitesized earrings for the berryminded We love the incredibly realisticlooking strawbsmdashthere are small white seeds interspersed in them too Pair them with an allwhite dress or a deep matching red fit and yoursquoll be all set for Mahabaleshwar Sejal the crochet crafter also makes stuffed bunnies totes flowers and scrunchies if yoursquore the type to surround yourself with crochet_crochetdiaries_ INSTAGRAMLearning to navigate your 20sThe Psychology of Your 20s is a podcast packed with tips and advice for young adults navigating the rough stormy road that is adulthood This writer came across this pod on a dark winterrsquos night and lapped up the onehour episodes when she couldnrsquot sleep The episodes deal with problems that beset you in your quarterlife or thereabouts ranging from emotional eating to obsessively thinking of your exlovers and the psychology behind being an eldest daughter The dose of wisdom that the podcast dashes out is based on science For example in the emotional eating episode host Jemma Sbeg breaks down why humans tend to gravitate towards carbrich oily snacks and crunchies or sweet sugary bites when stressed or anxious Emotional eating is eating for reasons other than hunger she tells us but itrsquos time to retire the overused cliche of ldquoeating your feelingsrdquo There are also episodes on why Taylor Swift is adored so obsessively why we overshare and why we replay conversations in our head over and over