Cygnus, as the name suggests, is a constellation–but here a constellation of quotes, ideas, short poems and tiny tales, all related to real life and through the crystal clear lens of the writer. Most of the little snippets are from her observations of life and interactions with all kinds of individuals. They are real in the sense that they are experiential and not superficial. Some are cryptic, others beautifully clear. The variety is largely entertaining and sometimes satirical, yet extremely authentic and accurate to life in general. Like the ugly duckling that became the swan, in this case, Cygnus represents some of the good and not-so-good experiences of life that have gone into creating this beautiful collection of a swan-shaped constellation of ideas.