On the Shelf The Half Recognized Life: In Search of Paradise By Pico IyerRiverhead: 240 pages, $26 Should you purchase books linked on our website, The Occasions might earn a fee from Bookshop.org, whose charges assist impartial bookstores. Like many people, Pico Iyer had a number of time on his arms through the pandemic. The writer of greater than a dozen books of far-flung journey — together with “Video Evening in Kathmandu,” “Falling Off the Map” and “The International Soul” — all of a sudden discovered himself holed up for lengthy stretches at his mom’s home in Santa Barbara. It wasn’t fully out of character. Although Iyer has made a…