Your Best Books of 2012

[Ram]

All right guys, nearing the end of another year - this is the time when we list down our best books that we have read in this year - please give the name of the book, author's name, genre and why you liked the book. Give the list of at least 5 of your best books that you have read in this year or more if you prefer.

[Ram]

My top books of 2012
1) Born to Run by Christopher McDouggal; running; one of the most inspirational books on running that I have read;
2) A Shot at History by Abhinav Bindra, autobiography - a brutally honest account of what it takes to be an olympic champion - absolutely a classic;
3) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas; classics - brilliant narrative
4) Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev; Russian Classic - a masterpiece from russian literature
5) Echoes in the Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh - true crime - Wambaugh specialises in writing true crime - a brilliant narrative about the murder of a school teacher in Philadelphia.

Well, that's about it

[Shardulvyas]

Didn't read much this year.

Only 3 out of 15 overall-
1. Norwegian Wood (Murakami)
2. On Writing (Stephan King)
3. Animal Farm (George Orwell)

Looking forward to read more of these authors in coming days.

[Ram]

thanks for your list Shardul - how was Norwegian Wood?

[Ming]

Here are my top books read in 2012.

1. In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner; some of the most beautiful language and imagery in a compelling story.
2. Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng; a fascinating story and told in sumptuous language
3. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry; a wrenching story but conveyed with compassion and sly wit
4. The Collective by Don Lee;
5. A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee; beautiful writing in a difficult-themed story
6. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya; an empathetic book about the unfortunate US presence in Afghanistan, told from several perspectives,
7. What the Body Remembers & The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin; two riveting stories
8. The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair, the story is ingenious
9. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal, whoa whoa a great mystery, clever and innovative
10. Madras on Rainy Days by Samina Ali; ok, I’m not sure how to describe this book…a bittersweet tale, well-told and seemingly frustrating with its plotline but then relief
11. The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar
12. The Night Counter by Alia Yunis, clever and hilarious!
13. Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham, a memoir that contains some absolutely gorgeous writing.
14. Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal, a poignant and psychologically deep story.
15. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi; an out-of-the-box concept for a story, captivating!
16. Tamarind Mem/Woman, A Hero’s Walk & Can You Hear the Nightbird’s Call? by Anita Rau Badami
17. Desertion, By the Sea & Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah
18. American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
19. The Two Krishnas: A Novel by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla
20. Flesh by Khanh Ha

[Bhaswati]

1) The Folded Earth by Anuradha Roy

2) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

[Flyingwindows]

South Asian writers/scholars:

Collected Stories-Saadat Hassan Manto
The Sly Company of People Who Care-Rahul Battacharya
A Free Man-Amani Sethi
The State of Islam-Saadia Toor
Red Tape-Akhil Gupta
Tinderbox-M.J. Akbar

[Ram]

Whoa! Ming - that is quite a list - am sure i am going to add lots of books from there to my "To read" list.

[Ram]

Thanks Bhaswati and Flyingwindows

[Sugan]

here I go with my top 5 of 2012:
1) Siddhartha
2) Empire Of The Soul
3) The Motorcycle Diaries
4) Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure
5) Untouchable

[Abhishek]

I have read 3/12 till now

1) the great gatsby
2) breakfast at tiffany's
3) interpreter of maladies

[Kanishk]

- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
- Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
- Above Average by Amitabha Bhattacharya
- The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
- Cosmopolis by Don DeLilo
- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
- The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
- The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall

[Ram]

thanks Kanishk, Sugan, Abhishek and Dina

[Louise]

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
Let the Great World Spin by McCann
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
Vanished by Mary McGarry Morris

All are excellent books and have a bit of mystery in them.

[Ram]

thanks Louise for your list

[Shriya]

I have not finished reading Maximum City yet but a book by Mira Kamdar Motiba's Tattoos is a great memoir of ones past.

[WordsBeyondBorders]

1. 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami
2. The Rings of Saturn - W.G Sebald
3. A gate at the stairs - Lorrie moore
4. Super Cannes - J.G Sebald
5. A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley
6. A Heart breaking work of staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
7. Lucky Girls -Nell Freudenberger

Tamil
Manushi - Bama
Angadi - Poomani

[Ram]

thanks Shriya and Ajay

[Meera]

Life of Pi
A Fine Balance
Sivakamiyin Sabadam
Colour Purple

[Aakanksha]

Didnt read so much this time!
But the best were
1) Dead Souls-Gogol
2)Great Expectations-Charles Dickens
3)Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents by Minal Hajratwala
4)The Little Prince
5) Delhi Is Not Far-Ruskin Bond

[Aakanksha]

I didnt read so much this year but the best were:
1) Sacred Games-Vikram Chandra
2) Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents by Minal Hajratwala
3) Dead Souls-Gogol
4) The Little Prince
5) Delhi Is Not Far-Ruskin Bond.

[Ram]

thanks Meera and Aakanshka

[Ram]

@Aakanksha - Dead souls was my favorite a couple of years ago - brilliant russian classic - i never imagined russian literature could be so light hearted!

[Ram]

@Meera - what is your review of Life of Pi - did you see the movie?

[Meera]

I haven't had the time to watch the movie yet though I want to. The book was mind blowing - very unputdownable. But, I didn't find any theosophical questions hidden there. Either I am a dud or I am too steeped in certain spiritual beliefs (not as a practitioner but more as in being aware, growing up with it sort of thing) that it evaded me... What I instead found is how (is that a spoiler) every living thing is a creature of habit, and how the will to survive can help one overcome even the most difficult of problems.

[Deepa]

Ram wrote: "@Aakanksha - Dead souls was my favorite a couple of years ago - brilliant russian classic - i never imagined russian literature could be so light hearted!"

@Aakanksha and @Ram - Dead Souls is one of my all time favourites.

[Deepa]

A few of my favourite books in 2012:

1. IQ84-Haruki Murakami
2. The Thing About Thugs - Tabish Khair
3. The Glass Palace- Amitav Ghosh
4. On Writing -Stephen King
5. White Fang - Jack London
6. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adechie
7. Postcards from No Man's Land - Aidan Chambers

[Aakanksha]

Deepa wrote: "Ram wrote: "@Aakanksha - Dead souls was my favorite a couple of years ago - brilliant russian classic - i never imagined russian literature could be so light hearted!"

@Aakanksha and @Ram - Dead ..."

Yes it is a wonderful read!

[Aakanksha]

Ram wrote: "@Aakanksha - Dead souls was my favorite a couple of years ago - brilliant russian classic - i never imagined russian literature could be so light hearted!"

Yes even I was amazed by this book's seemingly deep subjects treated in a light hearted manner. I did not expect this at all after having read Dostoevsky's heavy prose. I just imagined that all Russian literature would be heavy and tedious. Dead Souls took me by surprise.

[Mathis]

I hadn't read too many interesting books in 2012, therefore my list will be very sparce.

A Secret daughter by shipli Gowda

A good Indian Wife by Anna Cherian

The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi

[Ram]

thanks for your updates Mathis!

[Tara]

Mathis wrote: "I hadn't read too many interesting books in 2012, therefore my list will be very sparce.

A Secret daughter by shipli Gowda

A good Indian Wife by Anna Cherian

The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi"

Glad to see Mango Season on your list, as I copyedited it :-). My list this year are some remainder books I fell in love with:

Linda Spalding's The Paper Wife
Lise Haines's In My Sister's Country

Also highly recommend the film version The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, one of the best films I've seen in years. Set in Jaipur, the book must be good, too.

[Louise]

Actually, I liked the movie much more than the book. Usually, it's just the reverse but the colors and the photography in the film definitely enhanced the story.

[Tara]

Louise wrote: "Actually, I liked the movie much more than the book. Usually, it's just the reverse but the colors and the photography in the film definitely enhanced the story."

Good to hear, so I won't read the book. Yes, the filming was incredible and having been there I have to say it's one of the best "Western" films to capture India.

[Uttam]

last year,i've read a few good books and top five among them would be:
- the sense of ending by julien barnes.
-taking pictures by anne Enright.
- the Bloodaxe book of contemporary indian poetry ed.by jeet thayil.
- quantum : Einstein,bohr and the great debate on the nature of reality by manjit kumar.
- collected short stories by hanif kureishi.

[Pauline]

2012 most enjoyable for me were some re readings which included:Kiran Nagarkar's 'Cuckold'
'Life of Pi' Yann Martel,
'God of Small Things'Arundathi Roy
and Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children'.
Books I liked best read for first time in 2012 included:
'The Extras' by Kiran Nagarkar
'Train to Pakistan' by Khuswant Singh
'Sunlight on a Broken Column'by Hossain
'In Search of Fatima'by Ghada Kharmi
'Sense of an ending'by Julian Barnes and
'Me Before you' by Jojo Moyes.

[Luaunna]

I really liked In Search of Fatima as well.

[Pauline]

Yes Luanunna It was a very poignant memoir.I heard her speak at the University I attend as a mature postgrad.We had her book on a course on postcolonial discourses.

[Ram]

thanks for your list Pauline

[Ram]

thanks Uttam

[Ram]

Nice to see your list Tara

[Aswin]

Sugan wrote: "here I go with my top 5 of 2012:
1) Siddhartha
2) Empire Of The Soul
3) The Motorcycle Diaries
4) Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure
5) Untouchable"

Hey..howz holy cow..??