Reading and Reminescing. Reading Log of Syl and her Alteregos AND her Offspring

[Srividya]

Girish wrote: "*Tch* you might as well have read Cloud Atlas *just saying*"

I second this! :D

[Srividya]

On second thoughts, Girish, who knows she might hate Cloud Atlas as well! :P *evil laugh* :P

[Ahtims]

Lol, you folks and your Cloud Atlas. I am a bit scared to take it up as my mind says that i will give it up.

[Srividya]

No worry Syl, I can diagnose your problem for you.

You have been fantasised by Manu, so there is no hope other than fantasy for you, at least in the near future. :P

Oh recovery is easy - Just start reading other genres and progressively increase their intake while decreasing the intake of fantasy! :P :P

[Ahtims]

Lol, I don't like fantasy much, though Stormlight Archives was wonderful

[Em Lost In Books, EmLo is my Name, PIFM is my Game]

Syl: Yeah you can say so. But am still keep visualising that final fight of WoR, unable to concentrate on right now.:(:P

Vidya: Nope I haven't. Its Anirudh who has fantasised her. Syl has read only one of my recommendation City of Thieves, if am not wrong. :P

[Ahtims]

Anirudh suggests only his 3 star reads to me. :-P
He's the one who suggested Wheel of Time... which is quite ordinary compared to Stormlight archives which you suggested. (though he may have suggested it to you initially)
Game of thrones also, someone else suggested :-P

[Em Lost In Books, EmLo is my Name, PIFM is my Game]

Hahaha... Hush!! He has an ego. U will hurt it.;)

And its hard to suggest books to u. You have read so many books that whatever I read, chances are you already have read it or its on your tbr.:P

[Ahtims]

Don't worry, he and his ego never visit this thread. That's why I am bravely proclaiming this truth. :-D :-D :-D

[Srividya]

Manu - deny as much as you want it...but you are the one who has fantasised Syl here and you have been trying to do the same with me for the past year and a half or so! :P :P

[Srividya]

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "Don't worry, he and his ego never visit this thread. That's why I am bravely proclaiming this truth. :-D :-D :-D"

Ahem.. in that case may I add - He and his ego never enter the threads of regular mortals like us! He doesn't visit our thread either in RR! :( :P :P

He is highly fantasised to be seeking the company of us mere mortals, who are but babies in the fantasy world! :P :P

[Srividya]

Syl - If he does come here and get upset, I am telling him that it is your fault! :P :P

[Ahtims]

Sri, think positive. Don't you think us mortals are saved from Mr. Fantasy and his acerbic remarks. :-P
He is definite to look down upon and ridicule my favorite genres - contemporary and psychothrillers :-)

[Ahtims]

he won't, unless Manju turns traitor :-P

[Ahtims]

So aapke buddy ko sambhalo :-D

[Srividya]

Absolutely! And 'ouch' his acerbic nature doth hurt a lot! :P

There is no controlling my buddy as she is completely in awe of the great Fantasy Guru...Hopefully she will take my side this time and keep quiet! :P :D

[Ahtims]

FG is quite restricted in his reading. Never ready to come out of classics, fantasy and an occasional non fiction. I tried arguing, but his response was " If I want contemporary" I can just look out of my window"... uffff
I gave up.
Mountain vidwanu bhooshanam. (roughly translated as - silence is ornamental to the Learned - here, Learned of course being me. :-D >_<

[Ahtims]

mounam, not mountain.... my autocorrect decided to assert itself :-S

[Srividya]

I agree! I also tried arguing with him initially but then stopped on seeing that it made no difference! :P

I got the sentence despite your autocorrect! :P

[Ahtims]

:-) G Nite

[Vimal]

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "Fahrenheit 451 is a big bore. I wonder at the 5 star ratings, and again at my ability to find many other people's favorite insipid at its best.
Diversity of thoughts and opinions, i..."

Lol, I see wat you are going through. I was feeling lousy in the first half too, and wondered wat all the fuss was about. But the second half established a kind of emotional connect with me and more than made up for the first.

[Srividya]

Good night, Syl! :)

[Em Lost In Books, EmLo is my Name, PIFM is my Game]

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "he won't, unless Manju turns traitor :-P

So aapke buddy ko sambhalo :-D

Srividya wrote: "There is no controlling my buddy as she is completely in awe of the great Fantasy Guru...Hopefully she will take my side this time and keep quiet! :P :D ."
"

am not telling him anything. :) and doesn't he aware of all this already?:P

[Utkarsh]

wow, conspiracy against anirudh :P

[Ahtims]

He ain't. I am still in one piece. :-P
Utkarsh, we are too sweet for any conspiracies. This is just the truth, nothing but the truth. :-D

[Ahtims]

This month has been good for me. A dozen plus one books completed, and most of them to my liking.

Em and The Big Hoom - is one book that made me think about the fragility of the human mind. I thought and thought and thought..... about where the mind is , is it akin to soul, or how is it related to the abstract thing called soul, and how is it lost,
I worried over whether I will turn mad like Em, and if so, how will my husband and son cope up. It was not pleasant contemplating a state where one behaves awkwardly and is ridiculed by all and sundry. Always had wanted to be a psychiatrist, and now I am glad that I did not choose this specialty. I would not have had the patience to be patient with deranged people. I am too impatient by nature, too finicky to be accommodating to demands of the abnormal mind.
Lots more to ramble on... but am stopping here.

[Ahtims]

Started The Cat's Table
This was lend to me by a close friend a year ago,and I wasnt that keen to read it as it never was there in my TBR. Forgot about the book, and when she asked for it 2 months ago, I emphaticallysaid that I have returned it. (A grnuine mistake). But while cleaning my shelves recently, came across it, and felt very guilty. So reading it as an act of amendment, and then will speed post it to the owner.

[Deepika]

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "Started The Cat's Table
This was lend to me by a close friend a year ago,and I wasnt that keen to read it as it never was there in my TBR. Forgot about the book, and when she asked ..."
:)

[Ahtims]

I did it again. :/

Read a mentally devastating book towards bed time, completed it, racing against time, and now my mind is buzzing with questions, thoughts, feelings...
Feelings for all those wasted lives, wasted youth, tortured minds. I hate when ordinary people suffer for things out of their control. I hate when suffering is futile. I hate when a few prominent people can change the course of lives insignificant to them.
I know this is just a story, but then I also know that atrocities do happen in the real world, and War was never tolerant towards the little day to day pleasures of ordinary folk.
I feel insecure and scared whenever I read a book which reminds me of the fickleness of human life.

Possibly no sleep for me, unless I start reading an antidote book.

[Ahtims]

Yes. That Doer book. But thankfully, I immediately fell asleep, probably because writing it down was cathartic.

[Ahtims]

Today afternoon I was stuck at workplace, with my spare Kindle and an hour to spare. All my current reads were at home. So I idly browsed through the titles, and Cloud Atlas opened on its own. So I thought it was a plea from the Almighty to read it (exaggerating, of course :P) and started.
Lo behold, I was thoroughly engrossed.
This is a wonder, as just barely a month ago, I had given up after the first couple of pages, thinking that 'its not my type'.
That goes on to say that one should not be hasty in deciding. If a book doesnt suit you at first, try a couple more times before permanently bidding adieu to it.

[Srividya]

Amen to that last sentence! :D

[Ahtims]

Amen :)

[Ahtims]

The Cat's Table - about 2/3rd over. Loving it, though my ardor has cooled down, now that the ship adventure is over, and the young boy has grown up into a boring adult.

Cloud Atlas - a surprise that am liking the wit and weirdness. Had to research a bit about the places and people, and had to look up all those un-English sounding words (which were actually English). I know what to expect as I read the blurb. Still in the first story of 19th century Chapham islands.

[Ahtims]

A day gone by with very less reading, too much surfing, a bit of sleeping....
Tomorrow is another day.

[Ahtims]

15.

review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Okay to good. Enjoyed the read. But cant say that I was engrossed in it. A decent book which taught me many a thing about the longish ship journeys of the 20th century.

Now on to the Group read with Manju et al.
- another war book.
I particularly dont like war stories, but somehow this year I have read a few - Guernsey Potato Peel, All the light we cannot see.... and now this one.

[Ahtims]

Past 2 days have been miserable in terms of quantity and quality of reading.
Have managed only a few pages {rather screens} of THe Nightingale. Cloud Atlas remains at perpetual 12%. Now I see that I have to start ORient express too...
Hope this lethargic phase passes off soon. Perhaps my irregular sleep cycle is affecting my quality of life. :/

[Ahtims]

February has not been conducive to reading, and looking at my professional calendar, this state of things will prevail for another few weeks.
Continuing with Cloud Atlas which is intriguing.
ALso started Waves in the Sky - the author had kindly provided me with a copy.
Two diametrically opposite books, but readworthy for different reasons.
The Month of Valentine - and I perversely feel like doing an anti Valentine campaign, looking at the commercialization of love
(many red underlines in this post, which probably tells me that words like readworthy do not exist. But I dont care. Am in a contrary mood.)
Still, have decided to read a Georgette Heyer to celebrate romance. She is one of the few romance authors palatable to me.
Haven't chosen the book yet. Hoping that the book will choose me. :P

[Ahtims]

Am in Readers Heaven ^.^
3 exquisite books. Current dilemma is which to resume over the other
Cloud Atlas - the author has sharpened his milk teeth on sarcasm. It is so witty, so biting. sometimes I read a sentence over and over, just for the beauty of it
Noon - languid, poetic, my kind of book. Dealing with a displaced boy and his emotions and life. So so enjoyable
Marrow- started on a whim today evening on my way back home. I was walking along deserted paths, Kindle in my hand, but with all new titles. I browsed through, got intrigued by the title, started reading and there was no turning back...

[Em Lost In Books, EmLo is my Name, PIFM is my Game]

Lucky you.;)

[Ahtims]

Manju wrote: "Lucky you.;)"

Ain't I? (at least for the time being :P)

[Srividya]

Can I suggest which one? :P :P

I guess you know which one I will be asking you to finish first! :P :P

[Ahtims]

Cloud Atlas :-P

[Utkarsh]

cloud atlas of-course, even i know that Sri. :P

[Srividya]

Lol! Am I that transparent? :P

[Ahtims]

Yes, you are :-)

[Ahtims]

My tight schedule continues, so am rwading my favourite genre - dark crime.
Marrow is a perfect book to suit my current mood, and am reading it whenever and wherever possible.
This weekens is too **** busy, and am a bit peeved off as I am unable to relax with my book - a thing I look forward to when weekend approaches.

[Ahtims]

A tribute to Valentine

I dont celebrate Valentine's day. For one, it wasnt very known or popular during my teens, and now I am too jaded to start.
So I am waxing eloquent about my trysts with Christie and Wodehouse. Should have done this yesterday, but I was busy.
I remembered my first Christie, and by some weird association, my first PG Wodehouse, when I saw a friend's review of The Secret of Chimneys

I remember:

This was my first Christie, which I acquired at the age of 11. We were travelling to South Kerala from the North, which would be a 9 hour journey, and it is my routine to buy books from Higgin Bothams at the Railway station. Even now I continue this tradition with my son. My parents used to buy for me those days. I usually preferred Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew etc. Suddenly my father's gaze fell upon a small book with a blue cover, the upper half of which was the title in italics " Secret of the Chimneys". My father said, " I am going to introduce to a very favourite mystery writer of mine, and I am sure you will be a fan."
I was so excited by the title. I was sure it would be like Enid Blyton's books full of delicious food and juicy romps, and eagerly took hold of it. The train started, and I opened the book. Another of my quirks was that I would open the book only when the train starts, possibly because reading material was limited those days, and I wanted to be extra sure that my reading material would last the journey. (My son is not like that. He starts reading on the platform itself. )
Found it confusing, and was so disappointed almost to the point of tears as it was evening , and soon even the luxury of looking out of the windows would be denied). I angrily handed over the book to father, and I guess I threw a mini tantrum, don;t remember. What happened next, I dont remember, probably I slept off the journey)
I would have given up on Christie forever, if not for a lazy Sunday,with absolutely no other reading material, a couple or so years later. Those days, I didnot have access to this many books, and my reading material was so limited to the extent that I used to read and reread the same books within a short gap of a week or so.
My second encounter was much more satisfactory, as those intervening years somehow changed my literary tastes and I devoured the book in hours. And I was wondering what made me give up the book the first time.
Then there was no looking back. I would haunt my local librarian with requests for Christie.
Haven't attempted reading Secret of Chimneys again as I want the magic of that reading to remain with me forever and ever.

[Ahtims]

Tribute to Wodehouse:
P G Wodehouse retains a special place in my heart. He was no more when I started reading his books, but that did not deter me from having a huge crush on him.
He too was introduced to me by my father, who one day said"Now you are ready for Wodehouse books".
Alas! he was wrong ( as he was with Christie). Perhaps he overestimated my intelligence and literary capacity. I was 13 or so.. not sure of the age, but remember being in the 8th standard. He took me to the library and we checked out The Code of the Woosters.
Again, I found it difficult to assimilate the humor and situations. I found further reading dreary, and returned it unread. But he kept on talking about Wodehouse, and I decided to give him a second chance. And I was hooked....(unfortunately don;t remember that first book), and was so enamored of the books as well as the author.
I read an article about him on the Hindu literary pages, and there was a photo too. I remember cutting out the article and mooning over his photo for many years thereafter.
I have had "Wodehouse and Agatha years", where I used to read only books by those two authors.
These were contemporaries, and I so badly wanted them to marry each other, despite my crush on Wodehouse and the fact that they are already demised. I was ready to sacrifice my first love to Agatha. :D
I grew up, became more cynical, started exploring all sorts of books. But these two authors will remain in my mind forever.

Now I realize how much my father has influenced me in my reading habits. We used to discuss many books, he was like my peer rather than my parent. He was the one who told me about Lady Chatterley's lover and Lolita, but thankfully he waited till I was 20 or so. Again, I hated Lady Chatterley, read Lolita much later, again hated it on first read.
I am yet to read Lady Chatterley again. But I have successfully read and admired the way Lolita is written. Am not saying I liked Lolita, rather I loved the prose and the deranged mind of the seemingly innocent Humbert - in my opinion, one of the scariest literary villains.

[Vimal]

Haha, idhuvallavo Valentine's tribute :D
Enjoyed reading it. Could imagine what you'd've been like back then.. Devouring 75 of her books, Good God :)