Drop in and say hi!

[Prakhar]

Thanks a lot guys. Been feeling quite down and out, what with my whole education scene gone for a toss, wanted to spend my time doing something I liked for a change. That's when I found Goodreads and their groups.

[Sharadha]

Prakhar, gap year isn't always a sign of failure - sometimes it yields unimaginable success even. If what you love what you do in this time then you'll somehow or the other manage to find your way through :). Good luck to you in your endeavours.

[Doc.]

Prakhar wrote: "Thanks a lot guys. Been feeling quite down and out, what with my whole education scene gone for a toss, wanted to spend my time doing something I liked for a change. That's when I found Goodreads a..."

I know tons of people who took gap years to travel or just because they needed a break. I think it's very wise to take a time-out and reassess. All the best!

[Jenish]

Welcome to the group Prakhar! Some free time + reading is the best therapy! Happy reading!

[Indrani]

Amrita wrote: "Hello and Good Evening!

I'm Amrita. Was once a an IT professional and now a full time mom. I reside in Powai. Now that my kid has started schooling I have some time to do some reading and some wri..."

Welcome Amrita. I also love Children's books. Not so much YA, though have read some. In addition to the ones you mention, I like the "Anne of Green Gables" series and some by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

[Sharadha]

Warm welcome to the group, Amrita :) I had this Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys phase a little too late in my life (when I wasn't a kid anymore hehe) but give me either of them today and I'd still devour them ;-). Guess you never grow out of your childhood..

[Luke]

Hi Everyone,
I am Luke. I grew up in Mumbai and currently live in Australia.
I am an aeroplane reader which means sadly life's other commitments only permits reading on flights and holidays. My last book was Dan Brown's 'Inferno'.
I have recently published my first book The Devil's Prayer.
My favourite book in the recent past was Khaled Hosseini Kiterunner W/Myreadinglab
I would love to hear of some good historical fiction reads, as India is definitely so much cheaper to buy books and I stock up each time I am back.

[Shrimukh]

Your good name : Shrimukh
What do you do? : Working as a Junior Engineer for CG.
How old are you? : 27
Which part of Mumbai are you from? : Khar
Since when did you start reading? : Since I started to read
What genre(s) do you like to read? : None specific but have caught fancy with Franz Kafka & Haruki Murakami works.

[Nitesh]

Welcome to the group people. Happy Reading and happy exploring :)

[Jinal]

Hello!

Good to be here!

Your good name: Jinal

What do you do?

I am an LLB graduate who decided to not pursue law but dabble in anything that let's me write for a living. Also, I hate the black & white dress code! I worked as a Social Media Manager for 1.5 years and am currently on a sabbatical, reading as much as I can and binge-watching TV shows, and focusing on writing for my blog. Do check it out if you can:
https://reveriesofanimaginationjunkie...


How old are you? : 25

Which part of Mumbai are you from? : The source of all traffic evils: Andheri!

Since when did you start reading?

I don't remember, actually. Since I was in single digits, I think. I loved being read to as well so I guess that counts too!


What genre(s) do you like to read?

Oh I don't think we have the time and energy for that conversation! I love all kinds of popular fiction. Fantasy and Chick-Lit are always close to my heart. I have begun enjoying historical fiction lately and even Sci-Fi.

[Jenish]

Welcome to the group Jinal! Happy Reading!

[Sharadha]

A very warm welcome to the group Luke, Shrimukh, and Jinal! :)

[Luke]

Sharadha wrote: "A very warm welcome to the group Luke, Shrimukh, and Jinal! :)"

Thanks Sharadha,
BTW I am from Santacruz (W).

[Doc.]

@Jinal Hahaha, I have spent precious hours ranting about Andheri, where patience goes to die. Good luck with your writing; your blog has a lovely layout.

[Nitesh]

Reveries of an imagination Junkie.. Thumbs Up and Welcome to the group..

[Jinal]

@Jenish, Sharadha, Nitesh and S, thank you all for the cheerful welcome and checking out my blog :)

[Prakhar]

Thank you for the kind words everyone. I'm more on a sabbatical from studies, rather than calling it.a gap year.

[Fangirlalert_07]

My name is Adhvika and I'm a student I live in Vikhroli and thought of starting this account after I read about it on my bookstagram and blog! And I am really liking Goodreads it's very welcoming.

[Indrani]

Welcome Adhvika. I haven't heard of bookstagram yet. Let me look it up.

[Sharadha]

Welcome to the group, Adhvika :). Hope to interact with you more on the group and buddy read threads!

[Kevin]

Hi All

A quick question for people reading this :

When you hear or read someone elses insights into a book, how can you tell if what they say is not merely speculative and highly subjective ?

I ask this because I've been listening to some Audio Books recently and I've been hearing the lecturers discuss and di-sect some famous literature. And while very insightful, high-brow and learned some of these may be; I cant help but feel there is a lot of subjectivity in their interpretations as well as high degrees of texture and layers of intellectual stuff that may or may not actually be there. [ for example how do you really explain books like Moll Flanders, Tristram Shandy, Le Pere Goriot, Les Liaisons Dangereuses ?......to quote a few ]

All views are appreciated.

[Sharadha]

Kevin wrote: "Hi All

A quick question for people reading this :

When you hear or read someone elses insights into a book, how can you tell if what they say is not merely speculative and highly subjective ?

I ..."

Kevin, a great question indeed!

I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 at the moment and a reviewer of it said something beautifully which I recollect now - according to one of the characters in the book, Beatty, books have been written to contradict one another and hence they tend to confuse the human brain. He attributes this as one of the reasons as to why books should be banned in their city. What the reviewer said was - books have nothing extraordinary in them, they do contradict each other often and probably reiterate things which cannot always be applied in real life (they are called fiction for a reason).

Then why are they so important? Because they help us ask the right questions. The aim of writing such prose is to let people interpret it the way they feel best because that helps pour more ideas on a universal platter of thoughts. Hence, I feel that, although audiobooks, etc. are subjective and thus speculative, it isn't so bad as long as you are instigated to ask the right questions.

Interested to see other peoples' takes on this :)

[Aayush]

Hi people,

Aayush, 26, from Powai. I started reading very young. I recall my first book being Enid Blyton's "Noddy". I must have been some 6-7 years old at that time. Further in school, my favourites were secret seven, famous five, goosebumps, etc.

Currently, I'm into some non-fiction and fiction war genres. Also high fantasy. LOTR, HP, GoT , *wink* *wink*. Reading the second book of "A Song of Ice and Fire" series currently.

My take on Kevin's question:

Books are authors insights into the subject matter. While non-fiction genres are more research based, others are often hypothetical, with literary creativities.

When reviewers give their insights into these books, they further add their opinions. And these opinions are nothing but their speculations, which will be subjective. A simple example is when in schools our English teacher used to explain poems. The curtains are red. For us, that meant the curtains are red, but the question would what insight does that give into the author's mind. And she would give some highly subjective insight into the mood set by these props. I'm not really sure if the author himself had thought so much before choosing red curtains.

I think we accept these interpretations for what they are, speculative ideas. Further, we may read the piece and either approve or contradict them, but these would be our speculations, and still, by nature, subjective.

This is my own 'subjective' opinion on the matter!

[Sharadha]

Aayush wrote: "Hi people,

Aayush, 26, from Powai. I started reading very young. I recall my first book being Enid Blyton's "Noddy". I must have been some 6-7 years old at that time. Further in school, my favouri..."

Welcome to the group, Aayush! :) That's a great thought.

[Doc.]

Kevin wrote: "Hi All

A quick question for people reading this :

When you hear or read someone elses insights into a book, how can you tell if what they say is not merely speculative and highly subjective ?

I ..."

Generally, analysis provides more context on the themes explored than a review would.
But I don't think it matters anyway, at least not to me. Fiction is in itself an interpretation of the world, after all. So the more varied and conflicting the readers' reactions, the better, I say!
What I do worry about, though, is how reviews and analyses affect the way we read. Reading too many reviews creates certain expectations and then I set out looking for what it was the other readers saw that made them react in such and such manner, instead of letting something in the book find me.

[Sharadha]

S. wrote: "What I do worry about, though, is how reviews and analyses affect the way we read. Reading too many reviews creates certain expectations and then I set out looking for what it was the other readers saw that made them react in such and such manner, instead of letting something in the book find me."

You have raised a good point here. Reviews are meant to help a reader decide whether a book is good enough to be read, however, what we don't realise is how we start forming judgments about it even before we flick a page (and this is coming from someone who writes reviews herself). The book gets transformed into an entity that it wasn't conceived as.

As dreary as it sounds, we must reconcile to the fact that books are written to open peoples' thought horizons (which is a good thing).

[Jinal]

Kevin wrote: "Hi All

A quick question for people reading this :

When you hear or read someone elses insights into a book, how can you tell if what they say is not merely speculative and highly subjective ?

I ..."

Hey Kevin!

First, a warm welcome. Second, that's some question! In fact, I had a similar 'crisis of faith' a few days back since I started reviewing books here on Goodreads and then sharing them on my blog.

I never really understood the idea of reviewing someone's art, really. Creativity is so subjective and limitless, that trying to compare and measure it seem a little too frivolous to me. Which is why, despite being an ardent booklover and extremely opinionated in my other pursuits, I never really considered writing reviews.

Reading reviews on Goodreads made me realise how staggeringly subjective they were. I decided to rebel against negative reviews and read few of those books to see for myself. And not surprisingly, I liked most of them. Not like they made a major impact on my life like a Harry Potter or an LoTR. But hey, I am glad to have been richer by yet another experience and a new story. But had I gone by the negative reviews and skipped reading them, I think it would somehow have been, however trivial, my loss.

Take the Twilight series, for example. Despite being a commercial success, it was and is still trashed as being a desperate and immature love story. I went through my Twilight phase, crushed on Edward, felt sorry for Jacob and now after all these years I can happily laugh about all that. But never, for a second, did I trash the series.

Because as Sharadha rightly says, books make you question things. You may think it is extremely anti-feminist but just observe how people react after a breakup and then try and judge Bella for reacting the way she did after Edward left her. Even though I personally wouldn't do that, I know plenty of girls who would relate to that feeling. And they did! Morever, it got a lot of people who weren't readers in the first place to actually read a book. Now that's definitely a win-win.

Imagine if there were no critical analyses or negative reviews about Harry Potter. Would we be able to come up with all those tumblr posts and reddit threads that ultimately stumble upon some truth about a particular character? Like the fact that even though everyone hates the Dursleys, maybe they were like that because Harry was a Horcrux and they lived with him all these years? Or a major anomaly like how Harry turned out to be such a well-rounded individual despite years of abuse at the hands of the Dursleys?

Apologies for the extra-long reply! I've always thought deciding upon reading a book should merely be an instinctive reaction. Literary analyses ought to be a neutral view on the themes and underlying ideologies. And reviews should simply be one's journey through the book. Everything else should be open to interpretation. That way, the story never ends!

[Doc.]

@Sharada Exactly. We rarely ever approach anything these days without preconceived notions.

@Jinal Not sure I agree completely, but I do think it's perfectly possible to enjoy an objectively bad book, or the reverse for that matter.

[Piyush]

S. wrote: "@Sharada Exactly. We rarely ever approach anything these days without preconceived notions.

@Jinal Not sure I agree completely, but I do think it's perfectly possible to enjoy an objectively bad b..."

Twilight was a mistake committed by me on recommendations from a couple of non-reader colleagues. When I complained after reading book 1, that the book read like the ramblings of a teenage girl, my response was met with, "Oh, you are already on Book 2?" which made me abandon any plans of continuing with the series.

[Doc.]

@P I'm a die-hard Buffy fangirl, so you can imagine how scandalised I was by Tinkerbell-inspired vampires. Now that's horrifying.

[Piyush]

@S *Chuckling at Tinkerbell-inspired vampires*

Ha ha, Buffy, that sure brings back memories, though I doubt you would find it as good if you watched it now. My introduction to literary vampires was Stoker and Anne Rice; and hormone raged teenage vampires wasn't my idea of Vamp fiction. Also, for me, Vampires over Zombies (the recend fad) any given day.

[Doc.]

BtVS is 4evaaaa! No, of course, you're right. I've tried to rewatch many of my favourite 90s shows, but I've been spoiled by all the good CGI and SFX of here and now. (But I still tear up when I read nostalgic posts about Buffy/Angel/Whedon; ssshh.)
I don't think I've read much of either! :o

[Piyush]

This happened to me with X-Files, though I have braved my initial disappointments and now I watch them for all the good things they once represented.

I have actually read only one Z book, World War Z and it was surprisingly quite good! V books I no longer actively seek, but some or the other gets picked every year in October (I have a whole Halloween month reading routine in which I plan and read 7 books bordering on supernatural or creepy). Salem's Lot was probably my last V book in Oct 2015 or perhaps 2014.

[Doc.]

Well, hello, fellow X-phile. I haven't checked out the latest season, however. Must get to it. Thank you for reminding me!

Haha, that's a great ritual!

[Piyush]

I haven't either. Had earlier planned to re-watch the old one, before embarking on the New X-Files. That plan suffered some setbacks and I might give in to watching the last season while keeping the re-watch for a rainy day. I hear that the last one wasn't the end and there will be atleast one more season.

[Farhan]

Hi, I am Farhan, 22, from Santacruz. I just completed my graduation.
I don't exactly remember when I started, but recently I have been reading 2 books a month, vast improvement for me !

Not any specific genre, but fiction mostly

[Sharadha]

Farhan wrote: "Hi, I am Farhan, 22, from Santacruz. I just completed my graduation.
I don't exactly remember when I started, but recently I have been reading 2 books a month, vast improvement for me !

Not any sp..."

A warm welcome to the group, Farhan! :)

[Lenny]

Hi there. Lenny here *waves*
I work in advertising, play with my 2 home cats, and 3 office cats, dabble in writing poetry and short stories when I'm not too lazy - which is rarely - and, oh yeah, I read. :)
I am as old as I am. I am wherever I am. :P
I've been reading since I was 3.
I read a lot of different genres. Just to give you an idea: When my sis-in-law saw my bookshelves for the first time, her reaction was "How can you have Oscar Wilde here, and then Stephen King there?!?!" :D Coz my tastes are eclectic, OK, that's how!
But I am partial towards horror and magical realism.
See ya round

[Doc.]

Hi, Lenny. Good to have you here. It's always best to keep an open mind and try everything, so that's admirable!

I noticed from the members' list that you're currently reading Karen Russell... I was just about to read one of her New Yorker shorts! What are the odds!
I hope you'll share your thoughts here when you're done, 'cause I'd really like to know which of her books is a good place to start.

[Lenny]

S. wrote: "Hi, Lenny. Good to have you here. It's always best to keep an open mind and try everything, so that's admirable!

I noticed from the members' list that you're currently reading Karen Russell... I w..."

Will do. Have you read any Kelly Link? If you liked her work, you'll definitely like Karen Russell's. If you haven't, you must! I have previously read - and thoroughly enjoyed

[Doc.]

I have her Get in Trouble on my list, which I added after seeing that it was blurbed by Michael Chabon. I hope to read it before I'm crushed under the weight of my TBR pile! Thank you for the rec. I will look forward to your thoughts.

[Piyush]

Lenny wrote: ""How can you have Oscar Wilde here, and then Stephen King there?!?!" :D Coz my tastes are eclectic, OK, that's how!
But I am partial towards horror and magical realism."

Makes perfect sense to me.

I haven't read anything by either of the two authors, though Swamplandia! has been on my TBR for some time now.

[Doc.]

Yep, I first heard of her when Swamplandia! was famously nominated for the Pulitzer in 2012, the year in which all three nominees were snubbed!

[Piyush]

Yeah, the nomination was what made me add the book to the TBR, though I no longer think much of the P prize winners. Among the last 5 P prize winners, I have read 3, one of which I quite liked (All the Light We Cannot See), one I thought was a tad above average (The Goon Squad) and one that I hated (The Goldfinch). These reading stats are probably worse than the books I myself pick up; though I loved one of my recent reads, The Color Purple (1983 P winner)

I have generally had much better luck with the recent Bookers.

[Doc.]

Poor Jennifer Egan is so misunderstood! :-P

[Sharadha]

I've been meaning to read The Goldfinch for a while now - not sure if it's such a good idea given these literary awards and their picks :-P I'm still struggling to complete Interpreter of Maladies :-(

[Lenny]

S, Piyush, what I love about both, Kelly Link and Karen Russell is they're never weird just for the sake of being weird. The strangeness in their tales is always so natural, never gimmicky.

[Doc.]

Lenny wrote: "The strangeness in their tales is always so natural, never gimmicky."

Well-put. This is precisely what I noticed in The Prospectors. She has two more free New Yorker shorts so yay!

[Piyush]

Lenny wrote: "S, Piyush, what I love about both, Kelly Link and Karen Russell is they're never weird just for the sake of being weird. The strangeness in their tales is always so natural, never gimmicky."

Must. Try. Link. And. Russell.

Since you too, are a fan of weird, have you tried Murakami and / or Gaiman ( I remember doing a Gaiman rant for S somewhere in this group).

[Doc.]

Although that question wasn't meant for me, I can't squander the opportunity to share this:
http://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/0...

Nuff said. :P