Indian Readers discussion
READING PROGRESS 2018
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Syl: the (un/non?) discerning reader -2018 乂⍱‿●乂
Mod
2018 is so far meagre in the way of reading... but am trying to take it a day at a time.
Am loving staying away from books too... so that I can come back with a bang.
Do haunt this thread... you are one most welcome hauntress😜.
Ah, slow start or not, am sure you will end it with a bang! :DIt is good isn't it, to stay away for some time? Or to be forced to spend some time without books? It fills you with so much love for them that you start reading without complaining and what's more is that people around you want you to read more as well! :P
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Norwegian Wood - 're read.
Audio.
why I chose this BOOK?
1. Read it in 2014 Feb as part of a small WhatsApp group read. Find it weird and disgusting at places. Was my first Murakami. Though I liked the writing style , had a few issues with it. So decided to read it after a few years gap.
2. It got selected as Jan 2018 BOTM in Indian readers.. and this gave me an added impetus to read again.
second read... after being accustomed 5o Murakami style... Was less shocking. I still don't condone sexually permissive behaviour, but am able to take it in my stride.
I liked all the characters and sympathised with them. I couldn't empathize because their behaviour was totally odd and not what I would have resorted to in such circumstances.
My next Murakami reread would mostly be Windup bird chronicles.
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May take it up as my next read...
Would be my first Nepali author... to the b2st of my memory .
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^_^ wow!Higher Algebra, Concepts of physics ?? :D
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@Ravi... for my son, who's a maths and science ( except bio) nut.
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William 😍😍😍
I fell in love with William when I was 14 or 15. He was 11..just s few years younger to me. Now I have outgrown him by 3 decades , yet I am enthralled.
I first saw a book called Sweet William by an unknown author called Richmal Crompton , for sale at PaiCo ( the then famous chain of bookstores in South India), and decided to try him out. (Later came to know it is a HER). And I never looked back.
William could make me laugh even on my bluest of days and he has gotten me through many lonely and professionally taxing exam seasons. I have read his books many ways: a few pages a day, a book a day, or binging for hours together, and I have accumulated almost the whole collection in my paternal home, which I am slowly bringing to my current home, a couple of books at a time.
This one is a collection which had escaped me ( though I have read the individual stories as part of other collections), and j was eager to order it when I saw a second hand copy at Bookchor..
I got reacquainted with William and love him as much as ever, but now a motherly flavour has crept in.
I urged my son to read William books... he just rolled his eyes at me and said, " You and your William".
Am waiting for my niece to grow up to share my love of William with her. 😊
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Am satisfied...
No more buying for the rest of the month (keeping fingers crossed)
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I have Just William languishing in my shelf... Inspired by this I am going to start it after my current reads are over..
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Book 8.A little life.
this book has been in my radar foe nearly 2 years.. and somehow I kept postponing, perhaps b3causw of its length..
I had to take it up because Akanksha kept on recommending it, and finally chose it for me for PIFM Jan challenge. Thank you Aka... otherwise I may not have read it.
Can't say I enjoy3d it, but it had a powerful pull on me. It had a stark despair which fascinates me. This book deals with male friendship and how it progresses from adolescence to old age.
Four close friends, one of whom is severely damaged, physically as well as mentally, and only one who has what is known as a normal life.
And I have always wondered about who's face is on the cover pic of the book. It doesnt correlate to my mental picture of any of the 4 main characters.
Characterization was fantastic, but I don't think such people form the majority in a real life situation
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Making it 22 books for Jan (total 19, but two are series)
- not the exact cover, mine is better, but it is invisible on GR shelves
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Book 8.A little life.
this book has been in my radar foe nearly 2 years.. and somehow I kept postponing, perhaps b3causw of its length..
I had to take it up bec..."
One of those books hovering in my very small tbr pile for an year or so. Added because of a fascinating cover and title... postponing forever for its size. Gives me the vibes I'll somehow manage reading this in 2018.
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All the ugly and wonderful things.
this one was a "might read if I don't get any better ones " kind of TBR... and I impulsively jumped in when I saw a close gang of friends doing a BR. In the past I have lucked out on many impulsive books.
But this time the odds were against me.
The first half was playing but once the non platonic love between 10 year old and 26 year old deepened I felt uncomfortable.
I have considered myself to be quite liberal in my views in that I have appreciated the writing in books with incest , varying degrees of child abuse , stalking and whatnot .
But I draw a line when it becomes graphic and a 13 year old ( after 3 years of relationship) behaves like a seasoned pro while physically satisfying a man. the 27 year old is fine with things ( albeit reluctantly at first ) as long as penetration doesn't happen.
there is no single parent or adult in this story who is level headed . Aunt Brenda, initially sensible, deteriorates into pettiness towards the end.
Agreed, this was mainly about dysfunctional families.... still...
Left me queasy.
I just wanted to finish the story... didn't leave it half read because I was too curious to what would happen.
Now back to my usual reads.
I am done with YA angst for a few weeks at Least .
Mod
8 books read.
Best enjoyed - Norwegian Wood
Worst - The text
Total pages - 3200
Oh, I have to add my favorite book of the month too in my brief summary for January! Will go and add it now. Thanks for the idea.
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8 books read.
[boo..."Sanderson and little life are tomes i know... not sure of any other. great month. congrats :)
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But I had decided that this year I will take it easy and never go behind numbers ... so not really bothered 😁
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8 books read.
[boo..."oh wow!! nice going syl.:)
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A Murder in Gurgaon
A guilty pleasure read, as I was feeling a bit stiffled with the serious themes of No9dreams and Seasons of the palm. Finished it in a couple of stretches. Liked it. While the idea behind the murder mystery was solid, the writing was very confusing. Some places it read like a play, and suddenly it changed it third person narrative. New people and new incidents were introduced without paragraph break.
There was a flaw in the mystery.. which should have been addressed.
Despite all this, liked the book.
Now back to No9 and Palm, both going strong. And am glad to say, are the kind of books I relish reading, especially as BR.
Seasons of the palm is a BR with Gorab
No9Dreams with Girish and Kru... with others to join in.
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On the reading and,
completed Seasons of the palm by Pwrumal Murugan.
Murugan is a recently discovered Tamil author whose works are translated into English . he tells simple, yet soul piercing tales about orsina4y folk, mostly the downtrodden, who experience various difficulties in life.
This one dealt with shepherds and their lives in rural Tamil Nadu... perhaps half s century ago. These kids are untouchables, and accept their situation ... and my emotions became gooey reading a bit their innocent and not so innocent trysts and tribulations.
Their names were peculiar... based on their physical characteristics- Shorty, Belly, Stumpleg etc. Only the masters and their children had "real names".
this one was a BR with Gorab and i realise that Gorab is my Indian books BR buddy 😁
Syl wrote: "Ordered Asterix box set for 5210. A steal deal as it's original cost is 19000 plus. On the reading and,
completed Seasons of the palm by Pwrumal Murugan.
Murugan is a recently discovered Tamil ..."
I did see the lighting offer at Flipkart but checked myself. No accumulation this year. Need to clear the backlogs :D
Did you read One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan?
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nice decision... kudos to you..But an impossible one foe me to take 😁
One part woman was the first book of his that I dead.
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Cheers to our future reads.
ummm.... what next? :P
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Guess you've already read it?
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have read Pyre... beautiful but a serious subject matter.
Our next read... what about Sushi- after a week or two ?
I remember both of us ordering it from Amazon. And Sri too was keen.
Looks like you are feeling hungry Syl! :P
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Yuck... triple yuck 🤢🤢🤢☻
Syl wrote: "And you think I will eat Sushi?Yuck... triple yuck 🤢🤢🤢☻"
LMAO!!! I wrote it for this reaction!! :P
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The Child - took up as an audiobook during chores etc. Thoroughly enjoyed. My favorite genre. <3
Syl wrote: "hi Parikhit..nice decision... kudos to you..But an impossible one foe me to take 😁
One part woman was the first book of his that I dead."
Although I have promised to myself not to buy any this year, the sly me keeps heading to Blossoms or checking out Amazon and Kindle :P
I should read more of Perumal Murugan. Although limited to translations, unsure of the translation do justice to the original writing, I loved One Part Woman. I must read his other books.
Mod
A gift from my SIL for my last birthday. Had saved it for special occasion, and there's no occasion special than, when a group of friends decide to buddy read a book.
Alas! only Girish and I could complete, as others became sort of busy.
A psychedelic book which tortured my mind with its peculiar dreams, fantasies, and thoughts mingling into each other and leaching on to reality.
This is what I felt reading it:
Number 9 dream -
the title caught my fancy. Was it the ninth dream, or about the number 9 or some 9th person or incidence- I had no inkling.
the cover art too was fantastic. A purple background.. a painted Japanese bowl from which red smoke emerged which morphed into things. Perhaps it was the dream of a person under influence?
Started as a group read, but only Girish and I could complete it.
Mitchell has become my favourite author, and I was almost sure that I will like this book too. And I wasn't wrong.
Found this interesting, thought provoking, but very very otherworldly with a mingling of fantasy and fact. Sometimes I was not sure whether the fact I was reading was real or imaginary .
many plots were interwoven.
1. Eiji Miyake , a 19 year old in search of his biological father, who is not known to him. He has been abandoned by his mother in childhood, and witnessed the death of his twin sister when they were barely 11 years old.
He comes to Tokyo from his rural village, and is mesmerized by the place and it's people. He gets to know many people , good, not so good and pure evil
2. Goatwriter, Mrs. Comb, his caretaker and Pithecantheopus their "watchdog" and pet . This story was very very weird, nonetheless, enjoyable.
3. The journal written to Takara by his elder brother who volunteered himself at the age of 20 to Japanese submarines during WWII . Here we get a glimpse of wartime Japan
the title : towards he end Number 9 makes more and more impact- via tarot cards and playing cards, lift Number, room Number, floor number... and finally when in a dream (?) John Lennon tells Eiji that No9 song is a continuation of Norwegian wood ... both songs, property of the Beatles.
Butt what is he exact significance of Number 9..still eludes me.
All in all, an alluring read.
Mod
with all 36 books.
Stealdeal from Flipkart for 5170 /-
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friend recos, awards, countries, cleaning up shelves..... too good to be true!
and a 5 Star already!!!
salute Col."
She's the COL!!!! What do you expect? :P