dely's books and challenges 2018

[Parikhit]

Then you must read A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukerjee.

[dely]

Parikhit wrote: "Then you must read A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukerjee."

I have read The Life of Others and for me it was a 3* book. Have to look for the other one.

[Parikhit]

dely wrote: "Parikhit wrote: "Then you must read A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukerjee."

I have read The Life of Others and for me it was a 3* book. Have to look for the ot..."

I somehow liked The Lives of Others a lot. I could relate to the descriptions. I guess a deterrent for many users is the use of vernacular in the book. A Spool of Blue Thread is another wonderful family saga. Dysfunctional families, just love them :D

[Ahtims]

dely wrote: "Syl wrote: "Good review, dely. I was gifted this book, started it, but abandoned due to really tiny fonts."

I had answered your question under my update, but I don't know if you have seen my reply..."

Didn't see as i didn't get any update.
Will try the book again.
Thanks :)

[dely]

Syl wrote: "dely wrote: "Syl wrote: "Good review, dely. I was gifted this book, started it, but abandoned due to really tiny fonts."

I had answered your question under my update, but I don't know if you have ..."

Yes, notifications don't always work on GR :/

[dely]

13) L'asino d'oro 5*

English edition: The Golden Ass by Apuleius

This was such a funny and witty story! A too curious young man transforms himself in a donkey because of a magical unguent. He knows the cure but being a donkey he is stolen by some thieves that need a donkey to carry their stolen goods. So his misadventures begin and there is a lot to laugh. He is a donkey, but still has a human brain.

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Novel Cure Challenge

[Girish, The Good cop]

Sounds really interesting.. And knowing how rare a 5 star from you is, adding it to my tbr

[dely]

Girish wrote: "Sounds really interesting.. And knowing how rare a 5 star from you is, adding it to my tbr"

It was so much fun! But it depends maybe on what kind of humor you like. By sure it is a book I would recommend to everyone for a fun, flowing and easy read.

[Parikhit]

5 stars! Then I must add this to my to-read list!

[dely]

Parikhit wrote: "5 stars! Then I must add this to my to-read list!"

I hope you will like it as much as I did.

[dely]

14) L'interprete dei malanni 3*

English edition: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

This books has been recommended to me by a member of another group for a recommendation swap.

My short English review with my opinions: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

- Wishlist
- Indian Readers Challenge

[dely]

February

I have read more than usual also in February compared to my average books read last year.
This month I have read 8 books:
- 5 for my Novel-Cure-Challenge
- 1 for my IR Challenge
- 1 religion
- a book that has been lent to me

Two of those were also in my wishlist so 2 books less in my wishlist but I still have 570 books, so 10 more respect to January and 5 more respect to February.

I also used much more the public library. For March I still don't know what I will read, but surely I will go on with my religious books and my Novel-Cure Challenge.

Best book of the month: The Golden Ass by Apuleius

[Parikhit]

I have been making a conscious effort to read more these days after almost abandoning reading the previous year :D

[dely]

Parikhit wrote: "I have been making a conscious effort to read more these days after almost abandoning reading the previous year :D"

I'm reading more because it's too cold to go out (since yesterday it is also snowing and I live on the seaside so here it should never snow!). My son is in The Netherlands so I have more free time because I have to cook less and to do less things :D

[Parikhit]

dely wrote: "Parikhit wrote: "I have been making a conscious effort to read more these days after almost abandoning reading the previous year :D"

I'm reading more because it's too cold to go out (since yesterd..."

How lucky and I am jealous. My reading time is limited to travelling to and from work, after I am done with cooking at night and after all chores in the weekend!

[Ahtims]

yes.. you're reading much more this year, dely. 😊

[dely]

Syl wrote: "yes.. you're reading much more this year, dely. 😊"

I hope I can continue with this pace!

Parikhit wrote: "How lucky and I am jealous. My reading time is limited to travelling to and from work, after I am done with cooking at night and after all chores in the weekend! "

At least I work from home but trust me when I have a lot of work and housechores I don't have a lot of free time to read.

[dely]

15) Saremo giudicati dall'amore. "Il demonio nulla può contro la misericordia di Dio" by Gabriele Amorth 5*

No english edition. The translated title is: "We will be judged by love. The devil can't do anything against God's mercy"

I don't know if Father Amorth is famous also abroad, but he was one of the most famous exorcists. In this book he talks about his experience as an exorcist but of course also about Good and Evil, where the devil is hidden and how he usually "works", and how to stay on the safe side. He also explains that a possession is very rare and usually it isn't as we see in movies. The problem is that the devil is really everywhere and he is very sneaky. There isn't only the possession, but a lot of other evil spells that are dangerous for people. Father Amorth gives also several tips to stay on the safe side though he says that no one can be considered safe.
It talks also about how dangerous seances can be, but an interesting part is also that one dedicated to magic and healers, and that one about psychiatry and possession.
But the book gives also a lot of hope because he underlines more than once that Good always wins over Evil.
It was really a very interesting and detailed book and it told me a lot of things I didn't know. It was also a bit scary, to tell the truth :/

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

- Religion

[dely]

16) Oceano by Francesco Vidotto 2*

No English edition.
The title is also the name of the main character. He is an over 90 years old man that goes to the author, Francesco Vidotto, asking him if he wants to write the story of his life. The author agrees so they start to meet and Oceano tells him the most important facts of his life. In the meantime they also become friends.

I thought it would have been interesting to read about the life of this old man who took also part in WWII and that had a hard life in a small village on the mountains of North Italy (Dolomites).
Sadly the author wasn't able to let us feel the hard life of Oceano, his love for his wife and his emotions. Things aren't described in a deep an enthralling way, they are only told. I wasn't emotionally involved in the story of Oceano.

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have bought this book only because I'm waiting for a book I bought to be delivered, and because I have seen a lot of 5 stars rating here and on Amazon. I had heard good things about it also in a radio show during an interview to the author. I could have saved 6 euro :/

-Wishlist

[dely]

17) Geschichten vom lieben Gott 3*

English edition: Stories of God by Rainer Maria Rilke

Downloaded the German edition for free from Amazon while waiting for Family Matters to be delivered.

Reading the title I thought it was completely different, but it was a charming read.

My English review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I don't know if this can be considered a religious book :/

[dely]

18) Die Flucht ohne Ende 3*

English edition: Flight Without End by Joseph Roth

I've downloaded this ebook from Amazon. Seen that it's a classic of German literature it was available for free, at least the German edition.

I would have rated the book also higher but the end arrived too fast and it has also an open ending, something I don't like a lot. But I liked Roth's prose and descriptions, and the topic of the book: a man that doesn't feel at home anywhere so he moves from one country to another looking for something he will never find because not even him did know what he was looking for.

My English review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

-Wishlist

[Kavitha]

Wow! I saw your reading log of various states, I am going to try some of yours. And I am going to try Novel Cure :)

[Kavitha]

Have you read Mahabaratha by C. RajagopalachariMahabharata ? Would you like to try to read about Ramana Maharishi? It is more of religion and philosophy combined. If you are willing to, I would like to have buddy read on one or both of these books with you. It will be interesting to get the perspective of non Indian on Hinduism.

[Kavitha]

I was too slow to understand when you mentioned about people not reading much on Italian books. I think so too....not that I am well aware. After you mentioning that, I browsed the community and saw a group about Italy which is written in English and notice that couple of threads there are about Italian food :) when I read Eat, Pray, Love, the author also narrate about all the mouth watering food in Italy :) Russian authors seems to be more famous among Indian readers and of course, British authors and poets.

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "Have you read Mahabaratha by C. RajagopalachariMahabharata ? Would you like to try to read about Ramana Maharishi? It is more of religion and philosophy combined. If you are willing t..."

I have read the Mahabharata i.e. an Italian edition, the most complete I could find. It isn't easy to find a full edition of the whole Mahabharata in Italian.
About Ramana Maharishi, do you mean a book about him or a book by him? You have to give me some titles because I checked on amazon and could find only English editions of his books.

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "I was too slow to understand when you mentioned about people not reading much on Italian books. I think so too....not that I am well aware. After you mentioning that, I browsed the community and sa..."

Yep, we are famous for our food :D
Of course I can understand that not everyone is interested in Italian literature. There are a lot of foreign authors that write about Italy, but ususally I stay away from such books because there are a lot of stereotypes or exaggerations.

[dely]

19) I disordini della mente nell'Āyurveda by Ernesto Iannaccone 3*

No English edition. The title could be: The Disorders of the Mind in Ayurveda

It was interesting though not exactly what I was looking for. The first part is dedicated to basic notions (symptoms, causes, therapies of mental diseases (unmada) in Ayurveda) and in the second part there are the sanskrit transcriptions (with Italian translation) of those parts of the Charaka-samhita, Sushruta-samhita and Astangahrdaya that deal with mental disorders.
Following Ayurveda, unmada can be caused by an imbalance of the dosha and in this case the therapies are softer (an appropriate diet, massages with medicated oils, ayurvedic medicines, purifications, etc.). More serious unmada are due to possession: by divinities so they are positive (for ex. look at Theyyam dance), or by asuras so the therapy is stronger and in addition to ayurvedic medicines there are also tortures. In both cases, with unmada by possession, also prayers and yajna are important.

I thought the book would have a much more modern view of mental disorders in Ayurveda, but there was written that a lot of ayurvedic medicines are still prepared following the ancient recipts, and that there are still a lot of people who go for pilgrimages or do yajnas because think they are ill because possessed.

Therefore my question to you: is it true that Ayurveda in case of mental diseases is still used a lot by people?

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Indian Readers Challenge

[Kavitha]

dely wrote: "Kavitha wrote: "I was too slow to understand when you mentioned about people not reading much on Italian books. I think so too....not that I am well aware. After you mentioning that, I browsed the ..."

Forgot to mention! In that site, people were discussing about famous authors and I picked Umberto Eco and try his book "The Name of the Rose" Soon tbr. I would like your suggestions on books by Italian authors!

[Kavitha]

dely wrote: "19) I disordini della mente nell'Āyurveda by Ernesto Iannaccone 3*

No English edition. The title could b..."

Yes, in Tamil Nadu especially in places near mountains where herbs are galore, there are settings that use ayurvedic treatments to heal mental ailments and it is still used. Kerala is popular for such treatments too. I am from Tamil Nadu and of course you know Kerala is neighboring state.

On a rebuke note, if a person is behaving irrationally, people will say 'you should be sent to Gunaseelam, you belong there'. Gunaseelam is still treating people for mental ailments using ayurveda

[Kavitha]

dely wrote: "Kavitha wrote: "Have you read Mahabaratha by C. RajagopalachariMahabharata ? Would you like to try to read about Ramana Maharishi? It is more of religion and philosophy combined. If y..."

I was talking about books on his philosophies. He didn't write, his followers did based on the ongoing discussions with him and used his name as author in couple. And there are books that talk about his philosophies, this link from amazon gives decent list. I have read few in my language long time ago.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "Yes, in Tamil Nadu especially in places near mountains where herbs are galore, there are settings that use ayurvedic treatments to heal mental ailments and it is still used. Kerala is popular for such treatments too. I am from Tamil Nadu and of course you know Kerala is neighboring state.

On a rebuke note, if a person is behaving irrationally, people will say 'you should be sent to Gunaseelam, you belong there'. Gunaseelam is still treating people for mental ailments using ayurveda"

And does it work? People don't prefer to go to a psychiatrist?

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "I was talking about books on his philosophies. He didn't write, his followers did based on the ongoing discussions with him and used his name as author in couple. And there are books that talk about his philosophies, this link from amazon gives decent list. I have read few in my language long time ago."

I need to check if I can find an Italian translations.

[Kavitha]

dely wrote: "Kavitha wrote: "Yes, in Tamil Nadu especially in places near mountains where herbs are galore, there are settings that use ayurvedic treatments to heal mental ailments and it is still used. Kerala ..."

It works on many people! Well....I have no personal knowledge, meaning nobody I know were cured, but I heard. For most people who go there, the concept of psychiatrist doesn't even enter the mind let alone the affordability.

Also, some special needs with mental cognizance are also admitted there, and not cured as they don't have mental illness just mental disabilities....sigh...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prasann...

Well I stand corrected, now the psychiatrist actually work in the mental health center in Gunaseelam who use both tradition and modern techniques. However, there are other centers who solely rely on Ayurveda...don't know much beyond that

[Kavitha]

dely wrote: "Kavitha wrote: "I was talking about books on his philosophies. He didn't write, his followers did based on the ongoing discussions with him and used his name as author in couple. And there are book..."

I meant to ask why not English version as you are well versed in English language, but I would prefer to read philosophies in my own language to get the depth of it

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "I meant to ask why not English version as you are well versed in English language, but I would prefer to read philosophies in my own language to get the depth of it "

Exactly! :D

[Kavitha]

https://www.amazon.com/Divinit%C3%A0-...

an Italian edition!

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "dely wrote: "Kavitha wrote: "Yes, in Tamil Nadu especially in places near mountains where herbs are galore, there are settings that use ayurvedic treatments to heal mental ailments and it is still ..."

This is so interesting. Ayurveda is so far away from our culture, I think we Western would never be able to get used to it. I followed some meetings about it with Indian ayurvedic doctors, but we have other seasons, other herbs, other ways to face diseases, that it's really difficult to get into ayurvedic philosophy. For ex. we mainly use olive oil, you use ghi or sesame oil (that isn't easy to find here or is very expensive). It's also not easy to find ghi though now a few supermarket have it but I'm sure it's not like that that can be found in India.
I have also read that in some medicines there is blood, hairs, nails, teeth etc of some wild animals. Well, here I'm pretty sure that it is forbidden because of the animal protection (thankfully).
Also about possession by divinities: for us there is only God and he is good so he would never possess a person. Whatever is an evil entity comes from the devil while in Hindu philosophy a deity is both good and evil. Though I know that in some cases mental insanity can be due to possession, and a person needs more an exorcist than a psychiatrist, the most part of the people don't believe in such things and consider them residues of the Middle Ages.

[Kavitha]

I am now living in USA. I do not get as good ghee as in India, mainly because of differences in milk. maybe pasturization affects or maybe the breed of cows, buffaloes...I don't know. But I try the unsalted butter and heat it heavy pan at slow heat and get this ghee which you may use for medicinal purposes. Better than nothing but still not Indian quality...

I....do not believe in.....spiritual possession. consider that as mental stress evolving like that.....but just my two cents. However, we are here talking about what our culture believes....

In TamilNadu, I have seen people....supposedly possessed by God to deliver messages and accept the offerings of the devotees. Also, spirits possessing humans being exorcised by local priests (me consider them frauds...)

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "https://www.amazon.com/Divinit%C3%A0-...

an Italian edition!"

When do you want to do the buddy read? Because I have some books in my queue that I want to read.

[Kavitha]

You wouldn't believe! I couldn't find Tamil version! We Indians/Tamils! In April or May? depending on when i get the book...

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "You wouldn't believe! I couldn't find Tamil version! We Indians/Tamils! In April or May? depending on when i get the book..."

Then it's better May because I have 4 books to read. The book you linked is available as kindle edition for me, so I can buy it at any time. However, tell me when you can find it, maybe in the meantime I finished my books and can start earlier than May.

[Kavitha]

Ok...this is what I am learning. That book is not available in Tamil. There is only one book available in Tamil that I could buy online. Nan Yar - Who Am I?

I still keep looking...

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "Ok...this is what I am learning. That book is not available in Tamil. There is only one book available in Tamil that I could buy online. Nan Yar - Who Am I?

I still keep looking..."

There is also an Italian edition of that one, but paperback.

[Kavitha]

Oh! You want to read that one?

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "Oh! You want to read that one?"

Well, I prefer a kindle edition so I don't have to pay the shipping fees and it's also cheaper respect to a paperback. And I don't think that I would find that book in a bookstore.
It's weird that of one of his books they have the kindle edition, and of another book they have only a paperback.

[Kavitha]

Maybe we should shelve this for later....

[dely]

Kavitha wrote: "Maybe we should shelve this for later...."

As you like.
This one of the many reasons why I usually don't take part in group reads or buddy reads: or I can't find an Italian edition, or it is too expensive.

[Kavitha]

I am finding the same too. Totally agree.

[dely]

20) ŚRĪ JÑĀNEŚVARA : Lo yogin cantore della libertà by Swami Abhayananda 4*

No English edition. It's a book about Sri Jñāneśvar.

It has two parts: in the first one there is the life of Sri Jñāneśvar (very interesting also the historical parts seen that at that time India was under the Mughal empire).
In the second part there is the Amritanubhava (the first piece of literature written in Marathi in which Sri Jñāneśvar talks about the experience of the union with God), the Haripatha (a collection of devotional songs written by Sri Jñāneśvar, this too in Marathi) and the Cangadeva Pasashti (a letter he wrote to Cangadeva, a yogi and guru of his time).

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

- Religion
- Indian Readers Challenge

[dely]

21) Questioni di famiglia 2*

English edition: Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

It wasn't as good as A Perfect Balance. There is less historical background though we learn about the Parsi religion and community living in India. There are also hints to Shiv Sena.
But I found it dragging and couldn't stand some of the characters. Their behaviour was not believable.

This book is also for my Novel Cure Challenge and should help for who has old parents, to treat them well because we will be old too. Well, I won't abandon my parents and fingers crossed that my son won't abandon me.

Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

- Indian Readers Challenge
- Novel Cure Challenge
- Far and wide through India