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Reading Progress 2021
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Makrand's Reading Bench - 2021
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Gorab, TheGunman
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Jan 27, 2021 03:43AM
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January Report3 books read in January and 2 of them being Indian reads makes me happy. Exactly how I want this year to proceed with Indian books in majority.
I have welcomed the month of February by picking up Ghostwritten that too in a BR with Gorab and Manju. Double treat!David Mitchell's books are known to be interlinked and has many facets to it which makes it best contender for a Buddy Read.
I usually avoid two books at a time however I think I can manage Shivaji The Great Maratha just fine with Ghostwritten
.......and I finally managed to finish Ghostwritten !! February had been a busy month but I am contended that I could finish this epic book!I am still in awe at the way David Mitchell has written the entire book. A Ghostwriter indeed!
The book really is a complete package with so many distinct agenda's in it. Also, not everything is handed over straight to the reader.
Gorab!!! I need a call to discuss this !!
Here's my Review
I had NO idea how much I love reading Manga's! I happened to realise that subconsciously I tend to finish a Manga series every year! This year I managed to pick a Horror : Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror, Vol. 1 and it turned out to be pretty good!I have to admit that Japanese writers are way more creative when it comes to Horror/Thriller genre.
Excellent imagination and unique concepts. Apart from the dumb characters I found the First volume to be decent.
Here's my Review
Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror, Vol. 2. turned out to be even more Gory than before!I would have loved to see this in colour but at the same time, it would have increased the gore by several levels!
This pat had so many unnatural elements however the secret of Spiral is still unknown which leads me to the third part.
Here's the Review
Mod
Gorab wrote: "are you also reading Ranjit Desai's Srimanji?"Yes Mr.GunMan, I am 62% in the book right now. Although I am reading his English version & it's fabulously written
Mod
Gorab wrote: "nice nice. thought you'd have picked the Marathi version. I am eyeing for the Hindi one."Was planning on the same however looking at it's size and considering my Marathi reading speed, I thought it best to read it in English
It took me a little more than a month to finish Shivaji: The Great Maratha and it turned out exactly how I wished it to be!Highly inspirational and a sensational story of a true leader - The great Shivaji Maharaj. Perfect mixture of History and Imagination, this book contains all of the greatest events accomplished by Shivaji Maharaj from his Birth to Death.
Here's the Review
It's been a long time since I haven't read anything Apocalyptic. I had been eyeing The Road for a long time and now finally i get to read my first Cormac McCarthy!
All thr best mak. I hope you enjoy “The road”. I don’t want to give out any details but frankly I myself did not quite like it. Hope you have a better experience.
Bela wrote: "All thr best mak. I hope you enjoy “The road”. I don’t want to give out any details but frankly I myself did not quite like it. Hope you have a better experience."Oh! That's disheartening. Sorry that you didn't enjoy it.
Anyway, i'll tread ahead to see how I find this book
Thanks :D
I finished reading The Road a couple days back and was unable to update sooner.I usually dislike plotless books. I also stay away from the one's that are overly descriptive.
This book was both Plot less and overly descriptive and probably that is why I could enjoy it. The description was so apt, I could see the post apocalyptic surroundings and imagine myself in that world.
A plot would have been good but it didn't matter. This was my first of Cormac McCarthy and I really enjoyed the book.
Here's my Review of it.
Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Vol. 3 was definitely more intense and more gory than it's previous parts. It was way too exciting until the end which was quite unbelievable and sort of felt rushed.Had it ended differently, It would have been a pleasant experience.
Here's my Review of it.
Since a couple days I've started reading Number9Dream along with Gorab and Manju.This is the second in series (in chronological order) from David Mitchell. Unfortunately, this one's not as good as the debut Ghostwritten. However, it's pretty much holding my interests so far at around 50%
Number9Dream turned out to be the First DNF of the year and second in a lifetime reading of books.I barely DNF a book but the storytelling in this one went above and beyond my head. Sure, i was interested in the mystery but going through so much turns and meandering distractions were a huge turn off for me. It was sooo difficult to continue reading this!
I've started a BR with Vidhi and book we've picked is The Song of Achilles. This is the first of Madelline Miller. Also, I love reading Greek Mythology and this book is perfectly it!
Mod
Mod
Thx! added to my tbr. Is it fit for someone with zero Greek myth knowledge? or a primer on Greek is a must?
Mod
Gorab wrote: "Alrighty! We'll let you know once done with our dreams, so you can join that parallel universe of ours."Yes! Also, i'll keep a watch on that thread too. Please post if you find something interesting . I can resume back anytime you know!
Gorab wrote: "Makrand wrote: "I've started a BR with Vidhi and book we've picked is The Song of Achilles. This is the first of Madelline Miller. Also, I love reading Greek Mythology and this book..."Absolutely no prerequisites! Nothing needed at all.
I haven't read Circe yet but planning too.
I loved Miller's writing style. Free flowing and quick
Unable to resist I brought a book from the dead.Number9Dream's mystery kept haunting me and I started reading it again only to be fooled by David Mitchell this time. Ghostwritten was much better however this turned out to be the bad apple.
Here's the Review
Reading The Song of Achilles was a beautiful experience. Good to read Mythology, fast paced action and a meaningful romance.This was a BR with Vidhi which made the reading experience even better.
Here's the review
Makrand wrote: "Books from series1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Series)
3. Ready Player Two
4. The Rosie Effect..."</i>
[book:The Rosie Project is the most funny book I have read so far. Although I am very slow with books, when I started it reading last year it took me only three days to finish. The pacing was fast. I have heard that the second installment is as good as the first one. Let me know what you think about the second book after reading it.
Satyam wrote: "Makrand wrote: "Books from series1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Series)
3. Ready Player Two
4. [book:..."
So true Satyam. I loved the first part a lot. I barely read Romance but this had me captured the whole time and I am really looking forward to reading the next one's in the series. Are you planning on read the 2nd part anytime soon?
Started reading a book that I have been quite excited about.If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is one of those crazy twisted books that generally appear in "Weird / Unconventional Books"
In here, YOU are the protagonist who tries to read a book called "If on a winter's night a traveler" but are unable to finish it since the book is incomplete. To find the rest of the book, YOU are made to read a series of other books which are incomplete as well.
It's a crazy ride!
Mod
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is one of those crazy twisted books that generally appear in "Weird / Unconventional Boo..."
This frustration is part of reader experience as well :D Hope you caught on to the clues given by Calvino in some of the stories.
Girish wrote: "Makrand wrote: "Started reading a book that I have been quite excited about.If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is one of those crazy twisted books that generally appear in "Weird / Un..."
Oh yes very much!!
Yeah i see a few things although not sure if it is what I think it is :P
Will read more to find out
Mod
Well, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler was a funny read however somewhere it failed to impress me. Probably, left me confused a couple times. I really liked the way Calvino has highlighted the troubles of a writer in raising issues such as forgery, writer's block and the conflict between what they like vs what the reader would like to read.A good one-time read. Here's the Review
In the month of May, Amazon (feeling generous) was giving away a lots of Kindle books for free, one of these was Insomnia: Keep Your Eyes Open.Since, I hadn't read a good mystery in a long time, i thought of trying this out. It started on a really nice note, gripping and very engaging as promised however, ended in such hurry that it left a really bad taste.
Didn't enjoy this one either. Here's the Review
Since I had planned on reading more Indian books this year, i thought of tying out Goat Days by Benyamin and I was stoked!This book ended my jinx, unexpectedly, it turned out to be such a mesmerising book that it left me spellbound and a bit dejected in towards the end. Beautifully written and much recommended.
Check out the Review here
To uplift my mood (an effect of Goat Days), i started out with something that is cheerful (in a literary way) and hence I pulled out Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood which was gifted to me by Indrani during Secret Santa. This is a really fantastic book. The writing is humorous and splendid however it signifies how difficult was the life of African families during and after Apartheid!
Coming back here after a long long time!!Participating in July-Aug challenge enabled me to pick a book that I had been detesting but wanted to read since a long time ..
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and this book turned out to be such a gem!!
I felt so stupid having not read this earlier and now wish to read all of it!!
Here's my Review
Next book that i picked after HP had to be an attention seeker otherwise it could have been ignored however The Pledge turned out to be a mysterious page turner.Tragic and invigorating , this book will be with me forever!
Here's my Review
Every year I try to read an odd book with a bizarre title and possibly content too. Call me crazy :PThis year it was Unusual Ways to Die: History's Weirdest Deaths
The book had some classic methods listed which people adopted which unfortunately got them killed. The most common reason was foolishness.
For instance, someone thought enclosing themselves in a barrel and hurling off of the Niagara falls would be fun - Killed!
Rest were accidents of absolutely weird nature. Cow fell on top of a sleeping man - Killed!
Not that I expected to get fun out of this (People dying, duh!) But it was amusing!
Full review here
After having read The Plague last year from Albert Camus, I had high expectations from The Stranger The plot and characters were unique and had Camus'es charm to it undoubtedly however the story itself is forgetful.
This book is on an altogether different level and must be read!
Read full review here
A year without a Neil Gaiman book is impossible.Since I had had a lot of Gaiman time last year, i hadn't planned on anything this year but somehow I started reading Coraline which started off really as a Children's book however it was creepy even from an adult's perspective.
As usual, Neil's books always has the right amount of craziness and uniqueness which makes the writer in me contemplate and get inspired from him.
Review posted here
I think the best thing I could have done in 2021 is picking up Project Hail MaryIt's one of the best books I've read so far. Such an impressive Science fiction that it'll stay with me forever.
Moreover, not just science fiction, Andy Weir's out of the box thinking made me his instant fan.
We've been watching so man Alien flicks and have read plentiful Alien books but the concepts depicted in this book were really thought provoking and convincing.
MUST read for a Sci Fi fan.
Full Review here
If ever asked, which book was visually satisfying to you, I'd always go with The Night Circus which I buddy read with Vidhi.I didn't just relive my own childhood circus memories, but got entangled in a battle of magicians, battle of ego's and love in this fantastic novel.
I found out later that the reason why the novel was so glamorous and visually stunning was because the author literally had made illustrations and converted them to words for more impact.
Great book!
Check out my review here
From a list of Crazy/Twisted books that Girish had posted a long time back this year, I picked up The Wasp Factory for reading which started off as a disgusting book.It went from that to worse as it progressed but somehow I was hooked into it.
The best part was the climax which really paid off. Mid blowing twists that I didn't expect! Usually, I'm able to predict most plots but this was totally a surprise and made me love the book even more.
Dark, Deceptive and Gory. Full review here
Mod
Keep rocking \m/
Gorab wrote: "Somebody's having a gala time :D :D :DKeep rocking \m/"
:) In a deep slump mate.
These were read during the earlier part of the year.
Trying :)
I had picked up Devdutt Patnaik's Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata which is essentially a retelling of Mahabharata and I truly enjoyed the book.Besides reviving the lost info on those days, a lot of new enlightenment happened while reading the book.
Also, I loved to hear Mr. Patnaik's honest narration which resonated strongly with me. Nobody was the hero really in Mahabharata since everyone acted out of Dharma to preserve Dharma. Ironical
Posted a review here
I was a huge fan of those kind of books which offered alternate endings/Choice based chapters which allowed you to end the book your way.I was happy to find that such kind of books are being written even today after so many years and picked up Infected
It was a good experience indeed and have written a review here
I finally picked up Dune and oh i regret so much not picking it up earlier!!5% in the book and i'm massively fanboying on it already!!!
Sci-Fi's made my year with two beautiful hits - Project Hail Mary and Dune!
Makrand wrote: "I finally picked up Dune and oh i regret so much not picking it up earlier!!5% in the book and i'm massively fanboying on it already!!!
Sci-Fi's made my year with two beautiful hi..."
Waiting for your review at the end. I am putting this off since it is around 800 pages and also the series is huge.
Indian Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Pledge (other topics)The Wasp Factory (other topics)
The Road (other topics)
Goat Days (other topics)
The Song of Achilles (other topics)
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