Introduce yourself here! (Please please please)

[Dr Aditi, Moderator]

Hi all,

Thank you for joining the group on GR!
We are the fastest growing Bangalore based group as of now!
So glad having you all joined the group!
Lets introduce ourselves coz book people (us!) are the best people and its always charming to know other book lovers (from Bangalore and from outside Bangalore!).
I'll go first!

I am Dr Aditi Sheth, a Gujarati in Bangalore. I am MBBS by qualification and currently a manager in a pharma company in north Bangalore (also where I live).

I grew up and studied in Gujarat, for work came to Mysore in 2020, fell in love with people, culture, weather and rains of Karnataka! Decided to settle here so got a job in Bangalore and now am never leaving! :)

I read non-fictions mostly (I'd say 90%), politics, psychology and business books take up most of my reading time. I love discovering new books as much as actually reading them, hence this group on GR and also a very dynamic version of the same in Whatsapp!

Thats a lot about me, I look forward to know you all better!

Happy reading :)

[Bhavya]

Hi everyone
I'm Bhavya Prasad from Bihar but I stay in Qatar. I am a freshman at IGDTUW, Delhi in CS branch.
I am a Quora writer for JEE content. I am a debut author too at goodreads with my first novel published in December 2019- Glitters:Destructive Journey, been writing this book since 6th grade but due to exams this story got stretched till my 11th standard.
Though due to my entrance exams, I couldn't read much books but I will pick up from where I left.
Fun fact: I love writing books than reading, don't know why. But I still love reading even today. I'm a fan of Roald dahl books, Anant Pai's books, tinkles, Stephen Hawkins books.
I'm currently reading Munshi Premchand stories.
do follow me on goodreads and insta

[Vaibhav]

Hi there,

I am Vaibhav Bhandarkar ( MSc. Supply Chain & Engineering ) from Sydney, Australia. I am originally from Pune, Maharashtra, moved to Sydney 3 years back. I am working as a Supply Chain Analyst here & alongside a partner in my business in India.

Been to Bangalore a couple of times now. Appreciate Dr. Aditi to invite me to this group!

Pandemic was a good reason for me to entered the realm of reading (beyond academic books) and I have been consistently doubling the number of books read each.

I try to reach 52 to 55 books a year with 1 book each week goal but it has been impossible so far and I am on my way there!!

My goal for reading books is simple,

1. Read Non-fiction books that are truely well regarded.
2. To throughly read and extract as much as I can from each book and take notes.
3. Post a review that would be useful for me to revisit the gist of the book and alongside help others too.

[Mark]

Hi, I’m Mark.

I was invited to join by the director. I’m retired. I live with my wife and our houseful of cats on the mid-Atlantic East coast of the United States. I read mostly classics and mostly novels. I’m a big fan of Joyce, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, Proust, and Saramago.

[Mahendra]

Hi Everyone,
I am Mahendra I am from andhra pradesh currently living in bangalore with my wife and 2 kids :)
I am a software engineer and
I love reading books preferably fiction, The Alchemist by paulo Coelho my all time favorite novel , I love thriller as well The day of the jackal is my favorite.
looking forward to read more books in 2022.
Happy Reading :)

[Aparna]

Hi everyone :)

I'm Aparna and I'm from Bangalore. I'm working at TCS and reading when I'm not working. :)
I read fiction. can't pick a favorite author or book sooo... whatever I'm reading now is my current favorite
Hope you all have a great year reading and otherwise.
Happy Reading <3

[Nalin]

Hi I’m Nalin - a tech entrepreneur from delhi ! Love dogs; vegan food and jungles and nature

And yes I love books too and have been a 2 time top writer on quora with my answers published in the quora anthology “best of quora”

I make mobile apps and games for a living

[Rupa]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Rupa and I’m a PhD candidate in a German University. I’m from Himachal Pradesh and brought up on Delhi. Apart from academia, I like reading non-fiction mostly but I’m drifting towards fiction this year.
Thanks for adding me to the group and look forward to having great discussions with you all in 2022.

[Samir]

Hello fellow book lovers, I am Samir from Bombay. I run an IT Company that's largely into website development, digital marketing.
Apart from this am also in the Events & Exhibition Industry.
My journey with the printed word started at a very early age (7 i think) and do read about anything, though avoid all the self-help books, history, fiction, classics,memoirs, crime thrillers are some favorite genres . Like all those who love to read, I too harbor the desire of penning a few words of my own someday....

[Guruprasad]

Hi Fellow Book Dragons,
Myself Guruprasad, working as an IT Engineer. reading has been my favorite hobby since childhood, historic fiction is my favorite genre.
Nice to be part of this group .

[Sanjana]

Hello!

I'm Sanjana and a financial analyst from Mumbai. I consider reading not as a hobby but more as an essential activity such as eating or sleeping :)
I mostly read fiction, since I believe I read to escape reality, but lately have been trying to add more Non fiction books to my TBR list.
I look forward to read a 100 books this year :D (This has been my goal for the past 4-5 years, but have managed to reach 86 only)

[Akshara]

Hi,

I'm Akshara. A Ph.D. student (electrical engineering) in IISc Bangalore. I did my MTech also here. So I have been in Bangalore for many years now :)
My home is in Kerala. I am a rom-com & adult fiction fan. But I make it a point to read some non-fiction too. happy to be part of this group :) Looking forward to books' discussions.

[Bindu]

Hello Bibliophiles,

I am Bindu, a Software Developer by profession from Bangalore. Reading has been my hobby for almost 10 years now. I keep adding more books to my shelves only to get disappointed at the end of the year seeing those piles of books judging me. Hope I read more books from my shelf this year than adding to the existing pile.

Historical fiction, Memoirs and Biographies are my favourite genres. Feels good to be a part of the club with like minded folks.

[Bookmanizer]

Hello fellow book lovers... I'm grey eon from Bihar I'm a student and from Bihar...i like reading fantasy novel's....thanks for adding me to the group and looking forward to having great discussion with you all.

[Pallavi]

Hi fellow bookworms. I am a software engineer professional, currently working at Cisco Systems. I am a perfect homebody with profound love for reading and a home library. I also do realistic sketches. I do love writing reviews. I looking forward to read as much as I can this year. I am hoping to gain a lot from this community and provide my best here. ☺️

[Samhita]

Hello!
I'm Samhita, from Bengaluru. I graduated from BA - Journalism and Mass Communication in 2020 and then... the pandemic happened. Currently not working, stuck in quarantine because my sister went to a new year gathering with her infected friend.

I enjoy reading classics, ranging from Orwell to Fitzgerald to Austen and the Bronte sisters. Unfortunately I haven't been a voracious reader in the past few years and I'm eager to re-possess that habit.

Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, Roald Dahl, Calvin and Hobbes (I know they are comics, but still), Enid Blyton and J K Rowling made my childhood richer. I really want to own that 3-volume Mahabharata set of ACK.

I also like reading non-fiction, especially on history, society and culture. I used to like YA, but lately I only enjoy those that don't make me roll my eyes often. I like reading mythological fiction too.

[Geethika]

Hellowo!
I am Geethika from Chhattisgarh, thanks for inviting me.
I like reading!(obvious haha)
it's pretty much an escape mechanism.
I've been told that I don't talk or more like "participate" much sooooo... trying to change that!
I am into fantasy, contemporary, Sci-Fi, graphic novels, and of those sorts, basically stories. i love stories.
ahhh umm eeee i don't know what else to say.

Hope to geek out together about favorite books and characters!!

[Upanshu]

Hey guys
Upanshu here
I am in the engineering field in a startup and have been working in Bangalore before the lockdown, coz of which I had to move back to my hometown in Delhi. Got in touch with Dr. Aditi on goodreads and found about this group. I like reading sci-fi genre along with business related non fiction books.

[Nalin]

Hi Friends…
I am Nalin - and I run a company called Darksun tech - based out of Delhi currently though I have lived in Bangalore

I am an omnivorous reader and can’t read “just 30 or 50 pages” a day - either I read a lot of pages - to complete a logical sub part of a book or else even days may pass between me reading a book

I live in saket and often spend my evenings at the second hand book shops at pvr anupam looking at or buying books

Last year I developed an interest in reading classics and classic short stories like Anna Karenina ; Don Quixote and complete short stories of dh Lawrence - apart from Munshi Premchand ji and Maheep Singh and Ismat Chughtai who write in Hindi / Urdu

Currently self isolating due to possible COVID and awaiting test results

Thanks and best regards,

Nalin

[Arun]

Greetings,

Myself Arun
From Namakkal, Tamil Nadu,
Architect/Project Manager by Profession, have been working in Bangalore, Vijayawada, Delhi.

Avid reader of Non-fiction, Biography, Memoir, Detective, Art, Architecture and History with similar sub genres.

Cyclist by hobby and since found audio books, scribd collection, its been a wonderful combination.

Thanks for the invite Dr.Aditi Sheth, Glad to be part of a wonderful community of avid readers. Wish to expand my horizon of genres, as its been tough to pan out of the above set of genres and after being here, already having its impact :)

Fine reading Everyone!

[Sree]

I am Sreeraj from Bengaluru. I am a consulting editor and tech writer.

Likes to read, study, and discuss literature. Inclined mostly to novels, short stories, and poetry. In favour of printed books till I go blind.

Reads multiple books at a time. Mantra is to read and reread great books, rather than a large number of books.

[Arvind]

Hi everyone.I am Arvind.Am primarily based in Bangalore ( i do keep shuttling to north India often).I am an academic.Used to teach at a law school,am now a consultant in higher education dealing with government projects.

I am a fairly eclectic reader,with interests ranging from classical literature,high modernist novels,Tang era poetry (Chinese) and literary criticism to nonfiction books related to Roman history,painting,music,biographies and so on.My favourite writers (novelists and poets.There are so many )- Marcel Proust,Dostoevsky,Stefan Zweig,Thomas Mann,Karl Ove Knausgaard,Wang Wei,Li Bai,Pessoa,Cavafy,Mary Oliver..

Feels nice to be a part of this group of bibliophiles.

[Archit]

hey everyone,
I am Archit Singh, hailing from Bangalore, software developer (no points for guessing that :P) in the day, wannabe polymath in the night.

I love reading, have been since school. In school it was most of fiction and young adult, I have moved on to nonfiction. business, psychology, finance, self-improvement recently.

Would love to provide value to this group in any way I can.

[Sathya]

Hey fellow readers,

This is Sathya. I'm born and brought up in Bangalore. I'm a software manager at Nvidia.

I have started reading books after i got tired of spending time on technology. Binge watching prime series, wasting lot of time in social networking, etc. After i started reading, I realised how much I missed in my life by not reading books. Reading has been my second love now (after my wife :P) and thanks to lockdown, I have now built a mini library in my house. used to barely read 1 or 2 books in a year borrowed from just books before.

I generally love non fiction i.e. psychology, self help, spirituality, politics and biographies. I have read selected fiction novels by Jeffrey Archer, Lee child, Agatha Christie, etc. and now I would love to expand my genre by getting inspired by this community.

like others said, I'm happy to contribute my 2 cents to this community.

Happy reading everyone!! peas out ✌️

[Prasanna]

Hi, I'm Prasanna from Bengaluru, born and brought up in the coastal town of Mangalore. I love reading mostly fiction books usually from Crime/Mystery, Thrillers and Historical Fiction genre. My favorite authors are Agatha Christie, Gillian Flynn and Kristin Hannah. I also love to hoard books and I tend to go a little bit crazy during book sales. Good to catch up with fellow bibliophiles over here.

[Keshav]

Hello fellow readers,
My name is Keshav and I am currently residing in Dubai, UAE. I am born and brought up in Mumbai. I have rekindled my passion of reading in the last 2 years and am a fan of Thriller and Crime genres. I post my reviews regularly on Goodreads and would love to connect with readers with similar likes.

Happy Reading to all you..

Please stay safe and stay healthy all of you..

Keshav Nair

[Spandana]

Hello my dear fellow Bangalore bibliophiles,
I am Spandana from Bangalore, working as hardware engineer. I love to read fiction- romance, crime, suspense and thrillers are few of my favorites.

Glad to meet fellow book lovers.

Cheers!
Spandana.

[Tanmaya]

Hiee people.. myself Tanmaya Ramdas Kamath, a Mangalorean girl, born and brought up in Mumbai. I am 25, have completed my MSc in Biotechnology from Mumbai University and ended up with the marksheets in my hands during these pandemics!

Reading, I have always loved it since I was a kid, yet I'd give the credits of turning me into a pure bookworm to these pandemics itself coz it ensured to push me way much deeper into the realm of books especially the fictional world!

I have never before been a part of a reading group or a bookclub as such.. so this experience is something really exciting for me and I'm really looking forward to it..

So.. happy reading to all of us.. and stay safe and healthy!
Take care and have a beautiful day you guys!
Tanmaya!

[Navya]

Hi everyone!

It is lovely to join the group. I am originally from Delhi and currently live in Singapore, where I work as a management consultant. Hope to visit Bangalore soon - I have heard many wonderful things about the city :)

I love reading across genres, and literary non-fiction and science fiction are some of my favourite genres. I also have an interest in queer-feminist literature and love participating in discussions.

Glad to meet everyone!

[Pinky]

Hi all,
I am Pinky. I am a teacher by profession and a book lover. I love reading everything except horror as I am a scaredy cat🤪.
Happy Reading !!

[Girish]

Hi All,
I am Girish, I am born in New Delhi and bought up and now work in the Gulf region most of life, avid reader and book collector which usually goes together but sometimes just for the amazing looking books. Genres usually favour, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, spiritual (occassionally), philosophy(when want to), as the genres suggest prefer more fiction than non fiction, nice to be interacting here

Happy Reading!!!

[Shraddha]

Hi, I am Shraddha from Kolkata, currently studying architecture.

Books are my safe place. I love to explore different genres and my favourite authors are Murakami, Ayn Rand, Elizabeth Acevedo, to name a few!

I visited Bangalore before the pandemic hit and hauled quite a bit books at Blossoms. Hoping to visit again and also hoping to make new friends here!

[Joseph]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, thank you Dr. Aditi for this great initiative to start this group.

I am Dr. Joseph Thomas, Kargil War Veteran, Corporate Leader, Educationist, Social Entrepreneur & Author by Accident :)

My first 2 books are Amazon Best Sellers

1. India: The Next Superpower.
2. Conman - In-Chief of Capitol Coup.

Two more books are under the final stages

3. India's New National Education Policy 2020

4. Taliban 2.0

Looking forward to interacting with you and learning from each one in the group.

[Binoy]

Hi all,
I am Binoy , from Kerala. Great to be a part of this group.

I like to read different genres but have a bias towards thriller novels. I prefer books with lucid language .Not a big fan of books where the author make me run to the dictionary very often.
I was a sucker for that sweet smell of books when I unwrap it. But the pandemic and lockdown forced me to switch to Amazon Kindle. I was skeptical but was surprised by Kindle . Now the only thing I missing is that smell.

Happy reading all.

[Akshi]

Hello fellow readers :)

I am Akshi. a business analyst currently residing in Boston since 2016. Grew up in Haryana and studied in Chandigarh.
I have always been an avid reader starting my journey from chacha Chaudhary and Pinki comics, M&Bs, chicken soup, Sydney Sheldon to now Paulo Coehlo, Dan Brown, etc. I like a lot genres but I am biased towards fiction and biographies.
My aim is to live in a house with a library full of books from floor to ceiling and a cozy aura. I love the touch and smell of books and wander around bookstores and second hand shelves to introduce myself to new authors and genres.
In last few years lost touch with my reading habits but picked up this year :)

[Apoorva]

Hi everyone :)
My name is Apoorva. i’m from Bangalore . I’m a techie .
I love reading romance , historical fiction, self help and psychological books.
My favourite authors are Nicholas sparks , L M Montgomery.

[Gaurav]

Hello fellow bibliophiles,
I am Gaurav from Surat, Gujarat currently pursuing masters in computer application. It's been hardly two years that I have started my reading journey and I am so thankful for it.

I mostly read non fiction ( finance, productivity, biography and stuff) but sometimes a grab a fiction after reading a couple of non- fiction books.

I thank Dr.Aditi for inviting me to this group. Looking forward to interacting with you all.

[Deepak Singh]

Hi everyone, my name is Deepak and I am from Thane/Mumbai.

I began reading in my 20s. Initially, I read only non-fiction books to learn about life, self-discovery and improvement, however, in recent years I have been exploring other genres too.

[Abhimanyu]

Hey fellow readers,

This is Abhimanyu and I oscillate between Jaipur and Bengaluru.
I absolutely love to program and fortunately pursuing it as my career.

I read to think effectively. Currently, I am ready Milan Kundera and enjoying how he had verbalized a lot of my abstract thoughts.

Writing is cathartic, so I maintain a blog.

You can know more about me there: https://abhimanyutimes.com/about-tldr/

[Karun]

Hello fellow bibliophiles :)

Karun this side, a consultant with a non profit organization, currently residing in Delhi. I've always loved reading books right from those cool Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew series books to Paulo Coehlo, Dan Brown, chicken soup, etc. I like to read a diverse set of books from different genres so as to not restrict myself to one particular genre. But I'm inclined more towards biographies science fiction and non fiction genres. I love to read both physical and e-books whichever one I can get my hands on. Looking forward to improving my reading habits through this group which I've slowly regained touch with during the pandemic.

[Yogyata]

Hi everyone,

My name is Yogyata, student at BITS Pilani, interning at a non-profit. I couldn't find much time to read during college but have set a goal to read more this year, all thanks to 'The Color Purple'. I did read a lot more during school (more comics though). I love historical fiction, but I am open to exploring other genres. Hope to find some great recommendations here :)

[Deepali]

Hi everyone, Deepali this side. Just graduated from Delhi University and currently pursuing MCA. Born and brought up in Delhi. I was always so busy academically that I never got time to discover the literature world but during covid outbreak I discovered it and so far loving it. I have not read many books yet but nothing excites me more than books. I love the mystery thrillers and romance genres but I am not inclined only towards them and open to read and discover other genres as well. I used to write a little too and currently I am having writer's block, idk, I guess since covid hit I dont have much to write about but I do aspire to write a book someday in my early thirties. It's in my wishlist from I don't even remember when and I hope I will tick it off. Pretty much sums up what I wanted to say, so hi.

[Abhinav]

Hey Everyone,

This is Abhinav from Singapore. I am a Software Engineer with 10 years of experience behind me.
I love to read/listen to Fantasy and SciFi genres. Though, once in a while I also read non-fiction books (mostly centred around engineering or management).
Some of my favourite writers are B.V.Larson, Dan Brown and Brandon Sanderson!!

[Rakesh]

Hi all, Rakesh here. I am from Bengaluru. I am a software Developer and I like reading/listening to books related to but not limited to Fantasy, SciFi, philosophy genres.

[Aashay]

Hi everyone,

This is Aashay here. I am a self-taught web designer and e-commerce entrepreneur by profession. I have always been an introvert, but the pandemic also turned me into an avid reader.

I really enjoy reading fiction. Being able to live and experience a character's life, their journey, and their growth is truly magical, IMO. Having said that, I also enjoy business and non-fiction books.

Just finished 'The Book of Lost Names' earlier today, and already searching for what to pick next. Any suggestions?

Fun fact: My dad's a writer and poet. :-)

[Chethan]

Hello everyone,

Chethan here. I was born, brought up and am currently staying in Bangalore. Dr.Adithi invited me to this group.

I read books on a daily basis (well, almost :P) and I am a fan of Jeffrey Archer. I have a particular interest in reading books (mostly fiction) related to the 2nd World War and the Holocaust.

I also scroll through my Instagram feed and posts from the Explore tab and come across several books and sorta add them to my TBR (mentally :P).

I am currently reading Breath by James Nestor (appropriate since we are in the middle of a pandemic that affects the respiratory system) and also reading First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer.

Any suggestions on what I can pick up next?

[Tanya]

Hola people!

I am an MBA student at IIM Calcutta. I started reading in school and haven't been able to stop since then. Hunger Games was my first fiction and Tobias Eaton (Divergent) my first fictional crush. Currently, I am hooked to Sidney Sheldon but in general, I am a fan of novels of every genre - fiction or non-fiction.

Looking forward to some interesting conversations here :D

[Harish]

Hello Folks,

Happy New Year!

I am Harish. I am from Surat (Gujarat). Currently in Bangalore.

Love reading history, contemporary fiction, fiction and non fiction especially on culture + business.

Currently reading 3 books.
1. Shuggie Bain
2. Thinking, Slow and Fast
3. Good Strategy, Bad Strategy

Excited to join this group, thank you Dr. Aditi.

Looking forward to great discussion :)

Happy Reading :)

[Puneetsingh]

Hi All, I am Puneet currently work as a software engineer I read a lot of fantasy , murder mystery and some non fiction. I do love anything related to WW2 and have a bunny as pet.

[Arun]

Hi fellow book lovers, I am Arun Kumar Singh from Delhi. I am currently studying Theatre Arts from University of Hyderabad. I am a voracious reader. Books are like air for me. I feel uneasiness the day I am not able to read something.

I like magical realism, absurdity and fiction that talks about the basic human emotions. I am also a budding writer. My plays and stories have been adapted for stage plays. Kafka, Camus, Murakami, John Green, Neruda, Nirmal Verma, Manav Kaul, Beckett are some of my most favourite writers.

I also run a blog www.ekchaupal.com where I post my experience (not review) for certain books and movies. I love movies with great screenplays. Hoping towards a good communication.

Thanks for creating this group and loving books.