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Reading progress 2010
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Mod
-2/5It was just an okay read. All about a high school girl falling in love with the mysterious, handsome, rebel new boy who has aloof family members and later her step by step discovery of the fact that her boyfriend is not a normal human being. Furthermore, the ending was quite bizarre and confusing. Twilight was much much better compared to this. This book is readable only if you are an ardent werewolf fan.
Mod
-3.5/5a very gripping story of teenage pregnancy and its aftermaths. It was quite a disturbing read, I really felt for the 15 year old girl whose life drastically changed for the worse due to a single instance of unprotected consensual sexual act. The book starts with her delivery going on to show her life thereafter in a juvenile home. The end is a bit surprising. I would recommend it to any young adult (of a certain age)and all parents.
I have finished to read a book of Gandhi:"An autobiography-The Story Of My Experiments With Truth".
I didn't like it very much, perhaps even for the not good translation (I have read it in italian). I think it could be nice to read if you have already read some other book of him because he frequent writes "I don' want to deepen this argument, to understand it better read my book *title of the book*".
One question: who were the untouchables? He writes that law of untouchables was abolished but who were these people?
I suppose the next book I will read is "Yoga and psychoanalysis" written by an italian psychiatrist who practice also yoga.
Hey Dely, now that is a particularly complicated question. Well, lets just say Indian Society is divided into sections(castes). This division has some misguided roots in religion, i won't elaborate that or it'll take ages. Just so you know there are four castes the brahmins who are the elite who worship god and stuff, then there are the kshatriyas...the fighters....they were meant to protect people after that come the vaishyas....they were the businesmen and the lowest were the shudras or the untouchables. They were considered as unclean and were treated very badly. The upper castes(the first three) would not touch things the shudras had used....they wouldn't even walk on the same path. There was a lot of discrimination based on caste.(in a way similar to aparthied in South Africa). Gandhiji tried to change all this and he worked for the welfare of the lower castes!
Thank you very much, now I understand!Yes, I know something about the castes but I explain you: here in Italy (but I suppose in all the Occident) if you say that someone is untouchable it means that he is powerful, a very important people (the pope, statesmen, member of the mafia like the movie "The Untouchables" etc.) and so I could not understand why Gandhi is happy that the law for untouchables was abolished seen that he fighted to help the poor one and speaks only about them in this book.
Books that Ive read in 2010 and putting down this list in December will be a little taxing on my memory but will give it a shot anyways..1. The story of my experiences with truth (Mahatma Gandhi)
2. Piece of Cake
3. The Art of Public Relations
4. Connect the dots by Rashmi Bansal
5. Intimate notes to the seeker (Sri sri Ravi Shankar)
6. It's not about the bike by Lance Armstrong
7. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
8. The five people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
9. A Walk to Remember
10. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
11. How Starbucks saved my life
12. The Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
13. My Sisters keeper - Jodi Picault
14. A thousand splendid sons by Khalid Hosseini
15. Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
16. Differentiate or die- Jack trout
17.Almost Single by Advait Kala
18. 2 states by Chetan Bhagat
Mod
-4.5/5One of the best books I've read this year. A poignant, sad though hilarious tale of a teenager with Asperger's (thought the disease is never mentioned in the book) with an analytical though unemotional mind which dwells on almost each and every object he encounters. He is keen on solving the mystery behind a neighbour's dead dog, which leads him towards deep family secrets, which he has to face. I really enjoyed this book. I never did want to put it down. I felt deeply for the boy and his parents. I just wanted to get into the book and console/encourage him.
Books I have read so far in 2010:1. The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
2. The witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho
3. Anil's Ghost - Michael Ondaatje
4. The war of Don Emanuelle's Nether parts - Louis de Bernieres
5. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery
6. Underground - Haruki Murakami
7. Tea on the Blue Sofa - Natasha Illumberg
8. Picnic at the Hanging Garden - Joan Lindsay
9. The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson
10. In Evil hour - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
11. Cat's cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
12. Invisible cities - Italo Calvino
13. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
14. History of Love - Nicole Krauss
15. The age of reason - Jean Paul Sartre
16. Call of the Wild - Jack London
17. Survivor - Chuck Palahnuik
18. The importance of being Ernest - Oscar Wilde
19. Girl who played with Fire - Steig Larsson
20. The Prime of Miss Jean Brody - Muriel Sparks
21. The God Delusion - Rickard Dawkins
22. God bless you, Dr. Kevrokian - Kurt Vonnegut
23. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffeneggar
24. The unbearable lightness of being - Milan Kundera
25. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
26. Justine - Marquis de Sade
27. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
34. The Idiot - Fyodot Doestoyevsky
35. Orlando - Virginia Woolf
36. Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut
37. The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
38. Daddy Long legs - Jean Webster
39. Little Altars everywhere - Rebecca Wells
40. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
41. Dr. Zhivago - Boris Pasternak
42. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
43. Strange Pilgrims - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Strong Imagination - Daniel Nettle
45. Choke - Chuck Palahnuik
46. Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
47. The man who mistook his wife for a hat - Oliver Sacks
48. Courtesan's quarters - Munshi Premchand
49. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
50. Travels in the Scriptorium - Paul Auster
51. Two on a Tower - Thomas Hardy
52. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
53. The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society - Mary Ann Shaffer
54. YaYas in bloom - Rebecca Wells
55. The Blue Notebook - James A. Levine
55. The Groaning Shelf - Pradeep Sebastian
56. Off the map - Hib Chickena
I am currently reading "A Room of one's own" and "Three Guineas" both by Virginia Wools and hopefully will finish them by the end of the year.
This is probably one of the first posts I make in this forum. Here are the books i went through in 2010 :1. Tigana – Guy Gavriel Kay
2. Perdido Street Station – China Mieville
3. The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane – Robert E Howard
4. Lord of the Silver Bow – David Gemmel
5. Immediate Action – Andy McNab
6. Olympos – Dan Simmons
7. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
8. Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
9. Stardust – Neil Gaiman
10. Cemetary Dance - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
11. Ji Mantriji Volumes 1&2 : Aloka Tomara & Monisha Shah
12. Imperium – Robert Harris
13. Reliquary – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
14. Shadows of Death – H.P.Lovecraft
15. Gates of Fire – Steven Pressfield
16. The immortals of Meluha – Amish
17. Percy Jackson & Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan
18. On Literature – Umberto Eco
19. Fatherland – Robert Harris
20. The Lions of Al-Rassan – Guy Gavriel Kay
21. The Many Faces of Van Helsing - Anthology (edited by Jeanne Cavelos)
22. Matilda – Roald Dahl
23. Violin – Anne Rice
24. The Virtues of War – Steven Pressfield
25. The girl with the dragon tattoo – Steig Larsson
26. The Tao of Coaching – Max Landsberg
27. The book of demons – Nandita Krishna
28. A game of Thrones – Geroge R.R. Martin
29. The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
30. To Kill a Mochingbird – Harper Lee
31. Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
32. The sad tale of the brothers grossbart – Jesse Bullington
33. Terror on the Titanic – Samit Basu
34. Narcissus & Goldmund – Herman Hesse
35. The Ghost – Robert Harris
36. Memnoch the Devil – Anne Rice
37. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
38. Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
39. More Twisted – Jeffrey Deaver
40. Just So Stories – Rudyard Kipling
41. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
42. Train to Pakistan – Khushwant Singh
43. The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl
44. The Mousetrap & other plays – Agatha Christie
45. The mysterious flame of queen loanna – Umberto Eco
46. Percy Jackson & the Titan’s Curse – Rick Riordan
47. Something under the bed is drooling – Bill Waterson
48. The complete robot – Isaac Asimov
49. The Afghan Campaign – Steven Pressfield
50. The Prestige – Christopher Priest
51. Absolute Power – David Baldacci
52. The years of rice and salt – Kim Stanley Robinson
53. The Alienist – Caleb Carr
54. Hannibal Rising – Thomas Harris
55. On Writing – Stephen King
56. The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hameed
57. The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
58. Holmes of the Raj – Vithal Rajan
Taking a look at it, it seems I have stuck to comfort zones and read more books by some authors than others.
Coming back to what I am reading now, it is Cathedral by Nelson Demille. Very much a recipe for a potboiler movie
Mod
-3/5fast-paced thriller with all the elements, including twists at the end. But after reading umpteen numbers of such books, I could correctly pinpoint the perp by the middle of the book. Nothing memorable, just a quick read whenever one craves for a thriller/mystery genus
I have finished to read Kim of Kipling (4/5).Very nice story and I like such stories who speak about lama, the devotion of his chela, this searching of something who set us free from samsara. I like such arguments because they help me to improve myself every day and never give up searching knowledge.
As soon as I will finish all the books I have already to read I will ask you advice for other books who talk about such things, maybe written by indian writers, I don't know them.
Mod
Hey go through The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari too. Worth reading!And Anita Nair's Ladies Coupé.....i just loved that book. I might have been a bit young for it but i could grasp the fact so i don't think that was a problem. But frankly, its a must read for every woman....just AMAZING!
Smitha, of Narayan I have the Ramayana, I must still begin it.Akanksha, goodreads makes me not use the wishlist, it says it is only for US members (argh!). I will put it in my wishlist in another site like this but who is in italian. Thank you!
Edit: I am a genius! I have made a new shelf with the name "wishlist".
Smitha wrote: "please do read R K Narayan. He writes about the common man and his books are a treat to read"
Ah, at long last, a fellow Narayan fan. People always find his language too simplistic and his style too laidback, but oddly enough, it is precisely for those reasons that I love his books.
Ah, at long last, a fellow Narayan fan. People always find his language too simplistic and his style too laidback, but oddly enough, it is precisely for those reasons that I love his books.
I'll probably get murdered by Potter-maniacs for saying this, but Robert Jordan is quite easily the best fantasy writer of his generation. Fascinating read. The similarities with LOTR make the Tolkien fan in me squirm, but it is a fascinating read nevertheless.
Seriously? I've got the whole Wheel Of Time series but i haven't been able to spare enough time to read them.@Dely lol....that was smart!
That is perhaps the only stupid thing about the Wheel of Time- it's too darn long! I don't mind trilogies and tetralogies- who writes a 14-book series anyway?
I read Robert Jordan long before i read the HP series... And loved it!!! Thats probably why i find HP a little draggy sometimes. Though I've read only Eye Of The World.... I've heard the rest are just as good
Well, i think i'll have to read them now :P
Robert Jordan? Hmmm, am afraid of even reading a HP fan-fic but still managed it. So i guess i can try this one too. But yes, HP has become more than just a novel to me and it's quite tough to think of smthng else as similar/better :-(
30) The Hunger Games 4/5Liked it, nice pace, was never boring at all. The ending makes clear the author's intentions abt the sequel. One small complaint is that the 'happy ending' didn't seem to go well with its dystopian set-up. Considering the previous book i read in this genre is the classic 1984, i guess i've become too much of a sucker for sad endings in such books
hey robert jordan is NOT like HP..........its fantasy but totally different.............and HP rocks!!!!!!!
:-) That's heartening to hear. But i had once concern abt HP n Deathly Hallows. The part where the horcrux bearer becomes all moody and depressed and out of his mind is similar to the ring-bearer's dilemma in LOTR. Being a hard-core fan of both the HP n the LOTR series, i find it hard to digest.
Hmmm......sometimes peopledo run out of original ideas.......But it was awesome and btw i love LOTR too..........
Smitha wrote: "Incidently, I find that being active in good reads has adversely affected my reading time. Earlier I used to read at any opportunity I get, during my lunch break, at night, during meals and even wh..."Same with me!!!!
as for the list of the books I read this year
1)Inkheart trilogy - Cornella Funke (4 stars)
2)Are you afraid of the dark - Sidney sheldon (4 stars)
3)THe Witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho (3 stars)
4)Moors Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie (2 stars)
5)Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe (1 star)
6)11 Minutes - Paulo Coelho (3 stars)
7)Q/A - Vikas Swarup (5 stars)
8)The Exorcist - William Peter Bletty (4 stars)
9)Sense & Senibility - Jane Austen (3 stars)
10)Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri (3 stars)
11)Animals People - Indra Sinha (2 stars)
12)To kill a mockingbird - Harper Lee (3 stars)
13)Bachelor of Arts - RK Narayan (4 stars)
14)A walk to remember - Nicholas Sparks (5 stars)
15)Anngels & Demon - Dan Brown (5 stars)
16)Message in a bottle - Nicholas Spark (2stars)
17)A bend in the road - NIcholas Spark (2 star)
18)Eat, Pray LOve - Elizabeth Gilberth (3 stars)
19)A series of unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket, the entire 13 book volume (5 stars)
20)5 Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat (4 stars)
21)One night at the call center - Chetan Bhagat (4 stars)
22)3 Mistakes of my life - Chetan Bhagat (4 stars)
23)THe Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho (4 stars)
24)PS I love you - Cecelia Ahern (4 stars)
25)Memories of Midnight - Sidney Sheldon (4 stars)
26)Fire on the mountain - Anita Desai (1 star)
27)The Choice - Nicholas Spark (3 stars)
28)Twilight Series - Stephnie Meyer (3 stars)
29)The Name of this book is a Secret - Pseudonymous Bosch (4 stars)
30)The Valkyries - Paulo Coelho (4 stars)
31)5th Mountain - Paulo Coelho (4 stars)
31)The Zigzag way - Anita Desai (1 star)
33)LOTR (return of the king) - JRR Tolkein (5 stars)
34)The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (5 stars)
35)The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga (4 stars)
36)The Other side of midnight (5 stars)
37)Delhi A novel - Khushwant Singh (3 stars)
38)Brahma's Dream - Shree Ghatage (currently reading)
39)The Golden Gate - Vikram Seth (currently reading)
40)Winner Stands Alone - Paulo Coelho (currently reading)
I guess this is the longest list so far..well...I had a tough time writing this..not to forget the lazy guzy girl that I am, it was even tougher..I still can't believe I read all that in a year (I never considered myself such a voracious reader!!)
gr8 Meenakshi!Smitha, u prefer members keeping separate reading lists from next year on??
Mod
Smitha, u prefer members keeping separate reading lists from next year on??"
Yes, of course. It will be easy for us to review our lists.
Mod
-4/5This is my first JD Robb book and I am happy to discover another engrossing thriller series. I am planning to read this series in order. The story was quite catching from page 1 - the sudden death of a history teacher who was young, well loved and respected by students and colleagues alike. The investigators had to struggle to find a motive. The story became quite chilling in the last few pages and the end was astounding; I could pinpoint the killer this time too, but only after finishing about 3/4ths of the book; I kept on thinking , this cannot be, I may be wrong. The only part which dragged on was the on-going romance between the chief investigator and her rogue-husband threatened by a former lady love. I just wanted to go on with the murder investigation without stopping to sympathize with their home drama.
Smitha wrote: "Aditya wrote: "gr8 Meenakshi!Smitha, u prefer members keeping separate reading lists from next year on??"
Yes, of course. It will be easy for us to review our lists.
What if the book I am reading right now finishes in 2011, thenin which list should I put it??
:-) i can almost sense that, esp when more and more users started putting on their lists here. Am still trying to contact the moderator to clean up this place. Nevertheless, next year we shall create separate threads, when u do yours, create it with your name in it, that shud give a hint to the members that they aren't supposed to cross-post lists!
Mod
Meenakshi, if you finish it in 2011, put it in 2011 list
@Aditya good idea..wonder where you got that mind from..
@Meenakshi, didn't mean anything against ur list of 40 books that u posted here. Infact even i did that and am continuing to do that as a habit! This thread was originally created by Smitha to keep track of her list i suppose when i barged in!to answer ur qstn, my mom wud say i found it smewer between my toes and with time slowly climbing upto it's actual place occasionally slipping a notch or two! :-)
@Aditya lolllz...I have actually fallen down on the floor laughing..hehehehehehehe...good one..
19. Johhny Gone down by Karan Bajaj- A good read. The author has definitely matured in his second book.20 Hickory Dickory Shock by Sundip Gorai- It's a good read - wit which you can relate to. All those who are interested in unravelling codes/puzzles- its a bonus as you normally dont get to see it in Indian fiction..a page turner till the end
31) Catching Fire 3.5/5With this book, the author promises to take this story to a totally different level, it's just not going to be abt a killing game set in the arena or abt the romance between a girl and 2 boys whom she likes. Even then i feel the book is terribly paced with the games starting only in the latter half of the book and then suddenly ending. This book leaves with u lots of anticipation abt the coming one!
32) Mockingjay 2/5Reading this right after the previous one, i wud say am terribly disappointed. The author had probably no clue on how she cud end this. She had a great chance to turn this into a magnum opus even without having any Games in this one! She cud have shown what takes to build a dystopian society like that. Instead she just chose to show two individuals as the culprits for the entire mess. The place where Mocking Jay and Haymitch together support further Hunger Games with children of the govt officials in the Capitol was a nice touch and could have been extended into more exciting n emotional content! Instead what follows is just a lame climax.
I donno, guess am rambling abt wat she cud've done instead of reviewing wat she has done!
@Mansee Johnny Gone Down is a very refreshing read. I never felt like i was reading an Indian authored novel!
@ Aditya- agree. It was quite gripping and unputdownable.
41)Brahma's Dream Shree Ghatage (4 stars)42) Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (currently reading)
Mod
-4/5I had stitches in my sides laughing at some of the droll situations and conversations in this book; this is a gem of a book. This is the story of an 'ordinary' retired man and his home maker wife whose two kids are grown up and have left the nest. The story starts with a 'spot of bother'- a small skin lesion which worries George ( the main character) along with impending nuptials (second time lucky) of his daughter and goes on to reveal how his son 'comes of the closet'- then it slowly but surely escalates to incorporate his hypochondria, his wife's infidelity, his childrens' problems - all coming to a satisfactory end. I just loved the style of writing - the dry humor, the ridiculous scrapes. I just love Mark Haddon's style, I already am a fan of the 'curious incident of the dog in the night time'and am looking forward to read other books by the author. One word of caution - many have given this book only one star and a few caustic reviews are there; so each to his own style of writing and reading, I guess
Mod
-2/5Guess this is my last book of this year. I wanted to finish off the year with a bang, but this was a very quick read. Nothing much in it for me, though lovers of the 'romance' genre may go for it. Usual characters - strong, handsome, alpha hero, not so pretty though intelligent and charming heroine, another love interest for the hero who is the epitome of poise and beauty, though a little flighty. Finally true love finds its way after a few hitches. The story is set in 19th century Britain, at the period when British nobles and American Millionaires started to mingle and create matches to suit their own needs and purposes
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Indian Readers
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A Wallflower Christmas (other topics)A Spot of Bother (other topics)
Mockingjay (other topics)
Catching Fire (other topics)
Innocent in Death (other topics)
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It was an okay book. Only towards the end of the book I came to know that the heroine Alessandra was a real life person. The story takes place in 14th century Italy rife with burning of witches at stake, where women are not allowed to study or practice trade or medicine, when an exceptionally intelligent young girl decides to take up medicine in the guise of a man. The middle half of the book was okay, the beginning and end dragged a bit.