Vinoth's 66 challenge for 2012

[Vinoth]

This is the first time am taking up a Challenge(excluding that Indian Authors challenge) of reading a certain number of books in a year.first went for the famous fancy no of 100.then had doubts about it. so ended up changing it to 66.
I have decided to finish the 45-50 paperbacks and around 10 Hardbounds (which together will bring me close to my challenge!!!) i have in my bookshelf unread and to abstain as much as possible to not buy novels till i finish the above said ones.hope i keep to it......

[Ahtims]

good luck

[Vinoth]

Smitha wrote: "good luck"

Thank You..

[Vinoth]

just found about this ticker.its cool.

[Parikhit]

Vinoth wrote: "


just found about this ticker.its cool."

That's really cool. :)

[Vinoth]

Parikhit wrote:That's really cool. :)"

yeah.there are lots of designs.just click on the ticker and it will take you to the website..

[Ahtims]

I knew about it through another group, but dont know how to work it out. Will visit ticker website and try to customize one for me

[Vinoth]

Smitha wrote: "I knew about it through another group, but dont know how to work it out. Will visit ticker website and try to customize one for me"

actually i to got to know about this from another group(The Book Addicts) member's book challenge.

I have changed my ticker 5-6 times already!!

[Meenakshi]

Vinoth wrote: "


just found about this ticker.its cool."

That's cool...good luck for your challenge..

[Vinoth]

Meenakshi wrote: "Vinoth wrote: "


just found about this ticker.its cool."

That's cool...good luck for your challenge.."

Thanks..

[Vinoth]

Book no 1

finally got over the confusion of what to read and decided to read

I loved this book.of all the Danielle steel books i have read , I like Zoya the most. after reading this novel , i place The Ring next to zoya.

i give 4.75/5

This book spans 5-6 decades from late 1920's to 80'.


PART 1
this book is about Kassandra , wife of a very rich banker in Germany, has everything material in her life , but feels that she has nothing , until she meets a German author who is a Jew.she is allowed to see her child only for half an hour every day.she could not sever her ties with the author in spite of her husband telling him the dangers she could face and let the family face.The author dies at the hands of Nazi who humiliate kassandra and leave her to go only when she shows proof of who she really is.she ends her life by severing her wrists in her bathtub.

BOOK 2

This book is also about Ariana , daughter of kassandra.when Germany was taken over by Nazi , ariana's brother is drafted.Her father decides that he would take her brother to Switzerland and then come for her. he dies while returning to Berlin.She is jailed ,her possessions taken except for the signet ring belonging to her mother.she is almost raped but for a gentleman in Manfred , a Nazi officer who saves her and gives her a place to live.She loves Manfred and they marry each other but in a few months tragedy falls in . Manfred dies and she has no reason to live but she had promised to Manfred that she will go onto France and make a living.

Book 3
from France , She travels to US of A. she finds some great souls in the Liebmans.they give her everything from dresses to food to shelter thinking that she is Jew and that she had suffered because of that.she finds out that she is pregnant and she had to do something about her child.so she ends up marrying Paul ,liebman's son without letting him know of the baby.but when paul comes to know he gives her alimony and divorces her.

Book 4
This is also the story of Noel Von Tripp , son of Ariana.he goes on to graduate from Harvard Law and finds a companion in Tamarra , daughter of Paul Liebman!. after some drama noel and tamarra decide to get married and Ariana gives tammy her mothers Signet ring.

and in the last page of the novel , her brother finds her!!!!



A great read it was...

[Vinoth]

done with Book no 2



i rate it 3.25/5

If you want a submarine (mostly)or Naval(rarely , like Seawolf) based thriller , Patrick Robinson would be the first Choice.with Seawolf he has reinstated it again.The only difference between the ones i have already read and seawolf is that seawolf has more action outside of submarines as much as the previous ones had in Submarines....In short it was more like a Tom Clancy meets Stephen Coonts meets Patrick Robinson...

[Vinoth]

Book no 3

This is not a good read at all.



i would not even give it a star and disgrace the star.so i abstain from rating.:(



It took me lots of determination to decide to complete this book!! i don't want to waste my time on reviewing this book.
There is only one line in this entire book of 231 pages which stands out and that is LOVE CAN NEVER BE WRONG , A GIRL CAN BE . rest all is ......





Thanks to this book , i have decided rather strongly not to buy any book written by any Indian author which is given at a discounted price of Rs.50/- or Rs 65/- by the online bookstores.

[Vinoth]

Saurabh wrote: "Well, I too have had the opportunity of reading several chiclits of similar sort by Indian authors. One thing is sure to me, most Engineers in India are aspiring writers and know a lot about true Love and the fairer sex. I wish I hadn't opted for Management, maybe I had written a book by now. "


yes ,even a few of the millions in engineering cadre would be a lot..but believe me , not all engineers are aspiring writers. i have seen quite a few avid readers, some insane readers too , but not even a handful of aspiring writers.Proof is me and the many i have known. i never had the passion for writing ,its not even the thousandth of what i have for reading.I think writing has to do with your passion for it and not much to do with your education.

well i am not qualified to talk about "know a lot about true Love and the fairer sex" so i would give that a pass XD

if you are passionate about writing , why don't you give it a try. There are some who have management background and have had great successes. the likes of CB and Amish Tripathi to name a few....

[Anbu]

Most of these books by IITians and some more new age Indian writers are basically screenplays for bollywood films sold in advance.. :)

[Vinoth]

Anbu wrote: "Most of these books by IITians and some more new age Indian writers are basically screenplays for bollywood films sold in advance.. :)"

your statement it true and was blatantly proved by chetan Bhagat by writing Revolution 2020.the reason could have been that the producers complained that they had to write a screenplay from the script and hence asked him to give them a Screenplay!!!!which he did...

[Vinoth]

Saurabh wrote: "Vinoth wrote: "Saurabh wrote: "Well, I too have had the opportunity of reading several chiclits of similar sort by Indian authors. One thing is sure to me, most Engineers in India are aspiring writ..."

Have never heard of Ravinder Singh or Ankit Uttam. do you think its worth the time to check them out???

[Vinoth]

Saurabh wrote: "Vinoth wrote: "Saurabh wrote: "Vinoth wrote: "Saurabh wrote: "Well, I too have had the opportunity of reading several chiclits of similar sort by Indian authors. One thing is sure to me, most Engin..."

have seen 'i too had a love story' in flipkart.but did not remember seeing the authors name...

[Ahtims]

Vinoth wrote: "Saurabh wrote: "Well, I too have had the opportunity of reading several chiclits of similar sort by Indian authors. One thing is sure to me, most Engineers in India are aspiring writers and know a ..."

ditto Vinoth, even I dont have atleast an iota of passion for writing as I have for reading.

[Vinoth]

Book no 4




I would rate it 3.5/5


This is the 2nd Book in the The Presidential Agent Series.But i haven't read the first one.The one thing i loved in this book was that the lead character C G Castillo is not portrayed as one man army as is the case with many of the novels of this genre .He has doubts ,overlooks things ,forgets things.I did feel the novel was dragging at times.and more importantly the novel is not action packed, otherwise it was a good read.About 40-50 pages before the end , i was sure that there is not gonna be a full & final ending and my doubts proved to be correct.That is the only nagging part.

[Vinoth]

Book no 5




I would rate it 4.25/5

This is the first part of The Camel Club series.(even though i was not aware of this when i bought this book)

This is a political thriller.Have read a Baldacci after a long time. i really liked it.The book actually started slowly , a tad too slow. but as i mowed through the pages it got me on a hook. i felt the adrenaline rush i get when i read good thrillers after a long time(maybe after 3-4 months).the characters are well crafted and are believable except for one.the plot has been handled really well.

This book is about a group of ubiquitous rag-tag old men taking up National Security Issues and solving it secretly before the Government does!!! sounds comical. read the book and you will feel otherwise.

I will recommend it to any thriller fanatic(if you like political thrillers you have all the more reasons to read this book).

There is also a word of caution here.You will come across a bit more of theological lessons here than you would on a usual thriller.but it was nice reading it..

[Vinoth]

Book no 6




I would rate it 3.5/5


This is a Kay Scarpetta novel.

Patricia cornwell is so good when it comes to forensic thrillers(i have not read any other author in this genre though)this one was as good as any other cornwell novels.

a serial killer is equipped with the deadliest of viruses , Smallpox. what does Dr.Kay Scarpetta , the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia do?? , how does she find who this serial killer is and how does the killer come into possession of a virus last eradicated 30 years ago??, is she responsible for the 9 murders which happened before? , the MO being the hands, legs and head cut out at the joints and the torso dumped in a landfill.

to get all these questions answered you have to read the novel.[i know , this sounds like a movie song booklet of the 80's and 90's :) ]

[Ahtims]

have read one or two Kay Scarpetta mysteries. But I love Laurie and Jack duo from Robin Cook, and also Temperence Brennan series more than Scarpetta.

[Vinoth]

i have read around 10 scarpetta novels. i like scarpetta because i have not come across any other ME as good as her.
i have read around 8-9 robin cook novels , but i dont think i have come across Laurie and jack(they will have to wait till 2013 to impress me) so should Temperence Brennan.because i have already broken my vow to not buy any book this year and have ordered 4 novels yesterday and am about to order another 5 now. :(

[Ahtims]

LOL, which ones please? let me atleast have the vicarious pleasure of knowing which titles you ordered.

[Vinoth]

i have ordered

from Infibeam

The God Of Small Things for 163/-
Life Of Pi for 163/-
The Discovery Of India for 196/-
The Inheritance Of Loss for 163/-


am about to order from Indiatimes the following

1)thousand splendid suns
2)the kite runner both 1 & 2 for around rs 285

3)The chronicles of narnia for around rs 285
4)i too had a love story for around rs 45
5)chanakyas Chant for around rs 75

the rates are the best ever you will get.

[Ahtims]

I have God of Small Things, Inheritance of Loss and Chanakya's chant* (unread*) with me. Have read both thousand splendind suns and kite runner - worth it. Dont have books 3 & 4.

[Ahtims]

I really liked GST and IL too.

[Vinoth]

almost all of the books above mentioned came highly recommended. that's why i did not wanna lose the opportunity to buy them for as cheap as it can be bought, :)

[Avisek]

I wont really encourage you to go on with Chanakaya's chant !!! Just not worth the effort !!

[Vinoth]

Avisek wrote: "I wont really encourage you to go on with Chanakaya's chant !!! Just not worth the effort !!"

i know i cant expect much from it. but i could not resist buying when i could buy it for Rs.75/-. and btw i have ordered the book.
i hope that it will not be as bad as "few things left unsaid" fingers crossed..

[Vinoth]

i have received the first lot from Infibeam. whats amazing is that the books reached me within 48 hours of ordering. this is the first time that i am receiving books before the 'ships by' date.usually it will reach only after 'ships within' date :)

[Anbu]

Vinoth wrote: "i have received the first lot from Infibeam. whats amazing is that the books reached me within 48 hours of ordering. this is the first time that i am receiving books before the 'ships by' date.usua..."

That means you havnt tried flipkart yet.. :P

You'll receive the books the next day of your order.. :)

[Vinoth]

Anbu wrote: "Vinoth wrote: "i have received the first lot from Infibeam. whats amazing is that the books reached me within 48 hours of ordering. this is the first time that i am receiving books before the 'ship..."

no anbu , i have bought from flipkart too , the only diff is that it reaches before the delivers within.

i have used 3 websites (excluding indiatimes , since i have not received the books yet)and i will rate in the following order

1 flipkart
2 infibeam
3 uread.


but usually Infibeam gives the lowest prices . so i put up with the delay in delivery.

[Ahtims]

haven't tried uread yet, but flipkart is wonderful, and infibeam comes next. I have also tried Coinjoos, A1books - which are okay.

[Vinoth]

Smitha wrote: "haven't tried uread yet, but flipkart is wonderful, and infibeam comes next. I have also tried Coinjoos, A1books - which are okay."

i have tried uread only once. but it was not a good experience. i had a feeling that the book i was given was a second hand one. the book was out of print. so they said they could not replace it but will give me a gift code so that i can get a additional discount of 5 % every time i buy a book from them. but i never bought from them again...

[Vinoth]

Book no 7




I would rate it 5/5


This book came highly recommended.i knew i would like this book. but now that i have finished reading this book i feel like "why did this book end" .I really loved reading this book.I thought i Knew about racial discrimination before i read this book and while reading this book i felt that i knew nothing about it. every time Aibileen or the other maids being humiliated i put myself in their position and i cringed. the Afro Am slang Aibileen used put me off for a page or two . then i got used to it.The female Characters are so powerfully(each in their own way) etched and there is not a male character to match any of them. not that it puts me off . its just an observation.maybe because the novel did not require one. Overall it was a awesome read. this book goes to my to be reread list :)

[Vinoth]

Book no 8




I would rate it 4/5

This is the First Book am reading on Mahabharata( including Mahabharata )Pratiba Ray has done a nice job in trying to portrait the Psychological picture of Draupadi .This book made me think a lot. made me compare the time when the Mahabharata Happened to the present time.Not many things make sense.the biggest problem i faced was Comprehending the Dharma which used to prevail during the time of Mahabharata.But am at least glad that everyone including Krishna is shown as a human/god with their own weaknesses,Instead of Painting them as god or men without any negative shades. I should have read the Mahabharata before reading this.I say this because not many things were as elaborate as they should be (for example the time before and after the Kurukshetra is shown but not the war!),it is understandable as this book shows the Mahabharata in the point of view of Draupadi as it folds out with lots of emotional outbursts which makes you feel for her.I am eager to read the Mahabharata next and then the other books based on it.

[Vinoth]

Book no 9



I would rate it 3/5

The first thing i loved about this book is the cover and the design. it reminded me of my College Slam Book.Am not a poem lover , but since i won this book in a giveaway and since i wanted to venture into this Genre , i read this.It has been a long time since i read the Fairy tales and i did find it a problem to relate the poems to the fairy tales (not all but some)as the names of the fairy tales are not mentioned in the book. This book is worth the read as it gives the version of the story from the point of view of the Antagonists of the tales. we would never have thought that they too would have a story to tell.

[Vinoth]

the books which i have to complete before i can buy new ones.there are 59 here , 2 missed out.i have 61 books to read before i can buy others.

[dely]

Oh my god, they are also so thick! Good luck!

[Vinoth]

thanks.hope i complete all of this by this year.4 more books added to the 61. now its 65.(had ordered 4 books and they reached couple of hours ago)

[Anbu]

All the best Vinoth.. :)

[Vinoth]

Anbu wrote: "All the best Vinoth.. :)"

thanks anbu..

[Parikhit]

Nice pics :D

[Vinoth]

Parikhit wrote: "Nice pics :D"

thanks...

[Ahtims]

wow, feel like 'virtually' stealing a few.

[Vinoth]

Smitha wrote: "wow, feel like 'virtually' stealing a few."

virtually Huh , give it a try :)

[Vinoth]

Book No 10



I rate it 3/5




This is the first book of Ashwin Sanghi i have read and the Narration is good and he has tied the plot well but i should tell the truth that i did feel a little impatient in the middle , which usually doesn't happen.But i liked the Chanakya part more than the Gangasagar Part.One thing which stands out in this book is the Catchy and witty phrases/quotes used by both Chanakya and Gangasagar.i had read some but rest were new to me. i was glad to know at the end of the book that the author took time to mention the actual authors of the quotes.The book would have been far better if the book had been shortened a bit

[Ahtims]

the burglar streak in me speaking. A shameful truth - when I was young and didnot know better I stole a book and was caught by my mom and made to return it. I went to a friend's house, started reading this book, got so involved, and hid it in my dress as I was too scared to borrow it fearing that she may refuse. Mom noticed the bulge, found me out and tiraded me in front of friend and co. But her mother was so sweet as to present it to me stating her child never read it, and was not going to. I still have the book with me and now its my son's property.