Piyush's Logbook for 2013

And so, here I am, 6th year in a row.

Excellent! Welcome back!

Thanks for the warm welcome, Jim.

Starred - will be lurking again for 2013.

Piyush, my classics friend, you are probably the only thread I am following here in the group - mostly because you don't tend to post reviews on the book's page. I'm following the other folks I've followed over the years through marking them as friends or interesting librarires, but I think this is the only way i can keep up with you.

Mac, I understand what you would generally feel about following threads. I unfortunately, can't devote much time to reading threads of all the people I am following either, I generally browse through the thread and land on book recommendations, discussions and reviews, cutting clear of all the chit-chat, which though interesting, is very time consuming to follow.

The average number of posts on my threads in an entire year are to the tune of 300, and hence I can get away with making only one thread, specially given the fact that I don't post pictures or other graphics - I would expect the trend to follow this year too, making it, hopefully, less effort for you to follow.

I wouldn't miss your readding for anything - how ever many threads you end up with. Reading The Death of the Heart now and posted a review on Scoop on my 2012 thread. You should definitely try the latter - completely different tone than Brideshead Revisited and worth it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR PIYUSH!

Happy New Year! I so understand the thread-reading thing. I didn't even promise to try this year. I did that in the past two and did progressively worse... :(

May all your reads be wonderful!!

Hey Piyush, looking forward to another great reading year and much inspiration from your thread. :)

#7 Thanks Mac. Added Scoop to my 2013 list too, two Waughs to read now this year.

#8 A very Happy New Year to you too Rachel!

#9 Following so many threads is indeed a difficult thing to do. Hats off to people who pull it off, while keeping up with their reading and RL activities. May all your reads for the year be pervy too!

#10 Many thanks for the wishes, Kathy. I will be following you as well, and best of luck with Ulysses, from what I hear, it isn't an easy book to tame.

Happy new year, Piyush. I hope to do more than lurk on your thread this year.

#12 I would like to de-lurk on the so many threads, I follow, too. Here is to both of us endeavouring to cause mayhem on other people's thread this year :)

You are always welcome to cause mayhem on my thread, Piyush!

Welcome back Piyush! Happy New Year!

*starred* and Hi!

Stopping to say Hi!!

#14 Ha! You don't know what you are wishing for!

#15 Many thanks Kriti, wish a very Happy New Year to you too!

#16 And good to see you back too! Haven't finished On the Origin of Species yet, had been waiting for you!

#17 Thanks for dropping by, even if by mistake, we got connected this new year :)

So, what do you think of On the Origin of Species so far? Read any Wodehouse lately?

Happy New Year Piyush!

I wish you all good things for 2013 - especially lots of good books to read.

*waving* at Piyush

#19 Whatever I have read of On The Origin of Species, so far, it is quite good! Nope, no Wodehouses in the last 3-4-5 months, and no plans for Jan-Feb either, maybe March or April.

How has your reading been? And where had you disappeared to, for all these months?

#20 A very Happy New Year to you too Karen and wish happy reading to you too :)

#21 *waves back*

1. By Grace and Banners - Jordan & Sanderson

I HAD to read some WoT, the wait was killing me, and hence the Prologue!

The story didn't progress too much with the prologue, but it was nice to meet some of the characters, Nynaeve was the only one among the main characters who got a one page scene.

3/5

Hi Piyush! Great, one book done, only 74 more to go! Just a short question: What is "WoT"?

I am salivating in suspense of the next one... cannot wait! Didn't realise they'd released the prologue - now I'm torn between getting it and just holding on until the final volume is out. Oh no!

#24 Hey Kathy! WoT stands for Wheel of Time series, the series written originally by Robert Jordan and upon his demise, passed on to Brandon Sanderson for completion. Starting the year with some light reading, to be followed by Hard Times.

#25 I know! I couldn't wait either, HAD TO read the prologue, simply HAD TO!

I was wondering about the WoT too.

Where did I go? I thought I had a job in Hawaii, that didn't work out so I moved back to California. Picked up a PT position teaching math at the University of New Mexico. I'm having a good time. You been okay?

Yeah, I bought and read the prologue the day it came out. :) I can't blame you!

I thought the story progressed quite a bit though – a lot more pieces fell into place.

>27 jadebird: I was just thinking longingly about NM today. Where is that? Albuquerque? Hope you're loving it.

>28 kgodey: that is an encouraging report! I had no idea the series was done. Guess I'm gonna have to hunt for the book :)

Yep, Duke City, ABQ.

Welcome to NM, jadebird

Thank you! Have you started getting your Halloween book line-up together?

#27 Well, congratulations on your new job and the move! And good to see you back.

#28 & #29 And I procured my copy too, today. Probably will have to wait till the weekend for reading it though :(

Just stopping in to say hi.

#26: Thanks for the explanation, Piyush! I hope that you're having a relaxing weekend!

I can't believe I haven't made it in to this thread yet! Well, hello to you, hope your weekend AND your reading is going well. :)

*waving* at Piyush

#34 Hi Karen! Thanks for dropping by, hope the new year is treating you well.

#35 I had not so relaxing a weekend, but was able to catch up with a friend whose wedding I couldn't attend.

#36 Faith!! So good to see you! Hope you are doing well.

#37 *waves with both hands and a leg* at Stasia.

2. Hard Times - Charles Dickens

Well, all in all, it was very Dickensish , and while I enjoyed parts of the book immensely, as a package, I found it wanting. The ending, specially was so very hurried and abrupt.

*Spoiler Alert*

For instance, there is no explanation given for Mrs. Sparsit's intense dislike for Mr. Bounderby or for Louise. And despite her intense dislike for Mr. Bounderby, she goes to all that trouble to find and drag the old woman from her village.

There are many for such instances which don't make much sense or don't seem to add any value to the plot.

2.5/5

Hope your next read is better!

#39 Oh no - that's such a shame. I just finished and loved it. Re Mrs Sparsit, my thoughts were that she was totally in love with Bounderby and expected him to marry her - or at least things to carry on as usual. Nothing like a woman scorned...

#40 I hope so too, and given the books I am reading, I am quite optimistic.

#41 I got the feeling that she was always play acting. I agree on the "she wanted things to carry on as usual", but seeing how little Louisa generally cared, she need not have shown the conduct she did...and as a scorned woman, why take the trouble of finding the old woman, about whom she didn't know anything.

Well, for me it was just one of those books, that just doesn't click. Maybe my next Dickens would be better.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - F. Scott Fitzgerald

3/5

4. A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

Final installment of the Wheel of Time series. Sanderson, generally, did a good job tying up all the loose ends, doesn't mean the book couldn't have been better - epic ending, no complaints there!

Anything else and I would be dropping spoilers.

4/5

LOL -- I must get my hands on that one.

Agh - I'm only at about 30%... so far so good but I just want to devour it and don't have time!!

#44 Susan, have you read the rest of the Wheel of Time series?

#45 I had a similar issue, I wanted to read it really fast, but since I don't generally do re-reads, thought it best to go slow with my reading.

Yes, as far as I know...

I have never read any of the Wheel of Time series. I need to get to the series now that it is finally complete!

#47 You are all set for the final installment then! You will find it a little different than the other Sanderson books I think.

#48 Good time indeed, Stasia! I am sure you will like the series.

Haven't read a one of them. Stas, I agree with Piyush -- I think it's worth a read.

Same goes for Butcher's Furies of Calderon and Miller's Empress. That latter -- wow! what a trilogy!!

Aah, I finally got it - Sanderson of WoT is the same Sanderson of Elantris, isn't he? Somehow his name was familiar to me. :) By the way - today I ordered Elantris and it should arrive tomorrow, so I'm very happy that the weekend is coming!

#50 I haven't read those two either, I have only read a few books of the Dresden Files by Butcher

#51 Yes, yes, it is the same Sanderson indeed! I started reading his books, only after he got the WoT assignment and I wasn't disappointed at all! Elantris, by the way, was my first Sanderson read too and it got me hooked for sure!

WoT was my introduction to Sanderson too, although I started with Mistborn. I think he's one of the best fantasy writers today, if not the best. Elantris is great!

Seriously, Piyush, those series are superb. I do recommend them. I guess the safest thing would be to try one only and if you're not hooked, don't go on :) At the end of last year I did a re-read of the Calderon series and loved it -- again. :)

Looks like I'm gonna have to give Sanderson a whirl :)

Miller's Empress series is really intense, but good reading. I also liked the Calderon series, although sometimes it got a bit too action packed for me.

Intense is a good word for that series! Boy howdy I liked it. And I'm all for action-packed too, so maybe that's why I enjoyed Butcher's books :)

That action thing must run in the family. One of our cats was an action film fan. If the movie on the screen was a drama, he'd pass. But if it was an action film he was right there through the whole thing! LOL

I was out for last 4-5 days, on a tour of Singapore and Hong Kong - my first time to either of those countries. Unluckily, didn't find much time for sightseeing with my schedule as tight as it was, but thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

#53 Agree with you completely there, Kruti.

#54 I will definitely give them a try.

#56 Well, as long as your Cat wasn't into trying those stunts at home...

I saw someone on LT reading a Book, How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You and when I asked her (the reader, not the cat) about it, she said, if you knew my cat....

That might have been me... my cat is, uh, a complete and utter terror most days! But... she's so pretty... so she gets forgiven easily. LOL.

#59 Lol, yeah, humans or cats, the pretty ones always get forgiven. BTW, watched a belly dance performance in Singapore, in a Persian restaurant. And yes, I obviously know that it is different from Bollywood :D

Something long overdue, my Top 5 reads in 2012, picked across genres, in no particular order:-

1. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
2. Foundation - Isaav Asimov
3. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez
4. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
5. The Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami

5. Louise de la Vallière - Alexandre Dumas

3/5

6. The Listerdale Mystery - Agatha Christie

2.5/5

Well I've read two of your top 5. That doesn't happen to me very often. Kinda feels good.

So glad you got to go to Singapore et al... how fun is that?! Too bad you didn't have more free time... You went there and ate Persian?! Hope it was good. I would have to have dim sum 3x/day :)

>60 PiyushC:: LOL!!!! I love that you specified. Of course you would know! I'd expect nothing less. Haha. And I hope the dancer was a good one! You never know in restaurants... :) I'm also hoping for your sake that the food was amazing too!

Piyush,

so are you in Singapore/Hongkong because of your job? (Sorry, in case you've mentioned it already.)
I hope that you still find some time for sightseeing. It would be a pity if you're there for the first time and couldn't seize your stay.

How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you - this title is hilarious. Although I've got a dog now (see, I didn't want to take the risk anymore), I once had a cat, too. I'm convinced that she was hatching a plot...

Your top-five are well-chosen! And I like how varied they are.
I think my top first-reads would be East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, In One Person by John Irving, Game of Thrones by George Martin, and Tagebuch aus dem London des 17. Jahrhunderts by Samuel Pepys... (and maybe The Walking Dead).

Have a lovely weekend!

#63 Which 2? I am guessing Foundation and Sherlock Holmes. And did you like them?
I didn't eat any Chinese dishes on my trip, now that I think about it, well... I did have a few servings of Jasmine Tea at Mandarin Oriental, HK, if that counts!

#64 The friend who took me there told me that there is a better dancer who comes probably over weekends; told me she and her friends sometimes come to that restaurant for that dancer, apparently that dancer is quite pretty too!

#65 Kathy, I had gone to SG/HK briefly for a business visit, yes. Now I am back in India. I didn't get much time for sightseeing, my friend did take me for a 45 min boat ride on Singapore River, something even she hadn't done while staying there. And to a few other places, places she claimed were the places to be over weekends.

I haven't read either of the two Steinbecks, though both are on my TBR and I am yet to read anything by Irving either. Game of Thrones series I have read till the last one that came out, Book 5, A Dance with Dragons; I doubt I would ever read The Walking Dead - not a Zombie fan.

Have a great weekend you too.

7. The Immortals of Meluha - Amish Tripathi

First book of a Trilogy loosely based on Lord Shiva from Indian Mythology; the writing lacks the finesse and well, there are some other shortcomings. I liked the fact that the Author used a main character from Indian Mythology and used it to create his own story, and will give the benefit of doubt to the Author for his maiden series. Looks like I will continue with the series, unless Book 3 makes me change my mind.

2.5/5

Piyush,

Can't recommend highly enough that you get to East of Eden and that it sholld be the first of the Stienbeck between those two. In my top five all-time and often I think of it as my favortie of all books.

#66: Piyush, your business trip sounds nice, especially the boat ride! I took my chance last year and participated in the Steinbeckathon, that's why I can recommend both titles now. :) If you decided to read something by Irving, I would also warmly recommend The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Oh, and when it comes to The Walking Dead: What I like about the graphic novel is that it's very much about human relations and how they change in a period of crisis. The zombies are just a bonus. ;)

Pepys? I want to read Pepys. I've only read quotes.

Cider House just wasn't for me. Read half of it, and that felt like far too much for me. Maybe it would go down better some other year :)

#70: Hello Susan, Pepys was mostly a lot of fun to read. You really get a good impression of his time. He can also be very cynical - and critical against his contemporaries. Although there are some entries which you simply have to comment with "too much information!".
I remember that it took me the first one hundred pages before I could fully enjoy The Cider House Rules. But once I got into the book and used to Irving's narrative style, I loved it. So, I can understand when it's a little bit too much for the reader. :)

#68 Wow! That is some recommendation! The next Steinback I read will have to be East of Eden then.

#69 The Cider House Rules was the Irving which was in my TBR anyways, I will add A Prayer for Owen Meany to the list too.

8. The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

Murakami loves to write short stories and I somehow hate to read his short stories (compared to his novels). This collection of short stories was another such bitter-sweet combination which left me wondering if it short stories I don't like much, or is it Murakami's short stories that I have problem with. After much deliberation and looking back at my records and logs, I realised that while my reading doesn't consist of many short stories, there are many collections and individual short stories that I have loved.

Among the ones that Murakami has written too, there are almost a third of them which I absolutely adore, and with many of the rest, I simply get lost!

3/5

I've never read East of Eden either, but I've heard really fantastic things about it. It's in my goals this year.

I'm not intentionally switching gears, but I'm not a big short story fan either, exceptions: some Bret Harte shorts, Avram Davidson's Or All the Seas with Oysters, and Ray Bradbury's Colonel Stonesteel's Genuine Home-Made Truly Egyptian Mummy.

Just realised that Kriti (kgodey) and Rachel (The_Hibernator) are in my "Members with your Books" at No. 21 and 24 respectively. In my earlier years at LT, I didn't know anyone from that list and had stopped looking at it, but today the names just popped out and I thought I would share.

#75 Ren, I have a selected set of short stories I like too, including a few written by Edith Wharton. But to be honest, like plays and poetry, I haven't read enough to form an opinion whether I like them or not.

Wow, I haven't read any Wharton in a long time. I should fix that.

Susan was here :) Hope you're doing well.

And I've been reading regularly but not commenting--also hope all is going well for you.

#78 I didn't read any Wharton last year either, I need to fix that too!

#79 Susan's presence was noted and appreciated. Piyush is doing quite alright, thank you.

#80 Minor nuisances/irritants here and there, but nothing serious :)

9. Live and Let Die - Ian Fleming

Second book in the Bond series, very simplistic and I yet don't know if I should say Bondish, the books seem quite different from the movies. Book 2 of the series and no fancy gadgets so far!

A short and hence, not disappointing read.

2.5/5

I also (finally) managed to finish one more Chapter, Chapter VI of the Origin of Species, very much on my way to finish the book by end of this year.

Oooh, Ian Fleming. Perfect when you're in the mood for it.

I'm so glad you are still plugging away at On the Origin of Species.

Hmmm - I think I'll stick to the decision I made after reading Casino Royale - that is that I'll stick to the films :)

How is Origin going? I keep thinking I should read this - but it seems possibly a little heavy for this year.

#83 Agreed, probably when you are on a beach sipping martinis - they are different kinds of books compared to what I generally read, but entertaining enough none the less.

On the Origin of Species shall not be given up upon :D

#84 I plan to read the entire Bond series, unless I grow too bored of them somewhere in the middle.

Origin is one of the spillovers from last year, when he had a group read going, Ren also being a part of the group.

This year, you may want to check out the "The 2013 Science, Religion, and History group read discussion thread".
http://www.librarything.com/topic/146538

10. Raiders from the North - Alex Rutherford

Book 1 of the Moghul series, part of my about India / Indian authors reads this year. Growing up in India, Moghuls form part of our History syllabus. However, the information contained in those books is quite superfluous and very biased. Hence, it was refreshing to read a third party account of the Moghuls.

3/5

What else is on your India reads list?

Hey Mac, great seeing you here!

Apart from the Mughal Series and Shiva Trilogy, I plan to read A Passage to India, The Siege of Krishnapur, River of Gods and a few more I will pick as I go along, maybe Shantaram...

I checked up on River of Gods; I'm going to look for that one!

Recommend Midnight's Children

#89 Kriti recommends River of Gods very highly, and I am intrigued too, with a Sci-Fi based in India.

#90 Yes yes, Midnight's Children or some other Rushdie, but most likely Midnight's Children itself.

11. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Surprisingly good! Didn't think I would like it, and yet I did. The author did a wonderful job of wrapping the gooey, romantic stuff with humour and the occasional bouts of self pity didn't throw me off either. Guess, I will give the movie a try too, my tolerance to Romantic movies is way higher than that for books - some of them, I have been known to enjoy too!

3.5/5

The movie was really not very good. The book was so much more thoughtful and the movie seemed to just want to make a cute romantic comedy. There were moments of very thoguhtful writing and philosophy in the book and it surprised me. But the movie...not so much.

I can imagine why the movie would be a romantic, and nothing else, after all there were guys in all the 3 locations and then there was David - the Director probably took the easy way out.

My favorite books, aside from fairy tale kind of collections when I was a kid, are missionary biographies. Some real gems.

And you noted that Clarke book on my list? He lived in Sri Lanka for a time (not just a visit).

#95 Yes, I had seen and added that book, Fountains of Paradise, right? I wasn't however planning to read it this year, there are other Clarke books sitting on my shelf, Childhood's End, among others.

I've got Childhood's End on my shelf too.

You planning to read it this year?

Hi, Piyush. I need to read Fountains of Paradise one of these days. Clarke was one of the first authors I read in science fiction, but I haven't read a lot of his later works.

Hey Roni! I haven't read Fountains of Paradise either. Like you, Clarke was one of the first Sci-Fi authors I read as well, but haven't read any of his works other than 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey 2. I do, however, plan to read 1-2 of his books this calendar year and Childhood's End is likely to be one of them.

I loved The Deep Range, Childhood's End and Tales from the White Hart in high school--the ones you read hadn't been written yet then!

Hi Piyush, catching up I noticed that I have your top read of 2012, Lord Jim, unread and somewhat forgotten on my shelf, maybe because I didn't buy it, it was a library giveaway. So it just took a great jump forward on mount tbr.

#86: Hello Piyush! Your Indian list sounds very intriguing! Maybe you can fit in Bollywood by Shashi Tharoor. I liked that one quite well. I'll keep an eye on your Indian reads, because I would love to broaden my horizons. Have a great week!

#101 Another way to look at the ones I have read, is that they were written before I was born even!

#102 If you have read and liked any Conrad, you are in for a treat!

#103 Thanks Kathy, hope you have a great week too (or whatever is left of it). I will see if I can squeeze this one in, subject to availability, etc.

12. The Secret of the Nagas - Amish Tripathi

2.5/5

13. The Oath of the Vayuputras - Amish Tripathi

2.5/5

Supporting Piyush's pimp of Conrad - he has quickly made his way to my list of favorites over the last few years.

My Conrad read for this year will be Victory.

It has been 4 years since I took to Conrad and he has been going from strength to strength - a Conrad has featured in my top 5 for two years running now, last year it was The Secret Agent.

I read two last year, don't know if I'll get to one this year. We'll see

14. The Clicking of Cuthbert - P. G. Wodehouse

A bad read, barring a couple of stories, my lack of golf experience not withstanding. And I am pretty sure my ignorance/non-interest of golf wasn't the sole reason for my not-so-good experience with the book.

2.5/5

15. Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton

A novella by Wharton, different to her usual stuff, powerful none the less.

3.5/5

And also finished Chapter VII of The Origin of Species.

Way more than I gave the Wharton. Everything else I loved from her I loved - that one I hated. Urghhh.

#110 Well, this was my least favourite Wharton too, Age of Innocence and House of Mirth were 5 star reads for me. Having said that, the book was still a Wharton, and I still liked it.

This book is the most depressing book I have read this year so far, but still way better than the record holder for last year - The Jungle.

LOL - yes, I really liked The Jungle but it does sort of suck all the joy out of the world!

Hmmm. See, I didn't care for House of Mirth that much. Now I'm curious about Ethan Fromme

#112 Yeah, but, as depressing as it is, it is really good!

#113 It is a short read Mac, I am sure you can squeeze it in, whenever you wish to.

16. Best Kept Secret - Jeffrey Archer

3/5

17. Brothers at War - Alex Rutherford

3/5

18. The Guns of Navarone - Alistair MacLean

4/5

re: childhood's end, don't know if I'll read it this year or not. I haven't read Wharton or Conrad, to the best of my knowledge... maybe after WOT.

#116 Those two have quickly risen in the ranks of my favourite authors, I hope you will not be disappointed either.

19. Falling Free - Lois McMaster Bujold

3/5

20. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

Surprisingly funny!

4/5

21. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - Jeff Kinney

3.5/5

*waving* at Piyush

I enjoyed the first book of the Wimpy Kid series and the others not as much. They seemed to go downhill after the first one, IMHO.

Yeah, Falling Free is interesting, but just doesn't have the charisma of Bujold's other books, imho.

#119 *waves at Stasia*
I am coming around to your opinion on the series, first book was quite funny, but then, as it happens with most series, it is downhill from there. Even so, they are providing enough returns to the effort required.

#120 Agreed! There was nothing wrong with this book, and yet, as you said, it lacked the charisma of a Bujold.

I have decided on my next fantasy series as well, Tawny Man.

22. The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas

Not the greatest of endings. And definitely didn't live up to the hype and the expectations.

3.5/5

And Chapter VIII of The Origin of Species - moving along at just the right pace I think.

I keep meaning to give Robin Hobb another go - read some of his about 15 years ago and wasn't blown away, but it's been on my list to re-visit/re-try for ages. Have you read any of his other stuff?

#123 I read The Farseer Trilogy which is kind of a prequel to the Tawny Man series and it was very, very good! She is easily one of my favourite fantasy authors now. I hope you will have a better experience with her now, than what you had in your teens :)

Oops - embarassing him/her mix up then! Bad me (I had a male ex who was Robin so it seemed natural)! But def on my list.

Next fantasy I think will be Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy which I picked up after his work on WoT.

#125 Mistborn Trilogy is quite good, you should try Elantris as well, it is a stand alone book.

23. Fool's Errand - Robin Hobb

3/5

24. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw - Jeff Kinney

3/5

25. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift

2/5

26. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - Jeff Kinney

3/5

27. The Golden Fool - Robin Hobb

3/5

28. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinney

2.5/5

29. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney

2.5/5

Piyush, you haven't read the Liveship Traders trilogy? It's set between the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies and also features the Fool.

#130 No Kriti, I haven't read the Liveship Traders yet, it is there on my TBR though. After Fool's Fate, I will probably take a break from Hobb for some time - I didn't know, by the way, that Liveship Traders is set between the Farseer and Tawny Man, else I probably would have read that before Tawny Man, thanks for letting me know.

30. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel - Jeff Kinney

And that marks the end of the 7 book series. As Stasia predicted, it increasingly grew less funny as the series progressed.

2/5

31. The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino

Trust a Japanese to throw an unseen twist in a seemingly simple murder story. Surprisingly refreshing!

3.5/5

32. Fool's Fate - Robin Hobb

The last book in the Farseer Trilogy - far too much of child marriage and teen pregnancies for my taste. Otherwise, quite alright, without being really thrilling.

3/5

33. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux

3.5/5

34. The Rithmatist - Brandon Sanderson

4/5

35. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

Part of my India specific reading for this year. Quite a page turner!

3/5

36. The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne

Vernish, longish featuring one of the most influential (fictional) characters of literature. Any more and I would be dropping spoilers.

3/5

37. Beloved - Toni Morrison

1.5/5

38. Jaws - Peter Benchley

2.5/5

Oh no - I'm really sorry you didn't like Beloved - it's one of my top 20 reads.

Just wanted to write that now I want to read Beloved even less, then saw Bekka's post. Well, will have to get to some Morrison eventually...

I just downloaded the audio book of Suspect X, the sample was quite good and easy to follow.

#137 & #138 My two words for the book: forced and fake. I just couldn't like it, and it had nothing to do with the seemingly bleak tone of the book, I mean I have read and liked The Jungle this year.

39. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

Brilliant! One of the best, if not the best Murakami I have read.

5/5

Oh, I'm so glad you liked it! I must reread that one soon!

#141 Liked it would be an understatement, this one was my read of the year till now.

Interestingly, though you seem to have read 6 and I, 8 Murakamis, there are only 2 common books including this one. And there are two Murakamis you clearly liked more than The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, both of them unread for me which definitely bodes well for my future Murakami reads.

I remember I read Kafka on the Shore in quite a rush, I think in one day, after it had been on my shelf for years. It was my first Murakami and I felt overwhelmed by it, in a good way. Then I quickly read 3 more, WuBC among them, I think it was the third one. I also liked Norwegian Wood a lot. I read South of the Border in German in what was recently declared a very bad translation, they just published a new and better version.

1Q84 I read after a long Murakami break and my reaction was similar to "Kafka", I couldn't put it down. I'll try WuBC again after another break, because I somehow feel I haven't done it full justice, although I enjoyed it a lot. It was slower, quieter than "Kafka" and I think it has more depth. "Kafka" in comparison was more juvenile and somewhat rough.

Underground can't be compared to the others, and it's the only non-fiction Murakami I've read so far.

I try to not read more than 2-3 Murakamis in a year, I have already read 2 this year, Kafka on the Shore is a good candidate for later this year or the next.

40. The Cobra - Frederick Forsyth

Kind of a disappointment after The Day of the Jackal.

2.5/5

41. Salvation of a Saint - Keigo Higashino

My second read by Higashino after The Devotion of Suspect X. While The Devotion of Suspect X was compact and intense, this one diffracted quite a bit. Far too many coincidences and the female detective was quite annoying.

3/5

#140 I too am so glad you enjoyed this. I agree - my favourite to date. Though saying that I have read 4 and seriously enjoyed all of them, though for me WuBC def has something extra special.

#146 I have enjoyed all my Murakamis too, except his short story collections, The Elephant Vanishes and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, which I liked less than others. Ironically, Murakami enjoys writing his short stories more than his novels! For me, while some of his short stories are quite fantastic, quite a few of them don't give the same kind of thrill you get while reading a Murakami.

42. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher

Dresden files continues to hold my attention, I love the way the characters keep evolving with each new book. The 6th installment has the least wimpy version of Dresden so far!

3/5

Oooh - keep going, they get better and better :) I'm just itching for the next one!

Yeah, this series is an anomaly of sorts - while most series worsen with each subsequent sequel, the Dresden Files seem to be an exception to the rule!

July 24 was an eventful day. The afternoon was spent listening to Mr. Joseph Biden, Vice President, US, in person, the evening interacting with the Nobel Prize winning economist Prof. Amartya Sen.

Mr. Biden, predictably, talked about free markets; Prof. Sen about role of state in education and health, among other things (redistribution of wealth was briefly touched upon, in response to a question and there were no left wing political comments or criticisms, veiled or otherwise).

If asked to choose, I would lean more towards the free markets economics championed by Mr. Biden; but it was Prof. Sen, the man, the 83 year old who spoke without a break for over an hour, on a day when he wasn't at his best physically, who got through to me.

I was won over by the man, and not necessarily the economics. I am a fan. A convert.

How exciting, Piyush!

Hi Roni, it sure was :)

43. The Firm - John Grisham

This one was my second Grisham, the first being The Chamber and both being Legal thrillers by the same author, I can't help, but draw parallels and contrasts between the two books. The plot for The Firm was more shocking and incredible, and the book read more like an Ian Fleming novel. While The Chamber had a young lawyer trying to save his grandfather, the scale of this story was grand.

Now a similarity between the two books, and I am afraid it isn't flattering - despite the fact that both books are totally centred on the main character at the expense of sacrificing the other characters, the characters lack the ability to draw you in, to get you emotionally attached, vested, to the fate of the character and the story. They are very impersonal with superficial emotions, you know how they think, but not how they feel.

A decent read all things considered and I wouldn't mind reading some more Grisham in future.

*edited to add the review*

3/5

44. The Tower of Silence - Gyan Prakash

Summary from Harper Collins website:

"A long-lost Sexton Blake mystery, 1920s detective fiction at its best

Historian Gyan Prakash of Princeton University stumbled upon part of the unpublished manuscript of Tower of Silence by Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier (or Chaiwala, as he called himself) in the British Library. After scouring several Mumbai libraries, he found the missing pages.

It is a thrilling tale that begins on a blistering April afternoon in Poona with the click of a camera shutter. An aerial photograph is taken from a small aircraft flying directly over the Tower of Silence. The Zorastrian community is thrown into turmoil and horrified grief at this heinous act.

Beram, a suave wealthy man who drives around in a Rolls Royce but is a devout Parsi, decides to exact revenge. Thus begins a sensational cat-and-mouse game between Beram and Sexton Blake, England’s most famous detective."

The biggest "mystery" in connection with this book, was the original author "Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier Chaiwala" himself. The book itself, was quite amateurish, with some supernatural phenomenon and detective tricks which were quite a bore, in search of a better word, a search I am not willing to conduct for the purpose of writing this review. The book was very racist, but the racism was so obvious and oversold, that it was more amusing than annoying. All in all, a forgettable read.

1.5/5

45. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain

Wow! A superb thriller with a minimal of characters (and really weird ones at that!) and hardly the semblance of a plot. And yet, the story progresses, like a ticking time bomb, till everything comes to culmination. An interesting read, despite the lack of character development, Hitchcockish in a way (the movies), with the final twist being accidental, a point where it deviates from the creations of the brilliant filmmaker.

4/5

You've got my attention with #156! Intriguing :)

I prefer the Assassin and Fool series to the Liveship books. I'll be interested in your take on them once you get there.

Did you read Butcher's fantasy series? I love them. Did a re-read of them recently. Just not sure I'd enjoy the Dresden books... but everyone seems to love them. Glad you're liking them.

The Testament and Street Lawyer are probably my favorite grishams but I haven't read The Chamber. I seriously recommend his Christmas story -- hilarious. Hmmm... I wonder if you'd find it as funny as I do since you're not American. Hmmm. I know some folks like his regular fiction, but I can't say I'm a fan of those.

#156 Ooh - excellent, a firm push up the TBR pending list to that one then!

#157 I will probably tackle the Liveship books next year, I liked Assassin better than the Fool Series.

Dresden Files are the only books of Butcher I have read, but I definitely won't mind trying his fantasy series either, this one probably next year as well. This year's fantasy quota will be filled with a few of the Malazan books, some Neil Gaiman and probably some Riordan books.

I haven't read many Grishams, he seems to be quite decent, I will definitely try Skipping Christmas, lets see how I like it.

#157 & #158 I can honestly say that this one was a very different read than any other - and it actually reads funny, despite the impending doom one can sense. I get the feeling that this is one of those books, which would have been excellent as a play as well.

Skipping Christmas is my favourite Grisham, but it's nothing like his other books.

#160 In as much as Skipping Christmas seems to be a comedy(?)? Well, I will procure a copy and read it sometime next year I think.

46. Echoes from the Dead - Johan Theorin

I just wish people will stop comparing all Scandinavian authors with Steig Larsson. A thriller based based in Oland, Sweden where a small child goes missing from an island, without a trace. Does that ring a bell? But well, the story, the narration, the outcome, the quality of writing, all differ from the Steig Larsson masterpiece. Not a bad read, but nothing commendable about the book either.

3/5

47. 1st to Die - James Patterson

Horrible, predictable, annoying. Suffice it to say, I won't be reading any more Pattersons in the future.

1.5/5

Can anyone recommend any of these books? I am tempted to try a few of them, but the book covers continue to discourage me.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kaitlyndavis/10-kick-butt-ya-heroines-youve-never-heard-...

48. Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality - Manjit Singh

It is like High School Physics revisited with all the cool stuff that was missing in those textbooks. Manjit Kumar has done a great job tackling this otherwise overwhelming topic. It sure was the recounting of the golden era of physics with such stalwarts, some of them, less recognised, just in contrast with the Einsteins, Bohrs, Heisenbergs and Schrodingers of the world. I personally didn't even know of the existence of Pauli, whom the author has equated with Einstein in sheer intellect. The personal chemistry between those scientists, animated through the correspondences between them, the gradual timeline with non-gradual developments in physics were all very well manifested. The book weakened in the last few chapters, probably because of the complexity of the phenomenon the author was tackling with. The author, perhaps, would have been better off, if he had given a conceptual summary of the developments in the last 25 years, rather than doing such an unsatisfactory job of forcing a closure. There was nothing I gained from the author's explanation of the future efforts made on the leggett inequality or the inequality itself, other than the name itself. The book lost some of its hold on me in the aforementioned last few chapters, but the overall experience was fantastic.

4/5

Re: James Patterson, I like his Alex Cross books quite a bit. Sorry to hear the Women's Murder Club book was a bust.

#163 Anything by Tamora PIerce is always worth a go IMO! Also I read the first 20 ish of the Fearless ones a long time ago - surprisingly I really did enjoy them. They are kinda young/short but def worth a go.

#165 It was a real bad experience, and that too so soon after The Postman Rings Twice. Horrible!

#166 Yeah, I have never read Tamora Pierce, should give it a try soon - Fearless novels I may try as well, they do sound interesting.

If reading Tamora I recommend you start with the Alanna: The First adventure series - they were her first and IMO still the best. Plus these ar ein the same universe but later on so they might potentialy ruin the earlier ones (if you see what I mean).

http://bookriot.com/2013/08/28/top-10-books-youre-embarrassed-admit-youve-read/

Yes, I am embarrassed to have read the first book of Twilight, The Da Vinci Code and Atlas Shrugged; not embarrassed to have read The Hunger Games.

This quote - still funny:-

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and ... Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." — Stephen King.

They have a top hated books list as well, but I didn't feel my thread warrants its presence.

On a similar note, who would pretend to have read, Fifty Shades of Grey beats me!
http://bookriot.com/2013/07/17/top-20-books-you-pretend-to-have-read/

#168 Thanks for the suggestion Bekka, that is where I will start then :)

Of your 10 kick-ass heroines, I've only read the Tamora Pierce as well, and I like them.

#171 More power to Pierce, as recommended by Bekka, I will start with Alanna: The First adventure series and sooner rather than later.

Okay, this looks interesting - a Netflix for e-books!

http://bookriot.com/2013/09/06/oyster-netflix-books-youve-waiting/

49. Stardust - Neil Gaiman

This marks my debut with Gaiman books, an author I have been meaning to read for a long time, but it took a RL Book Club for me to get around to him. Having said that, I am happy that get around to him I eventually did. I am not sure how representative Stardust is, of his general writing style, it just seemed so different a book, so I will restrict my thoughts to the book in question. How Gaiman transformed this story from a bunch of fairy tales woven together into a coherent and may I add, amazing story continued to amaze me throughout the novel.

The book has more than its fair share of bloodshed, and yet there is no slaying of the great evil by the hero and saving the world stuff - which makes it without doubt a most refreshing fantasy to read, after all the other stereotypical ones, no matter how well written. And the ending, well, it is like no other ending either, with its simplicity and realness, an irony in a fantasy if you ask me, and yet after the way the entire book read, it came as no great surprise.

4/5

50. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

Another book for my RL book club, and one I was hugely excited about, the book being a Wilde after all. While I won't go as far as to say Plays aren't my thing, they are definitely not my staple reading either. There have been a number of plays I have read and enjoyed, but I always have suspected in it being my luck more than anything else, in picking those plays - not to mention, the not-so-decent plays are thankfully, easily forgotten. The witticism, the cynicism, the antipathy, were all there as they could be expected to be and the play more or less delivered to my ridiculously high expectations.

And the quotes, oh the quotes!

"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."

“My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!”

“Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”

...and there were many more...

5/5

The Importance of Being Earnest was one of my all-time favourites growing up (and still is!), and I love Neil Gaiman. I think Stardust is fairly representative of his work, although it's a bit less "weird" than some of his others.

Your ringing review of The Postman Always Rings Twice makes the second time recently I've heard raves! I must get to it!!

I listened to several James Patterson's on audio; then they all started sounding the same.

I've not heard of any of the YA heroines in your list; gives me some new series to look into if I ever run out (like that will EVER happen with LT adding mountains to my TBR stack daily!). :)

#175 The Importance of Being Earnest will surely remain a favourite of mine as well, right alongside Man and Superman.

If Stardust is one of the less "weird" ones, it will quite interesting how his usual works are!

#176 Hi Tina, you can't go much wrong with The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Patterson was a bad experience, a few good books should help me get over the memory, like it thankfully happened with Sheldon *shudders*

Lol, I will still await your feedback if you do run across any of those books, I haven't received feedback on anything other than the Tamora Pierce books.

51. Empire of the Moghul: Ruler of the World - Alex Rutherford

Book 3 of the Moghul series with a lot of Akbar and a lot of Jahangir (Salim) and their not-so-great relationship. Akbar is probably the most celebrated king in India, because of his many virtues, tolerance towards other faiths being principally one of them. Rutherford portrayed Akbar in an all too human light with his virtues and his follies. The book also manages to bring out the difference in character between Humayun and Akbar and later Akbar and Jahangir, with Akbar coming out as the more rational, if less likeable (as a person) in comparison to his father and his son. For instance, for Akbar, the matter of highlighting and showcasing his religious tolerance was as important as being religiously tolerant, his marriage with the various Rajput princesses (including Jodhabai who hated Akbar with a passion) being a prime example of the principle.

No piece of work dealing with the relationship of Akbar and Jahangir can indeed be complete without the mention of Anarkali, right up to her being buried alive in a wall. The author admits to the story being his fabrication, rather than based on the literature he found and studied, a testament to the popularity of the story in Indian folklore.

Another very readable installment by Alex Rutherford

3.5/5

Re: the YA heroines, the only books I've read are the Daughters of the Moon series... and that was only because I was visiting someone who basically only owned those books and I was bored (this was ten years ago). Don't read them, they're basically equivalent to Twilight from what I can remember, although maybe slightly better written.

#179 Thanks for the heads up, shall stay miles away from the Daughters of the Moon series. To be honest seems like only the Tamora Pierce books are safe for now, until I get more feedback.

A vote for your favourite 3 characters!

http://bookriot.com/2013/09/17/favorite-literary-character/?doing_wp_cron=137943...

52. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

Read for a RL Book Club. My first feeling after reading this tome of a book, was that I was SCAMMED! Upon further examination, careful consideration and deeper deliberation, I came to the conclusion that my prima facie, snap judgement was indeed spot on! Scammed I definitely was, no two ways about it! Lured by reputation, snared by that horrible book-lust, I was made to read a 400+ page book, a book with little semblance of a plot, a static storyline and god-awful characters who first irritated, then agitated and later annoyed me to no end. And the character development, what to say about the character development, or the lack thereof, that even after wading through this book and making it to the end, we still have only and elementary and superficial understanding about the characters. Was the purpose to show the volatility of Spaniards? Perhaps...but it still doesn't excuse the blatant disregard to even making an attempt at understanding the thought process of any of the characters. I am at a loss to comprehend, how could this doorstopper of a thing be dubbed as a piece of Literature, a Type II error perhaps?

The Old Man and the Sea, was probably in the not-good-not-bad category, and even that had a story, which moved, even if painstakingly! Such frivolities and excesses can, however, be overlooked in short stories. My feedback – Stay away from Hemingway! Read Alistair Maclean if you want to read War stories.

1.5/5

With Amazon buying Goodreads, probably we will soon see more people visiting LT.

http://bookriot.com/2013/04/03/alternatives-to-goodreads/

53. Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

And thus do I start with the Malazan series. A very voluminous book and a very voluminous series - something which made me delay and incur false starts a few times. It didn't help that I was quite lost during the first half of the book, where the story kept jumping and in the absence of any background, it was difficult to keep track of the characters, timeline or the story. I persisted and was richly rewarded in the second half when the book really picked up pace, the dots began to connect and the characters got fleshed out.

This is one of those series in which everything is gray, and there are multilateral angles to the story with no good side or an evil one, except possibly the Empress Laseen (whose story we don't know yet). There are lots of political and social undercurrents; unlikely alliances and truces; a world where no faction ever trusts another.

And then there is action. Truly unconventional, amazing action. What more can one expect? Needless to say, I will be diving into Book 2 soon.

4/5

54. The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson

A stand-off novella from Sanderson, a form which was just right for this work. After reading so many of his works, it is easy to see a pattern emerge, in which he uses simple objects like colours, stones, chalk, metals, lenses, etc. as articles of power, the theme being a simple object can be used with varying effect based on the skill of the user. This book was a little different with soulstones (not always necessary) and the individual's skills being used to forge - change the history of an object making it take the properties and appearance of another one.

Shai, the master forger was caught red-handed at a stealing attempt and her skill being held in blasphemous contempt, her seemingly only choice is to rewrite the consciousness of the comatose king within 90 days to survive her execution sentence. Oh, a couple of small roadblocks, what was expected of her has never been done before; and she has to carry her work while trying not to get knocked off by the council members after she finishes the tougher parts of her work.

A decent piece, even if it lacked the usual twists and turns of a usual Sanderson book.

3/5

I'm glad you liked book 1 of Malazan. I disagreed with his bit about reading half-way through and chucking it if you didn't like it. But right now I can't remember why! LOL Maybe the book didn't come together for me til the end. I'm stalled somewhere halfway through.

I enjoy Tamora P too. Nothing like Erickson's series however LOL

Love your enthusiams about Wilde. Joy to read.

(we've got the movie Stardust. does that count?)

I was pretty much clueless in the first half as well, second half brought it together for me.

I think it will be only in 2014 that I will be able to read Pierce.

Wilde is always a wild ride.

I haven't seen the movie, hence can't comment, but I doubt it can catch the book even if it somehow faithfully portrays the book. To be honest, I am not even sure Stardust would make a good movie, do watch and let me know!

I will be reading The Graveyard Book for my Halloween Reads as well.

Stardust is a great movie. It doesn't accurately portray all the events in the book, but I think it portrays the spirit of it very well.

#187 Thanks, I will look up the movie then.

55. Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan has never been my favourite character, be it the comics or the cartoons - now Mowgli was an entirely different story! And the irony strikes. In the last year or so, I have read both the Jungle Books, which were barely readable, the characters nowhere as snappy as I remembered them from my childhood cartoons.

And so, it was with great skepticism that I started with Tarzan of the Apes, and was I surprised! The writing was very simple, the story captivating and the characters endearing, even if stereotypical - be it the pretty, pretty Jane, the absent minded Professor or the mighty Tarzan. The never ending victories of Tarzan were not dull, nor were the highly noticeable and distinct villains bothersome. The repetitive fainting of poor Esmeralda did get on my nerves a few time, but well, she had a character to play as well, did I mention stereotypical?

The ending of the book didn't lack in flourish either and I am left wondering, whether to dare the sequel and risk getting my impression shattered or go the way of Dune and Ender's Game and leave the series on a high with fond memories and none of the regrets.

4/5

I loved the Tarzan books for years. And then, one day, I couldn't handle his prejudices any more. I'd say some of the later ones are really good stories.

Well, that gives me hope, I will probably try a few more then.

I grew up on them. Read and re-read and re-read some more. :)

Ok, so I have started my blog and am done configuring and setting things up. The entire blog as of now is an experiment - I realised I have been away from this space for far too long and this will be my training and exploring ground.

For instance, I have already monetised it, but not using Adsense, the default choice, but a third party agency. The intent is not really to generate revenues, even if my blog actually attracted that kind of traffic - The said agency doesn't really have any vendors in India, and the Amazon search tool I added directs to the UK site - but it has been great fun setting it up - learning a bit of Java, making permutations and combinations work and so on.

Presently, I have only added the reviews of my reads since August, and all the posts are exclusively about books, lets see how things work out.

Anyways, here is the link to the blog, comments and criticisms welcome.
http://thereadersdilemma.blogspot.in/

56. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Halloween 2013#1

I know this is a highly unusual book to kick-start my Halloween readings this year, but the book easily earns its place amongst the spookiest and the creepiest books out there. Nurse Ratched has easily made its mark as one of the most well known (if hated or feared or both) literary characters. I saw and recognised the Cuckoo setting in the "The Real Slim Shady" video, long before I ever read the book (even if I am unsure if Eminem ever formally recognised the inspiration). And then, there was the Jack Nicholson starrer movie version, not to mention countless references in books, TV Series and movies.

At a superficial level, the book is about a tug of war between the infamous Nurse Ratched (also referred to as the Big Nurse) and the incorrigible McMurphy. The anti-authoritarian stand Ken Kesey takes through this book is quite obvious and very, very well done - in sheer literary value and impact, it is just a notch below Orwell's 1984, less Dystopian and more realistic, which probably makes it scarier?

And then you start peeling and keep peeling and you are never sure how deep the rabbit hole goes. From the physically very feminine Nurse Ratched's sheer dominance over everyone else in the Institution - patients, other nurses, ward-boys, doctors, etc. to the imaginary (?) "Combine" the Chief is so afraid of.

There is a very obviously sexist tone to the book I didn't really care much about, but I will put it down to the times in which the book was written and move on, which is probably easier for me to do as a guy.

The ending of the book is no less powerful, quite Kafkaesque in its tragedy if you ask me, but probably absolutely necessary for the message to get across.

4/5

57. Blockade Billy - Stephen King

Halloween 2013#2

The second book this Halloween Season happens to be a novella by Stephen King, whose another work, Doctor Sleep in on my list for this Halloween.

This baseball story is based in the 50s and focusses on the magnificent, but short career of the Catcher, Billy. Sounds pretty routine, right? Well, there is quite a bit of build up to the story, the details, always the details, closet skeletons, and some darkness, but it is a summer breeze compared to a typical King work. I know this is not much of a review, but then, this was not much of a book, neither in quantity, nor in content.

3/5

Congrats to starting an own blog! It's bookmarked, and I'll try to follow.

Very interesting Hemingway review. I felt all indifferent about The Old Man and the Sea, didn't much like The Sun Also Rises aka Fiesta, but loved the restored edition of A Moveable Feast. That one however is quite autobiographical, short vignettes, no novel. I had "TWtBT" in my hands countless times in bookshops, testlistened as audio, but "something" always kept me off of it. I just feel I won't like it, can't say why. Well, there are too many other books on the 1,001 I can read before getting to this one.

Great review of Catch-22--I read it in college, and got a lot more out of it than I would have reading on my own.

#195 Thanks Nathalie :)

The Old Man and the Sea was okayish for me, the short length made it all the more bearable. Unfortunately, that was not the case with FWtBT. This was one of those 1001s that I feel I may not have read; even though the motivation was my RL book club, and not it being a 1001 book.

#196 Hi Roni! While Catch 22 is one of my all time favourite books, I don't think I have reviewed it. To be honest, I don't think I could do justice to the book if I were to review it, it is just one of those books for me.

Were you perchance talking about the review of The Catcher in the Rye? If yes, then many thanks :)

58. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Halloween 2013#3

So, I am lagging by a couple of weeks or so in my reviews, and I am only in my second month of starting this blog, troubling signs indeed.

Less troubling was The Graveyard Book, which read like a walk in a park, or rather, a graveyard. It was just the perfect combination of warm and weird, spooky and funny, a supernatural tale of vendetta like no other. Gaiman possesses the gift of taking out the sting off the grisliest of situations and putting you in that dreamlike haze where everything is possible and the horrible is as fascinating as the fantastic.

The book starts with a triple murder and revolves around the sole survivor in the family, a toddler, over the course of the book, turned young boy, named Nobody Owens (a little Dean Koontzie in the naming convention, aren't we?) who lives, you guessed it, in a Graveyard. With the ghostie people no less. And a lot many more interesting dead and undead species. And then, there is the tale of the revenge, as odd as it can get, against a whole tribe of people, all named Jack (now I am picking A Tale of Two Cities reference). I am quite sure there would be multiple such references which I have missed, and the whole book could have been a spoof, it it weren't so brilliant and coherent. There are plenty of cool characters, and to balance it out, the most cool headed actions in the book end up being despised.

To be honest, after reading two of his books, I am still undecided if Gaiman's works are a spoof or ordinary stories looked through a funny glass, whatever they maybe, they are so damn entertaining.

4/5

59. Brother Thomas - Dean Koontz

Halloween 2013#4

This was my 3rd consecutive year reading one of the books in the Odd Thomas series. I have been subjected to many series which get progressively worse with each sequel, and I am afraid, this one is no exception. The novelty, that was Odd Thomas, has worn off by now, replaced by a sense of predictability to his actions and the plot of the book.

While the characters in the opening book were all too human, and wonderful for that, the subsequent books have featured characters off a stage performance, delivering well-rehearsed lines with ease and the protagonist follows the pattern all too often. Needless to say, I could not sympathise or relate to any of the characters in this installment.

The plot which used to be good vs. evil has gradually and finally taken a leap into the world of the fantastic, and I can only wish I could have used that expression in a positive sense.

The overall effect being – the book reads like a cross between a Sci-Fi and a paranormal – with some intended dose of philosophy and morality perhaps. The overall effect, to use one of the words referred to in the book, being grotesque. A modern day perversion of Frankenstein perhaps, or it could simply be a badly written book with little lasting value – I have not yet been able to make up my mind about that.

2.5/5

60. Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami

A tale of unrequited loves, at the surface, Sputnik Sweetheart tracks the disappearance of a young girl from a remote Greek island. This being a Murakami book, the use of adjectives like mysterious, before disappearance would be superfluous - in the world of Murakami, an action as mundane as climbing stairs can be mystifying and an event as big as the disappearance of a cat or a human being, full of possibilities, all of them uncanny if not paranormal.

In this world, overnight changes like, appearance of a blue-black mark on the face, or losing the ability to speak, or all the hair turning white, are taken in stride - we would know that each of such changes have an implication, most of the times, a supernatural one. We learn to appreciate the shape of an ear and in the background of everything else, infidelity holds no shock value or indeed gossip value.

In the undercurrent are, several small pieces woven together, stories in their own, discoveries, characterisations, all neatly bundling into Sputnik Sweetheart, one of his shorter works. And if you were still looking for more, this book will also give you a lesson or two in classical music and wine tasting.

And yet, with the high standards and expectations, I hold Murakami to, this book somewhere fell short of delivering the satisfaction that ordinarily comes from reading a Murakami. This would seem to be an easy way out, but the works of Murakami are too exotic and my skills too rudimentary to even attempt a dissection to establish my lack of satisfaction with the book.

3.5/5

61. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

One of my most impulsive reads. This one wasn't in my TBR, in any of the lists I sometime follow (that I know of), was not part of any Book Club reads, real life ones or otherwise, nor was it a recommendation. Long story short, I got around to reading it and well, it was quite interesting for a grim subject - the French Revolution.

This was my second book (after A Tale of Two Cities, but while The Tale of Two Cities went right into the heart of the matter, this one flirted and skirted around the issue, which is probably also the reason for it be the more cheerful of the two.

There is mystique (even if quite predictable), drama, and a sense of anticipation in the entire book. The length was just right, any longer and it would have been a drag. So was the general tone, tenor and characters - the good guys were really good, the bad really evil and the good guys with bad deeds, repentant, which made for some easy, uncomplicated reading.

While I am not really tempted to read the sequels, for a standalone book, it worked out quite well.

3.5/5

62. The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon

Halloween 2013#5

I am not yet sure what made me pick this book up as one of my Halloween reads, maybe it was the genre listed as "Paranormal" and "Dystopian". I do admit to being curious to read this book in general, with the young author already being hailed as the next Rowling. The declaration being a bit premature, in hindsight, maybe.

There is no denying the fact that Samantha Shannon has a lot potential as a writer, her imagination good, and the execution not too shabby. However, in her debut novel, I think she tried to do a bit too much, a bit too soon. In a novel of this size, she created a new Dystopian world, added a couple of alien races, not-so-ordinary human beings (and tonnes of categories of them, no less!) and strung along far too many ideas for a reader to keep track of, or make associations and connections with.

Then there was the fact that the protagonist was not likeable, not one bit. Indeed, she was annoying for the most part, and mule-headed for the other. And she didn't even have the benefit of a traumatic past like Katniss Everdeen or Lisbeth Salander to explain her behaviour. The biggest shock she seemed to have undergone is the fact that her first crush is gay! Boo hoo! Cry me a river and see if I care!

Having said all of the above, the effort for a debut novel was fantastic, I hope and believe she will only improve from here. The theme and ideas in the novel were quite original, the concepts and powers quite fresh and the writing satisfactory.

I am reasonably certain that I will try the sequel as well - but will I continue to read the series (the series is intended to have 7 books from what I have read), is a question for another time.

In this review, I have obviously dwelt more on the negative and done little to justify my 3.5 star rating. That however, was the intention, to highlight why this book didn't get a 4 or even a 4.5 from me, rather than the other way around.

3.5/5

I really like the layout of your new blog! Congratulations! I tried to post a comment, but I don't think I was successful. I'm technologically challenged. Lol.

I enjoyed your Cuckoo's Nest review over in the Halloween thread and doubly so here... So I had to go give it a thumbs up! :)

Hi Piyush! I've just put your blog in my Feedly feed, always nice to see a new blogger out there. :)

#202 Thanks Tina, much appreciated, both for the blog and the review :)
I think you need to sign-in into a Google account to comment probably to ward off potential spam, I will see if I can disable the requirement.

#203 Thanks Rachel, it is quite an exhausting work, maintaining a blog, isn't it?

63. Day Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko

Halloween 2013#6

Night Watch series figures among the best (Urban) fantasy series I have read. I have been reading, savouring, the Night Watch series one book a year, every Halloween. The fulfilling feeling one gets from a book so well conceptualised and written can only be matched by the wait and the expectations built up over a year.

There is the supernatural, then the philosophising about good and evil, and finally some serious action and mind games to top it off. This has been a regular feature with both the books. The world is quite simple and easy to understand, a lesson there for young writers like Samantha Shannon. There are the usual vampires and werewolves, shape-shifters, doing totally unusual things and some very unlikely witches and magicians as well - all categorised under "Others". There is no triumph of good over evil, the entire series is based over the concept of balance of light and dark; note the choice of words "light and dark" in place of "good and evil", a point of differentiation which will become much clearer once one reads the book.

Having read the masters like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Gogol, I was always aware of the depth of concepts in Russian literature. This remains, however, my only modern read from a Russian author and I wasn't disappointed in the least. Everything was well thought, even the choice of Russian songs quoted in the book, at various places, under various settings.

A book out of the mould; a book to read in leisure; a book to remember.

4/5

Gaiman's stories in The Graveyard Book are an homage to Kipling's Mowgli tales. While the connecting story is all his, Bod's adventures are retellings of Mowgli's adventures relocated from India to a modern supernatural sensibility.

#206 Thanks for the information Roni. Personally, I didn't much care for the two The Jungle Book books, but now I can see where the original inspiration came from.

Hey Piyush, Loved your take on Cuckoo's nest. Going to visit your blog now. xox

#208 Thanks Susan. For both :)

64. Doctor Sleep - Stephen King

Halloween 2013#7

My final read this Halloween, and may I say, the best of them all. Saving the best for the last, well, not really. This one also happened to be the most voluminous of my reads this Halloween. Not that the higher word count was unwelcome, there was no endless drudging past long details and explanations, no meaningless characters and characterisations – everything fits nicely into a neat puzzle. For all its length, the book was quite fast paced, or at least it gave the impression to be, and that’s what is important, right?

Finally we know what happened to the kid, Danny, left with his unique gift (?) at the end of The Shining, less a, even if brutal, father. The growing up, the fall, the further fall to rock bottom, repentance, and the eventual redemption. We also gain a little more insight into the mysterious gift, the shining, the advantages and the risks.

Add a vampirish race, with the long tooth, but without the blood-sucking mess. They do suck something, but it is a little less tangible, even if more horrific – these True, as they like to be called, have little use for virgin girls, however they relish in torturing and killing small kids.

Then there is an entirely adorable kid, turned teenage girl, Alba – Dan’s protégé – his support, his one last shot at redemption – a girl who is as much his protector, as she needs protection – the focus of the entire book.

King, not one to waste characters, adds a bunch of them – from kind old men, loving grandmas, loving parents, some characters reaching out from beyond the grave, most of them benign – a bit too much goodness for a King novel. Perhaps, he craves a happy ending too…sometimes…

5/5

Oh no - it was good??? I got about 2 chapters in, decided that as with The Shining I shouldn't be allowed ot read it at bedtime, then got massively distracted by NaNoWriMo. On the December list it goes.

Also on the December list is Pratchett's new on - Raising Steam which my hubby has just finished and says is good (not great but good). I forget are you a Pratchett fan?

I need a King break after reading It and 11/22/63 in the last couple of weeks, but 5 stars sounds like this one will be definitely worth a try in 2014.

#211 It was good! And not at all as scary as The Shining. The first couple of chapters were probably the most scariest, so I am guessing you got the hard part done :)

Oh yes, November is drawing to a close, how goes the NaNoWriMo writing?

Incredible as it may sound, I have not read any Pratchett yet, so me being a fan or not, is a question for the future.

#212 I have been a die-hard The Shining fan and while I am not sure if I would have given 5 stars to a stand alone Doctor Sleep (probably yes), it definitely deserves a 5 for providing a proper closure to The Shining. I myself read 2 King books this Halloween, probably will read Salem's Lot some time next quarter.

65. The Thief - Fuminori Nakamura

The Thief follows the story of a pickpocket in Japan, an unusual pickpocket, a pickpocket with a conscience, morality, a pickpocket who cares. If the choice of a pickpocket as the protagonist wasn't unique enough, the execution in showcasing the skills and the day-to-day life of a pickpocket was above average as well. There are flashbacks, missing friends and demons from past life. There is an imaginary tower, visible/not visible to the protagonist, which seems to be the equivalent of some kind of a moral compass, this part of the book though remained too underdeveloped and undercooked. There are a few minor characters, a young mother and her kid, intermingled in the life of the pickpocket, characters which were irritating at best, probably forced onto the story to attain one of the objectives.

And finally, there is a super villain - a know it all, controller of fates, puller of strings, a most dangerous yakuza with a plan.

To me the entire package read like a plan gone awry, a good concept ruined due to lack of application. There is lack of rationality evident throughout the book and the pace of the book seemed always wrong, either too fast skipping stations, or slow and bumpy.

My third Japanese author was not a hit. What could have been a really good book, remains a not-above-average read.

3/5

*edited to add review*

I finished Doctor Sleep about a week or so ago and agree pretty much 100% with your comments. And I agree that it's nowhere near as scary as The Shining. I thought it was almost sentimental at times...

Hmm...wonder if I could do Doctor Sleep without a re-read of The Shining?

Yep. The stories are mostly unconnected and King does a pretty good job of getting readers up to speed.

Review for Day Watch added.

#215 Agreed! I will refrain from reading your review till mine is done, it will be interesting to compare notes then, on a book we both obviously loved.

#216 & 217 I was fortunate in having read The Shining only some 5 years back and The Shining being an impactful book, it was quite fresh in my mind. And like Jim mentioned, King does bring you upto speed, starting from where you could relate and even re-introducing the characters and events with flashbacks, for the benefit of the reader I would think.

66. Daisy Miller and other Stories - Henry James

This was my first dalliance with Henry James; a short story collection, in my experience not the best way to sample an author, I have been known to not be blown away by short stories written even by my favourite authors. Happily (for me), such was not the case this time around. Henry James made me feel for the characters, even in the space of his short stories, no mean feat that one! This particular edition listed the following four short stories:-

1. Daisy Miller
2. Four Meetings
3. Longstaff's Marriage
4. Benvolio

I had considered and dismissed the notion of writing a few lines for each of the four short stories, but it didn't seem possible to do justice to any of them without dropping spoilers or outlining the storyline, and I hate to do either of them by myself, or for it to be done to me by someone else.

And so I ended up writing two very short paragraphs (sentences?) scratching the surface to let the reader decide if this would be something s/he would be interested in. If they wanted to read a summary, they would go to Cliff Notes, right?

So anyways, there is one common thread that runs across the stories; that being that all the characters are caricatures of sorts, surreal, exaggerated to make a point; and yet they don't seem out of place in those stories; Be it the freshness of Daisy Miller, the naivety of Caroline Spencer, the absurdness of the Longstaff or the ridiculousness of Benvalio; they all gel together in the end.

All the stories were so wonderfully poetic, romantic, tragic, and it makes me more than a little curious, how his lengthier works (generally my bread, butter and dessert) span out. I have also picked up my next Henry James work, The Portrait of a Lady.

4/5

*edited to add review*

67. Accidental Apprentice - Vikas Swarup

And quite accidentally did I read a book from the Slumdog Millionaire famed Vikas Swarup. I am always skeptic picking up a book by any Indian author or about India in general; the former for the fear of being badly written (I know that sounds kind of racist, but in my experience that often turns out to be the case) and the latter for generally playing to the stereotypes (regardless of the author being Indian or not).

Hence I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this book, which suffered from neither of the two flaws mentioned here-in-above, it was fast-paced, action filled (not the violent kind, generally), quite the page turner.

"Why only a 3* then?", the curious may ask. Well, for one, it was too dramatic! It would require a complete denial of the laws of probability to accept this book, even in the loose world of fiction. Everything that is possible in this world, is experienced by the protagonist, and all within the space of a year. Even Rand in Wheel of Time series saw less excitement, his Ta'veren status not withstanding! (The seemingly random reference to the Wheel of Time series will become clear, come the next paragraph.)

Over a casual discussion about this book in a cafe, a business and now personal acquaintance of mine, on hearing my objections with regard to the realism of the book, raised a very pertinent question, "But you read Sci-Fi, don't you?" I told her that a well written Sci-Fi or Fantasy book is almost always logically consistent, the amount of details that go into the world building is beyond what a book like this one can hope to achieve. To her credit, she grasped this point immediately, instinctively even, despite her not being a reader of either of these two genres.

The second shortcoming, if I may be allowed to call it that, was the shallow development of characters of all, but the protagonist. Swarup barely scratched the surface of all his characters, showcasing only the superficial of traits in each of them.

It is obvious that Swarup is one of those rare Indian authors who can write some really good stuff, but given the massive fame he has already accumulated, I am not too optimistic about him changing / moderating his writing style.

3/5

*edited to add review*

Hmm... I think I've had Night Watch on my TBR list for ages now, but I still haven't read it. I don't know much about it other than it's supposed to be fantastic, and if your comments on Day Watch are anything to go by, I really shouldn't have waited so long!

#221 Fantastic sums it up quite well I think! I would definitely recommend bumping it up a few places in your TBR.

68. Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner

Dare I say it, dare I rate it, with a month still left in the year, as my read of the year? There have been few contenders this year, and I have generally refrained from making absolute statements like these, I have tried to take the easier way out these last two years, by rating my Top 5 reads of the year rather than an absolute 1 or 3. I will take my chances, I will bear the consequences, the shame of editions in my thread, my blog, my review, and declare this one to be the winner, an absolute read, a work of perfection.

I exaggerate perhaps, and yet sometimes hyperbole is the best figure of speech to come near the true magnitude of the event, its worth to the singer of an ode, not always an absolute measure, and yet more relevant to the cause.

This was a book about nothing really, an old man with a stump sitting all day in a wheelchair, reading letters and correspondences of and belonging to his grandmother, tracking, plotting, jotting, piecing together her life events, adding a missing piece or two out of his own imagination, creating a biography no one would perhaps read, not even his own son. One cannot probably come up with a duller story, a theme so bankrupt in drama, that it would be a chore to read a 50 pages worth of short story, let alone a full work of 569 pages. Well, apart from the fact that it wasn't...

The story tracks the life of a cultured lady, a lady of art, of creation, travelling across the barren acres of the wild wild west, a life away from what she was accustomed to, away from whoever she held near and dear, away from the accomplishments and accolades she could have gained, the pleasures and experiences she forsook, in her free will, an action which would cause her lifelong misery and bitterness. In the background is the equally shattered life of her grandson, her biographer, in some ways set in his ideas as much as his grandmother, in others, even more so. A moralist of sorts, instinctive to judge, headstrong, unforgiving, disappointed father, heartbroken husband, proud son, prouder grandson.

There are probably a dozen other characters, some short, others shorter and amazingly, they are all fleshed out. The screen time, the page length, not withstanding. We know those characters more intimately than protagonists of tomes. The power of the written word, good writing, excellent writing!

This one was a strong recommendation from my Classics buddy, Mac, and I am so glad, so very glad, that I took up his suggestion, late by over a year, better than never.

5/5

*edited to add review*

69. The Tainted Throne: Empire of the Moghul - Alex Rutherford

This book, if my calculations are not wrong, marks my 500th read since I started logging my reads since 2005.

Book 4 in the Empire of the Moghul series - a lot of Jahangir (son of Akbar), his wife Mehrunissa ( a most fascinating character) and the young and an energetic prince turned king, Khurram (aka Shahjahan). As fascinating as the author seemed to have found the shadow rule of the Empress Mehrunissa, I found the details trivial, petty and lack of any novelty. Indian mythology and literature is full of examples of instance of such shadow queen rulers, who have made or influence historic decisions on behalf of or through the king. For me, the book still was a source of much information and enjoyment, as the lives of the last two Mughal rulers, who are looked upon benignly in India, is outlined, even if the focus is mostly on the battles, rebellions, family bickering and less on governance and other associated issues.

This book, also follows, among other sources, the writings of Sir Thomas Roe, who spent some time in the court of Jahangir, and we can trace the origin of the East India Company's advent into India, though this point has not been covered in much detail in the book.

One can see the mellowing down of the rulers, the settling down in the country they conquered. There is a lot less bloodshed (apart from the family feuds) and a lot more construction. The situation reminded me of a quote a from one of my favourite reads this year, Day Watch, "The third generation, that was what the analysts said. You had to wait until the third generation. The grandson of this bandit who had got rich and somehow managed to stay alive would be a thoroughly decent man." Now, the Moghuls weren't exactly bandits, but they did originate as a consortium of barbarous tribal armies - where the fighting was done with the sole intention of booty and the tribes had a habit of slinking away back to their native land when the land grew too peaceful or if they backed the weaker guy as the ruler.

The moghuls, also have been portrayed as largely liberal and tolerant when it came to religion, curious as to the other religions and customs of the world, if only to revel in their own superiority and devoted to architecture and astronomy (part astrology, part astronomy actually), the latter science being enjoyed in the company of wine, marijuana and other potent drugs.

So far we haven't witnessed any instances of cruelty towards the populace in general, no exorbitant taxations, no cracking down on rival religions, it will all change in the next book, perhaps, as Shahjahan makes way for Aurangzeb.

3.5/5

*edited to add review*

70. Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee

*Review to follow*

71. On the Origin of Species - Charles Darwin

*Review to follow*

Well, dang it, Piyush! I just had to add Angel of Repose to my HUGE and wobbling wish list based on THAT amazing review!! Read of the year, huh?? That's some pretty high praise, indeed. Big thumbs up for your review too, by the way! :)

226: On the Origin of Species
You're done? Congrats!

#227 Angle of Repose was quite a special book, I am glad I read it, I hope you will be too, once you do get around to reading it :)

#228 Yes, yes, I finally did! *feeling smug*

72. Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson

*Review to follow*

73. In Fed We Trust - David Wessel

*Review to follow*

Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee

Based in South Africa, this is one of those rare books with no likeable characters, "not likeable" being a relatively mild term for the host of feelings most of these characters induce. The characters in this book are so disjointed from anything that I could empathise with, sympathise with, or even mildly relate to, that most of the time I spent reading this book was like watching one of those really weird cartoons and not being able to look away.

This book challenges all the moral boundaries, and then some more. There is hardly a thought, a line of argument I could agree with. Be it, "How she reconciles her opinions with her line of business he does not ask." comment in one of the opening pages where the protagonist questions the right of a prostitute to hold an opinion against public beaches, or one of the many he comes up with in the course of the book. A morally bankrupt character, shrouded in a veil of artistic pageantry, faux sophistication; a conjurer of expressions - I am now reasonably sure, we weren't meant to like him. But I couldn't like any of the other characters either - Lucy, Melanie, Bev Shaw, Petrus or any of the other minor characters, with the possible exception of Rosalind and Mr. Isaacs. In more ways than one, this book is more depraved in thoughts, if not deeds, to the very infamous, and brilliant, Lolita. There is no repentance, even as there is some understanding of his deeds, after his stay with his daughter and all the events that transpire.

For a major part of the book, and the belief hasn't disappeared even as I write this review after a good couple of weeks since reading the book, I have thought if the author is screwing with us, trapped in his perverse fantasy world. I believe I would know better once I read some of his other books, which I fully intend to do.

Coetzee's writing is poetical, lyrical, with the odd quality of not making you feel for any character, no matter how tragic their life story, revisit the weird cartoon reference. I can hardly remember being so detached from a book and yet unable to put it down. There is a not so subtle, undercurrent of the social and legal system in the then existing South Africa.

Hate the characters as much as I did, I couldn't hate the book.

4/5

71. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

A Classic. One of the most pathbreaking books of all times. A book, which took me a little over a year to finish. "The" discourse on Evolution, the world of Darwin, which all of us are familiar with, we grew up in, with little understood or completely misunderstood and misused idioms like "Survival of the Fittest", which Darwin, interestingly attributes to Herbert Spencer.

I am sure everyone reading this review knows what the book would generally be about, and therefore, I would like to discuss some other features, which struck me. The book has a strong defensive undercurrent, through which Darwin at times is more concerned with defending his position than asserting his viewpoint. Darwin's tone, at places, where there is little proof to propagate his theory, is almost apologetic. Then he writes that many naturalists have come to terms with natural selection, while ridiculing others, who may still believe in independent creation of species.

Another most interesting observation was the glaring and most obvious absence of any definitive statement on the evolution of humans - a clear indication on Darwin's lack of willingness to rake up such a sensitive issue, his work being controversial enough as it already was. He touches upon this topic most superficially, carefully sandwiched in a para about Herbert Spencer and human psychology, "In the future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be securely based on the foundation already well laid by Mr. Herbert Spencer, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Much light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history." Darwin revisited this topic 12 years later, in his The Descent of Man, by which time, the populace probably had enough time to digest and accept the basic tenets of evolution.

A timeless book, even if now dated.

4/5

Piyush.... I don't know if you celebrate the holidays, but I don't want to leave you out... Please forgive me if I offend and just tell me and I won't repeat.

Merry Christmas, Piyush! (I don't think you celebrate it, but it never hurts to be merry!)

Tina, wish a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you as well. Like Kriti writes in the post below, it never hurts to have more occasions to be merry :)

Merry Christmas to you too, Ms. K :)

72. Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson

This is Book 2 in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. A slow paced book, with period of action and excitement sprinkled in between. In this book, there are a host of new characters and only few of the ones from Book 1. We also follow a bunch of stories based on those characters, set presumably in the same time frame - some of those stories and characters converge within the book, others I believe are left for another day. In this book, we don't get to meet the mighty Anomander Rake, but there is a new, mighty character to meet and follow, over extended periods. And finally we catch a glimpse, a hint, a shadow, of the legendary Empress.

The plot is still devoid of simplicities like Good Vs. Evil, and at best we pick our champions on a fight per fight basis, regardless of his/her affiliations. There is drama, there is politics, but less bouts of awesomeness, as were evident in Book 1. There is some bloodbath, but a surprising less slaying of major characters, Erikson seems to protect his characters, fatten them up for the impending showdown (I think), very un-Martinish in that. Which style is superior, we will leave that question for another day.

A worthy sequel, a book that is still setting up the series, building up the world, creating and fleshing out the characters. I will take up the next book book, perhaps after a short break of couple of months, given my relatively busy reading schedule in quarter 1 next year, more on that latter.

4/5

73. In Fed We Trust by David Wessel

Borrowed from a friend, this one was quite an unlikely read for me. My finance background generally makes me too vary of books written about an event, with the perfect gift of hindsight. Too many articles occupy my browser and mail space, inspecting, dissecting and criticising every decision made by the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Securities Regulator, other Financial or Regulatory bodies including the Stock Exchanges themselves. Some of such criticisms and doomsday scenario do occasionally come true, but on the virtue of a broken clock being right twice in a day, than anything else. It would perhaps be prudent to put a disclaimer here declaring myself to be part of this ecosystem.

Anyway, it was with some trepidation that I read this book, half expecting it to be a blind bashing of every decision the Fed did make in the period 2007-10, a bad period for us finance professionals, my entry into the corporate world itself being ill-timed following this great meltdown. Many of such fears were greatly misplaced though, if anything, David Wessel has celebrated Bernanke in his work; you see, criticising a financial decision maker is too easy and infinitely more tempting that giving credit for a job well done.

The book carefully takes us through the years, giving us a glimpse of the Greenspan era, the appointment of Bernanke himself, and then the roller-coaster ride of the sub-prime crises, the events leading upto Lehmann, the events post Lehmann, the curious cases of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the reorganisation of the entire Investment Banking sectors, as we knew it. The book also took me through the world of multiple regulators in US and how financial institutions go cherry-picking for the most lenient one, a problem acutely faced in India, and a problem I fear will only worsen till fixed.

The book recognises and evaluates Bernanke, the Academician, using theories learnt from his lifelong study of the Great Depression, experimenting with all the tools available with the Fed, creatively creating a few new ones, when the old ones didn't seem to be up to the task.

Personally, I have and have had mixed feelings about the way the Panic was handled. While fully appreciating that the steps taken by Bernanke and his team were critical and absolutely necessary, I remain unconvinced if the Moral Hazard issue couldn't have been handled better. While I do believe that saving those banks from bankruptcy was critical, whether protecting shareholders' value and golden parachutes for the executives should have been part of the deal, well, I remain unconvinced.

The book touched upon many things I knew, many more that I thought I knew and exposed me to even more things I didn't.

Celebrations or not, I hope you've had a wonderful couple of days that have been extra special in their own ways. :)

#238 Indeed! Some celebrations, some donations, all in all, a good Christmas :)

74. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

Outrageous! Shocking! Powerful! Scary!

I believe the true role of a Dystopian book is to show us, warn us, as to what could the end result of our actions could be? A timely warning to amend our ways. As if the "Big Brother is watching you" hasn't already come true in many countries, with the exception being, you don't even know that you are being watched! This book tells us how the feminism and conservatism, two seemingly opposite extremes, wittingly or otherwise, working towards the same goal of creating a world of female oppression. Extremism in any cause, no matter how righteous from the perpetrator's point of view, would always result in casualties, not always of the opposing side, not always caused by the opposing side. This has always been my problem with a lot many of the feminist advocates - yes, there are problems, issues, that demand attention, circumstances, that demand rectification, and yes, sometimes, only by taking extreme stands can you invite attention and hopefully action to such causes. And yet this very extremism, alienates people; the agenda can hurt the cause. The world in itself is unfair, unjust, and has always been so, probably more in earlier times than now. The rights for the different wings of society have improved; that they can be and have to be equalised further is not even a question in consideration, but the modalities are.

I am an optimist when it comes to equal rights for men and women. Not too long ago, the only job a woman could do in a corporate world, was that of a secretary or typists / stenos. While we still don't have enough women CEOs or Board Members or executives, while the glass ceiling still remains a very real issue, a lot of progress has been made on this front. And I don't see any reason why would we not continue to move further ahead.

As much as I was spooked by this book, I really liked the way the book ended, on a note of optimism, in which it is shown that the world manages to get past that phase, and the future generations study it, as an errant, diseased state, which has since then been cured. And yes, all the rambling in the above paragraphs (and a couple of more paragraphs which I have since deleted) was caused as a direct effect to the powerful and thought provoking work, that is The Handmaid's Tale.

5/5

I loved The Handmaid's Tale too - Atwood is a pretty amazing writer.

That she definitely is! I am looking forward to reading her other works.

75. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A delightful read. It is difficult to not like a book like this one, with all its twists and turns, even if not perfectly executed. It reads like a Spy novel, with the exception being, there are no government conspiracies, and well, there are no spies. This book is funny where it needs to be, tragic at time, and devious almost all the times. No complaints about the writing style either, very readable, and the author does quite a good job keeping the different versions of the story separate. This is a decently long read and just when one starts to get bored, Bam! comes a twist! The first of those twists, there is no way I could have seen it coming, and neither would I am sure the majority of readers, unless they are warned of it. And no, my last statement doesn't constitute that warning.

Now for the few negatives with the otherwise, did I say delightful? read. Remember when I said, *just when one starts to get bored*, well, make it *a little time after the reader has started to get bored* - point being, the aforementioned twists could have been timed better. There is also a bit of redundancy, some of the sub-plots, the book could have done very well without; a more compact book would have definitely got more pointers from me.

3.5/5

Congrats on 75!

Congratulations on reading 75 books!And I like your new longer reviews.

Just been thinking about the Coetzee again which I also read this year: this is a book that seems to be universally "not-liked" ("disliked" would be the wrong expression I guess) yet often gets high ratings. The reasons for the not-liking are quite different. I remember I also wasn't feeling friendly towards the main character but didn't hate him as much as most readers and interpreted him quite differently, could understand his actions far better than those of his daughter. He reminded me of an alien in a world of which he didn't understand the values, the moral code, despite all his efforts. Strangely, I reacted quite negatively to most of the women in this novel which I usually don't do.

Maybe it is Coetzee's strength to touch his readers' individual sore spots with his not-likeable stories and characters. Reading his books I always feel highly uncomfortable.

#244 Thanks Jim!

#245 Thanks Nathalie, maintaining the blog has helped me channel my thoughts better, or rather made me make more of an effort in writing those reviews.

I didn't like any of the female characters either, I seriously wanted to give a violent shaking to Lucy to put all her loose screws back, what was up with Melanie? But my dislike was more focussed and concentrated on the protagonist, who like you mentioned seemed to live in a different world, a world of his own, with its own moral and value system.

I wasn't aware that all of Coetzee's books have this common thread of inciting dislike towards its characters, makes me feel intrigued to read more of his works.

76. The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth

This is going to be a short review, with not much worth talking about.

The Kill List is my second Frederick Forsyth read this year, third overall. Forsyth's work continue the common theme of a single individual with exceptional combat/strategic abilities, which is not bad, when executed well, like in the case of the cult-classic The Day of the Jackal. The execution suffered, despite a strong plot in the otherwise disappointing The Cobra, my first Forsyth read this year.

In this book, the character was strong, the execution, pretty sketchy. A weak plot and the lack of details didn't help either. These days, one expects to be educated, while being entertained, while reading Thrillers of this type. This book entertained a bit, but failed miserably in the other task. Add to that, the non-development of any character, including the lead character, a resume probably would have got one better acquainted with the character than the book. It was good to have a happy ending, but it seemed almost forced, with good things coming along for everyone, in an ideal world, free of any unfairness.

A below average read, I think I am done with Frederick Forsyth for now.

2.5/5

And finally, my last book for 2013!

77. Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean

With this do I end my reading chronicles for 2013, not a bad read to end the year with.

This is only my third Alistair MacLean read, and I am already a fan. MacLean's books are full of action, adventure, fast paced and generally a lot more fun. So what if the protagonist is Superman, or what if they are based on the good old principle of victory of good over evil?

The majority of MacLean's works, from what I gather are War thrillers, most of them Anti-German WW books, which he manages to write without portraying the Germans as super-villains, which I think is in itself a great achievement, yes, there is no Hitler and the war with the Germans may as well have been based in an alternative universe, with conventional warfare, a code of conduct, and no atrocities.

For all that, they are well written and all the positive sentiments expressed in the Para above, apply. What is the catch then, you ask? Even for works of fiction, they greatly lack that grossly over-rated factor, one calls "realistic". Doesn't put me off, neither should it, I think, these books don't advertise themselves to be history books; probability is not entertained either, possible is good enough for MacLean and it is good enough for me.

3.5/5

I simply MUST get to The Handmaid's Tale sooner, rather than later! And I've been intrigued by mixed reviews of Gone Girl, so I really should read that too.

Happy New Year, Piyush!