New Reads: A Beginning

Books read till now, with a one word observation. (Longer versions will come out, later)

1. Going Postal - Terry Pratchett (Hilarious - worth a read)
2. Making Money - Terry Pratchett (Hilarious - yes once again, as most of his books are supposed to be)
3. Almost Single - Advaita Kala (Not bad - light read and witty)

Currently Reading

1. Escape - Manjula Padmanabhan

Hello 2010

The date on my previous post tells me how I have been effected by the disease of laziness. But the year 2010 is going to be different. I know absolutely 100% of the earth's population would say the same thing, but I am okay with that. I have quite many resolutions up my sleeve but the most important ones are about reading and writing.

I plan to read a lot. Fiction and Non-fiction. I remember a blogger had started a reeboowee (read a book a week) and I realized many great minds think alike. Well, my goal is to finish 60 books this year. I plan to read a lot of non fiction as well; I am very poor when it comes to general knowledge.

I plan to write as well. Although my plan sounds highly ambitious with writing goals for everyday, I am going to try.

Mean while, I have already fallen short of my goal of read a book a week for the month of January but I have managed to finish three books.

My partial list

As Bethany mentioned in the rules, I am not planning to post a complete list of books (they may change any time) but I am determined to complete the challenge this year! So, here are the first few books that I already have in my collection, that I am very sure of completing!

1. Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K Jerome (England)
2. The Almond – Nadjma (North Africa)
3. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert (France)
4. The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx (USA)

The rest will follow... I will be almost done with Three Men in a Boat and be posting my thoughts on it soon!

Comfort Books

In your reading life, have you come across that one book that made you feel you could be all alone in this world yet stay content just by holding this book and browsing through, even randomly? There, you have your comfort book.

What is a comfort book? - well, according to me, it is something you can pick up anytime and any number of times to read and not be bored. It soothes you, makes you feel better and generally there is this peculiar attachment - more like affection, towards the book and the characters. And, it does not have to be the best book in the world or even in your library. Your heart/mind does not give as much importance on the story as it does on familiarity (that is, your familiarity with the characters, situations, twists or dialogues). You might have read the joke many a times, yet it brings a small smile on your face. Every time you listen to the hero speak, you root for him, you feel sorry for the old man in his bad times and you feel good about the heroine finding her true love.

Well, it many not necessarily be the same experience for every one, but one thing is for sure, at the end of day, you feel warm and cozy and content.
What more could you ask for?

My comfort book is called 'The Adventures of Sally' by P.G.Wodehouse.
(Will write about it in detail sometime later)

What's yours?

Orbis Terrarum Challenge - Accepted!

I was so excited about finding books from different authors and different nations that I went straight ahead and did all my googling keeping my bookshelf in mind. I realized I have many in house from HD's collection which I have not read yet and can be used for this challenge. How lovely.
So, I put up my list now. I dont know if I can finish all of them, but I am starting off today!

The Almond – Nadjma (North Africa)
Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut (USA) [COMPLETED]
A Handful of Rice – Kamala Markandeya (India)
Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh (Scotland)
The Life of Pi – Yann Martel (Canada)
Lord of the Flies – William Golding (England) [COMPLETED]
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert (France)
Evening is the whole day – Preeta Samarasan (Malaysia) [COMPLETED]
Kaddish for the Unborn Child – Imre Kertesz (Hungary)

It is a different story that coming Monday I would busy toiling my butt off in a new job, new environment. I am hoping these books will help me overcome any nasty surprises out there.