Gift for the New Year

I never imagined I would get such a thoughtful, wonderful gift from H.

For the new year, I received Kindle PaperWhite.
I had never used a ereader/ebook and the whole concept was personally new to me, though I had seen Kindle Touch owned by BIL.

I learned how to download free ebooks from Amazon website, and it was so thrilling. I have begun reading classics that I otherwise, would not. It is highly addictive. I guess, this is a wonderful way of reading and storing books.
This does not mean I miss the good old hard copy - the actual feel, smell of the book can never ever be replaced. The feeling of reading a 'book' can never be replaced by an e-reader no matter what.

The Sense of an Ending

After a long time, I chanced upon a beautiful, thought provoking book - The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes.
The book resonated with me like no other. The author uses a clever tool: he talks about how memory can color our perception and our idea of the past, while the memory itself is colored by what we perceive as the right thing, the good thing. The theme involves regret, remorse, the emotions every human being will go through in his/her life at least once. Lost opportunities, past mistakes, suppressed feelings, oppressed thoughts - it could be anything. 

2013

Comes the new year.

Books that I read so far:

1. The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson (Crime/Thriller)
2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carrol (Literary Classic)
3. Christmas in Venice - Meadow Taylor (Short Story)
4. The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie (Mystery/Thriller)
5. A Room with a View - E.M. Forster (Literary Fiction)

The Reading List - 7 (For 2012)

Long long time ago, this list started and I do not have any intention of stopping it.

1. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (Drama/literary)
2. Serious Men - Manu Joseph (Literary - IEW)
3. Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake - Preethi Shenoy (Chick lit - IEW)
4. How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded a Million Dollar Company - Varun Agarwal (Lad lit - IEW)
5. The Circle of Three - Rohit Gore (Drama - IEW)
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson (Mystery/Thriller)
7. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler (Crime/Thriller)
8. Taklu and Shroom - Ranjit Lal (Children's fiction -IEW)

IEW - Indian English Writing

Awaiting the year 2013. Have a list ready too.

blah.. blah.. new year.. blah.. blah..

Another new year walked in, laughed at me and has begun trotting.
Every year, at least, for the last couple of years, I have been failing in my Reading List Challenge that I set for myself.
And every new year, I decide to change things.
This year I looked at my bookshelf (dusty from disuse) and the precarious, leaning tower of books on the bed in the reading room (the unused room that almost made it as a library) and I decided I don't have the energy to make any resolutions.
So I decided I will still try reading without any 'Challenge' to challenge me.
Ah, what a bore!

The Reading List - 6

I have been slow...
Completed:
18. A for Alibi - Sue Grafton (Fiction:Crime/detective)

One Does Get Lucky, Sometimes

I have been meaning to compile a list of books that I chanced upon, without any prior idea about the author or the story and found them to be absolute marvel.
Well, I found many that way, so I guess, this list will definitely make sense. I am sure many of us do it - pick up a random book and love it to death. It could be the cover page, or the colour, or the title, or the name of the author that sounded good, or the price or even the size. OR ANYTHING.

Here goes the list:

1. The Shipping News - Annie E Proulx. Didn't know the book or the author at the time of buying.
Two reasons: This one was a super duper deal in a second hand book seller on the road side; at 10 bucks, I would have picked up anything. Lucky, I picked this. Second, the magic words on the front cover - Pulitzer prize winner (now, I know not all winners are the same)

2. We Weren't Lovers Like That - Navtej Sarna. Didn't know the book or the author while buying.
I liked the cover page - A flight of stairs with leading some place, may be to an old grand fort. The contrast of the blackened steps with the bright green creeper with tendrils and well-spaced leaves was quite impressive. The story on the book cover was interesting. Thank God I bought this book.

3. On Beauty - Zadie Smith. Had heard the name of the author but not read anything by her before; didn't know about the book either.
This book was huge. I don't know why picked it up. Since it was a library book, I just thought I would try it out. Simply brilliant writing. I LOVED it.

4. Mosquito and Other Stories - Premendra Mitra. Didn't have a clue about the author or the book.
This was an impulse pick up from the library. The unusual title was the clincher. Superb book. This definitely goes into my book collection (not the library book, I plan to buy one copy for myself!!)

5. The Pat Hobby Stories - F Scott Fitzgerald. Although, I knew about the author, and read one of his novels, I had no idea about this book.
Simply beautiful. The humour hits you when you least expect it. Every now and then I was aware of how much of fun I was having due to a sudden chuckle or a burst of laughter; I was so lost in the book.

For now, this list will stop here. I will go ahead with the list as and when I come across these gems on the river side.