Mumbai Bookworms discussion

A few words about what you're reading at the moment!

Am reading Paul Of Dune, the sequel to the legendary Dune by Frank Herbert. This sequel is written by his son Brian and Kevin Anderson.

Not as heavy as Frank's work, and not strictly true to the canon of Dune, but having read the 17 books of Dune, a must read for any completist!

I just started In light of a blood giant by A.D.Fosse. Just 22 pages into it and can't even make out what the story is or where it is going.

Fantasy?

I am reading Big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. A must read for every creative individual. Which we all are end of the day.

Vinothraj wrote: "Fantasy?"
Yeah, it's animal fantasy, science fiction

Hello everyone! I'm currently engrossed in The 48 laws of Power by Robert Greene

Started with David Copperfield. Was on my list for a few years now.

@sumeet: that looks like an interesting book

I am currently reading "Leaving times" from Jodi Picoult. (Going good)

and

"The Zahir" from Paulo Coelho (Not liking it yet)

I was about to start

"The Zahir" from Paulo Coelho (Not liking it yet)"

Zahir is pathetic !i ve read quite many Coelho books and the worst ones were and ofcourse .

Well, I am too reading "The Zahir". Yes it not good but hoping later on it will turn on to be good.

Ritu wrote: "I was about to start"

Suggest, you begin with "Go Set a Watchman" as it was the first draft that became TKAMB.

Almost completed "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A little complicated but the ideas presented are awesome!!

Finished Donnie Brasco. First third of the book is a good read about his life, and mafia anecdotes. Gets boring after that.

I am reading A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson... i like his easy-going witty style :)

I'm currently reading Lord Of The Flies by William Golding and The Difficulty Of Being Good by Gurucharan Das.

Lord Of The Flies is a compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island. At first, it seems as though it's all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious & life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic & death when boys struggle for survival. This book shows brutal portrait of human nature.
Fascinating read so far!

In Difficulty Of Being Good the author turns to the Mahabharata in order to answer the question, 'why be good'', and discovers that the epic's world of moral haziness and uncertainty is closer to our experience as ordinary human beings than the narrow and rigid positions that define most debate in this fundamentalist age of moral certainty.
Intriguing stuff!

Currently reading Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum. Got mixed reviews about it but looks interesting so far.

Finally done with Arthur C Clarke's Rama series. Long, but worth it.

Shahid wrote: "Ritu wrote: "I was about to start"

Suggest, you begin with "Go Set a Watchman" as it was the first draft that became TKAMB."

Both are on my to-read list. Thanks for the suggestion, Shahid!

Hello Everyone,

One book is really pushing me to travel and take a look at the national parks of Madhya Pradesh ... that is - "Wild Escapades around Central India" authored by Malay Mandal.

I am going to Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Park..very soon... I love the pin drop silence and fresh air of jungle..with wonderful bird whistles....

This is the link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Thanks

The Startup Of You by Reid Hoffman

I am reading Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra.

Just closed my copy of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and am not sure that I liked it too much, to be honest. Wrote a review here - any comments? Has anyone else read it?

Geisha has been on my to-read-list for a while. Thanks for your review. I was told to also check out Geisha, a Life, written by the protagonist of Memoirs. Do check it out if you can.

I'm currently reading The 3rd part of the Conquerer series by Conn Igulden. Good historical fiction on the Mongols. The 1st half seems to be a bit heavier on the war/strategy part. But I'm enjoying it all so far.

Vinothraj wrote: "Geisha has been on my to-read-list for a while. Thanks for your review. I was told to also check out Geisha, a Life, written by the protagonist of Memoirs. Do check it out if you can."

Oh, I didn't know about this - hopefully this turns out to be a significantly better book than Memoirs. Thanks for the suggestion! :)

I am reading The Prophet and i am going really alow with it right now . Need to get myself a light read .

I am currently reading pPride and Prejudice
Time for classics!!!

Dheeraj wrote: "I am currently reading pPride and Prejudice
Time for classics!!!"

Oh my God! My absolute favourite! :D :D :D

Currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Anyone up for a buddy read?

I am reading Sacred Games

This is a fascinating read. Quite an epic really. Enjoying thoroughly.

Just bought Ghachar Ghochar. Will read this in parallel.

Sharadha wrote: "Currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Anyone up for a buddy read?"

I have read this book twice, it's a great book!

I'm currently reading The Secret of the Nagas

Jenish wrote: "I'm currently reading The Secret of the Nagas"

A book which I purchased enthusiastically but didn't get around to reading. I instead went for Scion of Ikshvaku and found it all right by the author. This would need to dust my TBR closet just a while longer :)

How do you find it though, Jenish?

Sharadha wrote: "Jenish wrote: "I'm currently reading The Secret of the Nagas"

A book which I purchased enthusiastically but didn't get around to reading. I instead went for Scion of Ikshvaku and f..."

I liked the first book the immortal of mehula, so I continued with second one. So far I like it.. it's quite interesting... I haven't read Scion of Ikshvaku though...

Jenish wrote: "I liked the first book the immortal of mehula, so I continued with second one. So far I like it.. it's quite interesting... I haven't read Scion of Ikshvaku though... "

Oh okay :) Well, please do vote for the BOTM and nominate such books from August onwards :)

Sharadha wrote: "Jenish wrote: "I liked the first book the immortal of mehula, so I continued with second one. So far I like it.. it's quite interesting... I haven't read Scion of Ikshvaku though... "

Oh okay :) W..."

I will for sure, I already have couples in mind... next time i'll nominate as well! :)

Currently reading:-
1. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells
2. Answered Prayers - Truman Capote
3. Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser

Currently re-reading:-
1. Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
2. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

Piyush wrote: "Currently reading:-
1. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells
2. Answered Prayers - Truman Capote
3. Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser

Currently re-reading:-
1. Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Dou..."

Piyush, did you like the Hobbit movie series equally?

Also, have you read GoT too? I somehow feel like they are similar hehe

Sharadha wrote: "Piyush wrote: "Currently reading:-
1. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells
2. Answered Prayers - Truman Capote
3. Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser

Currently re-reading:-
1. Restaurant at the End of the..."

I have mixed feelings about the Hobbit series. Things I liked:
1. That there is more to the original LOTR trilogy;
2. The movies, on a standalone basis, though not brilliant, were quite decent.

Things I hated:-
1. The movie series barely stuck to the storyline of the book; the characters acted quite weirdly too.

I did read the GoT series, even before the TV Series (which is quite brilliant too) came out. I don't really think of them as similar, other than the fact that they are both fantasies and fantasy books have a similar flow to them. GoT, however, has no visible or recognisable heroes (unlike in the TV Series where Tyrion and Jon Snow are depicted as such) or villains (other than the white walkers, who for all we know may themselves have a story to tell).

If you do like Fantasy, there is a wide plethora of brilliant authors and books; some of them much more complicated than even GoT.

Interesting.... I haven't read GoT yet.

@Piyush what are your favorites in the fantasy genre?

Indrani wrote: "Interesting.... I haven't read GoT yet.

@Piyush what are your favorites in the fantasy genre?"

LOTR to start with, is an all time favourite. Incidentally, I am not a big fan of Narnia, either the books or the movies.

GoT, since thats what got us talking; Wheel of Time series, originally by Robert Jordan and completed after his demise by Brandon Sanderson; All of Brandon Sanderson's works; Malazan: Books of the Fallen series, one of those series more complex than GoT and one which I am yet to finish; books by Lois McMaster Bujold, books by Robin Hobb; among others.

wow... thanks... you have now given me major reading goals... I quite like this genre.. will look your recommendations up..

Indrani wrote: "wow... thanks... you have now given me major reading goals... I quite like this genre.. will look your recommendations up.."

Hi Indrani, sure :)

This is an indicative list, and there are sub-genres even with this genre, if there are any specific kind of books you like to read, I just might be able to give more specific recommendations.

To all you folks, who like the idea of hard books, swapping is another great way of saving money and meeting fellow minded readers :)

@P Hope you had a good Towel Day! :D Restaurant is my favourite of the H2G2 books. But I haven't read the sixth one by Eoin Colfer because I didn't think anyone could do justice to DNA... any thoughts on that one?

For me, the most frustrating things about the show when I compare it to my faint memories of the ASoIaF books are how horrifically the show-runners have altered the geopolitics of Essos and Winterfell, and some very shoddy characterisations -- particularly wrt Jon and Jaime.

And Tolkien was being kind when he called the Narnia books "overly allegorical" or some such. I read the first one recently and thought it to be little more than religious propaganda. :/

Thanks a bunch for sharing your recs with us! I am very intrigued by the Malazan books.

S. wrote: "@P Hope you had a good Towel Day! :D Restaurant is my favourite of the H2G2 books. But I haven't read the sixth one by Eoin Colfer because I didn't think anyone could do justice to ..."

Thanks S, indeed I did! Start of the monsoon was another good occasion to lug around my towel without looking too suspicious!

You made a wise decision, staying away from the Eoin Colfer sequel. Incidentally, Eoin Colfer's own Artemis Fowl series started pretty strong but lost steam after the third book I think and it all went downhill from there.

I kind of understand what and why they did, what they did with ASoIaF series; they had to make characters black or white, the way the characters were portrayed in the books would have left the "viewers" thoroughly confused. I enjoy the show as a "variant" of the original and try not to compare the events or characters with those portrayed in the books.

Religious yes, and racist, and misogynist.

The Malazan books are quite an adventure! They do not pull any punches!

Yes, it's still a very traditional show, in that it adheres to the heroes vs. villains trope, which the books consistently try to avoid. But what I dislike is that it does not do a very good job of portraying how the minor houses and feudal families behave very differently based on region, and instead paints them all as purely self-interested. Oh, well. Both are equally enjoyable albeit in very different ways!

Ah. Thanks for silencing any impulse I might have had to continue with the Narnia books for completion's sake.

In the series, minor houses are not more than props and pawns to be used by the biggies; Boltons got a better deal in the Show; the Freys, did not. Too many motives, again, probably would have been bad for the viewers who do not have the advantage of the readers. As you said, both are enjoyable in their own ways.

I cured myself of the compulsion to finish series a while back; for a few years now, have also been trying to do the same for badly written books, am yet to succeed in this quest though.

I am loving the fantasy talks going on here :) Although I haven't much to contribute (the only fantasy series I have read is Harry Potter hehe), it has piqued my interest a little more. Will peek through your shelf, Piyush, to hunt a few good ones when my current reads are done and dusted :)