Indian Readers discussion

Continuing the habit of maintaining a reading log. Though no agenda, no target numbers, no list of want to read...

Jan: 0.8k pages
1. Lone Fox Dancing - ★★★★☆
2. Mahabhoj - ★★★★☆
3. Swarnmrig - ★★☆☆☆
4. Keep off the Grass - ★★★½☆

Feb: 0.9k
5. American Born Chinese - ★★★☆☆
6. Seasons of the Palm - ★★★★½ (with Smi)
7. A Married Woman - ★★★☆☆ (with wife)

March: 1.7k
8. The Gene: An Intimate History - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ [Saakshi]- ★★★½☆ (with Arvind, Smi, Sri)
10. Truth, Love and a Little Malice - ★★★★☆ (with Arpit)
X. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: ★★☆☆☆ DNF at 50%

April: 1.3k
11. Child 44 (Leo Demidov, #1) - ★★★★☆ (with Sri)
X. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - DNF at 10%
X. Brave New World - DNF at 50%
12. The Last Post - ★★½☆☆
13. Artemis - ★★★☆☆

May: 700 pages
14. Palpasa Cafe - ★★★★☆ (supposedly with Smi)
15. (मानसरोवर 1): प्रेमचंद की मशहूर कहानियाँ - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (with wife)
X. Mr Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi - DNF at 70% (with Arpit, Shar, Resh)
16. Three Men in a Boat - ★★★☆☆ (with Arpit)
17. The India I Love - ★★★★☆

June: 1.6k
18. Jasoda - ★★★☆☆ (with Smi)
19. Sphere - ★★☆☆☆
20. The Goat Thief - ★★★½☆
21. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World - ★★★★☆

July-Aug: 1k
22. Inside the Haveli - ★★★★☆
23. बसेरे से दूर - ★★★★☆
24. आवारा भीड़ के खतरे - ★★☆☆☆
25. Rebecca - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
26. No God In Sight - ★★★★☆

Sept: 1.3k
27. Aavarana - The Veil - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
X Current Show - ★☆☆☆☆ DNF at 50 pages.
28 Into Thin Air - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
29 Indira - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
30 Cosmos - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oct:1k
31 Lakshadweep Adventure - ★★☆☆☆
32 A Corner of a Foreign Field - ★★★★☆
33 The Last Question - ★★★★★
34 A Trunk Full of Tales : Seventy Years with the Indian Elephant - ★★★★☆

Nov: 1.3k
35. The Book Hunters of Katpadi: A Bibliomystery - ★★★☆☆
36. A Man Called Ove - ★★★★☆
37. City Under Curfew : and other stories. - ★★★★☆
38. Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters - ★★★½☆

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all the best!:)

Hello...
Lone fox dancing in my TBR.

Any plans for graphic ones? Keep me posted, please!

No plans in near future..... Though the first book I completed in Feb is a graphic :P [[book:American Born Chinese|118944]]
Shall let you know.

Aww that's bad. Will check this one out. Thanks!

How is American Born Chinese? I have to read it for the Book Riots Read Harder Challenge....

Peeking in.. Very very veryyy belated good luck wishes, G! :D

J and S,
ABC is a funny and light heart read with a good plot. People familiar with Monkey King Chinese folk tales would relate more with it. Its a very quick read.
I was expecting more cross cultural references and lifestyle. Would love to read your thoughts on this if you happen to read it.

Thanks Shar :)

6. Seasons of the Palm - ★★★★½

Another amazing BR with Syl.

Glad to be slightly back on reading track. Wife is reading 'A Married Woman' and so I thought of starting it as well so we can discuss :)

Currently Reading:
Gene
A Married Woman
A Trunk Full of Tales

Enjoyed the BE. Guess I have read A married woman (if it's Manju Kapur)
Good luck with your upcoming reads

Keep off the grass was one of my favorite books till I read his Johnny Gone Down. Later books were a bit of a washout.

Yes its by Manju Kapur. Nothing extraordinary but a comfortable read so far (at 30%)

Johnny GD is up on my list... and I'm going to skip Seeker.

Read another one in Feb
7. A Married Woman - ★★★☆☆

Me and wife both read it at the same time... she during day time and me during night... discussing along in the evenings :)
Even though it wasn't such a great book, but enjoyed reading it very much for the company. We both agree its lame in the 2nd half.

Actively Reading now:

- Gene - at 50% - abandoned last year at 30%, restarted this year. Re read and skimmed through the first few chapters to set the context back. Its a difficult but delightful read. 5 stars so far

-Trunk Full of Tales - 35% - 3.5 stars so far
To the Elephant Graveyard was the inspiration to pick this non-fiction on elephants. There are some gross details. Kudos to the author for sharing such unique experiences.

-Khushwant Singh autobiography -At 35% - 3 stars
Reading this with Arpit. A chapter a day. Beginning wasn't that good. Slowly gaining good momentum.

-Saakshi - At 0% - 4+ stars (ouch! expectations hurt!)
Planning to start today. Reading with Smi and Sri.

ROFL.. when I saw your 4 star of Sakshi I thought you completed it.

Finished 3 and a half books in March.

The most rewarding being a continuation from last year:
8. The Gene: An Intimate History - ★★★★★
My first 5 star of this year :)
Started this some 10 months back, and couldnt do proper justice to it by discontinuing after every couple of chapters till 30%. Good sense prevailed and did a re-read this year, and successfully reached the finish line (Yay!). Not a comfortable read but highly informative and rewarding.

9. ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ [Saakshi]- ★★★½☆ (with Arvind, Smi, Sri)
Disappointing on Bhyrappa standards. Too many deviations killed it for me.

10. Truth, Love and a Little Malice - ★★★★☆ (with Arpit)
A BR with Arpit after so long... for an author we both love :)
Like always, the discussions helped to gain more knowledge and infuse more fun to the reading.

X. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: ★★☆☆☆ DNF at 50%
With the world going ga ga over this, picked the audio version for a long train journey. While the first chapter had me in tears and awkward faces around the bogey, slowly it became a tirade and I decided to let it go at 50%.

I was tempted to pick up The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life after it started popping up on my GR timeline quite frequently.. After reading your DNF - kind of feeling relieved I didn't..

when and which Manto?

Gene - still waiting for shubh muhurat

Did someone here say Manto?

Jaya wrote: "when and which Manto?"

Oops. Sorry missed this message.

@Meenakshi - many folks have intent to read Manto together but not able to start yet as we don't have a definite story list to follow. Everybody has different story collections...

@Jaya - may be we can pick the index of your book (Toba Tek Singh and other stories) and start from May. At least a story a month shouldn't be that difficult right?

April Reads:
11. Child 44 (Leo Demidov, #1) - ★★★★☆ (with Sri)
A BR with Sri and enjoyed it a lot. Most enjoyable book of this month. Never encountered Stalin's Russia in any format before. Finally, a Russian book I loved ;)


X. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - DNF at 10%
Loved the film. Couldn't connect to the book. Early DNF.

X. Brave New World - DNF at 50%
Slump. Two DNFs in a row :(

12. The Last Post - ★★½☆☆
This book landed on my shelves while buying second hand books on an impulse. It was an unheard Indian book... and still couldn't find much info about it on GR, Amazon or any other forum.


13. Artemis - ★★★☆☆


And meanwhile wife is binge reading Premchand's Mansarovar series. She loved parts 1 and 2...now on the 3rd part. Says the stories are all good and the variety is good.
I've started Part1 as well on her reco. Its lovely so far.

I was almost sure that you would DNF One flew... I did too... though I will attempt it again sometime.
Again, same pinch for DNFing Brave New World..
Artemis yet to read, and Child 44 was a quick thriller which I enjoyed.

Good to know that your wife is enjoying Premchand. I have his translated short stories in English. Have to pick up some time.

I envy your bookish discussions with your wife! (scolds self for envying :P)

And Child 44 was a superb BR. Totally enjoyed discussing it with you! :D

Am looking forward to Kitne Pakistan. :)

And as for Saakshi ----- (lips are sealed) - another failed BR attempt from my end! :( :P

I have some Premchand short stories, not sure which ones as I bought them long back when I got into a frenzy to read some books in Hindi! (you will remember that phase - i bought quite a few books that are still languishing :P)

Gorab wrote: "April Reads:
11. Child 44 (Leo Demidov, #1) - ★★★★☆ (with Sri)
A BR with Sri and enjoyed it a lot. Most enjoyable book of this month. Never encountered Stalin's Russia in any format before. Finally..."

Only one correction. Child 44 is not a Russian book - it was written by an English author who reimagined the horror of Stalin Russia :D

And +1 on Sri's envy on the bookish discussions. The best part is your daughter will want in on those discussions and might become an early reader!

@Sri - I'm reading from Amazon's Kindle series of Mansarovar by Premchand. Recently realised Amazon might have jumbled up the stories from different volumes.... as the story titles are different in the original premchand's mansarovar. Not an issue if you're planning to read all 8 of them though.

High five on Child 44.. loved those discussions.. wouldn't have enjoyed that much otherwise..
and cheers to KP :)

@G, not a Russian book?? Ho ho! I'm glad :D
Thanks for the correction :)

Yeah so far she is very much inclined to books.... and literally rips them apart the moment she gets any :P

Gorab wrote: "@Sri - I'm reading from Amazon's Kindle series of Mansarovar by Premchand. Recently realised Amazon might have jumbled up the stories from different volumes.... as the story titles are different in..."

Premchand Katha Sangrah: 176 stories of Premchand - this is the book I have on Kindle. Just checked! :)

14. Palpasa Cafe - ★★★★☆ (supposedly with Smi)
This was the book calling me.... Knowing Smi also has the same book, immediately bought it... and somehow managed to fit this into the Bingo translation category :P
Would love to discuss this as and when Smi and others (if any) will read it.

15. (मानसरोवर 1): प्रेमचंद की मशहूर कहानियाँ - ★★★★★ (with wife)
Another of her reco doing good to both of us :)

X. Mr Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi - DNF at 70%
Easily the most boring book by RKN! Or it must be a critical masterpiece :P

Srividya wrote: "Premchand Katha Sangrah: 176 stories of Premchand - this is the book I have on Kindle. Just checked! :)"

:O!
This is the mother of them all edition!

Read two more books in May participating in bingo challenge.

16. Three Men in a Boat - ★★★☆☆ (with Arpit)
So it came to picking up a classic, and I was sure of another DNF going by the trend this year and my everlasting love for classics. This was a good relief in breaking the jinx!
Might try its second part, which might be helpful if i ever have to pick a classic again ;)

17. The India I Love - ★★★★☆
Another one of easy Ruskin Bond reads, the feelings are repetitive as well, just like many of his stories seem to be.... ever refreshing.

Currently reading (active):
Sphere by Michael Crichton
Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar

Once in a while (passive) current reads:
A Trunk Full of Tales - Non fiction on elephants. Allows disruptive readings... so I pick a tale whenever i can while taking a small break in office (and hence untouched since a couple of months!)

Manto stories - Reading a random story a month... and the collection has like 40-50 of them. And so this looks like 'lambi race ka ghoda' - going to stay on for a marathon, spanning years.

Great going twinny. 🙌

🙌 :D :D

India I love in my TBR. Perhaps will be read this month itself.

Long time!
Got indulged in this and that and.... you know... all the less important and boring stuff in life!

Read around 9-10 books in the past 3 months.

June: 1.6k pages
18. Jasoda - ★★★☆☆ (with Smi)
19. Sphere - ★★☆☆☆
20. The Goat Thief - ★★★½☆
21. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World - ★★★★☆

July-Aug: 1k pages
22. Inside the Haveli - ★★★★☆
23. बसेरे से दूर - ★★★★☆
24. आवारा भीड़ के खतरे - ★★☆☆☆
25. Rebecca - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
26. No God In Sight - ★★★★☆

Rebecca has been the best of the lot without a doubt. One of those rare books where me and wife agree on the ratings.
Watched the movie by Hitchcock too.

While the plot in the book cooked like a slowly simmering biriyani, the movie was like instant triple fried rice with ultra fast dialogue delivery by Max and slight plot deviations.

We both preferred the biriyani this time :) [In spite of Hitchcock being my all time favorite film director!]

Currently Reading:
Aavarna - At 80% and its another 5 star kinda book.
Cosmos - At 30% and yet another 5!
Into Thin Air - At 50% and guess what!

Happy to be floating in 5 stars :) :) :) :) :)

Also reading a little bit of this and that:
Manto Stories
Short fiction by Oscar Wilde
A Trunk Full of Tales.

hey G!!

long time no see...

Hopeful that my next update here won't take a couple of months!

Hey Manu!
Yeah I know its been very long. Happy to see you're still a lightening fast bot :) :)

Flash is my role model. :P

Gorab wrote: "Hopeful that my next update here won't take a couple of months!"

am yet to update my tracker. will do now. :)

Long time indeed Gorab.. Rebecca is one of those intense mood thrillers for sure.

I have Aavarna with me. Will pick it up post your review :)

Great reads Gorab, I had to stop rebecca at around 50% because i couldnt renew it i nmy library .Your review is tempting me to resume it soon , waiting for it to be available :)

Hello folks. I hereby make a promise to myself to enjoy more reading time... now that the circumstances have returned favorable.

Here's what September did to me:
Sept: 1.3k
27. Aavarana - The Veil - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Started with Aavarna late in August while visiting Hampi. And how it turned out to be such a fantastic read... [just like the hard earned trip after almost an year :)]

X Current Show - ★☆☆☆☆ DNF at 50 pages.
With Cosmos and Into Thin Air in its parallel, Current Show flopped horrendously. The worst book by Perumal Murugan in terms of how I generally connect to his books. Didn't give it a second thought after 50 pages.

28 Into Thin Air - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was highly recommended by a friend back in 2013, before joining GR. And somehow this reco lost track... This has kept me awake for many nights as a bedtime read. The mania to trek the highest peaks, the suffering they endure, that sheer display of will power, life threatening situations!
Yet another book which is going to stay with me forever.

29 Indira - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stumbled on to this graphic novel only because Rebecca bought it :D Thought it to be a biography, and it turned out a rather good art form packaged in a book.

30 Cosmos - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This has to be an essential reading. Many parts from it deserve to be in school and college curriculum. Was following the book with the renewed TV series from 2014. But the series didn't interest me much after 7 episodes.
A masterpiece which is bound to spin your head in a new dimension!

That sums up a fantastic September. Its very rare for me to find a 5 star read in months, and to have multiple of them within the same month was beyond crazy. Extremely satisfied!

And this also completes the Bingo challenge which was supposed to be completed by July.

That's great Gorab. hope you hit half century. 😄