Indian Readers discussion

So many ideas for 2017.... so many challenges.... much more BRs..
I am overwhelmed.
I need more time to think over....
In this first post I thought I will record by best reads and worst reads of the year

BOOKS I LOVED
1. ★★★★☆
2. ✸✸✸✸✵


BOOKS I DISLIKED

RECOS by FRIENDS

1. Moloka'i - recommended by Apoor Moghe years ago, and chosen by Arpit as PickItForMe-Jan challenge book
2. Rear Window a short and crisp story. Enjoyed the suspense
3. The Ice Princess - by Indrani a couple of months ago. Was fairly decent, but I had some issues with it.
4. A Room of One's Own - group read suggestion by Indrani, and it made me think.. though it was not an easy read. 4 stars.
5. Chess Story - again a group read suggestion .. this time by Hajarath Prasad. I was one of the few who gave it relatively low rating.. i.e., 3.5-4ish stars
6.The Historian - by Jaya. One of the best books... and am indebted to her.
7. - group read suggestion by was thought provoking and sad. 4 stars.
8. group read suggestion by

STOLEN FROM FRIENDS' SHELVES
I will root through the read books of my friends, go through their five star ones, and chose one likely book
Let me see how many books I read thus.

1. First one chosen was Muddlehead - my first friend in GR. THis was at random, as his name showed first when I clicked my friend list.
I chose It Rained All Night , and till 40% I was wondering why he gave it 5 stars as I was finding it a bit sleazy, but then I slowly got into the minds of the husband and wife and was astonished at the varied layers of human thought and compensatory mechanisms of the brain.

2. STOLEN FROM GORAB JAIN"S SHELF
It was a difficult task as he hadn;t 5 starred many book, and whatever he had, I had either read, or didn;t have an inclination to read.
Finally I chose Ender's Game as it was in my TBR too...
Liked it, though not as much as Gorab did. (my 3 vs his 5 stars)
3. STOLEN FROM MANJU'S SHELF
The Last Child - Amissing child thriller. Delivered what it promised to. There was some lack of finesse, hence minus a star.

EMPTY MY PHYSICAL UNREAD SHELF.. which is sending accusatory glances at me

I have stopped counting the number of unread books that I have. I shall try to read them, but am not promise to read all, as the number has already crossed 500, and I have stopped counting.

And dely, Gorab... idea was not exactly stolen from you both, I had this fermenting somewhere in my mind, your recent posts made me kindle it :D

1. The Hobbit - bought in October 2015 from Blossoms book house, Bangalore for Rs. 180.
2. The Good Children -bought in Nov 2016 from Bookchor.com for 38 rs.
3. Insomnia -bought online Aug. 2016 Gopal books via Amazon.in. Approx. 100rs.
4. Mandra got it for 308 from Amazon. And it was not exact emptying my physical shelves, as I started it as soon as I got it in my hands... without even letting the book rest in the shelves.

5., Atonement- bought in Dec 2016 from a local fair for approximately 100/- well worth the money spent. Read and loved it ... (March 25, 2017)
6.A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust - bought in 2015 as part of the complete set. Enjoyed it
7. A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast

Perhaps I intend to do more than a few challenges :P

Yes I do

READ HARD CHALLENGE BY BOOK RIOTS

POPSUGAR CHALLENGE



INDIAN BOOKS READ CHALLENGE

MY PURCHASES OF 2017
1. 1. Jan 4.
Original price - 699
Bought for - 350
Amazon.in
For Gautham

Description - son wanted it. Was looking for a price drop as 699 was too steep a price to pay. Finally hit paydirt during a flash sale from Amazon. Came to know via Broke Bibliophiles.
It is a beautiful hardcover copy with gold etchings in the title and soft, luxurious pages with big fonts - exquisite care has been taken to produce this.

2. 2. Legend 9f Lakshmi Prasad
120 rs.
Couldn't resist as Amazon gave a bumper discount. Got it on 23rd Jan.

3.Mandra -impulse purchase on feb 3. as amazon teased me by bringing down the cost of this beautiful hardback from 599 to 308. And I also blame Gorab for letting me know this fact.
But it was a wise purchase. I loved reading it.

4. It Rained All Night-138 rupees from Amazon.
A captivating story of adultery and its effects on both partners.

5,
Second hand.. Amazon. 89 plus 20

Was a waste. Had to resort to ebook due to the tiny fonts.
READ AS EBOOK WITH PAPERBACK IN LAP FOR COMFORT

So early!!!! All the best!! Will be lurking here forever.

BR with M, and Recos by M
In recent months, Manju has been my constant Buddy Reader, hence a thread especially for her

1. Atonement - in the month of March, both of us loved it. 4 stars each
2. Every Dead thing -1.5 stars.. ditched it at 60%. But M went on to finish it at 4 stars , and even told me who the killer was, upon my asking.

lurking slot booked

WEEKEND SUGGESTION & POLLS READS:
1. 84, Charing Cross Road
2.Like Water for Chocolate- by Deepika, was above average
3.The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - Aparna - Loved
4.An Ideal Husband - liked
5.Chess Story-by Hajarath PRasad. was okayish
6.Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress- suggested by Reshma, slightly above average
7. A Room of One's Own- Indrani - liked
8. The Pedant in the Kitchen- Girish - liked
9. The Hobbit- liked
10.Coraline-liked
11. A Monster Calls - liked
12. White Nights- by SHaradha - liked.

wow! Already getting ready for next year! Have fun!

WEEKEND MARATHON:
1. Career of Evil-492 pages...chosen by self
2.Thirteen Hours-570 pages.. (translated mysteries - suggested by Manju)

Many more goodies coming up..




And a few more




And one more


This is final

you're fast! best of luck for 2017!:D

Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a thread. I will be lurking there
-― Jalaluddin Tarinee Rumi :P

Pata hai? Yahaa se bahut door, galat aur sahi ke paar.. Ek maidan hai..

Main wahaa milunga tujhe!

Meeting Place

Em wrote: "HAVE A FEW MORE IDEAS"

I'm curious to see your ideas for next year!

Thank you...H.M.T

@em: reserve one comment for my reco. :P

dely...have a few in mind ...but nothing concrete.
Am polishing up a few.ideas here and there

ROFL. ..
Em reads recos by M. ..would make a great title

Already!
Will wait for the goodies to come and decide what not to steal.

Sure..those are already stolen ideas....:D

Am in line with you on messages 2 and 4.
Slightly twisting 4 for my convenience ;)

@Gorab, saw your twists and turns :)

Can't wait for the official setting in of the new year. I always have been impatient, and ever will be..
These books will act as a bridge between 16 and 17 to me as I already started these in 16...
Moloka'i - awesomeness incarnate
The Good Children - a good book :)
Milk and Honey - Faye Kellerman never fails to thrill
Payment in Blood- Neither does Elizabeth George... and this is a repeat read, but in audio this time
Olympus: An Indian Retelling of the Greek Myths- an ever waited read... would be my first Indian book of 2017

So... as always ... diligent on Day 1
Started my reading for the day at 6.30 am... (not exactly correct, as I welcomed the year in reading Moloka'i)

Moloka'i - a few pages
Started Hobbit...

Both books awesome............ so far.

Very dilligent Syl :))
Hope your year in books stays awesome!

Thanks, J....
wish you the same too :)

Em wrote: "Can't wait for the official setting in of the new year. I always have been impatient, and ever will be..
These books will act as a bridge between 16 and 17 to me as I already started these in 16......"

Super selection..

Thank you Indrani :)

Day 1 summary
Started Hobbit...
The whole day through whenever possible read Hobbit and Molokai alternatively. ..perhaps around 120 pages were read yesterday.
Most of my time.was spend surfing goodreads and other book sites....and some time daydreaming about my 2017 schedules.

Wah reh wah...
2017 begins by DNFing Hobbit.
Thank God that I am not superstitious >. <

Em wrote: "Wah reh wah...
2017 begins by DNFing Hobbit.
Thank God that I am not superstitious >. <"

arre... no worries..

DNF is in full force. We have to look out for what DNS does. :)

Anyway, happy reading Syl and I hope we can lure you out of your comfort zone this year and make you read less psycho thrillers! :P

Failing that, I shall be lurking here for good psycho recos and hopefully read some of them! :P

Happy reading and may you have a great reading year! :D

Lol.. Sri..after GR my psych thrillers have drastically been affected.

Thanks, Inny

Em wrote: "Wah reh wah...
2017 begins by DNFing Hobbit.
Thank God that I am not superstitious >. <"

They say in Hindi - "Boni ho gyi" :D :D

@Em: Hey! I didn't know you specialized in Psycho thrillers! I want some suggestions pleaaseee!! :) ;)

Jayanth...sure. After I reach home in the evening. :)

Good luck syl! I shall try to lurk

Welcome..Utkarsh; )

LOG ENTRY: Day 3 of Month 1
Dismal day for reading
Morning - read 20 pages of The Good Children........ (of a Not-at-all-good mother) - a very riveting read.

Afternoon - saw that Manju is overtaking me in Molokai, got panicky and read 5%

Evening - came to know that I have urgent work that I should finish in a week's time ( time given was 3 months.... I procrastinated, later forgot).......
Hangover...... aimlessly wandered in cyberspace

Till 9 pm - did some of the 'urgent' work

9 pm onwards.... will read in bits and pieces till I finally lay myself down to rest (FOR THE DAY) at around 11 pm

Hahahaha. I loved your log entry. Hahahahaaa. It so resembles The Martian log entries. ;) And I can relate to procrastination, rofl...

LOG ENTRY DAY 4 of MONTH 1

I cannot say that this year has shown a promising start.. what with abandoning Hobbit and later coming to know that others are loving it to pieces!

But I still remain entertained by The Good Children and am wandering for decades now in Moloka'i casting sympathetic eyes over the poor leprosy sufferers.

What else will I do in the near future?

I will transport myself to Russia in the coming days and be with The Idiot

I am planning to enter the forbidden territory of Disgrace with a few companionable reading buddies

My plate overfloweth .. and I welcome it.

I also managed to break my resolution of 2017 by ordering Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay ... but I can still absolve myself saying that it was at my son's request.
And am glad that I got it for 350/- almost at half the price.

am around 70% in Moloka'i. ;)

Manju wrote: "am around 70% in Moloka'i. ;)"

Am at 68%... hmm... neck to neck

*hangs Do Not Disturb sign on her room door*:P

Em wrote: "I also managed to break my resolution of 2017 by ordering Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay ... but I can still absolve myself saying that it was at m..."

# Gautam for president :)

Finally got hold of my first purchase of the year, albeit for son.

Original price - 699
Bought for - 350
Amazon.in
For Gautham

Description - son wanted it. Was looking for a price drop as 699 was too steep a price to pay. Finally hit paydirt during a flash sale from Amazon. Came to know via Broke Bibliophiles.
It is a beautiful hardcover copy with gold etchings in the title and soft, luxurious pages with big fonts - exquisite care has been taken to produce this.


Another highlight
Completed my first book of the year. And loved it

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Not a happy book.. but a pertinent one.
Thank you Apoorv, for suggesting it years ago.
Thank you Arpit for choosing it for me in the Pick for Me challenge
Thank you Manju for BRing it with me.