Indian Readers discussion

Welcome to the The Reading Bench

I'll be posting reviews of all the books that I read during the year.

2022 was a busy year for me. This was the first year in a couple of years where I broke my reading stint. Keeping the goal to barely 20 books this year!

I talk at length about books that I've read & other rubbish too :P
This thread will have all such descriptions and logs which might help someone either take that book up or throw it out of the tbr pile :P

I love reading Fantasy, Mysteries, Sci-Fi's and books with pages less than 500 are always a charm to read
Please feel free to join, comment and stop by this virtual bench :D

Books I have planned on reading this year (in no particular order)

1. Children of Dune
2. The Guest List
3. The Hunger Games
4. Eye of the Needle
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
6. The Girl Who Played with Fire
7. One of Us Is Lying
8. The Sicilian
9. India’s Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes
10. The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels
11. The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand
12. 14 Stories That Inspired Satyajit Ray
13. Party Time in Mussoorie
14. Yayati: A Classic Tale of Lust
15. Old Man's War
16. Walking the Himalayas
17. Legends of Halahala
18. Fire & Blood
19. Nostalgia
20. Here Falls the Shadow
21. Snow Crash
22. Great Battles: Decisive Conflicts That Have Shaped History

CURRENTLY READING
1.


COMPLETED
Review
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DNF

Reserved

Yayati: A Classic Tale of Lust is on my tbr too and it checks more than one box of my reading goals. Maybe we can read this together?

Shuva wrote: "Yayati: A Classic Tale of Lust is on my tbr too and it checks more than one box of my reading goals. Maybe we can read this together?"

That would be an offer I cannot ever refuse!
I love buddy reads! Definitely, we can read this together!
Thanks!

Yay!! You decide when you want to read it and let me know?

Shuva wrote: "Yay!! You decide when you want to read it and let me know?"

Works!
Also, in case you happen to plan before, do let me know!

Finally managed to finish Fire & Blood which I carried forward from last year. It was an epic tome however this is one fantasy that's hard to avoid.

GRRM's world of Westeros is huge and magnificent. This book is more or less a historical journal about the origins of Targaryens and the event that unfolded thereafter.

One thing to note is, the idea itself is quite hollow wherein there's a constant rift between Targaryen families which keep fighting generation after generation to gain control of the coveted throne.

Good but exhaustive fantasy. Here' s the review

Contemplating about the growing pile of books made me pick a novel deliberately that I generally wouldn't have read. Nostalgia is one such lesser-known book that had mind-boggling futuristic concepts which I enjoyed reading.

Set in a a futuristic world wherein people don't die, they just jump in to a new identity!

Read more in the review here

I might have just finished reading the BEST Spy stories collection produced so far!! The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels was an extremely satisfying book. I'm completely at loss of thoughts about what to pick next!!

Checkout spoiler-free review here

I should have been shunned by the bookish community for having never read any of Ruskin Bond's books before. Managed to pick his thinnest book ever :P Party Time in Mussoorie
It was fun to read and could feel the warmth and playful imagination of Mr Bond's writing.

Read review here

Hi ,I think Ruskin Bond writes Young Adults books so probably they are for teenagers ,so we as adults don't prefer them much .

The books which you have cut in your list have been finished ?

Mansi wrote: "Hi ,I think Ruskin Bond writes Young Adults books so probably they are for teenagers ,so we as adults don't prefer them much ."

Oh i see! This was more or less a children's book with a single reference to an undergarment.

Mansi wrote: "The books which you have cut in your list have been finished ?"

Yes, Those are the one's I managed to finish this year. How's your progress going on?

For a change, i picked up One of Us Is Lying in hunt for a good mystery and a good mystery is exactly what i got. Even though this is a YA , the mystery and who-dun-it murder mystery plot is very invigorating and kept me busy.

Checkout my review of the book here

I saw Gorab's review and it caught my fascination so much that I procured the book and started reading two days later. It's called Legends of Halahala

What's special about this Graphics novel is , everything in it a depicted only using intelligent illustration and art. No word bubbles or any backstory. Also, it's an Indian book. Highly recommended.

Posted a review however it has potential spoilers

Makrand wrote: "I saw Gorab's review and it caught my fascination so much that I procured the book and started reading two days later.

What's special about this Grpahics novel is , everything in it a depicted onl..."

Glad you liked it. The author has many more to offer. Equally enigmatic and convoluted!

On the lookout for this:
https://www.blaft.com/blogs/news/repr...

Gorab wrote: "Makrand wrote: "I saw Gorab's review and it caught my fascination so much that I procured the book and started reading two days later.

What's special about this Grpahics novel is , everything in i..."

Oh great! On it, Sergeant :P

:D :D

In the rarest of rare occurrences for me, I've managed to read two books by the same author Bhaskar Chattopadhyay back to back.

The first book that i read and loved insanely was 14 Stories That Inspired Satyajit Ray. Bhaskar has edited and translated this book which has the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand and other prominent folks including Satyajit Ray!
This book is a pure piece of art that cannot be avoided.
Checkout my review of the book here


Secondly, i managed to read Here Falls the Shadow which may probably the first Indian murder mystery novel that I've ever read and it was a good read too.
You can find my review of the book here.

Snow Crash crashed on me badly and I lost a month to absurdity! I had very high expectation from the book and it turned out to be pages full of exaggerated mess.
DNF'ed after a month and 30%. Moving on.