Books I’ve Read In 2015

In 2014 and the previous year, I set myself a book reading challenge of 25 books. I made it to 12 and 21 respectively. This year I decided to make my challenge achievable. Here are the results.

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
2. Khasakinte Ithihasam by O.V. Vijayan
3. The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph
4. Serious Men by Manu Joseph
5. New York 1 Tel Aviv 0 by Shelly Oria
6. Cobalt Blue by Jerry Pinto
7. In a Forest A Deer by Ambai
8. Ravan and Eddie by Kiran Nagarkar
9. The Spare Room by Helen Garner
10. Fun Home: A Family Traginomic by Allison Bechdel
11. One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan
12. English August by Upamanyu Chatterjee
13. Delhi Noir by Hirsh Sawhney
14. Cult of Chaos by Shweta Taneja
15. Soulmates by Kanchana Ugbabe

I am in the process of putting together a 2016 reading list. Would love to get must-read suggestions from you. Leave a comment with your recommendations.

What Should I Read On A Roadtrip

I am researching what to read on a road trip. This, I presume, will help me process the fact that I will soon be on the mother of all road trips–The Great Indian Drive featuring A&T. It’s going to be epic as always!
Here’s my road trip reading list
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All the lists I referenced strongly suggest that I read this one. It’s what got wanderlust into Americans.
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Tamil writing, it seems to me, possesses an earthy connection that is comforting in its openness and lack of posturing. I foresee those would come handy as I negotiate the great Indian hinterland.
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Cobalt Blue came to me by way of my obsession with Jerry Pinto’s writing. The plot revolves around a brother and sister who fall in love with the same man! How in the world is this book not more popular? And what more exciting to read in unknown territory?
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My holidays always end on a high. If Fault in Our Stars is anything to go by, Paper Towns sounds like just the teen heartpulp I need!
Surely, I am not going to read any more than these. But I would love to hear from you. I still have time to change my mind on some of these books!
What you would read on a roadtrip?

Procrastinator’s Pride: An Incomplete List Of Unfinished Books In My Shelf

Since yesterday, I can wax eloquent about Kiran Nagarkar’s Ravan and Eddie. Shamefully, it is my first Nagarkar read. Arguably his best work, (1.) Cuckold, was one of my gifts when I turned 25. And I turn 30 this year. A procrastinator’s pride, I have been meaning to read that book for half a decade!
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That’s how I thunk up this list. These are books I should have read MUCH earlier; I own copies of these, have read some of these, but haven’t completed them yet.
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I’ve had a copy of this Malayalam must-read for over 10 years now.
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I remember the first time I read the premise of this book. It was the summer of 2010, a period when i had all the time in the world to read. I was skulking around Blossoms hoping to meet “the rich man of my dreams” who would buy me as many books as I cared to read! Oh, for life’s simple needs! I ended up buying a lot of obscure books other than this one because they were cheaper.
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The year was 2007 and I was very excited about debut novels. Right up until I got myself a copy! Never got around to either of them.
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Of course there was a Marquez phase. The tragic end to that was marked by a thesis that exorcised the Marquez fetish. This book came to me right after the exorcism. I had no energy left for one more ecstasy. I read the first 20 pages from time to time but never again found the urge to finish it.
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I was in the eucalyptus stillness of the mountains. A chill rose among the plantations along with the potent smell of coffee. I remember I was reading Everything is Illuminated short on the heels of his other book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! All I can say is the woods had me in their hold and a warm cup of freshly brewed coffee did me in!
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I don’t remember who introduced me to this one. I remember reading more than half way through this. And I remember it being very engaging. But then I did put it down.
Hmm, 8 is a good number, don’t you think? How about we make this a running list. I have a feeling I hide books I own but haven’t read, both from myself by double lining the bookshelves and from my conscience by not acknowledging them even when I see them. Watch this space for more in this list.

20 Bangalore Based Authors Who Write In English

Last month, I was at a friend’s book launch. That’s when it struck me how useful it would be to have a list of authors who live in Bangalore. Of course I googled it! But couldn’t find a good one. So here is my attempt. This is a work in progress. I will add to this as and when. Leave a comment if you find this useful. Brownie points for adding to this list.

Check out my first novel Every Thing We Are being written 1000 words a day in November 2020 as part of #NaNoWriMo. It’s FREE!

  1. Andaleeb Wajid
  2. Anita Nair
  3. Anjum Hasan
  4. Annie Chandy Mathew
  5. Arshia Sattar
  6. Aruna Nambiar
  7. Girish Karnad
  8. Gita Aravamudan
  9. Jane De Suza
  10. Lakshmi Menon
  11. Lavanya Sankaran
  12. Manu Bhattathiri
  13. Preeti Shenoy
  14. Ramachandra Guha
  15. Samar Halrankar
  16. Shashi Deshpande
  17. Samhita Arni
  18. Sharath Komarraju
  19. Shiela Kumar
  20. Sudha Murthy
  21. Shweta Taneja
  22. Vasudhendra
  23. Vikram Sampath