Reading List - September

I am one of those readers who likes to have a balanced diet, unless it is something like Harry Potter, which will have my whole, undivided attention at all times of the day (bad news for my academic endeavours in the past and my professional engagements now). Since I am not very picky about what I read, I have, on an average at least three books in my WIP list. This month, these three are on my bedside:

1. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters: This was the result of my random browsing through the booklist of the British Council Library, and I was caught by the synopsis… “This is the story of four Londoners – three women and a young man with a past – drawn with absolute truth and intimacy… Their lives and their secrets connect in sometimes startling way. Wars lead to strange alliances…”. The book is partitioned in three sections and I have just finished the first one. So far it has captivated me well enough.

2. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield: It has been nearly a year since I bought this book at an airport, and though I read about half of it, I left it mid-way. That’s not an indication of the quality of the book. In fact, it is enormously educative and though the title appears partial to wannabe astronauts, I can assure you, this one goes far deeper. Chris Hadfield gives remarkable perspectives on everything in life and frankly, it is very inspiring. Of course, anyone with an amateurish fixation with space-travel (I guess I am one of them) will find it easier to read, though everything has been broken down in very easy-to-understand, laymanish concepts. It is only that the occasional instructive tone does not always make it a fun read, which is why I need to read the next title alongside.

3. San Andreas by Alistair MacLean: I picked it out of habit at the bookstore I mentioned in my last post, and am yet to crack open the spine. The summary notes a lot of ships and submarines and sabotage and betrayal. At the risk of sounding morbid, I confess I can already feel the tention building in my stomach !

Time to get my cup of tea. And let the reading commence…

Comments

Man-Eaters of Kumaon - Jim Corbett

Genre: Non-fiction Rating: 5/5 This one is decidedly a classic, so there is little point in reviewing this book. It is a beautiful one, without doubt. Personally, I avoid any form of entertainment (books, movies, plays, anything) which features cruelty - either directly or tacitly - towards animals (I have not yet seen any of the Planet of the Apes movies, Ant Man was uncomfortable too). So deciding to read this book took a certain degree of convincing. Much credit goes to the beautiful cover of the book. This one is an Aleph Classics (co-founded by David Davidar of The House of Blue Mangoes fame, and Rupa Publication) edition. In terms of sheer elegance, the cover design is unmatched. The palette concept of jungle green coupled with the late afternoon sun creates an ambiance even before you delve into the pages. I picked out the book from a thin pile on a shelf in the little HigginBothams book-store near Charing Cross in Ooty, one biting winter evening (more

The Caine Mutiny - Herman Wouk

I remember that there have been some books that have left me utterly sucker-punched: To Kill a Mockingbird (my favourite), Stuart - A Life Backwards, Birdsong, The Catcher in the Rye (my second favourite), Apollo 13 and HMS Ulysses . (I'm sure there are more, but these are the few that come of the top of my head). These books have mostly made me walk around like zombies, thinking and re-thinking and feeling incredibly insignificant and ashamed of my pettiness. When I recall my feelings during or after having finished these books, I can almost pin-point the instant of the change in my thought process. Then there are others - Rebecca, The Casual Vacancy and quite possibly I Capture the Castle for instance, upon finishing which I have heaved a sigh, smiled to myself and thought, " Now, that's a proper thinking man's book ", not quite realising that I did not really understand all the thinking that went into the pages; at least not until much later. My m

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I follow Neil Gaiman on Twitter, though I had read only one book of his ( Coraline ) that my best friend had gifted me on my last birthday. I am quite ashamed to say that my first acquaintance with his work was through an episode of Doctor Who - The Doctor's Wife , that he had scripted, and to this day , it remains one of my most favourite, poignant episodes of the show. All I knew from the veritable literature and almost frenetic online admiration, was that this was a writer with some fairly impactful body of work to follow. Last weekend, I was at the bookstore, and despite the bulky backlog of books and work on hand, I ended up buying The Ocean at the End of the Lane . Having finished it a couple of days back, I am the wiser to have given in to my impulse then. Like Coraline , The Ocean at the End of the Lane was difficult for me to categorise. This was fantasy, but the writing did not suggest it. Not even remotely. The story is narrated through the eyes of a sev

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