I was just going through my old posts & came across some about books that I have totally forgotten about. It made me realize even harder this time just how important it is to log down everything here. Books especially so. In case I forget what all I have read over the years (after I started logging them here, of course), there is always a place to come back to.
So, here’s a list talking about what all I read in 2018, and my 2 cents on how I felt about these books:
- The Feast Of Roses: The first and possibly my favorite book of the year. Simply because Mughal historical fiction written in such all-engrossing manner is totally the drug of my choice. I get so immersed while reading books like these. I survived a 17-hour train journey while reading its predecessor. If you enjoy these kinds as much as I do, do not miss these series. The predecessor is called “The Twentieth Wife”.
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- Milk & Honey: Obviously, I had to read one Rupi Kaur to see what the deal is about (FOMO is a real thing, friends). However, I can safely say now that I can very much live without these. Please note that I speak only for myself, as I know some people totally love these. My opinion: these poems are scribbles made by a heart full of emotions. A lot of people write that and have written that over the years. There is a lot of books out there which do this kind of content, and way better. I wouldn’t want to waste my time on this, because there are so many books and so little time.
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- Mrs. Funnybones: Wow! I love me a good, lighthearted comedy always & this is something else!! The way it is written in such a fun, unabashed and witty manner, it made for an extremely fun read & so breezy! Now, I see a lot of people bashing this book for just how first world it is. Well, you only write something when you feel strongly about writing that particular thing, she wanted to write about this. Its totally okay to not like it, but don’t go all surprised about why its loved so much. That’s because its enjoyable for a lot of us.
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- ChaiChai – Travels in Places where you stop but never get off: Such a forgettable book. Normally when I complete a book, I am in the habit of reading a couple of reviews on Goodreads. One of the reviews about this one mentioned – “Seems like the author has just written a diary about his every day when he decided to write this book”. So, so apt. As is evident from the title, the book is about cities which are very vital for having a railway station that connects multiple parts of India through the rail network – one of the best & most extensive rail networks in the world. However, these cities are known for just that, nobody happens to know what is the character of each of these cities other than the railway bit. Very promising topic indeed & I always love books which glorify some city and the author’s love or opinion about that city shines through the book. However, this one was written in a very ‘Dear Diary, today I did this, this and this in xyz city’ way and it wasn’t even like that each day was totally different from another.
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- This House of Clay & Water: Very beautifully written fiction talking about how no one knows how much and how they are capable of loving or un-loving. I wouldn’t put this in my Do-Not-Miss-For-Anything list, but definitely a very different, poetic and lovely read. Read it for the different kind of story it has.
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- The House that Jack Ma built: I am slowly trying to take baby steps in the world of non-fiction and I had thought long ago that whenever I feel comfortable reading more non-fiction, I’ll read about Jack Ma. I enjoyed knowing his story, his characteristics etc but the book itself was written in a very unstructured manner. I wish there were less numbers & more structured parts of the book to make it enjoyable.
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- Godan: First & the only Hindi read this year. As I have mentioned countless times before, I have been reading Premchand since childhood and I love his short stories, but that’s all I have read over the years. I hadn’t read even a single novel by him until this. This one I didn’t love, like I normally love his works. Maybe because it has multiple story lines in parallel, something I am not a big fan of.
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- Pride & Prejudice: I didn’t expect to like it a lot, because I have never enjoyed non-Hindi classics just as much as I enjoy contemporary stuff. However, this was so lovely, so so lovely. I think I love me a well-written, traditional love story always! I think I am going to watch all screen adaptations! 😀
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- The Black Shalwar: I haven’t read a lot of Manto, but whatever little I have read as part of magazine or newspaper excerpts, I have always enjoyed. Right now also, I am reading a collection of short stories by Manto. I am now finding it a little underwhelming than my expectations, to be honest. However, at the time I read this story, I absolutely loved it.
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- Maid in India: “It ought to be sobering and vertiginous to think of how many other people could be where you are, doing exactly what you do, if everything in India was just a little better”. Another non-fiction of 2018 & extremely good. Please read this. I am sharing my Instagram post below about this book, which very well summarizes how I feel about this one.
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- The Palace of Illusions: Another wonderful read of this year. Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective – a story of just being who you are & not shying away from it- now why did someone not think of this earlier? Please read this!!
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- Midnight’s Children: Somehow I have never read the super popular books of different eras. I have not read Harry Potter, not a lot of Enid Blyton, you get the drift. I wanted to get a start on those, so this was one of those categories. This was one of the most boring books I read & this is the reason why the number of books I read in 2018 is less than 12. I spent more than 2 months trying to finish this one. But two things I liked about this book – 1) the author’s love for Bombay, 2) the comparison he keeps making about his Indian childhood & Pakistani adolescence.
That’s it for today’s Friday List. I guess its pretty clear which are my top 3 from 2018. Please share yours with me. 🙂
Life of Srish 
Of all these, I have read Palace and Godaan. Actually seen a doordarshan series too in the days when Premchand stories were enacted out stunningly.
I found Palace amazing and it reminded me of a keyword that I try to keep in my head always. Perspective. I also remember reading a chapter on 10th Hindi from Duryodhan’s perspective. It was the final scene Before his death, where he is hidden in the lake and Bheem is waiting to wrestle him. He talks and talks wonderfully.