The books I have read in 2018

1.   A strangeness in my mind – Orhan Pamuk; Not much of a plot. Honestly, there was no plot at all. More like watching the entire life of a man unfold in front of you. But it kept me hooked on to it, such vivid descriptions, correct choice of words, observations that are on a different level. A master story teller. A compelling documentary of the meandering life of a villager who migrated to Istanbul and how he sees the transformation of Istanbul – Moving and immense.

2.   Ghachar Ghochar – Vivek Shanbag; A short quick read and what a book. Mind-blowing. The charade of a joint-family brutally laid bare, stunning in its focus on details and an ending that leaves you thinking for a long time after you have put the book down.

3.   Becoming Myself – Dr. Irvin D Yalom; At times a bit over the top in blowing his own trumpet and the customary westerner’s view on a “difficult to understand India”, but warm and genuine and vastly amazing with his varied experiences.

4.   Closely watched trains – Bohumil Hrabal; A recommendation from my nephew. Made more relevant with my stay in Czech. Absurd moments, interesting characters, non-linear narration – on the face of it a simple story but deeply allegorical – an extremely gifted writer – a momentous read at just 83 pages long.

5.   To die in spring – Ralf Rothman; Leaves one with a compulsive urge to go have a shower – the grime the pain the senseless violence of war are all so brutally and painstakingly described that you feel “physically tainted”. A poignant end. A German view on the war with no sermons or taking any holy stand or offering any explanations.

6.   The little town where time stood still – Bohumil Hrabal: What a delight. Uncle Pepin stays with you forever. A book so funny that you are grinning throughout the length of it.  Once you finish reading, you realize that there are so many events that are so funny that happen in your life almost non-stop. You just need to have the ability to appreciate it and pen it down (with a bit of exaggeration, of course 😊)

7.   The Power – Naomi Alderman; Probably the only book that disappointed me this year. The first 100 pages were pure dynamite. Later it became meaningless. Such a waste of talent. The book could have been a cultural milestone, but it meandered into a meh!

8.   Presumed Innocent – Scott Turow; An unexpected hospital duty forced me without books and I had to borrow some from my brother’s library. Would have appealed to me about 15 years ago. Was ok, but nothing to shout from the roof top, and the supposed shattering climax was evident halfway through the book.

9.   The clocks – Agatha Christie; The hospital stay continued and this one is a quintessential Christie. All loose ends tied and a neat little murder mystery.

10.The Namesake – Juhumpa Lahiri; Nothing more to add than what has already been written about the book. A pure gem.

11.The elephant in the brain – Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler; Sapiens climbed to #2 in my list dislodging Animal farm to #3 a year ago, and this one came along and pushed Animal farm to #4. What a lovely book. It tells you bluntly how you have been deceiving yourself for ages. There is no running away from it if you are honest.

12.Horse walks into a bar – David Grossman; After many years I finished a book in one sitting. Is it an easy book? Absolutely not. Is it an interesting book, you bet your ass it is. – Rarely have my emotions been put under so many layers of perceptions. A stunner.

13.Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt; Lived up to its hype. A compelling book. Primary teacher and a sumo wrestler and many such fantastic observations.

14.The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint Exupery; I was gifting it to a boy leaving town and I had to read it again. Isn’t he an addiction?

15.Man’s search for meaning – Viktor Emil Frankl; I am not new to holocaust or the terrors of the concentration camps. BBC documentaries and seven visits to Auschwitz have hardened me enough but this book still knocked the daylights out of me. A masterpiece.

16.Being Mortal – Atul Gawande; Surprising to see a doctor questioning the way we treat old age. Old age is not a medical problem and we treat it with medicine. Hits the nail on its head. A wonderful book

17.The difficulty of being good – The subtle art of Dharma – Gurcharan Das; A marvelous book. On a journey to find meaning of Dharma and if it is possible to find practicing Dharma in current world. The journey is told through the characters of the epic Mahabaratha – never preachy, never condescending and always pragmatic – a brilliant book.

Photo Courtesy : Amazon.com

18.Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami; I wanted to read a fiction after many non-fiction books and I also wanted to take it easy. Murakami was certainly not a right choice if one wants to relax. The guy is as convoluted as they come. I wonder why he is still not awarded the Nobel?

Sources:

Book 1 was a gift by Aditya and Rajashri on my birthday, 2 was referred by Naren, 3 from Guardian, 4 – author was referred by Naren, choice of books mine, 5 from the Guardian, 6 is same as 4, 7 by Mihir (that this one came out not up to the expectations should not deprive anything from Mihir – The number of books I have enjoyed based on Mihir’s recommendations are plenty – in fact Naren and Mihir shape most of my readings), 8 and 9 are just hospital break books with no specific input, 10 catching up on the pending list, 11 is from the blog Ribbonfarm, 12 is from Naren, 13 is from Ameya, 14 is from time immemorial, 15 is from Sai , 16 is from Guardian, 17 is from Uday and 18 is from Akshaya.

Target for 2019 is at least 19 books!

Now I see a connection too - 18 in 2018 and 19 in 2019