January Book Haul

(A lot of generic content precedes the actual book haul. Feel free to skip all of this).

Well okay.

I haven’t blogged for ages, but I want to kick start my writing habit again, and I figured, no time like the present, yes?

Okay maybe now’s not the best time, because I’m kind of swamped with my exams.

I’m not going to update this blog with everything I’ve been up to and what all I’ve been reading and what’s been going on/off my TBR, et cetera, et cetera. However, I will let you know that the past year, personally, has been a pathetic year of reading.

In 2014, I read a decent number of books, finished my Goodreads challenge, and blogged about everything I read, diligently, till about March. I don’t even want to go back and check, it makes me want to close the Blogger tab- the modern day definition of shame. In June, I made a one-off, shitty post about not posting, and after that, here I am.

I didn’t get too much reading done in 2014 after March. Funnily enough, I’ve bought a huge number of books in the past year- 62. Alright, it’s not huge huge, but it’s enough to make me squirm when compared to how many of the 62 I actually read.

And it’s way too painstaking to write about all of my hauls, so I’m just going to start with January, 2015. In the middle of March, but better late than never, they say.

Here goes-

January, 2015

They’re not the prettiest copies, I’ll admit. But I got them dirt cheap, and they’re fairly decent looking, considering they’re second hand.

From left to right- Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Mercy by Jodi Picoult, Superstar India by Shobha De, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

Bottom to top- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu, Tales from Firozsha Bagh by Rohinton Misrty, and The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.

Also, I didn’t include this book in the picture- The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell.

And these are the three library books I borrowed-

A Cambridge Introduction to F Scott Fitzgerald, Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon, and Journalism in the Digital Age.

I haven’t even looked at Unaccustomed Earth, Mercy, Livingston Seagull, or Tales from Firozsha Bagh. Although, I can’t wait to be treated to Lahiri’s beautiful prose, and Picoult’s combination of mystery and fine writing. I bought Livingston Seagull after the recommendation of a friend. Firozsha Bagh will be my first book by Mistry, The same friend once said, and I quote, “…hope that somewhere in IIT/IIM right now, some guy got a hold of a Rohinton Mistry before he did a Chetan Bhagat”. Which, in one sentence, explains the current situation of quality literature in India.

However, can we all take a moment to admire how absolutely beautiful these books look.

 Pink and black colour combinations, for the win.

Superstar India has been, well, a shock. A pleasant shock. It was recommended to me by my French teacher. She promised that whatever my personal feelings were about Shobhaa De or her writing, I would totally appreciate this book.

And I did! I don’t know much about Shobhaa De as a person. The only other writing I’ve read of hers has been her weekly column in the Mumbai Mirror, where her writing is unique, but edgy and opinionated.

However, I could completely connect with this book, for some reason. One of them is, of course, that I am an Indian. The other is that she writes about India in a very matter-of-fact way, without the glorification, sensationalism, and romanticism that most others possess when they try their hand at it. The writing comes across as simple, yet not dumbed-down (looking at you, Chetan Bhagat), and is devoid of any form of pretentiousness.

Second, The Bone Clocks. I’m not kidding, this is the most beautiful book I own. I am 95% sure I bought it just to gawk at the cover. I haven’t properly begun this, so I don’t know how to describe it. So I’ll link you to a Booktube review I really liked. It’s spoiler free.

Third, Gatsby.

I tried reading the Cambridge Introduction book alongside Gatsby, but I had to put it away.

I loved every minute of Gatsby. It’s one of those classics that’s not very slow, and with a well paced plot. The setting is beautiful, I can picture it so well, even with having zero knowledge of Jazz-age America. This is the kind of book that draws you in, and commands and deserves attention.

Here’s my favourite quote from the book.

Fourth, Shantaram.

I’ll admit, I haven’t begun this properly, either. That’s only because I’m slightly wary of it. I’ve been warned that it’s a tedious read, albeit a rewarding one. Also, the author and his story is apparently a fraud. However, I still want to get this book out of the way, considering its sequel, The Mountain Shadow, has been lined up for release in October, 2015.

And finally, Three Sisters, by Bi Feiyu. 

I’ll admit, I’d heard of neither the author, nor the book. I picked it up on impulse, and I’m glad I did. The novel is written by a Chinese man and set in a village in Communist China. This is something that helps with my goal to read more diverse books. I’m not very well-read when it comes to how Communist regimes were in the past, and my exposure to Chinese literature has been, at the most, minimal. But this book is engrossing and extremely insightful. I’ve paused several times during the course of reading, but when I’ve come back, it’s always been easy to pick up from where I left off.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll be posting my February Haul soon. By then, I will hopefully have moved past this practice of staying inactive for months at a stretch, and then typing out 1000-word posts in one go.