I’ve been doing a lot of reading (and re-reading) this year, these were the ones that stuck with me and helped me get through this tough year. In case you’re looking for interesting reads, try these out and let me know if you liked any of them.
In retrospect, I seemed to have dived nose-deep into historical fiction this year and absolutely loved it. It makes sense, since we’ve all been trying to live vicariously in other worlds this year.
This book describes the life of Charlie, a simpleton who finds himself suddenly getting very smart, and the consequences on his life. It’s a short, heart-rending commentary on a society that doesn’t care about mental health and prizes intellectual achievements over emotional ones.
I found the prose exquisite in this fairytale of a story. It’s a fairly predictable storyline, but the beautiful, detailed descriptions of 1960s America and the study of the characters made this story unputdownable. Extra props to Tom Hanks for the brilliant audio narration that lifted this story from the realm of the good to the magical.
I had a mental block in reading Sherlock Holmes as a child, I think it was a combination of the rather difficult language along with the fact that Holmes seemed like an insufferable know-it-all. I am so glad I gave it another shot now though. The complete works of Holmes (available on Audible) is narrated well and I have a newfound appreciation for Watson’s patience in dealing with Sherlock’s ego. It’s also quite wonderful to hear the vivid descriptions of 1800s England, and marvel at how far we’ve come since then. Highly recommend having this play while working on some mundane chores, it’s a great way to pass the time.
Another great fiction read. This is my first Russian novel, I decided to try it out thanks to gatesnotes’ recommendation. I loved this book for the wonderful prose – the descriptions of Russian royal life and the proletariat were quite novel to me and the food/drink descriptions quite mouth watering (despite me being a vegetarian). The protagonist is on house arrest in a beautiful hotel (the metropol) and this story is about his life within the confines of this place. I drew a number of parallels to life in lockdown, although admittedly mine involved a lot more cleaning the bathroom and a lot less champagne 😉
This book has received a lot of attention in the press this year, and deservedly so. Bob Iger was candid in his descriptions of his illustrious career and shows us a close look into how executives of such large organisations make decisions and handle acquisitions. It was also quite inspiring to see how he steadily progressed from role to role across multiple decades and finally landed the CEO job in his 50s, because it gives mortals like us hope that the best is yet to come.
I included this book in my list purely because of the strange and wild beauty of the Sundarbans. The writing and the story itself are average in my opinion, but the subject matter is so attractive that it’s still worth reading this book. The tide country in east bengal is truly a unique ecosystem and deserves more attention from the rest of the world. The location is so precarious with crocs on one side, tigers on the other and huge tidal waves crashing into islands and reclaiming the land on a daily basis. It’s a wonder how people eke out a living there. Aside from the understanding of nature-wrought hardships that you will gain when you read this book, the unique amalgamation of Hindu, Muslim and pagan culture in the Bon Bibi legend is another reason to read this book.
Full Tilt: Ireland to India on a bicycle
This book helped me quench some travel related thirst. I am a sucker for travelogues and this book offered an interesting (albeit outdated circa 1960s) view of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and North India. The author’s political views aside, I enjoyed the pure adventurism of this ballsy lady as she biked across unforgiving terrain and shared bread with crusty old men who were flabbergasted at the thought of a women traveling alone in this part of the world. The descriptions of Iran and Iraq are also eye-opening, I didn’t know that these countries had such beautiful landscapes and cultural history. These descriptions were pre-war and pre-Al-qaeda, so a lot of the stuff she describes are unfortunately not around anymore.
Re-reads
Needless to say, I read and re-read a lot of old favourites this year to get through some long days and nights. I found a lot of solace in Harry Potter (I re-read the entire collection in ~May this year), Wodehouse and Jhumpa Lahiri (Namesake). Little Women seemed a bit tired upon re-reading, but it could also be because I’ve re-read it way too many times by this point. I will revisit it in a few years 🙂
Other notable mentions:
– House of Spirits by Isabel Allende – interesting insight into Chilean life
– A Man Called Ove – heartwarming book about acceptance and love
Shweta Padmanaban 