Belog

Another new year = Generic new year post. (albeit a tad late)
Of course, while the year was pretty good, I (as usual) do not remember a lot of it.
Maybe I remember some books?
1. Never let me go- Kazuo Ishiguro
I didn't know what I was getting myself into when a book club I briefly belonged to made me read this book (in fact, it's the only book I've read with them. I lost interest when they suggested we read 'Catcher in the Rye' next). I didn't even bother reading the blurb- I just dived right into it. I'm not going to drop generic reviewer phrases like 'it was a rivetting read,' because it wasn't. It was a mildly interesting, sensitive and memorable book.

2. A Scanner Darkly- Philip K Dick
Depressing and surreal. I love PKD.

3. Past Mortem- Ben Elton
Very typical Ben Elton- funny, unpredictable (though an experienced reader could make an easy guess) and nuts. This one's about a serial bully-killer and a loserly cop who catches him out. It's good, I guess, but not even in the league of This Other Eden and Dead Famous, my favourites among his work.

4. Witches Abroad- Terry Pratchett
Lessons on godmothering and how to behave in strange lands for witches. I don't remember a lot of it but, hell, it's Terry Pratchett. I must've liked it.

5. Interesting Times- Terry Pratchett
My favourite Pratchett book ever! Your wife is a big hippo!

6. Wee Free Men- Terry Pratchett
I just finished this one and it's probably my least favourite among the Discworld books I've read. It starts off in a promising manner and I expected the Wee Free Men to be a little more, well, entertaining, but all they seem to do is shout 'Crivens!' at regular intervals. There are some funny bits, but they're overshadowed by the deeply dissatisfactory duel between the Quin and Tiffany Aching. I would hand this book to a little girl who has just stopped reading Enid Blyton and maybe she'd love it.

7. The Dark Half- Stephen King
I love Stephen King. He can make fluffy St.Bernards scary and put me off lonely hotels for a very long time indeed. I like this book quite a bit, just as I expected.

8. The Mahabharata- Ramesh Menon
I'm a sucker for Indian mythology. Maybe this owes to the fact that I'd heard a lot of small anecdotes, mostly from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and various random little tales from my grandmother when I was little. I could never tire of the stories she told and many of the characters were interesting and, to my little-girl mind, awe-inspiring (I suppose my very theist grandmother intended that). Anyway, I can't shake off my fascination with Indian mythology and it does help that the stories are interesting by themselves.
Ramesh Menon's 2-Volume version of the Mahabharata didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but it provided the spot of light reading I always require at midnight. Sometimes, it could get irritating, with the story (it isn't entirely the author's fault- he didn't write the story, he just adapted it, though i guess he could've chosen to leave those out) arguing that the actions of each character were already "written' and it was all part of some universal dharma. The Virata Parva was extremely well-written and hilarious in parts. I've never chuckled at the Mahabharata before.
Oh, and I would marry his Karna. If he asked nicely.
Now I must get my filthy paws on K.M. Ganguli's Mahabharata.

9. Waiting for Godalming- Robert Rankin
10. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse- Robert Rankin
So I've been hearing of how brilliant Robert Rankin is from a friend of mine and kept my hopes high when i picked up these books. They 're both crazy and outstanding. I hope this year will see much more Rankin, at least after the bloody exams end.

11. God's Little Soldier- Kiran Nagarkar
An enjoyable book, but there's nothing special I can remember about it.

12. Howl's Moving Castle- Diana Wynne Jones
The book and the movie are different on many counts and they're both great in their own right, so I can't compare. Howl's Moving Castle is something of a fairy tale, without fairies. Good, good.

13. The City of Dreaming Books- Walter Moers
Walter Moers is one of my alltime favourites, so you can imagine how happy I'd've been to get a copy of his newest book for my budday. This one's set in Zamonia, and it's got various creatures people might recognise from the other books. Reading this was somewhat like catching up with an adventurous friend. Some of it is a tad..err..'dark,' or at least as dark as Moers can get in these books. And all of it is quite lovable.

What sort of an indication is it that i lose count at 13?
I don't remember any more books right now. That's understandable, I guess. I am a very forgetful person and the book count this year seemed higher than usual when I last thought of it. I have some good stuff lined up already for 2007. I shall write their names down on a piece of paper and hide it in my shelf till next December. Maybe next year will come with an exhaustive list.