Monday, January 18, 2016

Book awards

In 2014 I challenged myself to read 36 books. Ended up reading 29 books. Again in 2015 I challenged myself to read 36 books. Ended up reading 29 books again. So this year the challenge is to read 30 books.

Here is a quick look at the books I read –





















Now I have decided to give awards to these books. All the books are nominated for all the award segments :D

Favorite new author discovered – Neil Gaiman
Read two of his books – Trigger Warning (short stories) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. His mind, the way he thinks and conjures images is spectacular. He writes a lot on dystopian world and parallel universe, and the stories are so human, in terms of plot and emotions. I had never read anything like Neil Gaiman before.

An author that made me shed tears – Toni Morrison
Read The Bluest Eye and started reading Songs of Solomon (didn’t get a chance to complete it). The Bluest Eye is a poignant tale from a child’s perspective. To experience the atrocities from a child’s innocent point of view was heart-breaking.

Favourite book in Non-fiction category – Culture code by Clotaire Rapaille
This books attempts to decode different cultures and behaviour of people around the world and how it affects their decision-making or their perceptions about brands and product categories. It’s a great book for cultural anthropology and marketing enthusiasts.

Favourite book in Fiction category – The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
I liked this book for the complex relationships that Milan has weaved in together giving a peek into the background stories of each character, making every scene tense with subtextual meaning. Nothing much happens in terms of story, but the characters and their relationships make it a riveting read. It made me pause and think. The book is set in Prague, which is also one reason I liked it so much.

New writing style discovered – Epistolary style
I read two books in this style (entire book written in the form of letters) - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Love Letters to the Dead. The first book has joined the stack of my favorite books of all times. It is a book about a writer trying to write a book; actually the book is not about that. It is about a secret book club during world war two in a small village called Guernsey. The second book is a coming-of-age story of a young girl who is coping up with the loss of a sibling by writing letters to her beloved musicians and other dead people.

The book I wasted my time on – Cat’s cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
It is supposed to be a satire; it starts with a story of scientists making atom bombs. I tried enjoying it, but couldn’t understand the so-called irony that people claimed to have loved about this book. I didn’t bother finishing it.

Favourite Indian author (fiction) – Upmanyu Chatterjee for English, August
I read four Indian authors in 2015. Sandip Roy (Don’t let him Know), Amit Chaudhuri (Calcutta, Two years in the city), Anuja Chauhan (Those Pricey Thakur Girls).
I loved the humour and writer’s voice in English, August. It was not a story I could identify with, but the characters were so honest. I loved how he showed the vulnerabilities and quirks of the characters, especially that of the protagonist.


5 comments:

  1. how was "is she fresh"? and "pat the sky..."?

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    1. Is he fresh was ok. A short story. I read it only because it was from Devdutt Pattanaik. But it's not great!

      'Eat the sky, drink the ocean' is a good book. It is a book of short stories, dystopian world, stories about alien and dooms day and technology and gadgets. Authors from India and Australia had collaborated to make this book for kids. It has comic strips, stories, plays - a mix of all.

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    2. ooops!sorry for messing up with the words! :-P

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  2. How did I miss this post! Since I haven't read any of the books in your list, I loved this post. Now I can just pick from this for this year.

    English August is one of my most favorite books. I love how he describes life there, in such a laid back lazy manner!

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    1. He is so clueless, bored and lost that it is funny :D

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I love hand-written notes :)