Hello!
August is done and with that comes the end of my Reading Theme of Reading Indian Books in August.
I don't normally do reading wrap-ups, frankly because I find wrap-ups tedious to write.
And for some odd reason I feel super lazy to write about the books I've read all month long.
But August is a little different.
It's the only month in which I read based on a strict schedule/theme. So I felt it merited a wrap-up of sorts.
I won't be going into great detail about each and every book but I want to list all of the books I read this month and document my reading month a little better.
So here goes...
August was truly a mixed bag when it came to my reading life.
I also started a bunch of books and then stopped.
I sampled some short-stories from here and there...Waves for example. I read 2-3 short-stories and then stopped.
I read a good mix of real/physical books and some ebooks, mostly via my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Here is a list and all of my thoughts on all the Books I Read in August, 2016.
1. Munnu, A Boy from Kashmir by Malik Sajad: I didn't love this book. I just didn't. A lot of people read and loved this book. I really didn't. I went in with very high hopes. But this was such a disappointment. I couldn't get over the fact that the art style was so heavily inspired by Maus- a graphic novel I have read and LOVED. I didn't hate this...I just thought it was very average.
Rating: 3/5
2. Before We Visit The Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: After starting the month on a not so impressive note-- Munnu, I wanted to read something I knew I'd enjoy. So picked up this book by one of the author's whose work I always enjoy. I loved this book. I've done a full review. You can find it HERE.
Rating: 4/5
3. Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbag: Loved this short little delightful book.
Reviewed it as well. So won't go into much detail here, you can read my detailed thoughts HERE.
Rating: 4/5
4. The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam: Another whopping disappointment. And such a dull end to what was a crackling series so far. This book just made me sad. Reviewed it HERE.
Rating: 2/5...more like 1/5 if I am being entirely honest.
5. Friends in Wild Places by Ruskin Bond: Ah! Delightful little thing. I needed some serious pick me up after my last read and Ruskin Bond to the rescue. This book was full of wonderful stories about animals, family and simple joys. So good!
Rating: 4/5
6. Escape from Harem by Tanushree Poddar: A historical fiction set in Mughal times. Specifically during the reign of Jahangir. I liked this book, mainly because I like hisory and Mughal history in particular. Also this period, the life and times of Jahangir and Noor Jahan is something I've read and loved via the Twentieth Wife book trilogy by Indu Sundaresan- Love that entire trilogy and I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
This book was more about the royal politics and power struggled, also a bit of harem politics thrown in the mix. The young girl caught in the harem is only a small part of the story.
Still an enjoyable read.
Rating: 3/5
7. An Evening in Calcutta by K.A. Abbas: A collection of short-stories by a film maker and journalist. This was a very OK read. Truth be told, I was very distracted while reading this book and didn't give it my full attention.
Rating: 3/5
8. The English Teacher by Durjoy Datta: A 10 page short story about a young boy getting obsessed with this nubile, newly married English teaacher. This was a fun read. Short, quick and with a nice little twist in the end. Good fun.
Rating: 4/5
9. The Book of Gold Leaves by Mirza Waheed: This one came highly praised and with a certain amount of hype. I honestly fell in love with this books gorgeous cover. So freaking pretty. Honestly, I did enjoy the writing in this book. It was quite beautiful, but somewhere the writing and the style of story telling overtook the story. I found myself getting very bored and was waiting for the plot to take off. For something to happen. I frankly lost interest around the 100 page mark and then it was a mere chore finishing this book. I didn't enjoy it.
Rating: 1/5
10. Inga by Poile Sengupta: A book I chanced upon via Kindle Unlimited. A story told via letters and journal entries. A story about cousin sisters. I quite liked it. It was an engaging read and I want to do a full review of it soon.
Rating: 3.5/5
11. Velan Poulose and The Travancore Chronicles Cases by Davis Verghese: Another book I chanced upon due to browsing on Kindle Unlimited. A collection of short stories set in the 1950s Travancore about a detective called Valan Poulose who is solving crimes and helping people. If you know me you know I love detective stories and this book was a such a surprising delight. I really enjoyed my time reading it.
Rating: 3.75/5
12. Perfect Murder by Shakuntala Devi: Hmmm....I was happy that this was a short read. Only 149 pages or so. Otherwise I would have more to complain about. The writing was decent, simple and easy to follow and very accessible to anyone wanting to read it. The book is about a man planning to murder his wife and how he thinks he has come up with an ingenious perfect plan. Well...sorry to burst his bubble, his plan was far from perfect. It was deeply flawed. It involved him driving 2 days with a dead body on a national highway! In and old Fiat Padmini! WTF!
I kid you not.
The stupid plan just put me off completely.
Other than that is was quite ok.
Rating: 2.5/5
13. A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi: The last novel/full book I read in August. A book about mothers. About love and surrogacy. A full review will come soon. I really loved it. Read it in one setting in under 3 hours!
Rating: 4/5
14. Tinkle Double Digest Vol. 116: Well..what can I say? I loved it as usual.
:)
Rating: 4/5
I also read a couple of short stories from Waves, like I said before and I read 2 short-stories from Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor.
Wow!
I read quite a few things!
Also I can't quite believe August is well and truly over.
:)
I am already wondering what September will bring...and what I will read.
Time to make a little TBR!
:)
Happy Reading folks!
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