Books, Sharing views

Books et al

Nowadays I feel blessed to be able to find time to read more than ever before. There had been a huge backlog of books-to-read and Iโ€™m glad Iโ€™ve atleast begun my journey towards bridging the gap between wanted-to-read, reading and to-read ones. There’s just one small glitch, so many books and so less time! ๐Ÿ™‚


I donโ€™t know how people go about choosing a book but for me itโ€™s a very tedious and baffling process. I somehow never go by reviews and pick up any book by pure instinct. No wonder then that many times my hunch is not completely correct and I end up wasting my precious time on books like The 3 Mistakes of my Life by Chetan Bhagat, Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho or Unruly Times by Prashant Bhavalkar.


Iโ€™m not a very literature obsessed person but I like to read sensible stuff. I prefer reading what I can follow without having to rack my brain for perceived meanings. I despise it when people think they sound intelligent when they add difficult looking and spelling words and twist the language unnecessarily. Thereโ€™s a chance of the entire meaning of the sentence getting confused and the sequence getting lost, what good is it for the reader then?


Worse still is the current crop of โ€˜casualโ€™ writers coming in. Any tom dick or harry who mustโ€™ve at some point of his life entertained the thought of writing a book finds himself getting backed by publishers whoโ€™ve started waking up to the fact that as long as they write anything relating to love it will sell. Quality no bar! Hence any IIT or IIM pass-out is seen coming out with some or the other love story of his/her own. The same campus ranting, lashing out at and by professors, clandestine romances, incomplete dreams etc is seen in most of them.


If some book does have a corporate backdrop then it sure talks about either super-achievers or super-losers, while in reality most people conveniently fall within these two categories. An extra-marital affair is suitably embedded in the story, anyhow. Simple sensibilities like honesty, respect, gratitude and empathy are blatantly frowned upon on shown in a dark light, almost as if theyโ€™re a crime. As long as it sells, nothing matters. Is this only what writing is about?


I do not wish to imply that all Indian authors are disappointing. We do have Sudha Murthy, V.S.Naipaul, Chitra Divakaruni Bannerjee, Mohyna Srinivasan etc who have a class of their own. Their books always succeed in teaching us a thing or two, if nothing else a few new words in English perhaps! ๐Ÿ™‚


Sometimes I do rely on suggestions by people with a good taste and an even better judgement, like Nu, Titaxy and Swaram, and honestly Iโ€™ve never been disappointed. ๐Ÿ™‚




21 thoughts on “Books et al

  1. me too pick up books on pure hunch ๐Ÿ™‚ But hey I liked '11 minutes'I haven't touched those IIT/IIMs love stories yet and don't intend to do that :)My recent fav has been 'Ruiz Carlos Zaffon' he has till now written 2 books and they are no doubt fab..check them..And thanks for this kind mention ๐Ÿ™‚ BTW you can always refer the books blog that we have…for more reviews ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Heyy…its nice to be back too! It had been such a long time since I last wrote and I'd been missing it a lot! :)I got a little bored towards the end, the whole 11 Minutes wasn't that bad though…I've steered myself clear of the IIT/IIM junk too. Its just that every time I go for a new book there's a whole new lot out there, even the titles aren't imaginative! :(I do go thru Bond with books,nice thing you got there :)Point noted and added on my wish-list. Will check it out…thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Welcome back, Varsh. And thank you for the mention. It is nice to know that our suggestions do help :)I usually pick up books following my instincts too. I read the back cover and pick it up if I like the storyline. And yes, more often than not, it's been working so far.

  4. Welcome back Varsha! Missed you on blogosphere.Like Titaxy, I pick up books based on the blurbs too. Recently read the sequel to Little Princess though it is not by the same author. I usually go for teen books and the choice is very limited here. But I had a whale of a time in the public library at my son's place in London where I read as many books as I could!

  5. Yay welcome bk Varsh. And thanks so much for the mention. Not sure if I do, but still ;)I pick up a few books too when the cover or the summary attracts me. Not been disappointed many times, hope it stays so ๐Ÿ˜‰

  6. Welcome back! Books…well, I generally go with the authors I already know and love — Jodi Picoult and Rohinton Mistry being my favourites. I browse through several bookstores and if I find something that looks interesting, I will give it a shot. I seem to prefer things with deeper meanings nowadays. Occassionally I do need a break and will read mysteries… ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Been a long time since I could read at a stretch. What with baby around, I just have to pick up a book and she'll pounce on it, pretending to read! I usually go by authors and of course the blurbs behind.

  8. @Titaxy: Hey T..glad to be back too :)Yes your suggestions do help. Sometimes when I've heard about some book and have my doubts I do go see in case you've mentioned it. The mention was inevitable then,right? :)How've you been??

  9. @zephyr: Hi there…I'm missing reading you so much!! Feels like some important task is being left out :(I do go by authors sometimes and sometimes by the storyline. As in, Mario Puzo's Godfather was awesome but the sequels that followed could never match up to it, isn't it? I can imagine having a great time reading! I'm sometimes spoilt for choice! Right now I'm reading a book on the Cuban revolutionary war and enjoying it…

  10. @Swaram: Hi dear…I had to mention you, ofcourse! :)I'd been procrastinating reading Sudha Murthy for a long time but after your accounts of her books I just couldn't hold back and read them in succession. I trust my instincts too, but what do they say, its easier to remember bad things over good ones? ๐Ÿ˜›

  11. @PB: I go by authors occasionally, and more often than not I'm not disappointed. Genius has its way :)There was a time when I enjoyed reading fiction, but like you said I've diverted to more sensible stuff nowadays. Philosophy, non-fiction, self-help, parenting,etc also interest me now. The focus has broadened, and so has the range and sensibility of authors. But yes, once in a while Dan Brown, Jeff Archer or Robert Ludlum is fine with me. ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. @RGB: Same is my case dear! I get to read only when my son is at playschool. When he's at home, he hates me even touching the book. If I do, he makes a big show of going through it himself and throws it away almost instantly 'se it has no interesting A B C D's pictures! ๐Ÿ˜›

  13. @Ashish: I'm humbled to find you taking the effort of coming up to my blog and mentioning it! I loved your book, it was truly inspiring. Looking forward to more brilliant stuff from you ๐Ÿ™‚

  14. Haha! Well its all about taste. I sometimes pick books that have been recommended and get thoroughly disappointed! Guess thats what libraries are useful for ๐Ÿ˜€

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