Back to books

If nothing else, this internship at least rekindled my first love. 

So one day I was updating my bookshelf in Shelfari when the about me section suddenly caught my attention and from there four little words stared back at me "Reading keeps me sane" and with that all those moments flashed before my eyes when reading had actually kept me sane. If then, why not now. :) So I was back to books. What about blogging then? Blogging keeps me alive. Not the 'alive and breathing' but the 'alive and living'. So in short last one year I had been insanely dead. Not that I can disagree.

So what am I blogging today? Obviously its about books. And why? Because I came across this post - "And so read on" and I thought, its time I added another list. This time not just classics :)

So here is a list (in no particular order) of what I have been reading in the last month:

1. Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith
2. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
3. A Room with a View by EM Forster
4. The Invisible Man by HG Wells
5. The Wedding by Nichloas Sparks

Let me start with Vampire Diaries. It is series of 7 books and I read one after another in 5 days. It all started because I saw the TV series 1st season and then I didn't have the 2nd season to continue. (This is exactly how I read the Twilight series, I saw the movie and then I continued to read all the books in one weekend) Before I continue, let me clarify that the VD book series and the VD TV series are completely different even though the characters share same names. So if you liked Twilight series, you will in most probably like this although if you are the kind of person who compares stories you might find them similar in some instances. That being told, if you like fantasies then it might interest you just because of the imagination (just ignore the love story). And if you happen to continue reading after the first 3 books, here is the first thing you have to do - give up logic. If you don't then surely after the 7th book. I am waiting for the last 3 books that are yet to get published. But, but, but... if you are a serious reader with esoteric taste, then don't blame me if you read it.

His Dark Materials is a trilogy. You might have seen or heard about the movie "The Golden Compass", that is based on first book of the trilogy. Here is a book you must read. I first cam to know about this book because it had stirred up some kind of controversy among religious groups. Then I read about the book and also went to a bookstore to look for it. Then I watched the movie. But never had the time to start the books until now. You see, I wanted to finish the series in one go. Ok it is a book for the atheist and it talks about many worlds - the parallel world concept and an interesting war. And the protagonist is a 12 year old girl so its a totally different perspective. In short you should read. 

A Room with a View - I saw the movie and came to know it is from a book, so got hold of the book and read it. Now for many of you, reading the book after the movie could be a boring thing for the simple reason that you already know what is going to happen. I, however, happen to believe that movies don't do justice to the books and so I try to read the related book even after watching the movie. Then, it was also a classic, so I had more than one reason. It is a good read with some deep thoughts and confusions of an young mind. It is a love story with very little love in it and a lot of Italy ;). Give it a go if new people or new places excite you.

The Invisible Man -  No I haven't seen the movie. In fact I don't even know if there is a movie for it. I had seen it with a friend a little more than a year back and borrowed it to read but although I had started it, I could not finish it for this and that reasons. Now I don't know if it happens with you but sometimes half read books haunt me. Like there is this one book about holocaust, which was so frightening that I could not read it (some 8 years back) and now I don't even remember the title of the book but it haunts me that I haven't finished it and I cannot do anything because I don't remember the title. The Invisible Man also started haunting me when one day i was talking about supernatural powers with my friends and invisibility came in the conversation. So getting the opportunity, I completed it now and changed my idea about invisibility and also started doubting other supernatural powers. It is a sci fi, probably first of its kind, and if that doesn't make you read it, you better not.

The Wedding. I have been a Nicholas Sparks fan for sometime now. It started with The Notebook - the movie. The book came a little later. The A Walk to Remember - again the movie, then the book. Then came some of his other books (not the movies) A Bend in the Road, The Choice, The Rescue, At First Sight and now The Wedding. I like romantic books but there is one more reason why I like Sparks' books, they are written from different perspectives. Each of his book tell something new and they sound more real than others. The kind of thing that you can imagine happening to someone you know. It gives hope and understanding. The Wedding is Part 2 of The Notebook but they have just one character and one place in common. So you can read it even if you haven't read The Notebook. But if you have to choose between the two, I would suggest The Notebook anytime. (I have a personal weakness for that book). That being said, I wouldn't suggest you to read it if love stories do not interest you. NO. May be some other Sparks' book but not this.

What am I reading now? "Games People Play" by Eric Berne. Transactional Analysis, Psychology. I will tell about it more in some other post. If you like this post, keep checking, I will come up with more reading lists in future. The next one will be about the Indian authors I have read.

PS: The above list is not an adequate sample of my favorite books or genre. This is a list of the most recently read books.

Happy reading!!!