Without a doubt, 2005 has been the worst year for me when I think of all the books I have read. In comparision to other years, this year I have read the least amount of books – and that is a sad statistic!
Nonetheless, the books that I read this year were:
(Note that the books may not have necessarily been released this year – its just that I read them this year hehe!):
Cuckold – Kiran Nagarkar
Absolutely brilliant book about Mirabai, her husband and Krishna. You always hear about Mirabai her astute devotion to Krishna, but has anyone ever told the story from her Husband’s perspective of the events? Brilliant character potrayal. I wrote more about it here.
State of Fear – Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton has been one of my favorite writers since years now; I love the amount of research he puts into his book, to support his usually wafer thin plots and half baked filmy characters. Its all about research and presenting it. Crichton presents a controversial, and a very different take on Global Warming, and argues that Global Warming is nothing but a myth. I wrote a review on it here.
The Kite Runner – Khalid Hosseni
This book recieved rave reviews on Amazon, and I picked it up because it looked pretty decent size book to finish on a flight; I was not wrong about the latter. The book is good definitely, but somewhere down the line it becomes a film screenplay and less of a Book. And when that happens, I tend to lose interest. I wrote a review about the book here.
Five Point Someone – Chetan Bhagat
I finally read the much talked, much hyped and much bloated book. This is a book which could have been so much more and so much better, but ends being an average take on college life. Nonetheless, there is definitely something about this book that kept me hooked till the end, and thats a big deal! I wrote a review on it here.
Veronica Decides to Die – Paul Coehlo
I hated The Alchemist, and was quite vary about picking this book up; but I am glad I did. I absolutely loved the book and the way its been written. Sometimes books may contain great ideas, but they become pointless and boring (aka Ayn Rand and her books); Luckily this was different. I wrote a review about the book here.
Parva – S. L. Bhyrappa (Translated by K Raghavendra Rao)
In recent times, this is the ONLY book I have re-read. Infact this is the only book next to Love Story that I have re-read. And even the second time too, this book is nothing short of Brillaint. I could never ever think about Mahabhartha like this. This is prose at its best; This IS authoratively the BEST book I have read in my life – nothing comes close. I wrote a review about it here.
Calvin and Hobbes, The Entire 10 year collection – Bill Watterson
I gifted myself the 100$ three bounded book collection of every single strip Bill Watterson drew for Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes are absolute favorite characters; and I relate to every damn thing that Calvin says – his take on life, surroundings and just about the way he sees life. I am so addicted to Calvin and Hobbes that I could keep re-reading the collection forever. I wrote about Calvin and Hobbes too here.
And there were some half finished books, which I felt I wasted my money on this year. I hate leaving books half read, but these books just forced me to:
The Rule of Four: Ian Caldwell
Codex: Lev Grossman
The Plot Against America: Phillip Roth
Shalimar: Salman Rushdie
Thats it!
I hope 2006 brings about a better year for me books wise.