For richer and/or poorer : My top reads of 2008

I am adding this for Richer and Poorer. What better ways of getting richer than by reading?! Can anyone be poorer by the experience? Hope some of you check out a few books out of this list. Happy reading!

I was behind my target of 150 books to be read in 2008. I read 127, out of which I reviewed 96. I read maximum number of books in June, 26, reviewed 19 and least number of books in August, that is only 1.

I have done a post of putting up the 96 book reviews on my Reading Room. Here I am linking the top reads. Thought why not get my reading here too, once in while.

If interested, do click on the titles to reach my review posts! Enjoy!

These are my 10 best reads of 2008

The Road by Cormac McCarthy**
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami**
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman**
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher**
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie**
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie**
Yellowknife by Steve Zipp**
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak**
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier**
The Outcast by Sadie Jones**

Graphic Novel

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi*

Poetry books

Ariel by Sylvia Plath**
The Sounds of Poetry--A Brief Guide by Robert Pinsky*
Tangled in Wisteria by J. Andrew Lockhart*

5 Short stories:

Shorty's Paradise by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Natasha by Vladimir Nabokov
Awake by Tobias Wolffe
A Man Like Him by Yiyun Li
A Perfect Day for Bananafish by JD Salinger

Has anything changed?

Currently I am in Bangalore, doing nothing much. I escaped from Delhi for 10 days break, to be with my eldest brother. I kind of needed to do this. Here I am spending time with my 12 years old niece. Both of us are having a whale of a time. It feels good to be with someone who is as young as her! I am behaving like a teenager and she tries to behave like an adult!

She shares my love for reading. I have discovered a lot of YA books via her! I find that she is on fantasies and mysteries in a big way. When I was her age, I used to read Enid Blytons, Nancy Drews, Hardy boys along with Agatha Christies (She has inherited my entire collection!). We were still on kiddie books. I started reading Perry Masons much later. However, I never read any fantasy books at that age. Maybe, there were not many books available in that genre for us. C S Lewis and Tolkein have got popular here, only recently after the Harry Potter books. I am now reading Christopher Paolini and C S Lewis from her collection. I think I will make up for missing out on those books. Both of us are going to read a lot of graphic novels.

Next I plan to introduce her to poetry. That way, I can slowly force her to read my poetry. At least one person in my family should read and admire my poetry!

We will do all this in the midst of gorging, shopping and just having some plain wholesome fun! It sure feels good to be away from work, from Delhi, and from all kinds of daily drudgery. I had forgotten that wool gathering can be so good for the soul!

Key in for dizzy changes in my blog posting today

I thought I would go into a different way from my usual prattle here. I did post this on my other blog (where I post about books and reviews) and had a brainwave why not post it here too? A few might take pity on my plight and do the needful. I am going dizzy looking out for certain books.

I am in dire need of Canadian books as those are not as easily available in India apart from Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields. I only got 5* out 13 to be read for The 2nd Canadian book Challenge Eh? and need one Southern Setting book for Southern Reading Challenge. ( I thought I might as well ask for this, at one go!) Any one offering those to me? New published (wanna be can wait a while) authors can key in their keen interest to get their books reviewed by a professional like me...Wot say? Feel free to send ARCs. I don't mind!

*Out of the 5 books, 4 are gifts from generous friends. Don't you think there are more generous people in the blog world? Show your generosity, open your hearts. I will go out of my way to give you due credits. On second thoughts, I might not, if I hate the book(s)!

Hey, is it rightly called book pimping? Do you think, I should not resort to it. Do let me know!!!

As I said elsewhere, I do not mind demanding, borrowing and stealing! THIS GOES ONLY FOR BOOKS!

*grin*

PS: Never let it be said that I did not try...

PPS: A nice change from my usual blog post, isn't it?!

*wider grin*

PPPS: If you have to let me down, do it nicely!