#readApril2021

#readinmarch2021

#storygraph

#January2021

The story of four generations of Whitshank family of Baltimore.

#audiobook #harrypotter #audible read by #stephenfry

A dystopian society where women show of their power by the flick of their finger releasing electric jolts. It's sort of reversal of gender roles, women dominating men and throwing atrocities against them.

The teenage twins are sent to sanatorium as they are contracted with tuberculosis through a scheme from NHS.
There they have to deal with the authoritative medical staff, facilities and other patients as they fight to obtain cure.

#readinApril2017

It's set in a club in Israeli town of Netanya, where standup comedian Dov G tells about his tragic childhood experience in one evening amid jokes and slapstick comedy.
The story is told in a very sharp and succinct passages. It raises the basic question of dealing with reality in the moment of sudden loss.

#audible #harrypotter narrated by #stephenfry

Celebration time. Thank you Littens!

A profoundly moving and poignant memoir. Paul was diagnosed with lung cancer while completing his residency as a neurosurgeon. He faces each stage of his illness with grace taking brave decisions, contemplating about matters of life and death.

It's a brutal story of a disaffected woman called Neve and her husband coping with varied emotions ranging from attractive to appalling. Neve also has to deal with self-absorbed mother and bullying father. Neve's situation compels her to think whether she is living in an illusion of freedom. The bittersweet relationship between them is told pretty straightforward with no embellishments.

'The circle' is a unified organisation run by three wise men with ideals : "Secrets are lies"; "Sharing is caring"; "Privacy is theft". The so called ' circlers' are in the process of completing the circle by providing unified services. Does this leads to a totalitarian system? Or Does it succeed with it's beautiful ideals? #TomeTopple

Anna Karenina is set in nineteenth-century Russia, exploring relationships, spirituality, and philosophy. It has famous starting line:
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." #TomeTopple

Pure fantasy. Engrossing story. #TomeTopple

The vivid portrayal of domestic life and family saga set against political backdrop of 1980's Nigeria. It's a gripping novel tackling childlessness ,loss ,grief and family breakdown.
The story is told alternatively by Yejide and Akin . The plot is intriguing and deftly reveals the helplessness of the characters against social pressure and test their rational as they succumb to cultural superstition.

Read it on a Sunday morning in one sitting. Enjoyable read.

#readinmarch2017

Set in post world war II Switzerland, with beautifully drawn out characters and vivid details. What is the difference between friendship and love? Or between neutrality and commitment? This novel explores this theme.

Listening #harrypotter #audiobooks #audible #stephenfry

'The Tempest' by Shakespeare retold in a contemporary setting. The theatrical play is staged in a prison within the novel. I find it engrossing, especially the actors' interpretation of characters after the end of the play. Inventive and delightful novel.

The epic tale about race and inheritance that has stalked mankind through centuries. Henry forge is obsessed with family legacy and passion for horse racing. His daughter Henrietta is homeschooled to protect her from desegregation. Allmon is a coloured man with troubled past. Their path converges at Forge farm where Allmon is appointed as groom for thoroughbred 'Hellsmouth'. The novel also contains interludes about slave history.

Wellcome book prize shortlist 2017 #WBP2017

"The giddy feeling you get when you walk into a bookshop"
I ended up buying this book.

A Russian fairy tale fantasy . Engrossing read

I lifted my head to look up into the changing leaves, thinking how at some point, we were all headed home. At some point, all of this, everything and everyone, became memory.

The horrors of slavery told through shrewd mix of reality with fantastic. In this novel, 'The underground railroad' is not a metaphor but operates an actual train that transports fugitives northward. A real page-turner.

The unnamed narrator and her best friend both show penchant for dancing but their dreams remain unfulfilled.Their path separates as they grow up. The narrator suddenly finds herself leading a 'shadow life ' as an assistant of a pop star.
The story is not plot driven and encompass several issues such as motherhood,urban life, class and ethnicity. I find it difficult to stay invested in the story except for some cleverly written passages.

"Barkskins” follows two French immigrants and their posterity over more than three centuries as they involve in timber industry and the destruction of virgin forests of North America, New Zealand and Brazil.
It starts with the arrival of European settlers to New France (present day Canada) thereby suppressing the existence of native Indians and ends dealing with issues of ecological destruction due to global warming.

Based on the legend of the selkies – seals who can transform into people .
‘What people say to your face and what they‘ll tell each other can be a long way apart. And as for what they feel in their hearts –that can be another thing entirely.‘

A gothic Victorian era novel with it's eerie and uncanny effect.

The longlist for the 2017 wellcome book prize has been revealed. https://wellcomebookprize.org #WBP2017

The tumultuous period in the US history as seen through an Irish immigrant fleeing from his own wretched country.
He faces privation, wretchedness and atrocities of Indian and US civil war.
The narrative is lyrical and gripping with vivid descriptions of landscape and warfare. It's also a coming of age story about his relation with his brother-in-arms and how it is evolved through the course of the war.

Listening #harrypotter #audible #audiobooks #stephenfry

Only one thing can keep something close over time: holding it there. Grappling with it. Wrestling it to the ground, as Jacob did with the angel, and refusing to let go. What we don‘t wrestle we let go of. Love isn‘t the absence of struggle. Love is struggle.”

I have these gorgeous penguin classics and kingkiller chronicles on my shelf waiting to be read #TBR

The West African transatlantic slave trade and it's repercussions told through lives of two half-sisters and their descendants. The story spans seven generations from 18th century Gold Coast region (Ghana) to present day US.

This paradox was the constant in his life, as he was tossed back and forth between the soldier he had to be and the artist he‘d wished to become. War and turpentine.

Some of the books on my shelf. #TBR2017

The chance encounter leading to an affair and eventual marriage breaks two families and makes their children's life interconnected. The story then spans over 5 decades describing how each of the children come to terms with their life while growing up. The writing is engaging and at times amusing.

Give and take. Negotiation and conciliation. Compromise.

My Goodreads stats

What will I do next? Time unfolds ahead of me unceasingly. I am unwillingly immortal. #firstbookof2017

It's about 10 evenings leading up to a new year spent by Frits van Egters , the 23-year-old nihilist in postwar Amsterdam. It depicts the listlessness and boredom experienced by that generation in a humourous way.

Ninety percent of everything he ever told me about his life, I heard during its final ten days.