Advance Booking

I've been catching up with my favorite series all week, and reading the fantastic Samit Basu, so there hasn't been much activity on the blog. Just a reminder, my giveaway for Beth Fantaskey's Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is open internationally till February 21!

So, a look at the NYT best-seller list.

HARDCOVER FICTION:
1. WORST CASE- James Patterson and Michael Lewitz
Snippet: New York detective raising 10 children alone investigates a string of kidnappings and killings of teenagers by a villain with unusual motives.
My View: I've lost count of the number of books Patterson has written and the number of times he's topped this list.
2. THE HELP- Kathryn Stockett
Snippet:A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s ­Mississippi.
My View: There are a lot of good reviews of this book all over the blogosphere, and Beth of Beth Fish Reads has an Amy Einhorn perpetual challenge going on, to mark the books published by Amy Einhorn Books.
3. FLIRT- Laurell K. Hamilton
Snippet: Anita Blake, vampire hunter, and the men in her life. 18th book in the series.
My View: My roommate read like 7 or 8 books in the series, then got frustrated (and a little weirded out) by Blake's love life.
4. WINTER GARDEN- Kristin Hannah
Snippet:After their father’s death, two sisters must cooperate to run his apple orchard and care for their difficult mother.
5. THE LOST SYMBOL- Dan Brown
Snippet: Robert Langdon among the Masons.
My View: Read my review here.

HARDCOVER NON-FICTION:
1. GAME CHANGE- John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
Behind the scenes at the 2008 election with Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, John and Elizabeth Edwards, John McCain and Sarah Palin.
2. THE POLITICIAN- Andrew Young
A tell-all by John Edwards’s closest aide.
3. ON THE BRINK- Henry M. Paulson Jr.
The Treasury secretary during the autumn of 2008 describes the decisions that were made during the financial meltdown.
4. I AM OZZY- Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres
Recollections of heavy metal’s “Prince of Darkness.”
5. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS- Rebecca Skloot
Race, poverty and science intertwine in the story of the woman whose cancer cells were cultured without her permission in 1951 and have supported a mountain of research undertaken since then.

PAPERBACK TRADE FICTION:
1. A RELIABLE WIFE- Robert Goolrick
Snippet: Complications ensue when a wealthy Wisconsin widower in 1907 advertises for a spouse.
My View: Sounds like a fun book, but you never know.
2. THE LAST SONG- Nicholas Sparks
Snippet: A 17-year old spends the summer with her father in North Carolina and finds many kinds of love.
My View: After watching A Walk To Remember, I thought of reading the book. Couldn't get beyond 10 pages. Haven't dared to touch another Sparks since then.
3. DEAR JOHN-Nicholas Sparks
Snippet: An unlikely romance between a soldier and an idealistic young woman is tested after 9/11.
My View: See No. 2 above
4. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO-Stieg Larsson
Snippet: A hacker and a journalist investigate the disappearance of a Swedish heiress.
My View: I finished this book a couple of days back, and loved it. Review up this week.
5. THE LOVELY BONES-Alice Sebold
Snippet: A girl looks down from heaven as she describes the aftermath of her kidnapping and murder.
My View: Another book which has received rave reviews all over the blogosphere.

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION:
1. THE LOST CITY OF Z, by David Grann
A New Yorker writer searches for a British explorer who was lost in the Amazon in 1925.
2. THE BLIND SIDE, by Michael Lewis
The evolving business of football, viewed through the rise of the left tackle Michael Oher.
3. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
A former climber builds schools in villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
4. A PEOPLE''S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, by Howard Zinn
An account from the point of view of women, African-Americans and others who are often marginalized.
5. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT'S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler
Humorous personal essays from the comedian.

Which of these would you like to read?

And this week's giveaways are:

Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books is giving away a copy of Michelle Moran's Nefertiti till February 15
Steph Su Reads is giving away a choice of ARCs until February 28

This is a list of all the books I have read and reviewed in my second year of blogging. Please leave a comment (with link) if you have reviewed a book on the list or on the main review, and I'll link to your review.

A:
The Amulet of Samarkand- Jonathan Stroud
Atonement- Ian McEwan
G:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Stieg Larsson
S:
The Simoqin Prophecies- Samit Basu

My top tunes from the last six months. It took quite a bit of thinking, as I couldn't remember 9 songs that particularly stood out, except for the Delhi 6 soundtrack, and a couple of songs from Dev D. Movies included are those released in 2009 (though the music may have released earlier)

1. Masakali (Delhi 6): Who doesn't love this song? The opening vocals are strikingly awesome and just draw you into the song. Mohit Chauhan's drawling voice, A.R. Rehman's awesome music, and of course, the pigeon- just some things that put this song at the top of my Hindi playlist.

2. Emosanal Attyachaar (Dev D): This is the 'in' song for broken hearts and single guys. Nasal, funny and completely irreverent, this song is not for everyone, but I never get tired of listening to it.

3. Aasma Odh Kar (13B): A really nice, soft song, and a surprise find (this movie has been made as Yavarum Nalam in Tamil too). Chitra's voice is sweeter than honey, and I thought she stole this duet away from Shankar Mahadevan.

4. Arziyan/Maula Maula (Delhi 6): I didn't want a movie to be repeated, but this track so blew my mind away that I had to include it. Reminds me (as if I needed reminding) of why I love Kailash Kher.

5. Sapnon Se Bhare Naina (Luck By Chance): I really liked the classical feel of this song, and the lyrics are so pertinent. I usually listen to this song when I'm a little off-colour- it strikes a chord.

6. Maahi (Raaz 2): Interesting song. Composed and sung by one of my mom's favorite contestants on the reality singing show Voice of India, I found it pretty good: Western beats with Sufi influences.

7. Nazaara Hai (8X10 Tasveer): The movie apparently flopped, but this song stayed on. A nice rock number, with shades of Rock On in it. Biggest failing: the 'hai', which sounds like the chorus is puking.

8. Aa Dekhen Zara (Aa Dekhen Zara): This is essentially a remix of an old song, but they didn't ruin it like I had heard another DJ do it. Neil Nitin Mukesh sang this himself, and he hasn't done a bad job.

9. Chandni Chowk to China (Chandni Chowk to China): No, it's not part of my favorites, but I needed to complete the 9 for 09. Well, to tell the truth, I found the song funny initially, but repeated listening took its toll.

Do you like my list? I know I missed out a couple of awesome songs, but I didn't want the list to be repititive: it probably would have had only Delhi 6 and Dev D and a couple of songs from 13B. Tell me about your favorite Bollywood tunes.

Please leave a comment (with link) if you have reviewed a book on the list or on the main review, and I'll link to your review.
Year 1

Year 2 (ongoing)

This is a list of all the books I have read and reviewed in my first year of blogging. Please leave a comment (with link) if you have reviewed a book on the list or on the main review, and I'll link to your review.

123:
1984-George Orwell
2 States: The Story of my Marriage- Chetan Bhagat
A:
A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens
Animal Farm- George Orwell
Anne of Green Gables- L.M. Montgomery
Artemis Fowl- Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident- Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code- Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony- Eoin Colfer
B:
Breaking Dawn- Stephenie Meyer
Brida- Paolo Coelho
The Broker- John Grisham
C:
The Catcher in the Rye-J.D. Salinger
Casino Royale-Ian Fleming
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
Charmed Thirds- Megan McCafferty
City of Ashes- Cassandra Clare
City of Bones- Cassandra Clare
City of Glass- Cassandra Clare
The Colour of Magic-Terry Pratchett
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- Mark Haddon
D:
Darkfever- Karen Marie Moning
Dead Until Dark- Charlaine Harris
The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
E:
Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer
The English Teacher- R.K. Narayan
Eragon-Chrishtopher Paolini
F:
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
G:
The God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
The Godfather- Mario Puzo
H:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K.Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- J.K. Rowling
The Heretic Queen- Michelle Moran
The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien
Hot Water- P.G. Wodehouse
How Opal Mehta got Kissed, got Wild and got a Life-Kaavya Viswanathan
The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
I:
Ice Station- Matthew Reilly
If Tomorrow Comes-Sidney Sheldon
India After Gandhi- Ramachandra Guha
Inkheart-Cornelia Funke
Inkspell-Cornelia Funke
K:
The Kite Runner-Khaled Hosseini
L:
Life After 187- Wade J. Halverson
Living Dead in Dallas- Charlaine Harris
The Lost Symbol- Dan Brown
M:
My Family and Other Animals-Gerald Durrell
N:
New Moon-Stephenie Meyer
P:
Paths of Glory- Jeffrey Archer
The Princess Diaries- Meg Cabot
R:
The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
Rich Dad Poor Dad-Robert Kiyosaki
S:
Second Helpings- Megan McCafferty
The Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shonar Kella (The Golden Fort)- Satyajit Ray
Slaughterhouse Five- Kurt Vonnegut
Sloppy Firsts- Megan McCafferty
Star Trek:The Motion Picture- Gene Roddenberry
The Supernaturalist-Eoin Colfer
T:
The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee
Twilight-Stephenie Meyer
V:
The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening- L.J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries: The Fury- L.J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle- L.J. Smith
W:
Watchmen- Alan Moore

The Man Booker International Prize announced its list of contenders a couple of days back. It's different from the more well-known Booker Prize: it is awarded every two years, recognising the lifetime contribution of the writer rather than judging him/her based on his latest work. This year's contenders are diverse in their writing, with two Indians in the list. We have Mahasweta Devi, one of my mom's favorite authors with a rich body of work in Bengali, and V.S. Naipaul. Other authors I recognise on the list are Alice Munro (read a couple of her stories in the New Yorker), E. L. Doctorow, Joyce Carol Oates and Arnost Lustig (winner of last year's Kafka prize). The winner will be announced in May, and will join Ismail Kadare and Chinua Achebe, who won the inaugural edition and the 2007 prize respectively. I am rooting for an Indian win(obviously), which would be great after Aravind Adiga's 2008 Booker, and my vote (for what it's worth) goes to Mahasweta Devi. Yes, it is because mom loves her books, but also because I think that though her writing is as nuanced as Rabindranath Tagore or Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, she isn't that famous outside Bengal, and the award would be a fitting recognition for her contribution to Indian literature.

Read more about the prize here.

A survey done to mark World Book Day revealed that two out of three Brits claimed to having read a book they actually haven't. George Orwell's 1984 tops the list, with 42% admitting to having lied about reading the book. Here's a list of the top 10 fibbed about books.

1. 1984-George Orwell (42%)
2. War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy (31%)
3. Ulysses- James Joyce (25%)
4. The Bible (24%) (!!!)
5. Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert (16%)
6. A Brief History of Time-Stephen Hawking (15%)
7. Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie (14%)
8. In Remembrance of Things Past- Marcel Proust (9%)
9. Dreams from My Father- Barack Obama (6%)
10. The Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins (6%)

Read more about the survey here.

Well, there is no such list for India, but according to me, the most fibbed about books would be God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Midnight's Children. A lot of people I have met claim to have read the first, but can tell me nothing save "Oh, her writing is very good, but I didn't like it that much". I frankly admit, I haven't read anything out of the above list except 1984 and Brief History of Time, and and an abridged form of the Bible. I started Midnight's Children, but haven't got beyond the grandfather's marriage.

I don't really think there's any point in lying about what books you have read: you'll get caught anyways. You're thinking of impressing the other person, but if all you have to say about the book is that the writing is "great", rest assured, the other person is going to be on to you. Then you'll be in a worse state than you would have been if you had spoken the truth. I won't be high and mighty and say I've never done it, but a couple of awkward experiences( one forgetful one with Anna Karenina: I'll share it sometime) have taught me that it is better to keep my mouth shut than try to appear literary. Yes, I have read more Jeffrey Archer than Leo Tolstoy. If you are going to judge me for that, I'm not really sure I want to talk to you. What say you?