Recent Reads

A while ago someone had suggested that I write about the books that I read. Considering the number of books I'm reading these days, that should provide a lot of material for writing here. The only problem is that I don't particularly like writing 'reviews'. At least not ones that I expect people to take very seriously. I mean, I don't believe that I can authoritatively tell someone to read or not to read a book (or see a movie) based on my loving it or hating it. Taste is a very personal thing. An author I absolutely adore may seem boring to someone else; on the other hand, I may detest a so-called 'classic'. So, if anything, my review would be a very personal opinion.

So with that disclaimer out of the way, let's see...I recently picked up three Agatha Christie novels. (Special offer during the Crossword Bookstore Annual Sale.) I've been a big fan of her since childhood and have hugely enjoyed both M.Hercule Poirot and Ms.Jane Marple. All the same, there have been times when I've found some books intolerably slow and boring. Unfortunately, one of the books I bought the other day turned out to be one such bore. "Passenger to Frankfurt" starts intriguingly enough and I looked forward to the story (even though this is one of those stories that don't feature either of my favourite detectives). But as it moves on, it becomes such a jumble of political/historical/revolutionary issues that I just didn't have patience with it anymore and abandoned it

Before this AC novel, I was reading "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueenuddin on my Kindle. It is a collection of short stories based in Pakistan. Though the stories are separate, they are nevertheless connected by a common thread of one or two people and/or places. This book has been a New York Times bestseller and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Pardon me, but I just didn't get it. I found it disappointing. I couldn't find a single redeeming feature in the stories; no single character or story stands out as inspiring, courageous, funny, thought-provoking, endearing, heart-rending or just plain entertaining. Maybe it's just me (the disclaimer again!) but I abandoned this one halfway too. (I used to have qualms about leaving books half-read. Not any more. There are too many good books and too little time to read them, so I don't waste my time on the ones I don't like.)

I am now reading "Tiger Hills" by Sarita Mandanna. It's got me hooked from the first page. I'll write more about it when I finish.