Sunday 30 December 2018

2018 - My Year in Books


Another year has come to an end.  My year in books has been great when it comes to number. 64 is a good number. But its sad when I realise that I don't remember any book that actually wow'ed me.
'The Handmaid's Tale' had been the most intense and I almost cried when I was done with 'Marley Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog'. The Clifton Chronicles was good enough for me to finish the series, except for the last instalment. That was quite slow.  After the Floods was an interesting anthology on the 'Chennai Floods 2015' .  'Come Sundown', 'The Couple Next Door' and 'Echo Park'  were thrilling and intriguing. Surprisingly, Chetan Bhagat's 'The Girl in Room 105' was not bad.

Here are my top 3 books for this year.

1. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - Its the usual boy-meets-girl-falls-n in-love high school love story but the unconventional start and end is that feels good. Boy and Girl from different family and financial setting get together and how fate drives their lives. Do they stay together to tell the story. The book fits the standard romance template with cheesy conversations. Comics play the key role as the common interest between the couple which brings them together in-spite of differences and the end definitely will want you to have a sequel.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - The most popular book of my reads this year, speaks of racial inequality, prejudice, accusations, rumours from the point of a kid in the 1930's. This is one of the bold books published in 1950's feared to be rejected. The writing was simple and it took time for me to understand the social setting of the period. You tend to sympathise with the prejudices going on and realise how perspectives vary between a kid and an adult.

3. Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks - This one from my favourite author was a delight to read. Two protagonists meet unexpectedly and fall in love but the lady cannot be pursued by the guy as she is engaged. The part their ways and after decades how fate brings them back together is the remaining plot. Before the actual novel begins, the author gives us a detail on how he happened to stumble upon this story at a postbox called 'Kindred Spirit'. After reading it, I couldn't stop myself from diving into it. A best read for cold day with a warm drink and a corner of a house to snuggle into.
  
I have some interesting books lined up for 2019 and most of them are out of my usual reading genre and many with raving reviews and suggestions from reading clubs. I have also included the POPSUGAR prompts in addition to the reading challenge from Goodreads. Let's see how I fare next year in books.