10 Books of the Year, off the Top of My Head.
1. Cronopios and Famas, Julio Cortazar
One of the most amazing books and authors I have ever read, possibly. I will write about him when I can. If I can. Ever.
2. Adi Parva, Amruta Patil
Wrote about it already, but it is the questions that stay with me. A book whose writing is better than (if possible) the art. What a beautiful, beautiful book.
3. Tender is the Night, F Scott Fitzgerald
I read this a few months before I watched The Great Gatsby. It made me cry, which only one other book in recent memory did. But also, it made me marvel at sentence after sentence; re-read chapters, paragraphs, and the whole book. Because Fitzgerald makes reading prose seem easy and light. After I watched the film, I was able to see this book in a new light. I saw what he was saying about wealth and the middle-class, why it was important for him to write it the way he did (in the order he did, I mean), and about loving (not outside the context of wealth).
4. My Tender Matador, Pedro Lemebel
Dance with it. See its beauty. Let it tear you apart.
It will.
5. Numbers in the Dark, Italo Calvino
There's a reason this is one of the best compilations of short stories ever. Or several.
6. Book Thief, Markus Zusak
I cried a lot. That's what this book is about. In a good way?
7. (Much as I'd hate to admit it) Towers of Midnight, Sanderson and Jordan
Over! Yay. (Okay, in all fairness, it was a decent book. Obviously Mat and Tuon were my favorites. It was a little too cut and dry, but if it was anything else, there would have been no point to it. It ties up every single loose end in the way you expected it to end about six books ago. So if, like me, you like your fantasy to be happy and predictable, you'll probably like this book. But if you have to read thirteen other books to get here, you probably won't get this far. So um.)
8. Ka, Roberto Calasso
I've never seen Indian mythology in this way. Roberto Calasso is almost academic in so many places, that this book is sometimes tedious to get through. It is definitely not one of those things you can read in one go. But it is also one of the most rewarding reads of the year.
9. Mezzanine, Nicholson Baker
Oh! The! Footnotes! Just that. If not the whole damn book.
10. Em and the Big Hoom, Jerry Pinto
Also wrote about it already, sort of.
I might cheat later, but this is it for now.
I forgot! 11. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz!! (Also see - http://www.salon.com/2012/07/
12. Shadow Lines, Amitav Ghosh (Which I've been saving up for ten years and finally fell in love with.)
1. Cronopios and Famas, Julio Cortazar
One of the most amazing books and authors I have ever read, possibly. I will write about him when I can. If I can. Ever.
2. Adi Parva, Amruta Patil
Wrote about it already, but it is the questions that stay with me. A book whose writing is better than (if possible) the art. What a beautiful, beautiful book.
3. Tender is the Night, F Scott Fitzgerald
I read this a few months before I watched The Great Gatsby. It made me cry, which only one other book in recent memory did. But also, it made me marvel at sentence after sentence; re-read chapters, paragraphs, and the whole book. Because Fitzgerald makes reading prose seem easy and light. After I watched the film, I was able to see this book in a new light. I saw what he was saying about wealth and the middle-class, why it was important for him to write it the way he did (in the order he did, I mean), and about loving (not outside the context of wealth).
4. My Tender Matador, Pedro Lemebel
Dance with it. See its beauty. Let it tear you apart.
It will.
5. Numbers in the Dark, Italo Calvino
There's a reason this is one of the best compilations of short stories ever. Or several.
6. Book Thief, Markus Zusak
I cried a lot. That's what this book is about. In a good way?
7. (Much as I'd hate to admit it) Towers of Midnight, Sanderson and Jordan
Over! Yay. (Okay, in all fairness, it was a decent book. Obviously Mat and Tuon were my favorites. It was a little too cut and dry, but if it was anything else, there would have been no point to it. It ties up every single loose end in the way you expected it to end about six books ago. So if, like me, you like your fantasy to be happy and predictable, you'll probably like this book. But if you have to read thirteen other books to get here, you probably won't get this far. So um.)
8. Ka, Roberto Calasso
I've never seen Indian mythology in this way. Roberto Calasso is almost academic in so many places, that this book is sometimes tedious to get through. It is definitely not one of those things you can read in one go. But it is also one of the most rewarding reads of the year.
9. Mezzanine, Nicholson Baker
Oh! The! Footnotes! Just that. If not the whole damn book.
10. Em and the Big Hoom, Jerry Pinto
Also wrote about it already, sort of.
I might cheat later, but this is it for now.
I forgot! 11. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz!! (Also see - http://www.salon.com/2012/07/
12. Shadow Lines, Amitav Ghosh (Which I've been saving up for ten years and finally fell in love with.)
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