Books Update

I can't believe that already half of the first month of 2013 have passed by. It was only some time back, we were all set to welcome the new year and now already so many days of 2013 have passed and soon it will be time for the next month.

On the blogging front, I have been super lazy. I don't know why but, I feel I haven't had the time to sit down and blog about a new recipe or lie down with a book. I haven't even had the chance to round up my favorites for the year 2012, like the one I did last year. If I go on to make a list of things I wanted to do, but didn't, the list would be really long. Instead, I should start doing what I didn't. That would definitely help to shorten my to-do-list.

There are some books I read last year that I have not reviewed here yet.

First one is 'The Hunger Games' series by Suzanne Collins. I know by not writing about, I am not doing justice to the series. I was a great read. I was literally glued to the series till I had completed the last book. The first book of the series was the best of the series. I would write about it in detail soon, but for now a simple rating should do.

The Hunger Games - 5/5
Catching Fire- 4/5
Mocking-jay -3.5/5

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat - 2.5/5
I am not a Chetan Bhagat fan, but I have read all his books. I generally read them between serious reads. Revolution 2020 didn't entice me much. You can give it a miss..

Saraswati Park by Anjali Joseph - 1.5/5
This was simply not my kind of book. It was rather painstakingly slow and uninteresting. I left it unfinished.

I am keeping my reading list short this year and have only joined GoodReads challenge this year. My target it to read 36 books this year. Currently, I am reading Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi. This month I also plan to read 'The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi and Not a penny more, not a penny less by Jeffrey Archer.

What are your reading goals? Any books recommendations? Would love to hear. 
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Jyoti's Pages on 'Scene of the Blog' and other Books update

Have you ever wondered about the work space area of bloggers around the world?

Ever wondered how their creative corners look like, where they sit and churn out beautiful posts..

Cathy of Kittling Books was intrigued by this question which led her to start a meme -Scene of the Blog where every Wednesday, she features a blogger from any part of the world to share their scene of blog.

This Wednesday, my space is being featured in Cathy's Scene of the Blog series. Wondering how my creative space looks like, go check this out.

Coming back to the books update, about two months back I had made a list of books I wished to read before my India visit in September. Well, in a line I can say that was an ambitious list, These are the books from the list that I have read:

My Friend Jesus Christ by Lars Husum
1Q84 Book 1 & 2 by Haruki Murakami
A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir
Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok K. Banker
Ninepins by Rosy Thornton
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Apart from this I also read Skid Marks of Logic by Divya Diana Dias and 1Q84 Book 3 by Haruki Murakami

I will read the rest of the books from the list after coming back from my India visit. To tell you the truth, I don't really feel like reading a book now. Give it to my excitement of visiting my home country and meeting family and friends or to the numerous chores I have to do before that, I am unable to concentrate on reading anything. So, I am giving my books a rest while I deal with other things in life.

By the way any books you would like to suggest to pick up in India. Suggestions welcome.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

My To-Read List of Books 2011

The New Year 2011 is here. Many people make new year resolutions to follow during the year. I too had taken at some point in time in the past year only to forget them as the year moved on. Ever since I have stopped the practice.

However, this time I had made a list of books I would like to read this year and the first in the list was 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' by John Boyne (review). I saw a small part of the movie on RTE just 3-4 days back and I decided to read the book. You might think that is a children's book. Well, it is if you go by the way it is written.It is a thin novel and I could finish it in a day. It is written in a very simple language but the story is heart rendering and will surely leave you pondering for a while. You can check my review here.

Now coming to the other books on my list.

My best friend G wrote to me in a mail that she has completed reading the Twilight Series (review) by Stephenie Meyer. It has a total of 4 novels. She said that she was sad that it is over as she wanted it to be never ending! I had spotted those books in the library many times but never had the interest to read them. Now, that G has sparked that interest in me, I am really looking forward to reading them.

Next is Steig Larrson's other two books of the Millenium Trilogy - 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' (review) and 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' (review). I have already read the first one last year. You can find my review of the first book in the series - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo here.

I have not read many books by Indian authors. So, I decided to start with 'The Inheritance of Loss' by Kiran Desai (review). I have already bought it from the library.

Next in line is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (review). I had missed seeing the movie but surely won't miss reading the book.

Others are Dan Brown's Digital Fortress (review) and Deception Point (review), The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (review).

Also, I hope to re-read Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I had read them almost 3 years back.

I hope by the end of this year, I will be able to share my experience of reading these books here. Wish you all a very happy new year. Cheers!

P.S. - I have updated this post with the links to the book reviews that I have posted on this blog.