Nov 2, 2007

look for books...

trishna had tagged me to write abt my fave indian author books a couple of months ago. i hope i'm not too late with it!

i love reading. but i must say, i was biased. i thought indian authors lacked the depth, the fantasizing that made me like reading. and then, i went thru this indian author phase, which lasted almost 3 years! after reading anita desai, preethi nair, kiran desai, tarun tejpal, jhumpa lahiri and a host of others, i realized i DO like indian authors. besides the ramayana, which is an all-time fave, these are d FIVE titles that make it tops.

book title: beyond indigo
author: preethi nair.
her '100 shades of white' is definitely more popular. but this one's a treasure. a simple, kind-of-chick-lit tale. i can relate really, really well to Nina, the protagonist. when i first read it, it was like someone had written about me. and i could SO relate to the writing style. if i ever write a book, it'll be like this!

book title: black friday
author: S. Hussain Zaidi
this book has been researched for 4 years. and is completely factual *or at least as close to facts as can be* extremely detailed, it highlights the conspiracy and the investigation that ensued vis-a-vis the march '93 blasts in mumbai.
i did like anurag kashyap's effort on the movie as well.

book title: queen of dreams
author: chitra bannerjee divakaruni
i like her style. have read all that she's had published. this book is my favorite. it transports me to a different reality. simple language and very lucid. absolutely delightful read.

book title: maximum city
author: suketu mehta
very hyped, so i won't say much. a view of mumbai from the eyes of an Indian who's used to living abroad. very nicely captured. there're moments in this book which set it apart from all others in its league.

book title: girl alone
author: rupa gulab
all time favorite chick-lit. her sense of humour rocks! an awesome blend of wit, non-mushy romance and saucy tips on surviving alone in a big bad (?) city. an absolutely wonderful coffee shop or travel read.

i'd like to tag galadriel & ketan to take up this tag, though it is open for anyone who hasn't already done it.

10 comments:

Fuzzylogic said...

I like Chitra divakaruni's style too. Haven't read any of the other ones but will check them out. Reminds me that I must be the last person in blogsphere who still hasn't done this tag even though someone did tag me eons ago:(
Hey Raysh,need a favour. Bump over to my place and tell me what you think of the template will ya pretty please.

Ramya Ramadurai said...

thanks for tagging me Raysh!
I agree about Chitra and Suketu Mehta. I recently gifted someone Black Friday and he tells me it's brilliant, even though I haven't read it myself. Good selection!

Monsieur K said...

i feel honoured to be tagged.
and then i feel a little hesitant.
coz amongst the books u have mentioned, i have managed to read a few pages of 'maximum city' - the rest i havent even heard of!! :D
and now, i am racking my brains about the indian authors i have read n enjoyed. chances are high that i'll come up with some rather trite books in my list of 5 (5 reminds me of 5.s'one, which is sure to feature in my list) :)

thanks again for tagging me.

Anonymous said...

another unrelated link:
video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1322921#

No prizes for guessing what it's about. :P

Mahogany said...

Here's one you might find interesting - Butter Chicken In Ludhiana, by a guy called Pankaj Mishra. It's an account of a year he spent travelling through small towns across India, some time in the mid nineties. He's not a very stylish writer, but his observations of people around him are incredibly sharp. The book is available on Amazon, if you're interested. Try not to be discouraged by the poor reviews on Amazon. This is probably my favorite book by a modern Indian author.

By Deepa and Supriya said...

post Li'l A reading (other than blogs) has totally taken the back seat! Thanks for the review though..and tell fuzzy I am in her boat too..somebody tagged me as well :)

Yashodhara said...

Hey Rayshma - thanks for the book review : been short on good books lately.

I enjoy reading Indian authors too, but as has been observed by many - so much of it is morose! Will look out for the lighter ones now..

rayshma said...

heyy y: good to c u here! black friday IS a tad depressing, the rest are all quite light! :)

orchie: yeah, was gonna tag both of u... but then i wasn't sure u gurls hadn't already done this one...

mahogany: i dunno y d name seems very very familiar.. i MUST unpack my books and check.. i think i have a copy & haven't read it yet... or maybe i saw it on someone's book-shelf...hmm.. sure will get down to reading this one tho! :)

ks: lol!! will go thru link & revert to thee with feedback! :)

ketan: i'm not surprised u haven't ready most of these... they're very chick-lit, non-guy read types! lol!! but u MUST read black friday... that's one u'll like...

thx, rr: and yeah, i went thru ur list too :)

fuzzz: orchie n u are in d same boat vis-a-vis tags! :) will wait for thee to finish up all d pending ones till i tag u! oh yes, have to get revenge for the "mush tag" LOL! :D

La vida Loca said...

I looovveee your template..very nice.

Pixie said...

Sigh.... My collection of Indian Authors is pretty bad - I read a Shobha De novel (Can't remember the name) and didn't like it much.
But, Inscrutable Americans is one of my favorites and I have read most of R.K.Narayan's novels... :-)

(There, tag done!! ;) )