Bookish Girl.

same books, different channel.

2007-09-27T14:53:00.001+05:30

ladies and gentlemen, lady writer has left the building.

only to resurface at http://aforangst.wordpress.com/

do drop by, she'll be thrilled to see you, even if she doesn't admit it.

And it's hard at the end of the day/ I need some distraction.

2007-05-17T16:47:00.000+05:30

ESPRESSO TALES
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

Great follow-up to 44 Scotland Street. Lovely characters, but this one seemed to be rather dominated by young Bertie. (Or did it just feel that way?)

A second novel that's utterly faithful to the first. Seems there's a third. More about that when I get to it.

THE READING GROUP
ELIZABETH NOBLE

Depressed the living daylights out of me a few chapters in. So was abandoned, with more than a little guilt, for the following reasons: A fabulous construct (the lives of five different women who come together at a book club, and whose stories are amplified by their selection of fiction). Several interesting characters that you could probably recognise at the third sentence (in fact, that was my principal problem - it was all too damn real for me). A truly interesting set of books (including Atonement, and The Woman Who Walked Into Doors).

Still, it wasn't meant to be. And much as I'd like to blame it on Bad Luck And Trouble, the new Lee Child I'd been lusting after and finally obtained, I know it isn't so.

Maybe, someday, when I'm older.

BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE
LEE CHILD

As a friend from school used to sing in chorus to a certain Boney M song: Delicious, delicious. It's a super book, and actually adds a level to the already quite fabulous Jack Reacher franchise. Reacher has friends!

I was so happy for him for the brief minute before I was plunged headlong into crazy action. Hope to see the rest of the gang in other books.

The large format paperback I read promised the next Reacher escapade, Play Dirty, sometime in 2007, so I guess I just have to wait.

LIGHT
M. JOHN HARRISON

Abandoned a few chapters in, solely because I wasn't in the mood for SF. But this one will be retrieved later, for certain. It's too highly recommended to not make the effort.

Maybe when I'm on holiday. AFTER the Eco book that's been earmarked for long trips.

MCSWEENEY'S MAMMOTH TREASURY OF THRILLING TALES
MICHAEL CHABON (ED.)

Read a couple. Loved them. And have installed the book on my bedside table to dip into whenever a. I'm in between books, b. I hate the book I'm actually reading, or c. Feel like a short.

I/ I'm smiling next to you/ In silent lucidity.

2007-05-03T15:46:00.000+05:30

A SPOT OF BOTHER
MARK HADDON

Self-assured and unexpected as hell, it's the follow-up to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

It's the story of sweet old George Hall, trying to go mad politely. While his wife carries on with a neighbour. His daughter tries to settle for a suitable man. His son loves, and loses. And his grandson watches video.

The characters are drawn perfectly, with more restraint and humanity than I've seen in a really long time. The descriptions are lush; the choice of words, unselfconscious. It's such a well-finished piece of writing, it immediately calls to mind McEwan.

It's a book that sticks out for its non-literariness. It's not Literary Award Bait. Not a metaphor for poverty in the Third World. Not manically overwritten ot overtold. It's a story about a man and his family - and it describes, narrates, and entertains, at that level alone.

Just with a degree of polish and certainty that few have attempted before.

Click here for excerpts from the book. My favourite lines remain Katie's description of the opposite sex:

They took up so much space. That was the problem with men. It wasn’t just the leg-sprawl and the clumping down stairs. It was the constant demand for attention. Sit in a room with another woman and you could think. Men had that little flashing light on top of their heads. Hello. It’s me. I’m still here.

For the publishers' websites on the book, click here, and here. Though I suggest heading for the nearest bookstore instead. It's well worth it.

Roam if you want to/ Without wings/ Without wheels.

2007-05-02T17:33:00.000+05:30

THE HARD WAY
LEE CHILD

Just finished The Hard Way. And like a true Reacher junkie, will be picking up Bad Luck and Trouble on my way home. Hardback, large format paperback, whatever.

For other diehard Lee Child fans, there's a Reacher short story to be found here. The Hard Way review will be up shortly; I'm a little behind, comme d'habitude.

Forget what we're told/ Before we get too old.

2007-04-30T16:22:00.000+05:30

HALF MOON INVESTIGATIONS
EOIN COLFER

Another one from my kiddie book phase. Not fantasy at all, just a really nice detective yarn starring a twelve year-old Irish boy nicknamed Half Moon. Definitely worth a read.

So don't delay/ Act now/ Supplies are running out.

2007-04-30T15:55:00.000+05:30

ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE OPAL DECEPTION
EOIN COLFER

Prebooked my copy of Deathly Hallows, and found myself itching for a really cracking kiddie read. Considered reading Half Blood Prince again, but I think I'll save it for July, just before HP7 is released. (In fact, I think I'll catch Order of the Phoenix as soon as it opens, then start rereading HBP, and finish just in time for the new book.)

Didn't really feel like Pullman. Neither did I want to take a chance and pick up Stroud, whom I've never read. (But sounds like fun.)

Which brought me straight to Colfer. Loved the first Artemis Fowl book. And though I didn't exactly adore the other two, they were quite good.

Needless to say, I loved Opal Deception. Nice plot. Elaborate doublecrosses. Lovely aside about responsibility versus action. Ultracute villain. And the usual dwarf gags.

Will get to Lost Colony really, really soon.

Lessons learned:

1. Eoin's pronounced 'Owen'.

2. Dwarf spit is luminous.

And it's sink or swim/ Like it's always been.

2007-04-30T15:36:00.000+05:30

JIGS AND REELS
JOANNE HARRIS

Liked Chocolat. Made it through (a little falteringly, though) Blackberry Wine. Quite liked Five Quarters of the Orange. Still, would never count myself as a Harris fan. Picked this one up pretty much by chance, was in the mood for short stories somehow.

The book wasn't bad. Which isn't to say it was good.

I found her stories a little too self-conscious. And formulaic. You know, like they were set as writing project topics or something - very constructed.

There are some good ones, of course. One about the last original story ever written. Another, about a spooky cookbook. Discovered some others online, you could read them here, here, here, or here.

Dropped it halfway, largely due to my shortattentionspanitis, which has assumed chronic proportion in the last few weeks.

Plus I was dying to get into an Artemis Fowl state of mind.

Foolishly laying our hearts on the table/ Stumblin' in.

2007-04-18T16:53:00.000+05:30

44 SCOTLAND STREET
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

Compulsory reading for all writers-in-hiding. Purely as a study in characterisation, 44 Scotland Street belongs on your bookshelf. It's beautifully written, and the episodic structure (it was originally serialised in The Scotsman) keeps it fresh all the way to the end - a quality I often missed in the Botswana books.

What I liked most about the residents of 44 Scotland Street wasn't their general weirdness (a la Woody Allen's Sherry, or Kugelmass), but their underlying normalness. Little Bertie just wants to play with his trains. Young Pat, a memorable gap year. Pushy Irene, some distraction from her dull marriage. Diffident Matthew, to be taken seriously. Philosophical Lou, to be loved.

Can't wait to read Espresso Tales.

Lessons learned:

1. Knowing that someone is wrong for you doesn't affect your falling in love with him. (Pat)

2. Your parents are/ were always right. (Pat)

3. Youthful vanity is so satisfying. (Bruce)

4. The systemic absorption of hair gel makes you immune to good sense. (Bruce)

5. Curiosity can only wound you seriously. It's boredom that will kill you. (Domenica)

We are spirits/ In the material world.

2007-04-12T11:28:00.000+05:30

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL
SUSANNA CLARKE

Heard so much about this book. All complimentary, too. Imagined it to be a bit like Pullman, which I think it is. But I never quite sank my teeth into it.

I don't know if it was the teeny-tiny print of my edition. Or the fact that it was set in the eighteenth century.

It just gave me this strange(!) CS Lewis vibe.

Maybe I'll come back to it at a later point in time. It's happened with Tolkien. And Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

Or then again, maybe I won't.

Sending out an SOS/ Sending out an SOS.

2007-04-11T15:26:00.000+05:30

ADRIAN MOLE: THE CAPPUCCINO YEARS
SUE TOWNSEND

Not the best of the Mole oeuvre, but fairly representational. Funny in bits, peopled with dysfunctional characters, and hysterically British.

Perhaps I discovered it too late. After all, the first Mole diary appeared in '82, a good fourteen years before Bridget introduced us to a world populated by Colin Firth, singletons, smug marrieds, and f*kwits.

Gave up reading it a couple of times, but it's one of those harmless little books that forgive you easily. I really appreciate that.

Can't see myself as a huge fan, but the Mole books would fit quite comfortably on a shelf alongside Gayles and Fieldings.

Lessons learned:

1. There is a place in Leicestershire called Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Seriously.

2. Every British comic novel must feature an obsession with a TV character completely unknown to the rest of the world. For instance, Bridget worships the completely unfanciable (or so I thought till I read this!) Colin Firth. And young William Mole, Jeremy Clarkson.

Well, it's one for the money/ Two for the show.

2007-04-11T15:11:00.000+05:30

BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

Another happy Botswana tale that relaxed my frown lines and lowered my blood pressure the minute I started to read it.

It's the usual blend of tea and crime, set right by the traditionally-built Mma Ramotswe.

If you're planning to read it, do it now. If not, head straight to the Guardian's highly condensed version.

Lessons learned:

1. New shoes are good.

2. Agony Aunts are not.

3. Tea improves thinking.

4. Even the nicest of men have stupid, preconceived notions about feminism.

5. In Any Damn Thing vs. Happiness, Happiness always wins.

She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere.

2007-04-11T14:38:00.000+05:30

AFTERNOON RAAG
AMIT CHAUDHURI

It's a slim volume of poetry cleverly disguised as a novel. Lyrical, romantic, and subtle as a feather, it barely lasted me a stifling summer afternoon.

A simple enough love story elevated by a delicate interlacing of flashback, dislocation, and irony, it's a book so light that it practically evaporates as you read it. (Cotton candy comes to mind, but, unfortunately, that's a phrase reserved for a different kind of writing. However, I must admit that it's closest to describing the deliciously sweet floatiness of Chaudhuri's prose.)

I loved its elegance. And the sureness of its writing. (Remember the phrase 'felicity of expression'?)

Will be reading more of him, I'm sure.

Showers wash/ All my cares away/ I wake up to a/ Sunny day.

2007-04-03T15:48:00.000+05:30

Five months of books. Of words read, savoured, and, by now, forgotten. A few linger, and those I cannot ignore.

THE ROBBER BRIDE
MARGARET ATWOOD

Zenia is every woman you know, mixed up with little bits of yourself. (Or the reverse, if you're me, but that's pretty damn unlikely, isn't it?)

It's a lovely read: light, unassuming, and sure-footed. As someone I know commented, it's the sort of book you believe no man should read, because it lays bare the inner workings of every woman's heart and mind.

HOUSE OF LEAVES
MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI

Mysterious, engaging, and quite astonishingly scary. It's an ambitious debut, that I've heard, more than once, compared with White Teeth. And it's true, they share a great deal: a perfectly self-assured voice, a refusal to be dumbed down, and a strangely endearing density.

It taught me a new word: ergodic, meaning a kind of literature that requires effort to be read.

It's a lovely book, on many levels, and I'm just surprised I haven't run into it earlier.

SACRED GAMES
VIKRAM CHANDRA

Took ages to make my way through this one, as it was simply too heavy a book to carry around with me. Was completely worth the effort, though, since it's beautifully written, and, in combination with Shantaram and Maximum City, forms a sort of 2006 Bombay trilogy for me.

If you're gonna do it/ Do it right.

2006-11-06T12:28:00.000+05:30

THE AUTOGRAPH MAN
ZADIE SMITH

Sure-footed, and elegantly angsted-out. Intense, but also supremely controlled. Centred around one man's quest for identity, it draws a staggeringly beautiful, and carefully structured framework that questions fame, and forgetting. Faith, and ritual. The notion of permanence, and death, death, death. Friendship, and fidelity.

Alex-Li Tandem is the confused, drugged-out/ drunk on most occasions, title character, in search of the Holy Grail of Autograph Men -- a Kitty Alexander. He's conflicted in every possible way. Of course, the external quest for the rarest of autographs parallels his internal quest, for resolution of his grief at his father's death when he was a child.

It's intelligent and intense, and somehow more accessible than her other two books. Not less literary/ deep, don't get me wrong -- at least, not much. But it just feels younger, somehow. Less 70 mm and multi-generational and allusive. But stunning still.

Aside: I promise to write longer sentences. This staccato stuff sounds like me, but makes for very bumpy reading. My apologies.

I won't ask for much this Christmas/ I won't even wish for snow.

2006-10-31T13:04:00.000+05:30

THE AUTOGRAPH MAN
ZADIE SMITH

It's a book I'd saved up for when I need the distraction of a stunningly absorbing read. Given life and upwardly mobile stress levels, started it a few nights before. Nearly halfway through.

Smith wrote this one between White Teeth and On Beauty, and it's quite delicious. Till I'm in a position to review it, here's Salon's point of view. (A lot like mine, but their gushing's slightly more posh.)

I walked across/ An empty land/ I knew the pathway/ Like the back of my hand.

2006-10-27T14:10:00.000+05:30

HOWARDS END
EM FORSTER

Always loved Forster's short stories, even though I'm not very attached to that form of writing. Strangely enough, I didn't ever get around to any of his full-length stuff. Till now.

After reading (and falling in love with) On Beauty, I simply had to read the book it was inspired by. If only to learn how much of Zadie Smith's writing/ plotting was completely original.

Howards End is a spectacular novel, at the heart of which lies an unexpected friendship. It is the depth of that friendship that leads to Ruth Wilcox's bequeathing of Howards End to Margaret Schlegel. And they are but two of the many characters that make this fairly sprawling story come to life.

Smith's retelling of the story is even more beautiful, since she's shifted the landscape to a present-day American university. Introduced elements like race, nationality, and art/culture. And amplified the chief conflicts: emotionalism vs. practicality, culture vs. materialism, etc.

Her story is as much of a comment on our times as Forster's was of his -- on morality; on families, homes, and family homes; on society; on art/ culture; and on identity.

It's a flawless retelling of an already quite perfect story.

Loved both books. Was blown away at the spirit with which one takes on the other. Lingered over, and enjoyed immensely, the threads that ran through both narratives.

It's a bit like falling for the same person after many, many years. Much has changed; much is new. Yet, there are so many things that provoke the exact same reaction they did all that while ago.

Maybe I should read more Forster.

Take all your big plans/ And break 'em.

2006-10-27T13:05:00.000+05:30

WEIGHT LOSS
UPAMANYU CHATTERJEE

Hated it as much as I liked English, August. Namely, quite a bit.

IRISH GIRLS ABOUT TOWN
Ed. MAEVE BINCHY, MARIAN KEYES

The two-minute noodle version of chick lit. Short, snappy stories that shine light on the principal problem with (most) chick lit. Namely, you can't draw out a short story into a full-length novel without putting many readers to sleep.

PICTURE PALACE
PAUL THEROUX

Lush, real, vivid, insightful. Loved every minute of it. My first non-travel Theroux, and certainly not my last.

PRIOR BAD ACTS
TAMI HOAG

Trashy (but fulfilling) thriller. Can't believe she used to be a romantic writer for years. Read her Loveswepts way back in college.

LUCKY STARS
JANE HELLER

Looks and feels like regular chick lit, but much nicer. A decent plot/ premise, for starters, even though it kinda falls apart eventually. Like Olivia Joules! But nice, nonetheless.

California/ Rest in peace.

2006-10-06T17:53:00.000+05:30

Other stuff that I've read, but can't be bothered to write about.

CRUEL SHOES
STEVE MARTIN

A bunch of essays (more like whinings, or short short shorts) he wrote before he learned to be funny, coherent, and cool. Greatly and utterly avoidable.

MOO
JANE SMILEY

Hugely recommended, in spite of featuring talking cows. Call me intolerant, but I barely made it to the second chapter.

A NICE DERANGEMENT OF EPITAPHS
ELLIS PETERS

Also fairly heavily recommended. Began quite well, but I lost interest somewhere along the line. I can be quite scatty and easily distracted at times: these are exactly those sort of times. But I might give it a bash again later. (When I run out of other things to read.)

THE LAST YEAR OF BEING SINGLE
SARAH FOSTER

Incredibly predictable chick lit. (Or am I just being snotty and hardcover-reading? C'est possible.)

Anyhow. That's all the stuff I read that's unfit to read. More about the stuff that is, later.

Hold on, little girl.

2006-10-06T17:51:00.000+05:30

ON BEAUTY
ZADIE SMITH

Scrumptiously good. Much, much, much easier to read than White Teeth, which I really liked quite a bit.

But in all honesty, I can't review it without reading Howards End, the book it's written in tribute to.

So hang on a bit. I'll be back.

Scare myself to death/ That's why I keep on runnin'.

2006-09-27T13:59:00.000+05:30

AREA 7
MATTHEW REILLY

Sure, it's a thriller; sure, it's about the good guys versus the bad, and no prizes for guessing which side wins; and sure, it has enough italics and exclamation marks to give an army of typographers nightmares for life. But it's the only regular-sized book I finished at a single sitting since I don't know when.

It was exactly like watching a movie, only much less cheesy, since it all happened in my head.

The guy's a genius. His books are chockfull of conspiracies, Sikorskys, traitors, call signs, and thermonuclear devices.

Maybe I should watch the Indiana Jones flicks again.

You've been fallin' off the sidewalk/ Your lips move, but you can't talk/ Tryin' to throw your arms around the world.

2006-09-23T11:45:00.000+05:30

DAVE BARRY DOES JAPAN
DAVE BARRY

Not the biggest of Barry fans, I must admit. But since I'm convinced that Someone-Important-Up-There has written Japan into my script this year, I gave it a shot. Armed with a tin of wasabi-covered green peas (I kid you not: the brand's called Tong Garden, and it's available at Health & Glow), I plunged in recklessly.

It's your regular all-American diatribe on something 'foreign' -- occasionally funny, and largely predictable. Lots of jokes on how strange Japanese characters are, how unpronounceable the language is, how short the people are, how weird sumo wrestling is,... (But, hell, if I was looking for insight, why would I read Barry?)

Surprisingly, though, carefully mixed with his standard-issue-raving-and-ranting, you'll find a fair amount of good things about the Japanese. Excellent service wherever you go, for instance. Great, well art-directed street food. No tipping. Elevator Ladies. Very Ladies. Their fascination for the form and sound of the English language, combined with a reckless disregard for its meaning. (Much like India -- that's why you see so many Tshirts that don't make sense. Except in Bangalore, the land of Tantra Tshirts.) And that's what made the book so readable for me.

I won't be rushing out to buy another Dave Barry too soon, but if stuck for a choice, I'd definitely pick a book like this over all of his column-writing put together.

If you disagree, (and I know plenty of normal, intelligent, funny people who love the man) this is his site. And if, like me, you're turning Japanese, check this out.

Sayonara for now. (Though the Japanese usually say 'Bye' too.)

Tongue-tied and twisted/ Just an earthbound misfit/ I.

2006-08-28T13:06:00.000+05:30

Some of the stuff I've read in the last two months -- in no particular order, and with very little accuracy.

A GIRL'S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING
MELISSA BANK

PIECE OF CAKE
SWATI KAUSHAL

PANIC
JEFF ABBOTT

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
JK ROWLING
(re-read)

WHITE TEETH
ZADIE SMITH

MILKRUN
SARAH MLYNOWSKI

GIRL ALONE
RUPA GULAB

THE DANCE OF THE BHULESHWAR BRUSH
DAKSHA HATHI

THINKS...
DAVID LODGE

BLACK LENTIL DOUGHNUTS
CK MEENA

And if you're good, baby/ I'll even let you break the dishes.

2006-07-26T11:51:00.000+05:30

KITCHEN
BANANA YOSHIMOTO

Another first, from a well-known, much-respected writer. Yoshimoto's only the second Japanese writer I've ever read, and I'm far from disappointed.

Rather regret not having read her earlier. Have often picked up one of her books, read its synopsis, studied the author pic, and replaced it back onto the shelf. Quite out of character for me not to have given in to my fascination with that name. (Banana is a pseudonym, one she chose as being 'cute' and 'purposefully androgynous'; her real name is Mahoko Yoshimoto, and this is her official website.)

Lessons learned:

1. Kitchen has a lovely voice -- young, urban, feminine, quietly desperate. The themes are familiar: death, sleeplessness, loneliness.

2. This Japanese phase in my life might be boring, workwise, but it rocks literally.

You really got a hold on me.

2006-07-25T15:12:00.000+05:30

THE CEMENT GARDEN
IAN MCEWAN

McEwan's first. A tale of incest, death, adolescence, family, and Britishness, told in an oddly dream-like fashion by fifteen year-old Jack.

Just like its protagonist, the story has no great connection to time or place, instead, it's defined solely by its child characters -- four children who conceal the fact of their mother's death in order to keep from being split up and taken into foster care.

It's as thoroughly absorbing as a nightmare, full of twisted, morbid imagery. But it's written with all the control/ self-awareness of his later work. It's also a fairly short piece of fiction, almost like an expansive short story.

Enjoyed it much, given my fascination with first novels. After all, McEwan's widely considered to be one of the most perfect writers of our time.

Zadie Smith says this best:
I have often thought Ian McEwan a writer as unlike me as it is possible to be. His prose is controlled, careful, and powerfully concise; he is eloquent on the subjects of sex and sexuality; he has a strong head for the narrative possibilities of science; his novels are no longer than is necessary; he would never write a sentence featuring this many semicolons. When I read him I am struck by metaphors I would never think to use, plots that don’t occur to me, ideas I have never had. I love to read him for these reasons and also because, like his millions of readers, I feel myself to be in safe hands. Picking up a book by McEwan is to know, at the very least, that what you read therein will be beautifully written, well-crafted, and not an embarrassment, either for you or for him. This is a really big deal. Bad books happen less frequently to McEwan than they do to the rest of us.

Says she talks to angels/ They call her out by her name.

2006-07-24T12:50:00.000+05:30

EATING WITH ANGELS
SARAH-KATE LYNCH

Chick lit, yes. Predictable, no.

Centred around a moderately happily married, slightly overweight restaurant critic in her mid-thirties, it deals with her great love for food, her losing battle with weight, and her warped relationship with her mother -- pretty standard fare for this genre of writing. But, about a hundred pages in, the book takes a sharp left from this all-too-predictable path.

Not that it's a life-alteringly new perspective or anything, just that it was a pleasant surprise to see a mainstream chick lit story shift gear, even if it's for a tiny little bit.

Lessons learned:

1. Beware of abandoning a book too early: surprises are everywhere.

2. Chick lit is good. But chick lit that cleverly combines food, Venice, and dysfunctional families is SO much better.