Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

Author - Mohammed Hanif

Genre - Fiction, Pakistan, Religion, Humour

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

May 2013

Very well written. Incredibly bleak and bereft of hope, depressing even -- and this is just next doors, in Pakistan. But Hanif knows how to do humour, some parts are laugh-out-loud funny. Definitely worth a read.

The Club Dumas

Author - Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Genre - Fiction, Thriller, Book-about-books, Mystery

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

May 2013

Excellent! This is a thriller for the book-lover, yet isn't a highbrow one like Eco. Not as thrilling as an 'Eye of the Needle', say, but mazy and intelligent.

The Virgins

Author - Siddharth Tripathi

Genre - Indian English, Fiction, Thriller

Source - Print

Rating - 4

May 2013

If this is the direction commercial Indian English fiction is taking, I am very proud! The book flows through quickly, does not get boring, and is rather busy and eventful. Things keep happening. I liked it. Captures the psyche of testosterone-driven high school kids quite well, as well as that of life in the 'wild north'. As for his depiction of Banaras, which I've never visited, I am not the best judge of. 
I say this with no trepidation, I would have complimented this book even if it weren't written by an acquaintance from college. There's quite a bit of good in this book.
If I have to critique something: The writer should have gone easy on the capitals and the italics. 

Full disclosure: the writer was my junior at Bschool. I paid full market price to buy the book, was not requested by the writer or publishers to write this review.

Anita

Author - Keith Roberts

Genre - Fantasy, Magic, Fiction

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

May 2013

Fine, fun short stories. Sixties witch, a bit of a wild child, is this Anita. But good. Breezy read. 

The City and The City

Author - China Miéville

Genre - Science Fiction, Detective, Society, Cops

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 5

April 2013

I am lucky in that I have read quite a few extraordinary books this year. This is certainly one of them. A masterpiece of the genre. Miéville is the superstar of the genre, and I was intrigued to find out why. Now I know. His acclaim is well deserved - This is top notch social commentary, a breakneck, hurtling detective story, and the best sci-fi novel I have read in a long, long time. Please read. Highly recommended.

Netherland

Author - Joseph O'Neill

Genre - Cricket, New York, Society

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 5

March 2013

This is incredible. This book tells me that I am relevant. Best book I read this year.

Pride and Prejudice

Author - Jane Austen

Genre - Romance, Classic, Society

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 5

March 2013

Beautiful. I read (listened to) this with a lot of apprensions - I don't like classics per se - but really, this is beautiful. It did not move me, it did not embrace me with its language; but all that is trivia. It engaged me. It was 14 and a half hours well spent.