Flashback to books I read in 2014

I read a lot, without the stimuli of any challenges. This year, a shift in my job position opened up my world to the luxury of reading a book, as and when I wanted. Reading became full time occupation before other forms of work turned up and demanded attention. I still manage to read every day, beyond the information overload I am subjected to when browsing the internet. Here’s a round-up of the best books I’ve read this year.  

The good

Katie Bagli’s How Blue is our Planet was an informative lesson, simply told, of the many things ailing our planet and how little things can actually help. 

Journalist Marja Mills found herself in a lot of controversy when her book, The Mockingbird Next Door released this year. The book was her account of living next door to the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, and her sister. Allegations flew fast and thick as the sisters denied ever giving her permission to write about them while Mills releases statements defending her actions. The controversy certainly piqued people’s interest in knowing more about the reclusive author who retired after writing a book that is still beloved today. The Mockingbird Next Door gives a lot of detail of the 17 months Mills spent in Monroeville, Alabama. There are visits to Burger King, feeding ducks, drinking coffee, watching movies and the odd reference to Lee’s childhood friend Truman Capote. The book gives a small glimpse into the (mostly sad) life of the author. 

One of my favourite columnists is Annie Zaidi and it is with high expectations that I read her book Gulab. The book tells the story of love and explores whether a living person can have a relationship with a ghost. It explores the supernatural and the afterlife in gripping detail. 

Another journalist's writing I did like was Reena Martins’ Bomoicar.  Her book contained small snippets about the lives of Goan immigrants in (then) Bombay. Life in the big city was all about travelling through and for via steamers, visiting the ‘aunties’ for a bit of fun in the evening, making friends and playing football in St Xavier’s and being charmed by Cotton Mary. It spoke of a much simpler life.

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s debut novel, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey, explores the different facets of a woman. There is the protagonist, known for her strength and tenacity and there is the ‘other woman’ in her life who is suspected to be a witch. The author uses a fictional Santhal village of Kamdihi in Jharkhand to explore how superstitions like witchcraft can affect the consciousness and the lives of different people. 

In her book, Fictitious Dishes, photographer Dinah Fried painstakingly cooked and assembled dishes from some of literature’s classics. Think the cheesy toast Heidi’s grandfather gives her, the gourmet buffet in The Great Gatsby, the bowl of gruel in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, the dainty madeleines in Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, the rotting vegetables and animal bones served to Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, or the earth that is eaten by orphan Rebecca in One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book embraces some of literature’s favourite culinary moments and attempts to capture the essence of the book through the food. It was Fried’s way of connecting reading and eating, two things she believes have a lot in common.    

The Best

I confess I haven’t read too many of the classics. I really appreciate it when friends give me books to read that are classics in their own right and that come with their recommendation. Every one connects to a book differently so if you share a similar connection as that of a friend to a book, it’s a special feeling. This happened with Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. The 20th century classic does have a tendency to meander but at its essence is a story about how a first wife will affect the life the second wife. It’s a love story and a thriller but it is unconventional.

This fixation on superstitions and religious beliefs is central to Tamil writer Perumal Murugan’s One Part Woman. The English translation of his 2010 novel Mathorupagan explores the social stigma of childlessness and a community’s obsession with it. The couple in question does it all – prayers, appeasements and sacrifices to the different gods, penance, pilgrimages – but to no avail. There’s nothing wrong with their marriage but the constant taunts from everyone around them forces them on this path. Their village’s obsession forces them to partake in a tradition where women are impregnated by strange men in the name of god – a step that could ruin their marital life.   

MR Carey’s The Girl With All the Gifts wasn’t, as expected, just about a girl with magic powers but much more.  The engrossing novel is all about change and being open to things in life that contradict your beliefs. There are no vampires here but a sub-breed called ‘hungries’ who are creatures plagued by a parasite that causes them to crave human flesh. In this midst is a budding hungry, a ten year old girl with a conscience and the ability to control her powers. 

Women, particularly strong (and not necessarily nice) women are my favourite characters. It’s the main reason I loved Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. The much hyped movie lived up to the hype and had me scrambling to read the book. As is often the case, the book was infinitely better than the movie and the effortless way in which you slipped into the minds of both Nick and Amy Dunne was credit to the writer. It was difficult to choose sides and decide right from wrong as you read about their marriage unfolding. Is there a greater sign of a good writer than the fact that their books leave you thinking about them long after you’ve finished reading them? I’ve had many a fascinating discussion on Gone Girl.

After watching the movie adaptation of this book and of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, it is heartening to see that movies can do justice to the books they’ve been adapted from.