2014 has been a disappointing year for me as far as reading is concerned, among other things. I started with the usual target of 50 books, but could not quite reach it, which is a shame, but what disgusts me even more is that I could not even read as many as I did last year. Further, most of the books I read this year are mediocre ones, which left me with no joy whatsoever of reading them. In every way, this year has been unacceptable for me, I wrote about facing the reader’s block here, but that is no excuse for the laziness and indiscipline I exhibited for most part of the year.

The count ends at 13, and here’s the list of them, and what I thought of each of them in some words, if I haven’t reviewed them already.

1. Riot by Shashi Tharoor: If I read this book without knowing who wrote it, and if someone told me it was by Tharoor, I would have laughed at his face. But this book is a disappointing fact, a sore thumb in the envious oeuvre of Shashi Tharoor. A work of Propaganda masquerading as fiction, this is Tharoor at his most manipulative worst. 


3. The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph: Easily, the best book I read this year. I thought Manu Joseph’s debut book Serious Men, was kind of okay though I don’t recommend it to many, but his second novel about a failed journalist, attempting to re-imagine his dead son’s last days before his suicide through the clues left in his cartoons, and interviewing his friends, is a thoroughly witty, deliciously sarcastic, wonderfully powerful tale of philosophic overtures narrated with the irreverence of a writer assured of his method. A must read.

4. Mango Chutney, edited by Harsh Snehanshu : I bought this collection, coz most I’m familiar with many authors in the list, at least their names and their blogs. To be frank, I was totally disappointed with this book. For a book of more than 30 stories, there are not more than 3 that impressed me. 


6. Losing My Religion by Vishwas Mudugal: This book is the kind, that is found almost everywhere these days. The story is almost always about an entrepreneur or an investment banker, disillusioned with this life style, leaves everything he has got and embarks on a journey, throughout the world, or in our country. The locales change, but the narrative is the same. I won’t say it was a disappointing read, but this does not surprise you. Also, I’m a bit peeved with passages where the hero finds everything perfect about heroine, writes eulogies about her, so much that she is someone out of his dreams, and not a real person. It reminded me of Keep Off the Grass by Karan Bajaj, only Bajaj’s book came first and is a far better book.


8. How to Become a Billionaire by Selling Nothing: Another listless debut work featuring inane one-liners. Pity, that the plot has something to offer, but a tedious read.

9. Best of Manto, A Collection of his Short Stories: I read Manto’s short stories for the first time this year, while he is a great short story writer, I could not find myself rooting for his characters, as they are mostly people who were impacted by the Partition of 1947. Still, for anyone who wants to write short stories, understand the form, Manto’s Stories are a must read.

10. Lessons in Forgetting by Anita Nair: This book follows the lives of a Professor seeking the truth about his daughter’s death, and a Page 3 Celebrity Cook Book Writer as her life comes apart after her divorce to her husband of 20 years, and how they come to rescue each other’s’ lives. The Professor’s part of the book is neatly done with consistent pace and intriguing narration, but the housewife character was devoted too much unnecessary time. 

11. The Tailor of Giripul by Bulbul Sharma: When a loveable village tailor gets involved in a murder mystery in the sleepy town of Giripul, things get quite, well lukewarm. The author seems to be content with setting up the place of action, and breathing in the atmospherics, rather than telling the story or creating twists in it. In Bulbul Sharma’s vivid imagination, Giripur is evocative of R K Narayan’s Malgudi. 



Please do post your lists, so that I can pick some for my next year’s target of 50 books, again.