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phani

phani

Currently reading

Pebble in the Sky
Isaac Asimov
The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl
Jerome K. Jerome
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Banesh Hoffmann, Edwin A. Abbott

Ready Player One

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline freaky awesome...

Will write a detailed review soon.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak A book which has
-Death as the narrator
-Story revolves in Germany during second world war
-Girl loses his brother in the first 10 pages
- and so on

I can't think any other scenario where a book can be more gloomy. But, only later I found that I was reading one which is easily the best I read in the whole year and that too this is not from my favorite genre.

The book talks about a girl named Liesel who comes to adopted home, where she meets Papa and Mama. Then one day she realizes she is a book thief and blah blah....Lot of people already written about this. So no point in me telling again.

What really made the story enjoyable is the death itself. I know it sounds absurd that death made something enjoyable and maybe something is wrong in my head.

But no, it is the narration by death which made the story pleasant even though the situation itself is gloomy. He even tells you a kid(Rudy) dies long before he dies and again tells he is spoiling the story.


And in between he adds comments like

A SMALL BUT NOTEWORTHY NOTE
I’ve seen so many young menover the years who think they’rerunning at other young men. They are not.They’re running at me.



A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR
I am haunted by humans.


And then makes you cry even after spoiling the story.


The Departing Point: Two people departed...in search of love...leaving love in between

The Departing Point: Two people departed...in search of love...leaving love in between - Santosh Avvannavar, Jyothi Byahatti, Raghunath Babu Are Got autographed copy of the book as a part of Goodreads giveaway programme.

It's collection of seven love stories.

Except first one, none of the other stories is even worth mentioning.

The Robots of Dawn

The Robots of Dawn - Isaac Asimov I would rate it some where between 4 and 4.5 stars.

Even though the story is good, but the story-telling is not on the par of other Asimov books.

May be it is because he was changed by the time he wrote these books and other books in the series.

The Black Cloud

The Black Cloud - Fred Hoyle "Do we want to remain big people in a tiny world or
to become a little people in a vaster world?"

What an amazing way to end a book!

Fred Hoyle gives us a glimpse into how the clash between politics and science goes on in this world.

It is highly recommended to any one who wants to have a glimpse into the world of science and scientists. Be it politics, or how the scientists are just like normal people in making mistakes, but how they are better than our stupid politicians.

The Naked Sun

The Naked Sun - Isaac Asimov It was similar and also very different to "Caves of Steel" in many ways.

There was more philosophy involved, compared to former. I really loved the fact how a precise law(Robotic Law), can be used indigenously to get a complete different outcome, like even killing a man.



Looking forward to Robots of Dawn.

The Caves of Steel

The Caves of Steel  - Isaac Asimov I would rate it around 4.5.

It was depressing in the initial part, but later on it was interesting enough to cloud that.

It was more of a thriller and really loved it for that.

Secrets of Zynpagua: Return of the Princess

Secrets of Zynpagua: Return of the Princess - Ilika Ranjan I got this book as the part of goodreads giveaway.

It was a pleasant read.

There were few loopholes in the story due to which only 4 stars.

The Complete Robot (Robot, #1)

The Complete Robot (Robot, #1) - Isaac Asimov I took longer time to savor it than usual even by the size of the book. But it was worth it.

The initial stories were like some stand-a-lone stories which were good but there was not much connection between them.

This changed drastically when Powell/Donovan stories started. There was continuity and you could actually see the interplay of "Three Laws of Robotics" in different situations. There was enough mystery, thrill, logic in these stories.

And then started Susan's stories. According to "Asimov's universe" she was the most important persons in developing the robots. It was told that she was his favorite character. In her stories one will see the real significance of each law and their interplay. These stories give a glimpse into the brilliance of Asimov.

There was small inconsistency between "The Evitable Conflict" and "Feminine Intuition", but I can overlook this easily given the content of the whole book.

Happy that I started this one rather than "I,Robot" because you get read the stories where interplanetary travel is being developed with the help of robots which is not there in the later book.

Now got to read other books in the series.

2061: Odyssey Three

2061: Odyssey Three - Arthur C. Clarke This is the third book I have read by Clarke. Other two were 2001 and 2010.

As far the book is concerned, it felt more like creating a base for some thing larger.

Compared to 2001 and 2010 this is a disappointment. Other than few small suspenses, there is no major suspense in the story.

SPOILER ALERT!

Gulabi

Gulabi - Pankaj Suneja I would give it 3.5 stars. I got the ecopy of this book from author.

I felt that the connection between the two stories(Monty and Virginia) is half baked.

There are times when I got confused about Monty. It was clear that he is suffering from hallucinations, but wasn't clear where his consciousness(mind) is?

As far as Virginia is concerned, I found it to be a nice read.

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke Wish I had read this in my early teenage.

2010: Odyssey Two

2010: Odyssey Two  - Arthur C. Clarke The book was really good. Reading this was as if a revision of things i learnt about space long time ago.

Loved the way the worlds are described and the way ship was maneuvered around IO and Jupiter.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay  - Suzanne  Collins Interesting read. Loved the way the emotions are presented.

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) - Suzanne  Collins I enjoyed first book in the series and so read this. Even though the story is good, the level of detailing is too average compared to first book.

I don't think I would have understood some things clearly had I not seen the movie already, which is not the case with the first book.

Overall it is average, but not so good compared to the first book in the series.

The Magician Who Lost His Wallet

The Magician Who Lost His Wallet - Gautam Acharya Simple, Interesting and Refreshing.

The book is interesting to read. But, some times you can't help yourself not to draw the similarities with Sherlock Holmes By Doyle.