Read a lot of books this year, thanks to the pandemic. The ones that I really liked were:
1. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a story about.. a world where 98% of the population have been killed by a pandemic, and the survivors wander around a post apocalyptic world. 2. Golden Boy and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket by Christian Ryan (some reviewers say it belongs in Beyond A Boundary territory among the great cricket books). 3. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, which won the Hugo award for Best Novel, and is a superb space adventure that even non sci-fi fans like me could read. 4. Possession by Kamala Markandaya a rare gem by one of the early post-Independence IWE writers. 5. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, a What-If- Hillary had not married Bill piece of speculative fiction. 6. Dreamers by Snigdha Poonam, about 7 "under -35 Indians", and their worldview, life journey, and aspirations - economic, social and political. Brilliant. 7. Secret History by Donna Tartt- one of the great "campus novels", one that I finally got around to reading. 8. Chosen Spirits by Samit Basu- a bit of a mixed bag, equal parts superb and underwhelming. India (Delhi, rather), 10 years or so from now, and in some kind of Ready Player One world. 9. The Last Odyssey by James Rollins- the latest adventure by one of the world's great thriller writers. 10. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. Supposed to be Sally Rooney-ish (I've not read Rooney), but I found this a remarkably well written book about a young woman who chucks it all and goes to Hong Kong. 11. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears- murder mystery set in 16th Century Oxford. Ponderous at times, but grand and sweeping. On Sat, Nov 21, 2020 at 12:43 AM Thaths <tha...@gmail.com> wrote: > Silk listers, I used to turn to you for book recommendations around this > time of the year. But stopped this practice when I stopped seeing > engagement. But last year a handful of you said that you missed this annual > tradition. So here we go again! > > What have you read over the last year that has left a mark on you? What are > you eagerly looking forward to reading over the coming holidays? How has > COVID19 affected your reading? > > I will share my recommendations later in this thread. > > Thaths > -- > Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? > Carl: Nuthin'. > Homer: D'oh! > Carl: Unless you're crooked. > Homer: Woo-hoo! >
