Friday, August 29, 2014

The 10 Books Challenge




There's a 10 Books Challenge of sorts doing the rounds on Facebook where people list 10 books that left an impression and then tag a few friends to list theirs. My friend Monika chose to write her list on her blog and I thought that's a great idea. I'd like to come back to this list too and what better place than on my blog?

So here's my list of 10 random books that I won't forget easily.

1. The Help. by Kathryn Stockett
I don't think I have devoured many books the way I devoured this one. It wasn't just the story that held me, it was also the telling of it.

2. How to be a Domestic Goddess. by Nigella Lawson
One of my favorite books that is incidentally also a cook book, this is one I often take to bed to rifle through the pages, drool at the pictures, and plan for the next thing I'm going to cook from it. Confession - I have drooled and rifled more than I have cooked.

3. Jorasanko. by Aruna Chakravarti.
A glimpse into the lives of the women of the Tagore household, this was a window into a world that is so different from mine, and yet is such a part of my history as a Bengali. I saw glimpses of the older women of my family in this book.

4. Georgette Heyer. Not a book, but the author herself. I have all the romance novels she wrote and I go back to them and read them over and over again. These books made me fall in love with the English language and I return to them on a regular basis for the sheer pleasure of reading a master excelling at her craft.

5. Julia Quinn. Again an author. She picks up where Georgette Heyer stops. A skilled writer who weaves her plots well and has characters you won't forget, her books are engaging and to me they're like Georgette Heyer's novels with some sex thrown in.

6. Pork & Sons. by Stephane Reynaud.
A pig butcher and farmer family's chronicles of their life with pictures, recipes and anecdotes. The little detailed cartoons that pepper the borders of the pages are just brilliant.

7. The Adventures of Asterix. by Goscinny and Uderzo.
This needs no explanation or description or anything.

8. Bangla Amish - Niramish Ranna. by Pragya Sundari Debi. (in Bengali)
This is one of the first Bengali cook books that my mother bought for me when I expressed an interest in reading cook books written in Bengali. An absolute treasure house of information right from setting up a kitchen, hiring servants, managing the budget, to detailed recipes of Bengali and European dishes, this two volume tome was published more than a century ago.  

9 The Little Black Dress books.
These are the modern day Mills & Boons. Confident, independent modern girls trawling through the hazards of daily life looking for love - what's not to like?!

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. by Douglas Adams
This iconic book just didn't do it for me. I have never understood the humour nor do I get the cult following this book enjoys. Since the hubby is a devotee as are his close buddies I am privy to most of the gems from this book including the World's Worst Poem, and the towel. I still don't get it. Aaaaaarrrgghh!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

2 comments:

Sharmila said...

Jorasanko ta porar icche ache. Ami Thakurbarir ondormohol porechi onek agey. Last point ta te ami ekmot :-)

Kurush F Dalal said...

Oh freddled gruntbuggly!