Two unfinished books and two other books that I have just started and look promising. Ya, that should do it for the summer. (Although I am tempted to throw in a classic in the mix - The Brothers Karamazov)
Thanks to S to recommending this to me. I was already floating in the Murakami world having read his two epic tales - The Wind up Bird Chronicle and 1Q84. Part fantasy, part sci-fi, part Japanese contemporary fiction and whole parts entertainment! I read them in a span of 2 weeks, mainly because I couldn't umm, put them down. This happened to me after a really long time. I don't remember when I strongly felt like this for fiction - I had stopped reading fiction and now am catapulted into the genre again, thanks to Murakami.
So I was happy (and surprised) at The Elephant Vanishes which is Murakami's collection of short stories :-) Sample one of my favorite stories from the book, on S's blog - On seeing the 100% Perfect Girl
Stephen King on Writing (Genre: Non-fiction)
Part autobiography and part advice on the craft of writing, this book is turning out to be such a required reading. With fascinating insights into his own process of writing, who else but Stephen King can pull together a powerful book on the practice and skill of writing. This one is for keeps. I am definitely grabbing my own copy soon.
A Fine Balance (Genre: Indian fiction)
I am not sure how I let this masterpiece pass me :-) I have heard too many good things about this Rohinton Mistry book. It specially interests me since I love Indian fiction spinned around historical and political events. As a kid, I have heard stories about the 1970's emergency period in India from my dad and it intrigued me. I am determined to read through this and it has been a gripping narrative so far.
The Price of Inequality (Genre: Non-fiction, Economics)
A day doesn't go by without a reference to the rising inequality in India. And after so many powerful videos made on what inequality actually means and why we should care, I wanted to read more and understand it better. Specially because India is hanging in such a dangerous balance right now, I am taking upon myself to read this book and hopefully explain/share what I learnt once I am done reading.
As one Amazon review reads:
One sentence basically says it all: "The top 1 percent of Americans gained 93 percent of the additional income created in the country in 2010, as compared with 2009." Now think of that in terms of a party with 100 people and big pizza with 100 slices. Basically it means that one rich guy gobbles up 93 slices of pizza. The other 99 get to divvy up the other seven.
