20in2009
I stumbled across this ‘20-Books-in-2009-Challenge’ in avid reader/blogger Yuva’s blog. Too bad that I just finished reading a book, or it could have counted as one of the 20 already. Phew. Anyway, here we go. Plunging into the Challenge!!
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hi – stumbled on to your site! I loved reading it – am especially happy to have found this challenge!
Thank you, Shweta. Good luck, for the 20-books challenge. And, where can I find your blog?
Hi Pallavi, I have two of them – one to voice my thoughts and another for my art. Here they are:
http://chasingstarzz.blogspot.com/
My art blog is http://srsstudio.blogspot.com/
Please leave your comments!
Woaaooo…Swetha, your Art blog leaves me stunned and speechless. Rock on, buddy!
A quick update: I am not progressing much here.. Just read ‘To Cut a Long Story Short’ by Jeffrey Archer (courtesy : Sanyash). Now reading … what’s the name of the bloo** book? Of yes, its something by Lee Child. Planning to read ‘Portrait in Sepia’ next.
I’ve completed ‘One Shot’ and Must admit that I’m completely hooked on to Lee Child now!! Started reading ‘Portrait in Sepia’ and I think this will take a long long time. Unless I scrap it mid-way and look for another of Child’s
I am actually enjoying ‘Portrait in Sepia’ by Isabelle Allende. Its slow-moving but is a very enriching read.
Just completed Sam Holden’s “Diary of a Hapless House-Husband” and quite enjoyed it. Certainly not literature, of course, but of the chick-lit types, if there were a male version. Must say I got a lot of cheap thrills out of it..you know..reading about how roles are reversed and child-rearing falls to the husband’s lot. Would make a humourous and light read on a flight or holiday.
status update.?!)
Now reading ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseni.
Wow! I’ve actually read 5 books in all. Got another…hmmm…15 to go! What? 15?? No way!! Phew… must get some easy-to-read books this time
Btw, does anyone know if bed-time-stories for kids count? I’ve read atleast 12 of them so far.
Ok…am reading ‘Are you afraid of the dark’ by Sydney Sheldon. Courtesy: Friendly neighbour (also known by the name ‘Sanyash’ on my blogroll). I remember reading this book several several years ago..so I hope its Ok for the 20-in-09 challenge. Even if it isn’t , I’m going to read it, for I have no other books on hand. That is, if you exclude ‘The Ugly Duckling’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Alladin and the magic lamp’!!
I’ve completed the novel…extremely gripping, and fast-paced. A must read!
Also got these books from the library- V.S.Naipaul’s ‘The Mimic Men’ which is quite boring and difficult, so am not sure if I will complete it ever!
And , Anjali Banerjee’s ‘Imaginary Men’ – picked this up for 2 reasons (1) An Indian author (2) Seemed to be a light read. I was so totally wrong. This is utter crap. Another of those hastily dished out NRI-catering books. I am finding it so very difficult to trudge through the book. Its full of cliches…cliched words, expressions and scenes even. A real shame to chick-lit. Even I could write better than that!!
So, the stats are:
Completed: 6
In progress: 2
I ended up on your blog while googling for a trip to Karwar and finding a blog http://senzzation.blogspot.com/2008/02/divine-devbagh-kaptivating-karwar.html which had link to your blog and finally wanted to take up the Challenge myself
…look how google works… u never know where you end up 
…. also liked your your posts….
Hi Dmanji, welcome aboard and thanks for your kind compliment. I just logged in to update status on 20in09 and saw your message. Good luck and enjoy reading.
An update:
and it is certainly some motivation that there’s a happy ending.
Stick or Twist, by Eleanor Moran
I wanted Chick-lit and I got it. Not in a demeaning way. I really enjoyed this book. There was drama, romance, humour et al. I could identify so much with the loser heroine
A book worthy of a pleasant weekend.
So the numbers are:
Completed : 7
To start: 1 (can I also include ‘Taming Toddlers’ and ‘Positioning’-my all-time favourite?)
Yay..one more down the line…
‘Shopaholic goes abroad’
By Sophie Kinsella, of the famed Shopaholic series. Typical chick-lit and rather humourous. Thoroughly enjoyed this read and plan to get hold of more in this series.
So there! I’ve completed 8. 12 more to go!
‘Your characters want … absolutely nothing. They simply walk through accurately described village settings, and have deep thoughts..’ – an editor says this to one of the characters in the book ‘Between the Assasinations’. I am almost 100% sure this was told to the author Aravind Adiga.
Adiga has been severely criticised for his prize-winning novel ‘The white tiger’. If his second book is anything to judge by, he is a very poor author. There is nothing exceptional about his work. The writing is mundane, the settings are stereotyped, and the worst (and probably, most important) consideration is, there is no plot. His book is a series of events. God knows if these are historic or fictional. As I dragged myself through this incredibly boring book, I quite lost hope of a logical ending. But yes, in the deepest recesses of my heart, I was hoping Adiga would do something on the lines of movie ‘Crash’. But even that wasn’t forthcoming.
This was a terrible read – please do not accept even a free copy of the book.
P.S: I am not a voracious reader, and might be just a Duh commenting on a great piece of literature. But don’t blame me if you actually buy the book and waste your time reading it.
My 20in20 stats:
Completed 9 (1 was a complete waste…that is the above!)
To go: 11 (Actually I should get a concession of 1 for having read the above crappy novel)
Just completed ‘Mums@Home’ by Sophie King. Not entirely Chick-lit but kind of, and a really nice read. It wasn’t all fun, and the things written about adoloscents, bullying, autism, etc quite scared me. But I really liked this book. It was a balanced mix of romance and reality.
Completed another of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher based novels. ‘Bad Luck and Trouble’. Fast paced as always, but I think I liked his other novels better than this one. This was a little sad.
Anyway, the count is:
Completed: 11
To go: 9
Yippee! One more Lee Child down. ‘Die Trying’ was very engrossing, if you can understand OR ignore the technical details of topography/ammunition/etc. A great read, anyway.
Completed:12
To go:8
After having read ‘Shopaholic abroad’, I really wanted to get my hands on books by Sophie Kinsella. I found this one… ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ and read it in just one afternoon. Delightful, funny and a quick read. If you can ignore the similarities between the books in the Shopaholic series.
Currently reading Lee Child’s Echo Burning. This one’s a little slow, or maybe I am bored of Child!
Yeah, so I’ve completed 13 now.
And another… Lee Child’s “The Enemy”. Very graphic, very interesting, racy read. Didn’t understand most of the technical stuff, but couldn’t put the book down the entire weekend!
Now reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Interpretor of Maladies’. Just read one of the short stories in the book, and I know exactly why she won the Pulitzer! She totally deserves it.
And that was an awesome book!!
Now reading ‘If God was a Banker’ by Ravi Subramanian. Fast-paced but too many stereotypes and rather amateur writing.
Yay, so I’ve done 16 books for this year. I didn’t enjoy the last book much because of the poor style of writing, but the read itself was interesting, because it stereotyped the MNC bank culture in India. Didn’t this guy ever get his novel edited by someone professional before publishing it? Or maybe he self-published it and didn’t torture many purblishers into reading the script. Apologies for being mean, but how can someone get away with writing so poor?! Beats me!
Hey I have got this book titled ‘ A touch of the Son’ written during times of apartheid in Africa. Its a quick read and yet quiet nice. Feel free to borrow asap…shld add to your count and will be a worthwhile read. Infact watch out as I may write a review on my blog if I get around it!
When do i get to borrow a lee child from you? Curious!
Sure, will borrow it from u. Though, all my Lee Child are from the Library and so they’ve all gone back to where they came from
Btw, am reading ‘Angels Fall’ by Nora Roberts. Seems interesting as of now.
Yup, it was a GOOD read. It was adventure and romance packed into one. What more can I ask for!
Started turning the first couple of pages of ‘White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga, and it was awful! I cannot believe such self-deprecating and listless / boring writing can win a person a prestigious award! And to think that I waited for 2 months for the library to get a copy of this book! Glad I didn’t actually buy it
OK, so completed 17 now. Got 3 to go! Somebody lend me some Chick lit please!! That’s the only way I will complete the challenge in time
Count on me for that. Am reading this breezy novel called ‘Be careful What you wish for’. So far so good. Shall lend it to you after I am done.
Pal: Hey, that sounds good! And I just got hold of ‘Shopaholic and Baby’ this morning. So will give that to you over the weekend
or earlier!
This really sounds so interesting!..how I wished I could take up this!..:(
Pal: Do try it out, Srivalli!
All the best , Pals! I need to take up the 20 in a month challenge I think – I might end up doing that anyways
I devour books – read them too fast 
The good thing is that here we get 20 books at a time from the library – so that is good enough for 3 weeks 
Pal: Wow! Can you really read that fast? I have been trying to read one book for the last week, and every time I pick it up, I fall asleep in about 5 pages! Hoping to grab some crap novels to complete the challenge quickly
He he!
And I’ve read 2 more Chick-lit books. Got this book fron Sanyash, ‘Be careful What you wish for’ which was interesting, though a little confused in the end, because I would have rather it just been a whole load of magic! I mean, why can’t Magic really happen! And then, I read: ‘Sisters and husbands’ by Amanda Brookfield, which I quite enjoyed, because it explored the very complex relationships of sisterhood and matrimony! This is the description of the book on the internet: ‘Beautiful Anna Lawrence, with a successful career in broadcasting and marriage to a wealthy man with a luxurious country home, has everything a thirty-two year old could wish for. Until she finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, too late to do anything about it. Her sister Becky longs for children but her husband, a struggling chef, has told her they have to put family life on hold for a few more years. Anna’s pregnancy uncovers fractures in the sisters’ relationship going back years, and the ramifications affect everyone in their lives.’
Yay! I have just one book left to complete the challenge! An eventful year this has been
Are you there yet ?
Me: Oooh..not yet!! Just one more to go, but unable to find time for it. Sigh! Good you reminded me, will get back on track by end of this week