Best Reads of 2020

It has been a concern to me that my reading capabilities actually diminished in 2020. While others have been gloating on how they had gained immense time during the pandemic to read, I hadn’t. And felt a little sad about it. I have read only 20 books in 2020. But then, I did a bit of embroidery too and that had eaten up quite a few hours. Overall, it is probably balanced, but I’d loved to have read more. The ones I loved are here:

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – By Stuart Turton

The first book I read in 2020 was amazingly hyped as one of the most interesting books of the previous year. Having won the Costa Book Awards 2018, it seemed endlessly intriguing. And I hadn’t been disappointed at all. There is quite a bit of convoluted plotting and organising the chapters according to the ‘lives.’ What amazed me was a few reviews that said they didn’t like the book because it was ‘too complicated.’ And here I am, looking around for more books like this! I loved the writing style – it had the elite 19th century touch, the characters that were as varied as chalk and cheese, and the surprise value in the plot. The only thing I didn’t like was the rushed climax. Nonetheless, this was one of the best and even better than Turton’s second book ‘The Devil And The Dark Water,’ which failed to be in this list. Detailed review here.

The Girl You Left Behind – By Jojo Moyes

Let’s admit that I love historical novels, especially ones with multiple timelines, also ones that dabble into art, more importantly, in world war art and their reclamation. Those are a lot of genres criss-crossed into a beautifully poignant novel – The Girl You Left Behind. The portrait of an extraordinary woman transcends decades and creates a powerful impact into another woman’s life from falling apart. There’s provenance that lead to dark secrets and unpleasant people, a fair bit of love and lots of grit and determination from all the women characters. It was a treat to read and I’ve found one of my favourite sub-sub-genre of historical-war-art-fiction. Detailed review here.

A Suitable Boy – By Vikram Seth

The talk of the town, the crème-de-la-crème of last year’s big budget blockbuster BBC-Netflix movie adaptation was my longest read of the year (obviously for it’s sheer volume of 1500+ pages). I love Vikram Seth. I have loved his poems and his delicately penned novel ‘An Equal Music.’ This was on my TBR since long and the fat book now lies in my bookshelf back in India. So, the Kindle version came to rescue and I wanted to read it before the tv series premiered. Not that it made any difference as I haven’t watched the series yet. I can only say that it takes some sensibility to grasp the equations between the characters and their relationships in this labyrinth of a book. It’s not easy and it’s lengthy – two factors deterrent for the current young generation to appreciate this beauty of a novel. I haven’t found many who have read it entirely, mostly because of lack of patience; the others have shelved it as they were bored by a few parts. And then, the tv/web series made it easier to DNF the voluminous book and just focus on the abridged, minified, dancing, colourful frames that you don’t have to visualise. It took me time too, since my attention span seems to falter these days, but it was worth. Detailed review coming soon.

Troubled Blood – By Robert Galbraith

It’s no longer a mystery that Robert Galbraith is J.K.Rowling’s pseudonym for the Cormoran Strike series. And I had written earlier about why I love this series. ‘Troubled Blood’ is #5 in the series and has evolved a lot from how it began. Strike and Robin have progressed in their lives in strange ways, mostly for the better, their cases have turned more complex, clients more eccentric, but the serial killer factor remains constant and is well portrayed in this novel. I should warn that if you’re looking for a racy thriller, this isn’t the one. Stretched over 40 years and quite a few characters, plots and sub-plots (including Strike and Robin’s personal lives), it’s a huge drama that unfolds in many acts. Yes, they do catch a serial killer but get into a lot of other things too. At times, I felt that Rowling has probably added too many elements in the soup – there are social issues, gender biases, domestic violence, generation gaps and a lot more. It turns a little overwhelming but if you love the main duo, you’ll love their stories as well. Detailed review coming soon.

Have you read any of these in 2020? Let me know your thoughts and we’ll share our views. Have a great 2021 and the decade ahead!

Why I Love The Cormoran Strike Series

I had first known about the Cormoran Strike series when the controversy broke out about J K Rowling writing under a man’s pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. I’m not sure if her social experiment of using the pseudonym worked. She wanted to see if readers go gaga over the novel written by an unknown author called Robert Galbraith. Since the name ‘Rowling’ has been associated with Harry Potter, she wanted to be accepted as a good crime writer, for adults. It’s not surprising that an author of such a popular stature as her would be insecure about being accepted as a crime writer. It happens to the best and arguably, she’s one of the best in last two decades. I guess, the fact about the pseudonym was leaked even before ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ (2013) could reach a lot of readers for the survey based on its quality. Post that, all hell broke loose and the book rode its success on the cause célèbre.

The first striking fact about this unusual detective called Cormoran Strike is his physical disability. There probably hasn’t been a popular detective in literature with a prosthetic leg, facing hundreds of hurdles everyday, trying to get over his girlfriend of sixteen years and setting up a detective agency with minimal capital. Strike was in the army and lost his leg in an explosion in Afghanistan. Strike is an odd bloke, originally from Cornwall, brought up sporadically in London and with almost no family. I like the way he handles life. He’s not perfect, barely scraping through, he’s not a successful happy-go-lucky-rich guy with amazing relationships. He’s candid about the fact that he has met his biological father only twice in life. He’s tender about his now-dead-mother, an addict and an irresponsible adult who couldn’t take proper care of his children. And yet, Strike doesn’t hate her. After all these years, still doesn’t hate when others would. He feels an indistinct tenderness for his mother, rarely though, in parts, mostly because he feels that she could have had a better life.

I love Strike, but I probably love his secretary-turned-business partner Robin Ellacott more. Robin is one of my favourite women in contemporary fiction. She seems vulnerable when the series began; engaged to her high school sweetheart and with a dark past that Strike didn’t know about. You almost tend to feel sorry for her when she joins Strike as a temporary office staff in the first novel. And yet, she’s not a weakling. I love the ways in which she redeems her life and rises from the ashes. From being an emotional wreck to liking her job and excelling at it, from threading together her relationships to finally standing up for herself against deceit – Robin has done it all and emerged as a very strong woman who can kick a few arses.

I have read the previous four books in the series and am now reading the latest ‘Troubled Blood’. Strike and Robin have come a long way since they had began their journey and there’s a promise of another stellar, layered and epically huge novel of 944 pages. I’m looking forward to read and find out the mystery behind the disappearance of Dr. Margot Bamborough in 1974 that Strike and Robin are investigating at present.

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Best Reads of 2017

The year has been tumultuous in terms of reading and writing. The first half of the year still presented itself wrapped in books as gifts, impulsive buys and planned purchases with the purpose of imminent reading. Then, a major movement happened, tectonic plates of our tiny family shifted and we moved up northwest to Belgium. Reading habits changed from cradling a book on bed to juggling the heavy e-reader with the blanket. And before I could acclimatise in a propah way, we’re left with two bloody cold days in the year! I’d agree that the weather is more conducive to cuddling a book but there’s more mundane chores cocooned in the warmth of the house that seems to gnaw at my reading. I could only complete half of my Goodreads reading challenge this year which is a total shame compared to what I’ve read in the last few years. And yet, e-reading is coming handy on the phone at the bus stops, metro rides and long queues in supermarkets with a bit of thanks to the locals here who seem so engrossed in reading even while walking on streets! It is both liberating and motivating. I will read more for sure in 2018 without any resolution to follow it up with. And here are what I loved this year, a mixed bag.

1. River of Smoke By Amitav Ghosh

This one’s my favourite in 2017. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Ghosh’s books (loved The Glass Palace, hated Calcutta Chromosome) and picked up the middle one of the Ibis trilogy after I’d read the first book two years ago. Took me a while to resume the story from where it had been paused in the earlier book and then I fell in love with this one. The plot, the history, the backdrop, the ship named Anahita, the characters, the relationships – everything was resplendent. No wonder it took him a decade to write this trilogy, it is as vast as it seems to be. One can just sum it up as the story of Indian immigrant slaves in the opium trade to South East Asia, and yet, it expands to nooks of islands we haven’t even heard of. I think parts of Ghosh’s research would make a book in itself on ‘how to write novels with historical backdrop.’ An absolute favourite, I would recommend this entire trilogy to everyone who loves reading epics.

2. The Conspiracy at Meru By Shatrujeet Nath

Featured twice here in three years, let me clarify that Shatrujeet hasn’t paid me a dime (yet). It is his writing and content that has inched its way here over the year. The Conspirary at Meru is the second of the Vikramaditya Veergatha trilogy and I have already reviewed it.

I didn’t get boggled by the fact that I’m dealing with King Vikramaditya and the devas, asuras and super powers. Instead, I tried to ingest the story as a racy over the edge action-packed thriller. And it is safe to infer that the book met all the expectations.

There you go. If, like me, you too are not-so-interested in Indian mythology, give this one a try. It is a great thriller in itself with a good blend of mythology and loads of anecdotes. The third book is due to release soon.

3. The Cuckoo’s Calling By Robert Galbraith

First of a trilogy, for a change. I felt a bit FOMO not having read a single JKR book including Harry Potter. But this murder trilogy with an interesting and offbeat detective Cormoran Strike seemed more than worth a try. And the trilogy was more than rewarding in its own way. I loved JKR’s way of dealing social issues so pertinently and with ample wry humour. Honestly, I hadn’t known what to expect from her pen having written the magnanimous Harry Potter books. I’d safely say now that she’s one of my favourite contemporary crime writers and I’m truly hoping she would write 10 Cormoran Strike novels as she has promised recently.

4. Origin By Dan Brown

Ah, the most popular and controversial star of world literature! Dan Brown is like the Shahrukh Khan of thrillers – snubbed by critics, loved by thrill-junkies, and liked by millions of people (including me) who have read each book of his without being too judgmental. I don’t read him for the literary value of his books (as there is none claimed by International critics). I read him for the nuggets of knowledge on art and his backdrops of beautiful Europe. In Origin, it’s Spain with rich art and the usual chase sequences that are getting more suave with private helicopters and inside a cathedral designed by artists like Gaudi. Origin has a blend of science and art with religion the primary clash factor. I loved the plot with scientific experiments and those few chapters can be the main reason you should read the book. Dan Brown has raised a question that is lurking just around the horizon of our lives now – Where are we going?

5. Home Fire By Kamila Shamsie

This has been my last read of the year, perhaps for its nomination in the Man Booker longlist. I love the writers from my neighbouring country and this is the first book by Kamila Shamsie that I chanced upon. I didn’t have an idea that it is an adaptation of a Greek tragedy Antigone until I read it. The fact that Home Fire stands out on its own is where it matters. I’d say the first half deals aptly with ‘Home’ and the second is truly ‘Fire’. Since Shamsie was raised in Pakistan, studied in the US and now lives in England, she has picked up bits of culture, society and life from each continent and created a bowl of steaming story related to her roots. Her writing made me smile, laugh (with the acquired British sarcasm), stiffen and finally shudder at the climax. I’m so glad I read this book at a point when I want to write about immigration and everything in its spectrum. What a way to end the year!