Travel and reading comes together, it’s fun reading in the dim light of flight with excitement of the trip in the head. I never travel without book whether I get chance to read or not, that’s different thing.
I am quiet active on Goodreads, (many of you might be aware), for those who don’t know, it’s a kind of social network of Readers and Authors. My last year goal was 40 books but could complete only 25.
I started the year with Grisham’s “The Firm” and ended with his “The Runaway Jury”. If I categorize the books, I read few classics, thrillers, biographies, (walking dead) series and fictions. Here is my top 5 pick from the year :-.
1. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell :- I started this book back in 2018 but it remained unfinished due to higher demand of it in Library . So I completed this in 2019 and wow I feel lucky to just read it. If I need to describe in one word, that would be brilliant. This is the kind of book one would like to have in personal shelf. Story is about a society where everything is controlled by Government called Big Brother and citizens are with literally no rights of their own. In such conditions a couple tries to revolt and what happens in that horrific world is the book all about. It points out the ill effects of dictatorship in a society and how opposition is required for balance of power. This artwork is inspired from Hitler and Stalin’s reign in Germany and Soviet.
2. The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel :- This book is a biography of genius mathematician Ramanujan who arose from the streets of India to Trinity college of Cambridge, England where he faced numerous challenges related to racism, non-acceptance, cultural differences and ego clashes but found his true mentor Hardy who shows him path and provide him what he deserved “fellowship of Royal society “. Till date his various algorithms are under research and proven to be pioneer in various fields. There is also a movie on this book with the same name which is a good watch too.
3. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach :- it’s a short story about a seagull who tries to find purpose of his life as opposed to his flock and finally attains illumination. What happens thereafter is typically the face of our society as his follower seagulls create a shrine for him rather than seeking their own path and treat him like god. This story hits hard on many point such as soul searching, purpose of life, endless circle of birth & death and how should we break it. Overall It’s a wonderful spiritual journey for the reader.
4. A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee :- This book talks about the difficulty and hardship of life. Book unfolds five stories each one with unique and emotional touch. First story is about a rich person who comes to India from America to visit Agra (He was born there) with his son and couldn’t cop with the reality, Second about a maid in Mumbai who wants her nephew to be highly educated and saves each penny for him, Third story is about a Naxalite girl who wants the freedom from the atrocities on poor from government, Fourth one also my favorite is about a man who found bear cub, trains him and go to big city for fortune of his family and Last story connects all stories together. Ending is very sad as life is not always what we expect.
5. Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared by Franz Kafka :- I can’t imagine any list without Kafka (My Favorite Author), I put this book at last mainly because it’s unfinished story. But still a masterpiece from Master itself. Story talks about an immigrant named Karl who comes to America with big dreams but finds out it’s not easy to survive in this great nation and go through various obstacles and adventures. This book highlights comic shade of Kafka’s writing which is not so common in his work. Reader will be amused by the situations and adventures of Karl. It’s really sad that story remains incomplete.
Goodreads Profile :- https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/64908028-piyush-sharma
This year I set the goal for 45 books and already completed one, Let’s see how this year goes. What’s your target and you favorite books ? Leave your comments.
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