My Books

A day without reading some book or another is, for me, unthinkable. I need the comfort of the printed word before I can go to bed or I simply won’t unwind and sleep right. No matter how tired I am or irritable even, a good book soothes me so I feel relaxed. Obviously, the wrong choice of book doesn’t help at all although because I am an inveterate book-lover, I will still read an admittedly bad book simply because I respect the fact that the author took the trouble to write it!

I haven’t had a chance to read a good book in a while now and the need is almost a tangible void in my being. I am a little wary of new authors and don’t like to take much of a risk. I love my old favourites but sometimes even those authors disappoint. I used to love Marquez at one point till I had collected every work of his including a collection of his interviews and then I simply got tired of him. I loved “Chronicles of a Death foretold”, “Love in the time of Cholera” and “One hundred years of solitude” but didn’t like “In Evil Hour” or “Autumn of a Patriarch” much and that’s when I stopped reading Marquez – at least his newer releases. I love zany stories, non-mushy love stories and fantasy as well. I can read anything as long as it is engaging. I love Wodehouse but not too much of a dose at a time. I love Asimov’s Foundation series. I love Terry Pratchett for his humour. I love George R R Martin for writing excellent fantasy – way better than Jordan and almost as good as Tolkien. I love one of a kind books like “To kill a mockingbird”. I love sweeping sagas like “Gone with the wind” (no, I would never read its so-called sequel!). I love classics like “War and Peace”, “Pride and Prejudice”, “A tale of two cities” and “Treasure Island”. I love books that I can go back to time and again and learn anew at each reading.

I can read almost anything just to pass the time but the books I keep are the ones that are my friends. They are the ones that take me out of myself and far away on the wings of imagination. They linger in the mind long after the last word has been read. They subtly infuse my thoughts with their delicate flavour. It would be wonderful to write such words myself but I have a long way to go. Till then I shall be the eternal reader.