Best Books of 2017

Here are my ‘Super Seven’ reads of the year:

Best Suspense/Thriller

The Fire Child- S.K. Tremayne

Best Gothic Fiction

Ever This Day- Helen Moorhouse

Best Crime Fiction

A High Mortality of Doves- Kate Ellis

Best Feel-Good Book

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine- Gail Honeyman

Best Reincarnation Fiction

Dreadful Sorry- Kathryn Reiss

Best Historical Fiction

Harappa: Curse of the Blood River- Vineet Bajpai

Best Non-Fiction

Walking Towards Ourselves- Catriona Mitchell

My Reading Vows

My Rights as a Reader!

“You can’t make someone read. Just like you can’t make them fall in love, or dream.”

Books about books are my favorite type of books! You will know this if you go here and here. I have just finished Daniel Pennac’s delightful book ‘The Rights of the Reader’ and am so mad at myself for letting it remain in my TBR pile for years. A gift for having won a book blog contest hosted by a friend some six years ago, it has lain quietly on my bedside table waiting its turn.
I thank ‘whatever’ it was that made me finally pick it up as my lament for lost time will now be confined to these six years.

In a friendly and warm conversational tone, Pennac invites us to explore our love for reading and why for some of us it dies an early death. First and foremost, reading is a choice. While some of us regard it as sustenance for the soul, there are many who can do without reading and not feel they are missing a thing. I may fall into the former category but I have plenty of very special friends who fall in the latter and their being non-readers doesn’t make me like them any less. Just as finding me with my nose in a book, almost all the time, doesn’t make me any less acceptable to them.

In his absolutely adorable book, Pennac defends the simple act of reading for pleasure. Reading not because we have to, but because we want to. Each chapter rings a bell and I recognised so many truths that we bury as we grow up and start reading more for a purpose than for the sheer joy of it. Interspersed with quirky and fun illustrations by Quentin Blake, flipping the pages of this book is unadulterated enjoyment and at the same time evokes meaningful introspection.

And, let’s not forget Pennac’s greatest gift of all- The Rights of The Reader.

Source: Pinterest

 https://www.pinterest.com/donnamiller44/fun-posters/

http://readingculture.wikispaces.com/Background+Information

Here are My Rights as a Reader:

1.       The Right Not to Read

Reading doesn’t have to become a daily habit. If I don’t feel like reading on a particular day, well I won’t. In fact, I have often swung between 24 hour reading marathons and absolute abstinence from books for at least 3 days. I read when I want and if I want.

2.       The Right to Skip

Just want to follow choice characters and not go through pages on pages of descriptions about places, food, weather, and clothes? Go ahead. No one is insisting that we read every page. I used to feel guilty about doing this when I was younger but with age my preferences have found their groove and if I find some bits of a novel boring I just jump to the part that excites me. Of course if I found large bits of a novel boring I would just dump it which brings me to my next right.

3.       The Right Not to Read a Book

At times I start a book with great anticipation and interest but as I go further into the story I just feel burdened. The connection I thought would be built seems to have fizzled out even before it can truly form. It’s time then to admit that the book was a mistake. However, I never regret these mistakes for it is only by exploring many many authors, and genres, and writing styles that I have been able to identify my preferences. Now that I know my taste, the chances of DNFing a book have also lessened.

4.       The Right to Read it Again

Loved a book? Want to read it again? Well, why not? Reading a favorite as many times as I want is a sure thing with me. For that matter, I couldn’t tell you how many times I have read Pride and Prejudice even if I wanted. I have simply lost count!

5.        The Right to Read Anything

You like reading purely escapist thrillers but would rather say you prefer literary fiction. Why pretend? There are many in this world who loved the ‘Twilight’ trilogy and devoured the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ trilogy even if you didn’t. They have the right to read what they want. The good part is so do you! While there are good novels and bad novels, forcing yourself to stay away from the bad novels is just going to lure you to the forbidden fruit. Alongside the burger, I take time to enjoy the Chef’s special. In time, I hope, I may just find myself completely off junk food. If not, I do like burgers quite a bit.

6.       The Right to Mistake a Book for Real Life

At times, I have over-identified with certain characters and their circumstances and felt a book was totally written for me. With passing years, this excitement of being swept away completely by a book has mellowed down and I look back with amused fondness at my infatuation for some book which I would not touch today with a barge pole. But reading it was fun then, and remembering those days is fun now.

7.       The Right to Read Anywhere

I read while commuting to work, in airport lounges, in flights, in trains, in cabs, while standing, while sitting, and at times when I lay down for a while. I can even remember finishing a Stephen King novel while climbing the stairs! I read wherever I want and whenever I want.

8.       The Right to Dip In

I enjoy picking up books randomly from my bookshelf and letting them open on any page. I may then read a sentence, or a paragraph or sometimes the entire page. Often enough, I have flipped pages only to whimsically stop at a certain page and just read what it says. If I am in the middle of a breathing-down-my-neck project deadline and do not have the time to drink a novel, I just sip on short stories or excerpts.

9.       The Right to Read Out Loud

As a child, I used to often read out loud and vary my tone taking on the voice of different characters as the story progressed. As an adult, I do not do this. Haven’t really wondered why or when I stopped. But I do appreciate that I have the right to feel the emotions the words convey and speak the words out loud as if the world of the book had come alive for me.

10.    The Right to Be Quiet

For some books that I read I find myself unable to or do not wish to explain, review, discuss, or opine. A story may affect me too strongly and while I may ‘feel’ the meaning I may not really ‘know’ the meaning of what I read. For example, I always feel the need to be quiet after I read any of Khalid Hosseini’s novels. And I have every right to keep my reasons for reading a book, and my feelings about the book to myself if I so wish.

 Have you exercised all your rights?

On My Reading Radar

The other day, I stumbled upon a fun quiz that guessed my age based on my reading habits. Before I go any further, the results were very pleasing! It also got me thinking about what I read and fuelled by the impetus of the reading diagnostic test, I decided it would be interesting to delve deeper and gain an insight into my reading preferences: the time I give to different types of books, how deep is my inclination towards a particular genre, how much more time do I spend on fiction over non-fiction, what do I prefer to read while on holiday or when commuting to work.

This year, as my resolution for 2016, I intend to include more non-fiction in my reading palette. I have developed a guilt about all of my reading having absolutely nothing to do with the real world and facts. It seems to have become pure escapism over the years (make-believe people in a make-believe world dealing with make-believe situations) and while that is a proven pleasure, I would certainly like it tempered with a dose of reality.

So, here’s what I did, summed up all I could about my reading in a visual that tells me, at a glance, What's on my Reading Radar (Click/Touch on the image and zoom for a better view).  What do you spot on your reading radar? 

Insight into Fiction Reading: It is quite easily seen that the grip of the gothic is strongest with 20 hours out of the 40 reading hours I devote to fiction, in a month, being spent on discovering secrets that lie buried in ancient mansions (preferably with a rich historical setting and a ghost or two thrown in). This is closely followed by heart-pounding, nail-biting races against time with thrillers which get 15 hours of reading time. The least time is given to fantasy. Even though many of these stories are engaging enough to be one-sitting reads, I am deliberately trying to desist from spending most of my waking hours 'fantasizing'. Overall, I find the fiction genre more engaging, prefer to read it while on a holiday, and spend more money buying such titles.

Insight into Non-Fiction Reading: Not surprisingly, I spend a majority of the time (5 hours of the 10 devoted to non-fiction in a month) on self help (mainly books on spirituality and personal growth, preferably with humorous overtones). I have found, over the years, that I am more invested in reading heavy topics when they are written about in a lighter vein. Otherwise, there are greater chances that I will DNF the book. Memoirs, such as the Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durell and the likes, grab about 3 hours while the remaining 2 hours are spent on investigative journalism and archaeological deduction (think Graham Hancock and books like The Lost City of Z). I prefer to read non-fiction while commuting to work (easy to leave it on the page I am when I reach my destination).

What do your reading habits tell you about yourself?