Top Ten Tuesdays : 25th Aug

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is  Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught X 101

I thought I would break this list in to parts. I am not going to just list down books in one genre but many. So here goes.

Books That Would Be On my Syllabus If I Taught Fantasy 101

1. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien - If you know anything about me it is that I love the Lord of the Rings series, the books and the movies. They are the epitome of fantasy in my eyes. The setting for this series is just epic
2. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling - This is a series that introduced a lot of people to the magic of books let alone to that of Fantasy. I believe this is a series that will stand the test of time. 
3. Elantris and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - You might ask why these 2 books and not Sanderson's more famous Mistborn series or the Stormlight Archive, but I think these books suit this list. It is very, very rare to see a fantasy book that is a standalone, and to see 2 from the same author is just awesome. Sanderson is a genius when it comes to setting up the fantasy world and the characters.
4. The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett - This series would be in the curriculum because I just love the Discworld series to bits and find it funny. Reports on the Watch part of the series, with special attention to Sam Vimes would be very well received indeed.

Books That Would Be On my Syllabus If I Taught Sci-Fi 101

1. The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov - I more often read Sci-Fi that is closer to fantasy in its epicness than the Space opera one's. I was bowled over by the sheer scope of this book. It is not everyone's cup of tea, it's not necessarily my favorite Sci-Fi book but it does teach you a lot about how a Sci-Fi book is to be written
2. The Odyssey Series by Arthur C. Clarke - This is one of my favorite books. I reread this series once every 2-3 years. Even though this is a series the books can be read as standalones (though I would suggest reading it in series). This is a series that talks about contact between Human kind and Super intelligent extra terrestrial life. The science in these books is something that we are seeing come true in our lifetime and it makes it a little more relatable.
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - Douglas Adams tried to come up with a Sci-Fi Comedy and he ended up with the masterpiece that is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This book would be part of the curriculum to show that Sci-Fi doesn't always have to be long winded and boring but fun too.

Books That Would Be On my Syllabus If I Taught Classics 101

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Any revenge story I read is always held up against this classic in my head. Among the books by Dumas this book has always been my favorite.
2. War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - This is a book that can also be categorized as Sci-Fi but I prefer to think of it as a classic instead. 
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I already own 4 copies of this book and reread it every year. Need I say more.

What is on your list?

WWW WEDNESDAYS : 19th Aug

This is a weekly book meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words and I thought it was a great Idea. So WWW WEDNESDAYS… is a weekly event where you share (1)What you’re currently reading, (2)What you recently finished reading, and (3)What you think you’ll read next.... And here goes

Q1) What are you Currently reading?
A1) I am currently participating in the Bout of Books 14.0. And I am reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for this read-a-thon. 

Q2) What did you recently finish reading?
A2) I just finished reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I am not sure what I think about the book. This was not the story I am used to from King. It lacked that creepy horror element that he usually puts in his books, but it was a good crime thriller. So points to King for doing something with this book that he doesn't normally do.

Q3) What will be your next read?
A3) I am completely clueless as to what I will read next. I might just pick up The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, part 2 of the Hitchhiker's Guide or I might pick something up that catches my fancy at that time. I am someone who doesn't plan her reading, partly because I fail so brilliantly at following them.

What are you planning to read next? 

Top Ten Tuesdays : 18th Aug

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Of Your Auto-buy Authors

1. Brandon Sanderson - I had only heard of the Final Empire a couple of years ago. And then I read it. Since then I've bought most of Sanderson's Adult Fantasy books that have come out except for The Words of Radiance. I am willing to buy anything this man writes. And unlike other fantasy writers Sanderson cranks out books quite frequently which is a boon to fans of his writing.
2. Neil Gaiman - He's also one of my most read authors. I just love his writing. He is also on the list of authors I would love to meet. I had the opportunity to at least see him virtually last year at Comic Con. It was one of the best days. I am still catching up with buying his books, especially Sandman, but I do buy anything that he releases.
3. Patrick Rothfuss - I haven't even read The Name of the Wind in it's entirety and I was compelled to buy the next installment in the series. I am looking forward to his writing a lot more books.
4. A.S. King - I have read all the books A.S. King has written, Please Ignore Vera Dietz being my favorite, and I own all of them except a couple of them. She is one of my favorite authors who cannot really be fit in to a genre in my head. 
5. Keigo Higashino - He is one of my most recent finds. I read Devotion of Suspect X by him and it was one of the few crime thrillers that has still stayed with me. Any book of his that is translated to English I will buy.
6. J.K Rowling - Do I even need to explain why? I am happy with her Cormoran Strike books but I will always have hope that maybe one day she will write about Harry once again
7. Laini Taylor - The Daughter of Smoke and Bones was one of my all time favorite reads of last year. The love story of Akiva and Karou is one of the most beautifully written romances out there.

Now I am going to list authors who are no longer alive and releasing any books. But I do buy their books whenever they are available. And I would also buy their books without a doubt if they were still alive and writing.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien - One of my favorite books is the Lord of the Rings. If there are any unpublished manuscripts out there and they find it and publish it I am buying it in an instant
2. Douglas Adams - I had never heard of a comic Science fiction book before. But The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy was the most funniest books I've read so far. 
3. Terry Pratchett - I can't believe there will no longer be any more Discworld novels. Especially the Watch books. I am still collecting his books though. So I still have quite a few of his books to read which is a plus.

Who are your auto buy authors?

Bout of Books 14.0 : Update Post

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal.It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, Aug 17th and runs through Sunday, Aug 23rd  in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

This is my update post for the Bout of Books 14.0


Day 1 -

Books Read - 1
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Currently Reading - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Pages Read - 531

Mr. Mercedes was not the kind of fare I was expecting from Stephen King. Though this book did not have King's usual addition of something a little supernatural I kind of liked it.

Day 2 -

Books Read - 1
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Currently Reading - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Pages Read - 128

Day 2 was a slower reading day because I was busier at work than I expected to be. But I hope to finish reading Hitchhiker's Guide today.

Day 3 -

Books Read - 2
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Currently Reading - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Pages Read - 160

Day 4 -

Books Read -3
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Currently Reading - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Pages Read - 218

Day 5 -

Books Read - 3
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Currently Reading - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Pages Read - 191

Day 6 & 7-

Books Read - 3
Names - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Currently Reading - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Pages Read - 0

I read 0 pages over the weekend because this was the one time in the week I could meet up with friends. We went and watched Mission Impossible 5. It was pretty good.

So my Bout of Books 14 update is that I have read 3 complete books and read a total of 1228 pages. Not bad if I do say so myself. What about you. How was Bout of Books 14.0 for you?

Bout of Books : 14.0

BOUT OF BOOKS IS BACK!!! For those of you who do not know what it is here is a bit of information.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal.It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, Aug 17th and runs through Sunday, Aug 23rd  in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

My TBR's are always flexible. So I will only put down 2 books on here for now. I am hoping to at least read 3 though - 

1. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
2. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

WWW WEDNESDAYS : 12th Aug

This is a weekly book meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words and I thought it was a great Idea. So WWW WEDNESDAYS… is a weekly event where you share (1)What you’re currently reading, (2)What you recently finished reading, and (3)What you think you’ll read next.... And here goes

Q1) What are you Currently reading?
A1) I am currently between books at the moment. I just finished reading a book yesterday and I'm agonizing over which book to pick up next. Right now the choice is between The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black and The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. I am leaning towards The Final Empire for the time being and might decide to pick that up.

Q2) What did you recently finish reading?
A2) I just finished reading A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis. I really enjoyed this book. It is based in the 18th / 19th Century in America. The protagonist is a lady of society who has been locked up by her family in an insane asylum while she is with child. I am not really great at summarizing the book so I would suggest you read it here.

Q3) What will be your next read?
A3) If I decide to pick up The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black my next read would be the Final Empire. I have already read the Final Empire but I am determined to complete reading this trilogy so I need to reread the first book to move on to The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages. If I pick up The Final Empire then I will move on the next 2 books in the series.

What are you planning to read next? Happy Reading!!

Top Ten Tuesdays : 11th Aug

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten authors I've Read the Most.

If I like a book I tend to read a lot of the books written by the same author, one after the other, at a stretch. I actually have a worksheet listing out the books I've read and need to read. You can scoff at me but it really helps with list making, which is another favorite pastime of mine (other than reading of course). I also read a lot of Manga, in which a series is usually more than 10 volumes long. I'll just list a few of them at the end of this list. I will mostly write about the authors of Novels in this list.

1. Dean Koontz  - 29 Books. I discovered Dean Koontz when I was in college, at a second hand bookstore. One of the first books I read was False Memory and I really fell in love with the story and the pace of the story. After that I just went on a spree of reading his books. I think what I like about them is that they thrill me and they do not take up too much of my time. I usually finish his books in 2 days.
2. Neil Gaiman - 29 Books. I LOVE Neil Gaiman. This number includes his short story books and also Sandman. Some of my favorite books by him are - Coraline, Stardust and American Gods.
3. Stephen King - 28 Books. My favorite King novel is IT. I was scared of clowns before but after IT its escalated to being a phobia.
4. Agatha Christie - 27 Books. Agatha Christie is the queen of crime novels. My fave of course is Miss Marple. I have a whole post dedicated to her creations, you can read it here.
5. Terry Pratchett - 16 Books. Among the Discworld novels, The Night Watch series is my favorite. His books are one of the funniest books I've read.
6. James Patterson - 12 Books. I used to read a lot of Patterson in my teens. My fave was the Women's Murder Mystery Club
7. Robin Cook - 12 Books. I grew up on Robin Cook. My favorite books are The Sphinx and Chromosome 6.
8. JK Rowling - 12 Books. What list is complete without a mention of Rowling. I have read her Potter series, the companion books and The Cormoran Strike books that are out.
9. Michael Crichton - 9 Books. My fave books are - Jurassic Park, Lost World & Sphere. Oh and The Andromeda Strain.
10. Jeffrey Archer - 7 Books. He is one of my favorite authors. And my fave book by him is As the Crow Flies.

Coming to some of the Manga I've read - 

• Naoki Urasawa - 20th Century Boys, Monster
• Himoru Arakawa - Fullmetal Alchemist
• Fuyumi Soryo - Mars, Eternal Sabbath

Some honorary mentions are - A.S. King, Arthur C. Clarke, Brandon Sanderson and so on.