Indian Readers discussion

I have planned for certain challenges in 2015 - I may or may not complete those, though I would strive towards the former.
I have totaled up 10 challenges
One Post for each, which will be edited as I finish or complete individual books...
wish me luck, friends :)

1. Indian Books - read books written by Indians, or about India
1. The Illicit Happiness of Other People
2.Aavarana
3. The Pregnant King
4. Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas
5. The Way Things Were
6. Riot
7. The Lives of Others
8.Mrs Funnybones
9.Sita's Curse : The Language of Desire
10. Serious Men
11. An Atlas of Impossible Longing
12. Sleeping on Jupiter

2. Read a recommendation -read any of my friends ' recommendations/ read at my friend's prompting
1. A Clash of Kings - Anirudh Hegde
2. The Martian- Gordon
3. Purple Hibiscus -Aatish [he's not there in GR]
4. Aavarana- Anirudh Hegde
5. Assassin's Apprentice-Anirudh Hegde
6. The Last Kingdom - Anirudh Hegde
7. Lord of the Silver Bow - Anirudh Hegde
8. Push- Ashim Jyothi Choudhari
9. Americanah - Aatish Thennavan
10. The Shining - Zaara
11. City of Thieves - Manju
12. Shield of Thunder- Manju
13. The Stranger-Anirudh
`4. Riot - Viju

3. Clear my physical shelves - read the long suffering unread books from my shelves
1. Aavarana completed 12.03.15
2. The Illicit Happiness of Other People - completed 23.01.15
3. Lonesome Dove completed 21.02.15
4. Lord of the Flies completed 11.03.15
5. The Pregnant King completed 16.03.15
6. The Way Things Were
6. Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas completed 23.03.15
7. Riot
8. The Lives of Others
9. Sita's Curse : The Language of Desire
10. Sleeping on Jupiter
11. The Chimney Sweeper's Boy
12. Mystic River
13. Old School
14. Mrs Funnybones
15. 1984

4. Uncomfortable genre - read genres which I don't like -erotica , romance , paranormal etc.
1. dystopia Lord of the Flies
2. Anthologies Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
3. Fantasy Assassin's Apprentice
4. Romance Storks in a Blue Sky
5. Fantasy The Name of the Wind
6. Horror The Shining
7. Philosophy The Stranger
8. Horror The Green Mile
9. Erotica Priest
10. Erotica - not sure, but to me it seems like it
Sita's Curse : The Language of Desire
11. Poetry - Lochinvar
12. Poetry - Lord Ullin's Daughter

5. Classics
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray
2. Lord of the Flies
3. Around The World In 80 Days
4. The Stranger
5. The Great Gatsby
6. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
7. Lochinvar
8. Lord Ullin's Daughter
My aim was 5 classics this year. Have surpassed it. :)

6. Regional Works -translated from other Indian languages
1. Aavarana- S L Bhairappa. Translated into ENglish from Kannada
2. Parva -S L Bhairappa. Translated into ENglish from Kannada

7. Agatha Christie -a chronological journey
I have chosen this website as a basis
http://johnxavierblog.blogspot.in/200...
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
2. The Murder on the Links
3. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

8. Globetrotting:
Mars - starting my trotting in a majestic way The Martian- though its not exactly globe
London - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Nigeria - Purple Hibiscus
Montana, New York The Divide
Chennai, India The Illicit Happiness of Other People
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia American Chick in Saudi Arabia
Texas, Toronto, Montana, USA Lonesome Dove
Essex, England - The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Ashbury, England -The Girl on the Train
Toronto, Canada - Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
Sydney, Australia - Three Wishes
Leningrad, Russia - City of Thieves
Algiers, France - The Stranger
Newzealand - The Luminaries
Calcutta, India The Lives of Others

2015 Read Harder Challenge
YAY.. COMPLETED

Task 1:
A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25 - Purple Hibiscus-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Task 2:
A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65-Stone Mattress: Nine TalesMargaret Atwood

Task 3:
A collection of short stories
Stone Mattress: Nine Tales

Task 4:
A book published by an indie press
The Magpies
Storks in a Blue Sky
Task 5:
A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Pregnant King

Task 6:
A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
A Clash of Kings- George R. R. Martin
The Martian- Andy Weir
Aavarana - S L Bhairappa
The Picture of Dorian Gray-Oscar Wilde
The Strange Library-Haruki Murakami
The Illicit Happiness of Other People-Manu Joseph

Task 7
A book that takes place in Asia
Aavarana - Hampi, Karnataka, India
The Illicit Happiness of Other People - Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Task 8
A book by an author from Africa - Purple Hibiscus

Task 9
A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)
Lonesome Dove - about Indians - Comanchee, Apache, Sioux etc...

Task 10:
A microhistory Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Task 11:
A YA novel
Lord of the Flies

Task 12
A sci-fi novelThe Martian-completed

Task 13:
A romance novel The Great Gatsby

Task 14:
A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade - City of ThievesALA Alex Award 2009 -

Task 15:
A book that is a retelling of a classic story
The Pregnant King - excerpt from The Mahabharatha, the Hindu Epic

Task 16
An audiobookThe Divide

Task 17:
A collection of poetry Lochinvar, Lord Ullin's Daughter
Task18:
A book that someone else has recommended to you-
A Clash of Kings

Task 19:
A book that was originally published in another language
Aavarana-originally published in Kannada
The Strange Library -originally in Japanese

Task 20:
A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind
Death Note, Vol. 1: BoredomDeath Note, Vol. 2: ConfluenceDeath Note, Vol. 3: Hard Run

Task 21:
A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure
Three Wishes

Task 22:
A book published before 1850
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall1848

Task 23:
A book published this year
The Girl on the Train


Task 24:
A self-improvement book The 1-Minute Weight Loss Cheat Sheet - Quick Shortcuts & Tactics for Busy Women- If it can be called so :P

http://bookriot.com/2014/12/15/book-r...

I will edit and update on an as and when basis.

10. Randomiser Challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... SADLY GIVING UP
The Poisonwood Bible
Dune
The Valley of Horses
Paths of Glory
I, Claudius
Feeling Sorry for Celia
Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto
Go Set a Watchman
Malice: A Mystery
In the Unlikely Event

Whoa! That's a lot. But knowing you, I'm pretty sure you'll complete them all :D :P
Best of Luck (y)

Thank you . I am thinking of combining challenges -I. e a single book fulfilling 2-3 criteria

Good luck! A lot of interesting challenges.
But why do you want to force yourself to read genres you don't like?

Wow! That's an interesting list. Good luck with your challenge.

My yearly challenge has always been - Recommendation, and read a certain number of books.
Though at the start of 2014 I had planned to step out of my comfort zone and read a genre I hadn't read before/don't like (romance) .. Looks like it will be on my 2015 list now.

Good luck, and Thanks.. I've got a couple of ideas for my 2015 challenge. :)

Thanks , dely and Janhavi.
dely, I just want to explore the possibilities . If I don't like a book by 25-50 pages, I usually don't force myself , though I give it a couple more chances later on -when I am in a different mindset .

Those are some really interesting challenges!

A fun 2015 reading schedule! :)

@Pooja , yes. Am eagerly waiting to start off .

Hi PSmith -

I came across this really interesting challenge for Classics called "Back to the Classics Challenge" run by Karen at Books and Chocolate.

Maybe you would like to participate? It has 12 different categories, extremely varied and interesting. The only thing to do is to write reviews about the classics you read and also link either your GoodReads Profile or your blog.

Here's the link to the post:

http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogsp...

Thanks . Shall see.

Whoa this is excellent! I think I'll join you in 1, 2, 3, 7 and 11!

Nidhi , sure do so... :)

Innovative Challenges! You are really an inspiration :D
Copying your 1,3,6 :D Thanks

Thank you, Girish
.Please do so :-)

PSmith wrote: "2. Read a recommendation -read any of my friends ' recommendations
1. A Clash of Kings - Anirudh Hegde
2. The Martian- Gordon
3. Purple Hibiscus -Aatish ..."

Anirudh leads the recommendations.;0

I don't recall recommending AA to you.:(

Manju wrote: "PSmith wrote: "2. Read a recommendation -read any of my friends ' recommendations
1. A Clash of Kings - Anirudh Hegde
2. The Martian- Gordon
3. [book:Purple Hibiscus|1..."

Yes, because he persistently reminds if I don't start.. :P

I remember you recommending, was it Anirudh? Its either of you two :)

it must be him. I Usually don't recommend AA.;)

:). I will change it, then...

12. POPSUGAR CHALLENGE - couldn't resist getting my fingers into this pie...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Not sure whether I will be able to finish in 2015. But I would sure love to try my hand at it. I am planning to include all books of 2015, from Jan 1.
A book with more than 500 pages - Lonesome Dove- loved it
★ A book that became a movie - Lord of the Flies- not as good as expected
★ A book published this year. The Girl on the Train - loved it
★ A book with a number in the title - Three Wishes - loved it
★ A book written by someone under 30-Purple Hibiscus- loved it
★ A book with nonhuman characters
★ A funny book
★ A book by a female author - The Murder on the Links
★ A mystery or thriller -Before I Go To Sleep-okayish
★ A book with a one-word title - Parva
★ A book of short stories -Stone Mattress: Nine Tales- liked
★ A book set in a different country -The Poisonwood Bible- loved it
★ A nonfiction book -Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas- semi biography and essays. loving it
★ A popular author's first book
★ A book from an author you love but haven't read yet - End in Tears
★ A book a friend recommended - Assassin's Apprentice
★ A Pulitzer Prize-winning book -Lonesome Dove
★ A book based on a true story - Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir- okayish
★ A book at the bottom of your to-read list
★ A book your mom loves -Sita's Sister- yet to read
★ A book that scares you The Shining
★ A book more than 100 years old - Around The World In 80 Days
★ A book you chose based entirely on its cover - was too good
★ A book you were supposed to ready in school but didn't
★ A memoir -
★ A book you can finish in a day - Lord of the Flies
★ A book with antonyms in the title
★ A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
★ A book that came out the year you were born
★ A book with bad reviews
★ A trilogy -Lord of the Silver BowShield of ThunderFall of Kings
★ A book from you childhood Around the World in Eighty Days
★ A book with a love triangle
★ A book set in the future
★ A book set in high school
★ A book with a color in the title -Purple Hibiscus
★ A book that made you cry - don't remember crying over books
★ A book with magic -Assassin's Apprentice
★ A graphic novel Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom
★ A book by an author you've never read before - The Last Kingdom- good
★ A book you own but have never read -The Pregnant King- good
★ A book that takes place in your hometown - difficult to find something from Manipal
★ A book that was originally written in a different language- Parva
★ A book set during Christmas
★ A book written by an author with your same initials
★ A play
★ A banned book
★ A book based on or turned into a TV show -
★ A book you started but never finished - Infinite Jest
SHALL EDIT ON AN AS AND WHEN BASIS

whoa!! this is a big challenge. good luck Smitha:)

Thanks, Manju. Have given a disclaimer that I may not complete. So not stressed about it. :)

I am also doing the same challenge for 3 different groups! :)

All the best, Srividya :)
I do challenges because they let me explore the literary world . Otherwise I will be stuck in a rut of crime /mystery /contemporary.

Oh my! Good luck with this big challenge!
I'm sure you will complete it!

Thanks, dely :)

Still seeking books for the following challenges
Romance -
Before 1850
self improvement
non human characters
funny
A book with antonyms in the title - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
★ A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
★ A book that came out the year you were born
★ A book with bad reviews
A book with a love triangle
★ A book set in the future
★ A book set in high school - Saving Francesca
A book set during Christmas -Mrs. Miracle
★ A book written by an author with your same initials
★ A play

Smitha wrote: "Still seeking books for the following challenges
Romance -
Before 1850
self improvement
non human characters
funny
popular author's first book
A book with antonyms in the title
★ A book set somew..."

For plays I can suggest Six Characters in Search of an Author.
A book set in a place you want to visit, of course something set in Italy :D

For funny books: The Good Life Elsewhere or How I Became Stupid.

If I will remember other titles I will tell you!

Thanks a lot, dely :)

Smitha wrote: "Still seeking books for the following challenges
Romance -
Before 1850
self improvement
non human characters
funny
popular author's first book
A book with antonyms in the title
★ A book set somew..."

Wow! I'm betting you will complete this before September :D
A few suggestions of books you might enjoy (if you haven't read them already that is)
Non Human characters : Animal Farm
Antonyms in Title : Angels & Demons, War and Peace
Popular Author's first book - Why not Agatha Christie's Murder at Styles?
With your initials - Try Pamela Sargent books (Star Trek and others, though I have not read)

Go Smitha!

Smitha wrote: "Still seeking books for the following challenges
Romance -
Before 1850
self improvement
non human characters
funny
popular author's first book
A book with antonyms in the title
★ A book set somew..."

WOW! Whatte challenge!!

Well for a funny book, maybe you can choose The Martian.
Or you can also choose it for "★ A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit" :D :D :D
In any case, you can always file it under "★ A book set in the future" (You're welcome :P)

Smitha wrote: "★ A play"

The Importance of Being Earnest
(if you haven't read it already, or even if you have!)

Smitha wrote: "★ A book based on or turned into a TV show - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry"

You can also consider The Casual Vacancy for this, as you've already considered Lonesome Dove for a couple of other things.

shoa, have already read Martian ,proud to proclaim -before you did ^.^

Will earnestly consider Earnest.

Smitha wrote: "shoa, have already read Martian ,proud to proclaim -before you did ^.^"

Yes I know! *rolls eyes*
I meant you can add it to your challenge, since you've read it in 2015.

Shall be done :)

Smitha wrote: "Shall be done :)"

(^.^)

Btw, I'm confident you can easily wrap up this challenge in 2015 itself! :D

For books set in christmas there are some Debbie Macomber feel good books like Mrs. Miracle.

Thanks, Shoa and Rebecca