Indian Readers discussion

I think I am really late for this yet I will update my reading experience through 2021. May be it's more than a year since I am in a group but never participated in any activity partly because Goodreads' UI is confusing (at least to me) and I don't know anyone in this group (but throughout the last year I have noticed some members who very active in this group like Em bedded in books, Makrand)

If anyone looks at my recent activity, he/she will notice that lately I am reading a lot of mythological books and most of them are from Devdutt Pattnaik. I have always wanted to know more about Indian myths and I like Devdutt's work ever since I watched him on a TV show called Devlok with Devdutt Pattnaik. Not going to read more in this genre, five mythological books are enough for this year.

Although I don't read much non-fictions books (I am slow at it), my this year's tbr is full of them. The first one I read this year was One Up On Wall Street. More than 30 years old but still relevant today on how to pick best stocks. One can always learn from the experiences of fellow investors especially if they are market moguls that's why I picked that book.

Hello Satyam,
Glad to see your Reading Progress thread and no, you aren't late to post!

Hope you have a great reading year!

welcome Satyam!
Yes the GR UI does feels strange at times... esp the mobile app. do you use GR via browser or app?

all the best for your challenges!

Devdutt P books are must reads for anyone interested in mythology. immense research!

Thanks Makrand and Gorab for commenting on this thread.

Gorab wrote: "welcome Satyam!
Yes the GR UI does feels strange at times... esp the mobile app. do you use GR via browser or app?

all the best for your challenges!"

I used to use the app version of it but now I have shifted to the web version on my mobile browser as the GR app doesn't inherit a lot of features from the web version.

Welcome Satyam! You aren't late at all!

Currently I am reading two books, So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love and Latitudes of Longing. Both of them were in my TBR for a long time now. There is a youtuber called CGP Grey (you should check out his YT channel ) and he recommended the first one in one of his videos. In this book, the author challenges the age old passion hypothesis i.e. the key to occupational happiness is to first figure out what you're passionate about and then find a job that matches this passion. I have read only 20% but so far, so good. The author has done his research very well.

The second book Latitudes of Longing is BOTM for March in this group and it was also in my TBR. A lot of people recommended this book and now I know why. I am impressed with it so far and there is something unique or magical ( I am unable to find out an adjective which truly communicates what I feel hence, used a generic one) about the writing style of the author. I am no expert on writing styles or anything but still, I feel I like the way Shubhangi Swarup writes, her choice of words, etc. The story is of a couple, Girja Prasad and Shanti Devi taking place on Andaman Islands. The way author tells the story of some characters like Lord Goodenough feels as if they are real people and actually existed in the past. If this is true, then the author must have done her homework pretty well. For some reason this book reminds me of The God of Small Things.

dely wrote: "Welcome Satyam! You aren't late at all!"
Thank you dely.

It has been more than a month since I updated my reading progress here. Actually I was busy with my college project but now it's finished and I have resumed my reading activity.

I am still halfway through Latitudes of Longing. Started reading reading Dune. Picked it up because it is considered one of the best sci-fi fantasy books ever and I wanted to explore the sci fi genre. My first impression is that Dune is like Starwars but much more political.
The first few pages were really tough. It took me some time to understand what is happening here in the story and there are some words and names very difficult to pronounce. It seems to me the names are very much influenced by the Arabic language and the main story is going to take place in a desert planet so I guess it makes sense.

This week, I was more consistent with my reading progress. I am almost half way through Latitudes of Longing (in the second story about Mary and his son Pluto) and Dune is going well. In between, I read two new books. The first one which is (The Monkey's Paw) a horror short story from W.W. Jacobs very good in my opinion and I would reread it at the time of Halloween. The Masque of the Red Death and The Yellow Wallpaper are other two short horror books in my Halloween reading list but I have not read those two yet. On last Tuesday, I read my Hanuman Chalisa because it was Hanuman Jayanti on that day.Devdutt Pattanaik explained all the forty chaupai and three dohas as he understood. It was good.

Completed Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup and Immortal India: Articles and Speeches by Amish by Amish Tripathi.

Immortal India by Amish is a collection of his articles for national newspapers and speeches. One thing which sticks out while reading Amish is, he uses Lord and Lady with Indian mythological characters, e.g. Lord Ram and Lady Sita. It feels out of space to me. It could be because whenever I hear or read titles like Lord or Lady, I think of Game of Thrones or Viceroys of British India. In the end, I got used to it. All in all Immortal India was a decent read.

Coming to the next one, Latitudes of Longing is definitely one of the best reads for this year. The immense research Shubhangi Swarup has done comes forward in a quite beautiful manner or should I say lyrical manner while reading this book. Natural disasters play an important role so does the earth’s geology.



The fault line connects the whole story together in a physical form. The emotional theme would be the feeling of longing, loss etc.

Of course, the tough part with a lyrical book like this, is the slow pace of the story and, a lot of the mental energy is used to understand the metaphors and occasional callbacks. If we divide the book into 3 parts like movies, the 2nd part is where I (my reading speed) slowed down the most.

Good connection with the fault lines there! I got a vague idea while reading it, but didn't visualise it this precisely. thanks.

Gorab wrote: "Good connection with the fault lines there! I got a vague idea while reading it, but didn't visualise it this precisely. thanks."

Thank you for commenting.
I had a pretty vague idea about the faultlines. So I googled about it and the above image was a few searches away. Much like you, I didn't know that the Andaman Islands are connected to the Myanmar.

Alan wrote: "Satyam wrote: "I think I am really late for this yet I will update my reading experience through 2021. May be it's more than a year since I am in a group but never participated in any activity part..."

Thank you for commeting.
Yes, I also use GR for maintaining a record of my reading activities. But through sheer luck I found this Reading Progress thread. I am so glad and thankful to all the moderators that this thread exists.
I also use it as a journal to record what I think about books that I have read.

It is my first time reading Edgar Allan Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is very relevant in these tough times (in a pandemic). This story to me shows the inevitability of the death and futile attempts to avoid it.

I wonder why the westernmost chamber was the black velvet room which boasts an ebony clock against the west wall and red stained panes. Maybe because the sun rises in the east and hence it is the direction associated with life. So west is opposite of it. However, in Indian myths, south is associated with the death (should not be taken literally).
Here is a much more detailed analysis which I liked
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Book 14: The Yellow Wall-Paper
The Yellow Wallpaper was not like the two horror short stories (The Masque of the Red Death and The Monkey's Paw) that I read this year. It's much more muted on the supernatural side but more concerned with mental illnesses, feeling of anxiety and depression. What makes it intriguing to me is, how much this story shares with the actual life of the author. The mental health of the women were not given much importance in the past and to some extent still in the present. The narrator describes how her husband doesn't allow her to write or use a pen (it was thought that the intellectual persuit will make women hysterical) and what she actually needs is freedom instead of resting all day in a closed cubicle which with the passing time feels like being in confinement. The Yellow Wallpaper indicates Charlotte Perkins Gilman's early feminist ideas and foreshadows the later works of her. It is also a response to the "rest cure" of Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell who treated Gilman for nervous prostration in 1887.

Satyam wrote: "It is my first time reading Edgar Allan Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is very relevant in these tough times (in a pandemic). This story to me shows the inevitabili..."

Great review Satyam!
I haven’t read Poe yet but this motivates me to do so !!
Good luck!

Makrand wrote: "Satyam wrote: "It is my first time reading Edgar Allan Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is very relevant in these tough times (in a pandemic). This story to me shows ..."

Thanks Makrand,
Although I have read only one book from Poe, I have heard that most of his work are a little on the dark side i.e. dealing with death and other aspects related to it. I think it's good to read something different once in a while as I read mostly fantasy genere.
And good luck to you too!