Bookie....

A very close friend wants me to answer these questions....so here I go.



1) What author do you own the most books by?
Judith Mcnaught and Hardy Boys.


2) What book do you own the most copies of?
Gone with the Wind, 2 of them, both gifts from friends.



3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
As long as they are not propositions of any kind, it's fine by me!


4) What book have you read the most times in your life?
I have read quite a few.
Pride and Prejudice has been an all time favourite. Pillars of the Earth is another one I have read several times.


5) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Shadow the Sheepdog by Enid Blyton



6) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chavalier. The protagonist Ella is so whiny, selfish and vapid that I lost steam 1/3 rd into the book. It would have been so much better if the author had focused on Isabelle instead, rather than trying to contrive a connection between the two women born centuries apart. To make it worse, the connection at the end seemed pretty pointless. Some parts were extremely touching, others so far fetched and ridiculous that I ended up rolling my eyes and snorting in disgust. The ending was the last straw.


7) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.


8.) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.


9) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
Dear me! I have to now start on the translated works as English writers seldom get a Nobel Prize.


10) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

Not a Penny More and Not a Penny less - a wonderful feel good book which will make for a brilliant comedy if executed properly.


11) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
A Thousand splendid Suns - some stories are best left alone in their original form.


12) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
The Bourne Legacy by Eric van Lustbader. Someone wanted the Bourne legacy to be continued after Ludlum's death, so they found Lustbader. Lustbader decided to ruin Jason Bourne beyond redemption once and for all so that he would never ever be called to write about Bourne again. Nauseating two dimentional caricature of the once very human, multi dimensional and beleivable Jason Bourne and a crappy story. A must miss.



13) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Mila 18 - it's heartbreaking.


14) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.



15) Austen or Eliot?
Jane Austen anyday


16) What is your favorite novel?
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand


17) Play?
The Winslow Boy by Terrance Rattigan, Tugluq by Girish Karnad.


18) Short story?
The face on the wall by E.V. Lucas, Parson's pleasure by Roald Dahl



19) Work of non-fiction?

Anne frank - Diary of a young girl


20) Who is your favourite writer?
I cannot name just one person. There are several who come to my mind - M.M Kaye, Ayn Rand, Khalid Hosseini has just joined the list, Ken Follet, Elizabeth Chadwick, Eric Segal, Leon Uris in historical fiction, William Dehl, Sydney Sheldon, Jeffery Archer, Ken Follet, Robert Ludlum in Thrillers, Judith Mcnaught, Lisa Kleypass, Brenda Joyce in historical romance, Susan Elizabeth Phillips in contemporary romance etc etc. Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charolette Bronte, Mark twain, and of course Shakespeare.....the list is endless!

Super Student indeed

Friday, son came back with Super Student of the Month award and he got to lunch exclusively with the principal. His parents, obviously were thrilled to bits. Though, till now, don't really know what he exactly achieved to get that award......to us, he never ever studies, always busy with his legos, psp or Discovery.

This Saturday went in a rush of shopping haze. I haven't shopped for an Indian get up in years. Some sarees and kurtis here and there sufficed. A party invitation sent me to some exclusive Indian garment shops in Artesia. While browsing through some salwar selections, came across this beautiful lehenga - deep pink and black. Felt like a bride wearing it. Bought it - the whole exercise of choosing, trying, getting it fit, matching jewellery etc etc was more thrilling than the party itself, which incidentally was a dead bore. Loads of people, free drinks, and lots of noise. Sushi was the only interesting part in the whole affair. And my outfit :)

An Era gone by

I have never blogged. I have been following some, astounded at the flow of expressions that flow from the heart of so many. Giving away so much, yet so little. I have never chronicled my days of my life either. I wish I had - the pages would have been easy to flip and then colour them anew. Now all that remains are memories - of shared innocence, of jubliant triumphs that meant so much at that moment of time, of agonising pain of childhood dissapointments, of relief that some tasks are over. Ah! Innocence, of pretend playing, of missed opportunities, best friends and mortal enemies - all have now blended into a one whole picture getting hazy over time. Reasons do not mean so much any more, laughs over those eventful days more precious. Some life changing decisions taken in a split of a second, the magnitude of the moment not registering for so long.

An era gone by.