Your Favourite Book

1) Geeta -Tilak

2) The da vinci code - Dan Brown

3) A secular Agenda- Arun Shourie

The list goes long and even includes comic books!  What topic are we looking at!! ?? !!

2) I have read this book and a great admirer of Dan Brown.

Option 1) and 2) will sure read.

Ya comic books are all time favorite especially Tinkle. :)

Thanks for sharing such good books with us.  :)

Sorry option 1) and 3) will sure read.

Dan Brown seems like a universal favourite here...incidentally, what kind of comics do you like?? 

Controversy made him (dan brown) the big, the hot star!! 

@ Sakhi- I kinda like every comic book! From English classics of Batman, Spiderman to Hindi Super heroes Nagraaj, Super Comaando Dhruva!

And yes, not to forget Calvin and Hobbes!!!

@ Naveen- Controversy played its part but it was also due to crisp plots, fluid narration and a new element of sybology weaven seamlessly into his bookS!

I love calvin and hobbes...best pair ever...do you read any asterix or tintin?? How about archies?? 

@ sakhi: I love calvin n Hobbes! I can read it like a hundred times over and still not have enough! Loved Archies when I was in school.. grew out of it though... it has also become less interesting somehow.. Asterix and Tintin I was never attracted to i don't know why... Never read more than 3 or 4...

@ Sakhi- Yes!!! Archies, Tintin, Astrix.. I can read them at any given time!!!

U look like a big comic buff urself!!!

@Aldeena: I recently started re-reading asterix because my school library acquired a whole collection (before this I was reading Asterix at the age of around 12 I think) and I saw a lot of stuff that was very interesting that I'd missed before. Subtle details. :) But I agree, I also do not find Archies as interesting anymore. 

@Himanshu: Haha, our tastes seem to match. But I wouldn't call myself a comic-book buff...I just tend to read anything I can get my hands on. :) 

The Argumentative Indian : Amartaya Sen (Highly Recommended)

Thanks for recommendation. :)

yeah Abhishek,I liked it too and also "Identity and Violence'

Not the biggest of readers, loved Dan Brown books, esp Angels & Demons. Reading The Lost Symbols now.

Loved the books of Chetan Bhagat, he has made writing/narrating a simple thing! Would recommend his books to all who haven't read him :)

Been a big fan of Sidney Sheldon's books, novel for long time, fav - If tomorrow Comes. 

Osho has some nice spiritual ones & The Tao of Physics is a gr8 book for those who love sciences ( esp Physics) and have an interest in Indian and more commonly Asian mystical beliefs!

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Rai is a great one!! Haven't finished it though, explains things to tiniest of details!

Navin - I like Sheldon a lot too. :) His characters are very interesting and his plots are quite ingenious. 

Yeah, I loved Angels & Demons too...

And The Lost Symbol!!! No comparisons! The best book ever written! (Angels & Demons is the 2nd best book ever written) ;)

@Naveen - I started reading The God of Small Things too (it was quite a while ago)... Never finished it... Was kinda boring.

@Anik: Wow. Strange choice. So many people would go with that in the opposite order, ie Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and then Lost Symbol. :) 

@Sakhi - Don't know... Most people I have asked say that Angels & Demons is the best. Da Vinci Code is a very good book as well, but not his best... 

Da Vinci Code is defenitely a good book, but not as good as compared to these two, Da Vinci got all its hype from a controversy! And many people have read just that, and just because of the controversy that surrounds it!

Anik, yeah, The God of Small things is kinda boring at times, i mean the story is kinda boring, honestly,  but her description of things are awesome, may be i love it, because it describes something like my hometown!

Anik: I have heard that the story of Lost Symbol is not so good...too clunky overall...not well edited. And personally I found Angels and Demons too fantastic and nutty. I preferred Da Vinci Code. 

Naveen: I agree. I also read the book thanks to the controversy around it. It definitely contributed to its success. 

It seems Dan Brown and Chetan Bhagat are everyone's favourite. :)

Seriously hard to name one, but probably the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin: http://inmybookshelves.blogspot.com/2010/05/song-of-ice-and-fire-george-rr-martin.html

Your blog looks nice, will be reading a couple of reviews soon! Keep up the good work!

Thanks a lot Naveen...I would recommend starting with some books that I've reviewed that you've read (like Bhagat) to get a hang of what kind of books I like and how much you agree with me... :) 

Thanks for sharing about good books. :) I will read them as soon as I will get the time. :)

Kamasutra!  

I'vent read the book, only videos

Hahaha! Where can I get that?!

U mean the video? ;)

@manav you are under aged for such books! Grow up first!

lame

Abhi, be GAME, not LAME

@Addy: You seem to be so addicted to books that you try seeking everything in them. It's high time you get practical..

expected this to be ur ans!

@Addy

@Abhishek I am LAME! So isn't it obvious............

@Gouri LOL!

@Aldeena hehehehehehe

facts" written by Chanakya for enlightenment, under his gotra name. caused a furor at kashi.

I really like your braveness to post it. It's an irony that most men think of sex at their best.and have kept it out of heaven. 

I have not read many books.. I love philosophy.. so my choices are as below

1. By the river piedra, I sat down and wept

2. The Alchemist

Have you read Coelho's "As the river flows"? 

Its quite an inspirational book. 

yea.. As the River Flows was excellent.. However Coelho too is losing his touch in the attempt to sell to the masses sadly.. His books have lost that soul they contained.. I always loved Coelho's works..it's really sad..

Mm...which book are you referring to Aldeena? I haven't read too much Coelho, only The Alchemist and this book... 

@ Sakhi: I did not think "the winner stands alone" was as good as his previous works.. till date my fav Coelho book has been 'Veronika Decides To Die'... It is such a fascinating composition about the thin line between reality and madness and constructed reality..awesome read!

Read God Father by Mario Puzo first! everything next. :P 

Dan brown stuff everything is worth a read.

I love the Godfather. :) 

I haven't read Godfather yet... But read 'Omerta'. Was very good! 

Have you guys read Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner!

To me, that's the best book I've read so far.

True.. brought tears to my eyes..even the movie was quite good... If you haven't read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' then you should! Its deeper somehow.. or maybe it's ust me, the book hit me deeper perhaps...

*just

Like the flowing river, by Paulo CoelhoCoelho is full of ceaseless wonder, things that hit close to the soul and profound bullshit. Second only to...

Ignited Minds - A life spent aiming missiles at ex girlfriends, by Dr. Abdul Kalam.

What I can't understand however, is how people can read Russian literature (or books of a similar nature). All they do is talk. And ride around in sledges. No wonder the USSR broke up.

1) The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger

2) A thousand splendid suns - Khaled Hosseini

3) Harry Potter sesries - J. K. Rowling

4) The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

5) The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Aha, someone finally mentioned Harry Potter. 

+1 :) 

Chetan bhagat does writes in a manner that entices a person and dan brown weaves a plot that leave a person bambazooled but does anyone knows here about the new age thinkers. The great robindranath tagore? Amartya sen? schopenhauer? kafka? neitzsche? Bankim chandra chaterjee?

Chetan bhagat tells that his writing can change the world but has he written any thing without baiting his reader into the maze of humour that includes stoops to the lowest degree? Has he ever written something that you don't know? Something that springs you into action? I am not motivated to criticize him.

I am here to assert that we need a person who pin points our society's flaws and saves it from further dilapidation. Someone like Rousseau and volataire who automated people into revolution. We Indians have been part of great civilization of whose limits we don't know have even an idea about. We need to preserve it. We need to write about it.

Abhishek: Not everyone writes to change the world, in the same way that not everyone reads for the same purpose. Entertainment too has a role to play in our strange world, and I think that if Chetan Bhagat, or Dan Brown (or Stephenie Meyer, for that matter) can do it then its alright to like it. I don't think a 'favourite book' is something that depends so much on 'why' a particular person reads...

I know you were just expressing your opinion, and I'm just expressing mine too. No offence meant. 

Incidentally, have you read any Aravind Adiga? 

@Abhishek - I would like to disagree with you. We can't have people pointing out societies flaws. It will vary from person to person. What might appear a flaw to one person, might be someone else's asset. 

@Sakhi - I have read The White Tiger. A completely pointless book. And that protagonist - Balram Halwai - is so not likable... It is the worst book I have ever read.

@Anik: I don't quite agree. I found White Tiger depressing but rather relevant, actually. But I've heard a lot of dissenting opinions on this one...according to me difference of opinions between people means that the book is worth reading. :) If everyone likes it/hates it - its sure to be flat and boring. 

So, lets agree to disagree. 

My intention here is not to manipulate my thoughts on anyone. But to put my opinion. Honest opinion.

1. The Ramayana

2. Freakonomics

3. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

4. Sherlock Holmes Series

5. The Alchemist

SHSF is really good... How did I forget to mention it?

People, add Stay Hungry Stay Foolish to my list too.

Freakonomics is nice too...a very different book about Economics. 

Incidentally, have you read the, "Undercover Economist," by Tim Harford? 

@Sakhi: I was sure that I would find you around on this thread!

Lol, yes. :) 

But you forgot to list your favourite books... 

will do it now... so many to choose from... have to cut back to a limited number:

My favs, in no particular order;

1) 2 states

2) The goal

3) LOTR series

4) HP series

5) The firm

6) False Impressions

7) All around the town

8) Septimus heap series

9) PG Wodehouse books

10) Dilbert!!!!!!!!!

ashish.... u missed ur friend prashant...*bad*

PG Wodehouse is officially the king of humor. I've seriously never read a book that made me laugh in the way his have. :) 

Incidentally, who is 'The Firm' by? Seems interesting. 

@Mag: And you the reason why... it is a thread for books that I loved and/or would recommen other to read... that book falls in neither

@Sakhi: Yah I love PGW as well... 'The Firm' is a book by John Grisham; the first that I read from the author and it had me totally hooked!

but that was an awesome novel.... and i recommend to all who love to b crazy in life

'A Thousand Splendid Suns', 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull', 'Veronica Decides to Die', The Psmith series by Wodehouse, 'Atlas Shrugged', 'Letters to Sam' would be among the books that left the most lasting impression on me... But favourites toh are so many! Nice thread though..

All time favs however would be Calvin n Hobbes and Peanuts! These I can never have enough of!

oops..typo- *'Veronika Decides to Die'

Only thing that I have heard of from the above list is Calvin n Hobbes and Peanuts! My favorite too!

@Addy: haha! yea.. Calvin n Hobbes n Peanuts are like evergreen classics as far as I am concerned! It's like Star Wars for Ted1 A rainy day and I'm stuck in my room i curl up with my calvin and Hobbes, crowded metro, nothing to do, I am lost in calvin and Hobbes, boring class atennded for attendance, I sit in the backseat with my Calvin and Hobbes.. you get the picture! ;)

My favorite books are...

Not a penny more not a penny less by Jeffrey Archer

Da vinci code, angels and demons, Lost symbol by Dan brown

5 point someone by Chetan Bhagat

Jonathon livingston seagull and many many more...

I love Archer too. :) And Not a penny more, not a penny less was one of his nicest books, though my personal Archer favourite has to be the Prodigal Daughter. Have you read that one? 

No Sakhi... I havent read that one!!

But one more book came to my mind..

The great train robbery by michael crichton...it is a fantastic book!!!

Also read short stories by Premchand...they are great

I like premchand a lot...haven't read much by him, only the stuff we did in school, but he was definitely miles ahead of most of the others we did. :) 

Same with me... Only read the stuff in school books. Didn't like them that much.

I liked 'As the crow flies' a lot, and 'da vinci' and 'angels and demons' from Dan Brown... 'Lost Symbol' was such a put downer!

@Aashish:

yes @Ankit... you may not believe me but I do think that 'Lost Symbol' was not upto the level set by 'Da-vinci' and 'Angels...'

I love Jonathan Livingston seagull!!! It's like one of the awesomest books ever!!! :)

Sorry to be a devils advocate here... does this have any connection to blogging?

Well, it is in General and Off Topic... so its...well...off topic? 

@Mohan : -1

Blogs we read and Books we read

We read (Blogs and Books)

we read the connection!

well to some bloggers it is indeed related to blogging as they solely blog on books like @Sakhi... I also do some book reviews on and off!

@Aashish: Haha, I've been taking tips about the kind of books people read and therefore might like to see reviews of. :) 

books enhance our imagination supplement and enrich our blogs.  

I am not much into reading books. Luckily, whatever I got to read in college were interesting enough:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Financial Expert by RK Narayan

Also I love these hindi novels I read in my childhood:

Lash Kahan Chupaun by Ved Prakash Sharma

Kanoon Mere Peeche by Ved Prakash Sharma (sequel of the above)

What did you like about Pride and Prejudice in particular?...just wondering

Young girls running after the military guys..

@ Gouri: Hehehehe!

@ Sherry: Will Darcy!

I read many books during college, still read some. Liked most of them but to name a few or what i remember now....

> kite runner- khaled Hosseini

> Love Story - Erich Segal

> P.S. I Love you - Cecelia Ahern's 

> Five point someone - Chetan bhagat

> grahdah - Sharathchand

> Nirmala - Munshi lal Premchand

> Godan - Munshi lal Premchand

and many I don't remember now....

it is like u climbed a mountain....

I am not really a book person.  Don't really enjoy reading other people's stories, I like mine better!

But recently, I read Veronica Decides to Die, The Alchemist and Eat Pray Love ( by Elizabeth Girlbert) and loved all these books, especially the last one.

RESTLESS

+1 for first para... @RESTLESS