Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

A very poignant novel about a student and a professor, and an unofficial last thesis about Life. A very simple, nice and short read, filled with many aphorisms. A true story of 14 Tuesdays in 1995.

The Small Bachelor by P G Wodehouse

A corker of a novel. Apparently a novel that even the author is fond of too, mainly because of the way he finished most of the novel in one sitting. Wodehouse has it all in this intricate plot - a necklace, a thief, a cop, a commanding man, a few petites, a commanding woman and the works. It is as good as it ever gets in any good Wodehouse novel. At times, the plot gets so thick that it is difficult to follow what is happening at a given point of time, especially due to so many characters being at so many different places. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Head of Kay's by P G Wodehouse

This novel seems to have been written by Wodehouse very early in his author-hood. There is hardly any humor and in some remote places, there is forced humor which does not give any laughter. It is just a collection of events that occur in the school house. It is more like a diary from a student in one of the British schools. Can easily be avoided.

Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado

When I was searching for true stories, I came across the novel 'Alive' which informed about a flight crash in Andes mountains and how some of them survived the rough ordeal. However this book was not available in the library and instead I found this book 'Miracle in the Andes' written by a survivor Nando Parrado himself. This added more emotion to the novel, coming directly from the "horse's mouth", so to speak. The last time I had read about a plane crash in an extremely cold environment was in Alistair MacLean's Night Without End - about 2 decades ago. But unlike the novel, this was real stuff and it was extremely mind-chilling. Nando's narration is superb and fluid. He easily explains the pre, during and post tales of the crash. His explanation of the cold and the vertical climb of the snow-covered wall-like mountain with bare hands and no protection is awe-inspiring. One wonders 'Is it even possible?' His narration of how close he was to death and how forcefully the huge void of the slope behind him beckoned him to nothingness is beautifully detailed. One can fathom Nando's character just by reading this novel. He has also written pages and pages about each character in the flight. I am surprised how unaware I was of this incident. Apparently this was a sensational news in 1972 when the survivors of the crash were rescued. A definite must-read. However I am not sure now if I have to read Alive now or not, which is apparently more detailed.

102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers By Kevin Flynn, Jim Dwyer

A minute-by-minute description of 9/11 spanning across 300 odd pages. The 102 minutes is the duration of time between when the first tower was hit and when the last tower fell. There are many things to know about what happened in that short span of time and there are many things that fascinate the reader - like how many had that day as the last working day, how many got into the elevator at the nick of time and were saved, how people had got down and were advised to go back to office only to see the oncoming second flight and thereby death, how some of them were so lucky and determined to live, how ironically people who volunteered to rescue died while the rescued escaped their own deaths, etc. Some of the stories are extremely moving and inspiring. Although a must-read book, it lacked some of the punch which a book with a story like this can deliver.

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

A 1970s novel about mind control. A very predictable storyline, especially because the names given to each part in the novel give out much of what comes next. Still, it is a very good narrative considering how the author delves on intricacies of the medical profession as well as gives intricate details on surgical procedures. There is a powerful piece about education and mind control that I liked very much - it made me remember the same author's Airframe about how car accidents cause more deaths than air accidents.

Three Men and a Maid By P G Wodehouse

A corker of a novel. It has got the full humor effect of Wodehouse by way of sea-side romance, attempted kidnap to woo the girl, couple of break-ups, added misunderstandings again to woo the girl, etc.. Only thing I did not like was the ending since it seemed too forceful. 

Noting down one of the best sentences in this novel:

Bream Mortimer was tall and thin. He had small, bright eyes and a sharply curving nose. He looked much more like a parrot than most parrots do. It gave strangers a momentary shock of surprise when they saw Bream Mortimer in restaurants eating roast beef. They had the feeling that he would have preferred sun-flower seeds.

LOL!!

Wednesdays Are Pretty Normal by Michael Kelley

A true story about a father narrating his two-year-old's cancer story. But considering father [author] is also a priest, the whole novel is like a pravachana - a gospel - like a Sunday Church seminar on Bible. There are many stories from Bible told in the novel which gives value if you are a Christian reader. As such the story itself moves slowly and is very poignant but the novel has more emphasis on Bible and religious faith. 

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Felt like reading pure fiction, after a long time. So, searched for a Booker prize winner (had liked 1997 winner God of Small Things and 2002 winner Life of Pi tremendously) and came across this 2012 winner. 

It started off well, then in one single page, it moved about 5 decades! Then, it got boring but always had some punchline statements. Julian has portrayed old age really well, with its associated thoughts and memories. Then, just as the novel came to an end, it picked up momentum and finally ended on the last page with a thrilling effect that made me re-read the novel once more!! Definitely deserved the award! Good narration, good story, good language, good characterization.

The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner & Quincy Troupe

After having seen the movie, I was keen on reading the novel. As it turned out, the novel is very different compared to the movie. The movie could be just 30% of the novel. The story of what Chris Gardner’s mother has gone through is mind-blowing. The story of his life alone is stunning. Sometimes it seems he screwed up big time and hence he struggled so much to get to where he is. Other times, it seems like this is more of a pursuit of money and wealth, starting from the very first scene in which he wants the Ferrari badly. Either way, it is a riveting biography. A very good read.

The Prince and Betty by P G Wodehouse

A very different Wodehouse novel. It seemed more like a Hardy Boys book since there were many scenes of adventure and literal street fighting and gun-wielding gangs. And then there were typical Wodehousian romance scenes and wonderful English speaking characters. And the story is long and winding and complicated – across Europe and US. Just goes to show how skilled Wodehouse was – he could write any action story, any sports story (there are scenes of boxing rounds intricately explained), any romance story and any comic story. Worth a read, for the sake of uniqueness in Wodehouse spectrum.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

There are books in which every single sentence is important and is somehow related to the overall plot of the book, like in Agatha Christie's novels, Alistair MacLean's novels. And there are novels like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which many sentences are neither important nor related, and is as unrelated as it could ever be. It is just - as somebody has rightly reviewed - whimsical insanity. A total timepass read. Not hilarious but definitely comic. If Wodehouse had come across Douglas, he would have said 'Just goes to show that it makes all kinds of people to make this world'.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

I remember my college mate talking about this book way back in 2000. I remember his making a comment on how a home can be a liability instead of an asset. I was not sure if I wanted to read this book. But when I came across this book in the library, I thought why not.
But very soon I realized that it is a book not to be borrowed and read from the library. It is a book meant to be bought. It has may wise gems which needs constant reading and referring - like Dialogues with the Guru and Autobiography of a yogi. It is not a great book (there are many sentences which keep repeating and it kinda becomes monotonous at times, but it is not boring), but definitely a book that needs reading, and a book that honestly inspires you to become rich.
Sometimes, when I read the book, I felt I was already following what the author wants the reader to do to become rich, sometimes I felt I was like the author's educated (poor) dad.
There are lots of things to learn in this book, and lots of things that make you think and re-think.
Definitely, a must-read.

Indiscretions of Archie by P G Wodehouse

My first Wodehouse novel read on a mobile phone. Not a very comfortable feeling, but anything to read a Wodehouse novel if I can't get hold of it on the book format. Coming to the novel itself, it is a different kind of a novel - a blend of both short stories and a novel clubbed into one. In the sense, the entire novel is categorized into short stories (read bloomers) of Archie while the novel itself revolves around Archie's relationships with his wife, father-in-law, friends, etc. A top-notch in Wodehouse class with a supreme touch of English and humor. A definite must-read.

The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

This book contains all strips from The Revenge of the Baby-Sat and Scientific Progress Goes "Boink". Notable are the stories in which Calvin tries to finish his homework and instead grows bigger and bigger & his scientific device going Boink!! A hilarious read!
Unfortunately for me, though, this is my final C&H book...there is no other C&H novel left for me to read.
:-(

Calvin and Hobbes Sunday Pages 1985 - 1995 by Bill Watterson

This is a must-read for all C&H fans. This has about 50 odd pages. The left side pages are some of the actual drawings which Bill Watterson drew and the right side pages are the same drawings in color [color chosen by Bill himself] that got published on the Sunday pages between 1985 and 1995. It also has a preview by Bill and each page has Bill's thoughts on the strip and the different challenges he had to surmount. In most cases, his challenges were drawing the strip in a panel that fit into books and papers - so that even if some of the panels were thrown away, the essence of the strip remained. This shows the ingenuity of Bill Watterson - not only is the comic strip great in conversation, humor and drawings but also in behind-the-scenes work like panel design and color combinations. Even though I had read many strips before, reading it again with Bill's thoughts penned gave it a different thought dimension and further impressed me. This also has C&H last strip drawn by Bill on 12/31/1995.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

A book named Calvin and Hobbes on Calvin and Hobbes! As always, very entertaining & refreshing.