more books

asterix - we all have to read comics once in a while. for me, it's asterix. a little history, a little play on words, great characters and drawings.

sexus - if you get past the sex, really the story of what is true in life.

midnight's children - starting this book is like quitting smoking. i've done it 5 times now. its not a casual bedtime read - need to know indian history to really appreciate it.

parkinson: the law - liked it when i first read thinking it was fiction. loved it later when i found it was well researched.

hitchhikers guide .. - learnt that sci-fi is not my cup of tea. that said, if it were, this would be my favorite.

colour of magic - part fantasy, part fable. reality and fiction weaved together for a surreal read. left me wanting more - never did get around to reading anything else from pratchett.

of paradise and power by kagan - an essay stretched to a book. us is strong, europe is weak. who knew.

poetry of robert frost - new england pathos flows abundant.

1984 - so it didn't happen. read it and the fear that it can will never leave you. big brother is watching.

catch-22 - war's crazy, so what better than a crazy war book. ask major major major major.

cather in the rye - great book on growing pains. we all felt that way once. guess now is probably a good time to go back and reread it.

a suitable boy - 1200 pages of utter trash. some amount of history and sociology, but too much melodrama. your typical boy meets girls love story in rosy english.

the god of small things - the bitch should be shot. writes crap, talks crap - sorry to say she is indian.

lolita - now here's a twisted tale of illicit relationships. there's a little of humbert in all of us. scary thought but true.

the grapes of wrath - a migrants quest for survival. slavery, exploitation, economics, drama. it's all there.

of mice and men - another must read. short, touching, disturbing. the way of the world.

wilt - british slapstick. funny the first time around.

books

piled up my book collection to weed out some stuff - back of my mind i'm thinking wtf am i going to do with all these when i go to school.

i've become a lot more picky about what books i buy now. back in bombay, every weekend we'd be on book street (me and a very close friend both loved to read). used books (and i admit,the occasional knock off) cost less than a buck each - we bought tons. i read so many that i hardly remember much from any one now.

reading all the BW boards, it's funny how different my reading choices are - everybody wants to read cheesy management books and i want, well, you'll see...

surely you're joking mr. feynman - amazing guy. the best kind of crazy. everybody should read once.

the old man and mr. smith - laugh out loud funny. god and the devil come to earth to check out how things are going. witty and insightful inside, funny on the outside.

the great game - afghanistan has been war country for centuries - read up on the history, albeit from a we're brits we're holier than thou perspective.

how to lie with statistics - somebody actually wrote down what you always suspected about those scheming statisticians.

yes minister/yes prime minister - brit humor and political memoir. read it and get over your naivete.

the innocence of father brown - amazing mystery short stories. ok, so many have predictable endings but still more enjoyable than chritie.

an enemy of the people - idealism vs. pragmatism - guess which wins.

the name of the rose - thriller with subplot. somebody translate the damn latin.

may it please your honour - read both sides of gandhi's assassination before judging the assassin.

animal farm - the truest fable ever written.

economics in one lesson - most economic sense anything has ever made. should be compulsory reading for everybody.

rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead - remember r&g from hamlet? now they star in a book entirely unlike the original - and yet based on its events. what,after all, is choice?

the fountainhead - great outlet for angst in years past. be like us or die. no shades of gray here - and no empathy.

the prophet - great for when you're really down, very corny in normal circumstances.

good stuff - cynical view of the writing of a novel. devastatingly funny.

that's the first pile. another pile for another day.

funny how some things make sense from a distance. can't see the mountain when you're on it and all ...

as for the recurring theme of what to do before bschool - i know what i'm going to do - ROAD TRIP!

gonna take a month off and drive coast to coast visiting every friend i have. probably not going to keep in touch as much once school starts. plus i love to drive. flying sucks - unless of course you are in the cockpit. till that happens, the open roads beckon.