Rajat Arya

Did not get a chance to finish this as the library called it back, but read the majority of the book from February  2009 till March 2009.

Pisani documents her travels and entrance into the world of “sex and drugs” as she puts it to find out about the spread of HIV through the late 1990s.  The story moves quickly and her writing style is enjoyable.  Her perspective is pragmatic and how she writes about “whipping up” the case for HIV to get funding from the rich countries and the difficulties in getting accurate results in developing countries.  There is lots of content mixed in with great stories about the sex habits in Indonesia, Singapore, among other places.

Enjoyable read considering I know nothing about epidemialogy.  Hope to get it again from the library soon and finish it off.

Read more about it and buy it from here. Find out more from Pisani’s site as well: http://www.wisdomofwhores.com.

Listened to this in November 2008 while on the roadtrip from Arlington, VA to Seattle, WA.

This is my first Koontz novel and I think he writes for a different age group.  I realized I am a fan of classic science fiction – Koontz’s type of science fiction/thriller writing is bothersome to me.  I am under the impression his audience is teenage boys or something like that with the one-sided narrative and outlandish themes.

There is little to no science in Koontz’s characters.  The main character being light-phobic is okay, but the overall story was entirely too long (for no good reason).  The last few discs were a chore to complete.

Unless you like Koontz already I would avoid this book, and I am reasonably sure I will avoid Koontz from now on for sci-fi/fiction.

Read more about it and buy it from here.

Read in November 2008 while on Roadtrip to Seattle.  Purchased from used bookstore on University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus.

This is an old story but well written and classic Crichton.  This is his first fictional novel, based in the 1960s (when it was written) and since it is about the controversial topic of abortion Crichton chose to write it under a pseudonym.  The story boils down to a murder mystery about a girl who was getting an illegal abortion in a Boston hospital.  The main character’s job is to find out what really happened and free the doctor who is being setup for the death.  Subtle social commentary as the doctor being setup is Chinese and everyone in the hospital knows he performs abortions on the side.

Well worth the read, read more about it and buy it here.

Listened to this audiobook in November 2008 while on the roadtrip from Arlington, VA to Seattle WA.

This is a fun story by Danielle Steel regarding how an old house is an important part of a 30-something lawyer’s life.  It isn’t as romantic or sappy as I had worried.  The story is quick to listen and has enough fun in it to keep things interesting.  A little cheesy but it is expected for this type of story.

Read more about it and buy it from here.

Read on roadtrip in November 2008.  Purchased from used book store on University of Michigan Bookstore campus.

This book is a giant waste of time.  I didn’t realize it was a book written after a movie was made with the same name.  I thought it was the book the movie was based on – but it isn’t – it is written based on the movie.  So this was a terrible purchase and a joke of a read.

Please avoid it unless you really want to read a book written like a movie – about a movie. Not even worth an image / Amazon link.

Reread from September 2008 – October 2008.

I read this back in March 2003 (see here) – but didn’t really remember the story.  So I thought I would reread it.  On a reread it was a decent story, nothing overwhelming and not quite as good as Palahniuk or Robbins, but good nonetheless.

If you like Palahniuk or Robbins then check this out, otherwise it can be skipped.

Read more about it or buy it from here.

Read from September – October 2008.

This is my second Lewis book, though it is his first.  It is a great story of his first career as a stock broker in the 1980s.  It showcases some of the problems with the profession while talking about some of the merits of it as well.  I enjoyed reading this book since it shares the same writing style as “Moneyball”.  Lewis makes a topic that I am not particularly interested in come alive through the stories he tells of his experience.

This is a fun read, especially since the country is heading into a recession.

Read more about it and buy it from here.

Listened to the audio book in August 2008.  On the way to Rhode Island to attend Adam’s wedding.

This collection of short stories from Lahiri was not at the same quality as “The Namesake”.  Each short story does a great job of developing the characters involved but does not do an equally good job of actually concluding the story.  Many of the stories feel incomplete considering the depth of each character.  Part of this might be my fault since most of the short stories I have read are sci-fi so that is where my expectations are being set from.

If you want to read about Indian/American characters adjusting to various parts of living in the US then this audio book is worth listening to.

Read more and buy it from here.

Read from July 2008 – August 2008.

I followed up “A Fine Balance” with another Mistry novel.  This one does not span several years and keeps the story simply confined to one family.  But Mistry ,covers a lot of ground in describing the struggles within one family.  As their father is withering away the children fight amongst themselves and bring up old memories and old grievances.  The story here also explains the struggles of middle-class Indians trying to do the right thing in Bombay.

This story is worth reading though not as good as “A Fine Balance”.

Read more about it and buy it here.

Read from May 2008 – July 2008.

This is an excellent novel by Mistry – my first of his books.  The characters and description of life in India is so perfectly captured that the book leaves the reader saddened when the story is over.  This is an excellent novel that has multiple story lines interweaving a handful of main characters.

I cannot fully describe the joy and sadness in reading this book.  Each character fully appreciates the balance that exists in India between classes, races, genders, and the environment.  This is a novel that is essential for anyone who wants to read about India’s slums and the resilience of her people.

Read more about it and buy it here.