What have I been reading - IV

And the last post summarizing all the individual books I read through 2017. Another book love post will follow soon.My daughter's mum by Natasha Badhwar: I <3 Natasha Badhwar. To say that I had read this book before I even read this book, would be accurate. This is a compilation of Natasha's weekly Mint column on parenting. I had stumbled across her blog via twitter 5 years ago and then had also started reading her columns regularly. Her words and personal stories were the magic that my life needed at that point. And to this day her stories keep nourishing me. This book is a wonder as it elevates those columns with more personal touches like her children's handwritten notes and drawings. They are dispersed throughout the book. Also, I am not a parent, but I have started understanding my parents after reading her columns. It's as if it was always out there, but Natasha made it clear to me. And to that, I owe her not enough words.The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu: The 2nd book in the 'Remembrance of the Earth's past' series. I found it extremely difficult to read and stay focused throughout. First of all the Chinese character names were too confusing and tough to remember. So I would go back every few pages and try to figure out who or what the character is. Despite this book being lighter on the physics and heavier on philosophy, made it a tedious read for me. I was completely lost for the first 200 pages. The story moves ahead by leaps (in terms of earth years) in this book and the wallfacer project is devised to fight the trisolarans. After a lot of meandering things finally unravel and happen. I know these books are much revered among the sci-fi readers, so don't mind my blah plot description.Chronicle of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I had only heard high praise for GGMs short stories. So when I found this book during one of my library visits, I promptly picked it up. I loved it! GGMs distinctive storytelling and transporting one to the place and era of the book is evident from the first word. I now want Vishal Bharadwaj to make a movie out of this book.Smoke and mirrors by Neil Gaiman: I <3 Neil Gaiman. If you have read anything by him, its difficult to not love his weird, clever self. Heard about this book on a podcast and immediately loaned it during next library visit. I kid you not, but I spent 3 days reading the 30-page long introduction, where Neil talks about the story behind each of the stories in the book. The story behind the story! And then I picked random stories whose backstories I found interesting and started reading the book. This is extremely difficult for me to do. Imagine not reading something in order but reading it on whim! Few stories were a page long, others lasted for pages. But the writing in each of them is trademark Gaiman. It's a great primer for someone wanting to write or interested in the process of writing.Uprooted by Naomi Novik: I did not read or open a single new book in November. There was too much happening and I took a break. Unknowingly. With the year ending approaching and the pressure to read good books, I picked up this book at the dawn of December. Had borrowed it from a friend 3 months ago, but never really started reading it! And Oh boy, what a treat! The magicians, the witches, corrupted woods and the rich Polish folktales and culture colored this fantastic book. I got sucked into the world in the first 3 pages. I even started predicting character arcs and whooped with joy when they finally fell together. And that's the great thing about young adult fantasy fiction, it weaves rich, complex worlds with equally fascinating characters. I would have loved to know more about Sarkan and his story though. Anywho, they say that you pick few books and read them and make a deep connection when you need to (replace books with anything). Something like that happened to me with this book. I loved loved loved it!Do log by Gulzar: I bought this book as a gift for a friend, but due to some reasons it reached me way later than anticipated. So when it was finally in my hands, I read it cover to cover. In few hours. This is Gulzar's first full-fledged novel in his writing career. He is 80. It ticks all the Gulzar-ness boxes in terms of story, narration, rawness, language. It read to me as a movie story/screenplay from time to time. I also got transported to the era very easily and started living the lives of people in partition torn areas. If you are a Gulzar lover, then this would definitely appeal to you.Death's end by Cixin Liu: The last book in the 'Remembrance of the Earth's past' series. I was dreading opening this book. But caved into my OCD of finishing a book series and finding out what happens next. Again a really tedious read. I'll not reveal anything else (as I am clearly bad at it). Pick it up if this suits your palate.