Monday, February 3, 2020

Books I read in 2020 #4

Books I read in 2020

Review of Week 4 ending on 29/1/2020


This week saw me reading lesser than the past two weeks.

The Ivory Throne - Chronicles of the House of Travancore – Manu S Pillai

I had heard great reviews of the book from many corners. It was on my wish list for a long time but could manage to find a copy only now. I knew it was going to be a long read because reading non-fiction is always time-consuming for me.  

I have managed to read only about 20% of the book in the past week because of the nature of the topics. I absolutely loved reading the history of Travancore, of which, I must confess, my knowledge is very poor. The book helped me understand the Kerala society of the earlier times better and I hope that by the time I finish the book, I will be better informed.

The author has taken a lot of effort to research and validate his writings and it shows in the writing. As far as I know, I don’t think there are many books on Kerala history with such an in-depth portrayal of people and events. Although it is too early to say, I think all the characters are portrayed as they are and without any favour or opposition.

I have often wondered what would be the state of the world if we lived in a matrilineal society instead of a patriarchal one… I got a glimpse of it while reading about the Ranis and their reign.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies – J K Rowling

It must have been almost twenty years since I read Harry Potter for the first time. Since then, I have re-read the books, seen the movies many times and been fascinated by what I saw and read. I watched some of J K Rowling’s interviews too. In those interviews, she mentioned how she developed each character with their own backstories.

So, it was interesting to read about the other sides of the normally impassive ‘Prof. McGonagall’, Remus ‘Moony’ Lupin, ‘dramatic’ Sybil Trelawney and ‘reckless’ Silvanus Kettleburn.  

Although the Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies was published some time ago, I read it only now. I loved reading this short book and hope to read the remaining books in the series in the days to come.

This certainly was a quick and light read, and it was a welcome change from reading the Ivory throne.


A Dead Man's Shoes: and Other Strange Tales - C.J. Wright

I had downloaded this book on kindle thinking it was a detective story or something like that. Instead, I found it was all spooky stories. It dealt with mind, spirit and all the supernatural stuff.
I can’t say I particularly enjoyed reading them. But as a book that offered an entirely different subject, the book was a welcome change. I haven’t finished it yet though. 

Of the 13 stories, I liked the first, A Dead Man's Shoes and Lay Me Down To Sleep better. The story Love Bite reminded me of Dracula, although there is nothing similar in the content other than the vampire.

I think I have two more stories left in the book, which I might finish at leisure.

So, that’s it for the week. I don’t think I have read as much as I liked. Still, I am happy that I have been able to keep the wheel running… I paid a quick visit to the library and have borrowed two titles by Jeffrey Archer, who is one of my favourite authors. I look forward to reading Head you win in the coming days. The other book, Tell tale is a collection of short stories and I have finished a couple of the stories by now. More on will follow in a detailed review.

So, that’s all folks… I hope you all are reading loads of books and enjoying them. Until next time, keep reading!!!

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