Top 10 books that I have read in 2018.
Hello everyone! 2018 is almost over. This year, I had set my Goodreads goal to read 50 books. And I successfully surpassed the number. I have managed to read 65 books this year! I am super happy and excited.😃 I plan to read a lot more in 2019. Let's see how much I can read.
Out of the 65 books that I read in 2018, I have put down below my top ten books. I absolutely loved these books. The list below is not arranged in any particular order. All these are in my list of favourite books.
Without any further ado, let's begin the list.
1. When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
Blurb: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. W hen Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking w hat makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon w orking in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? W hat do you do when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your ow n life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Blurb: Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvellous fusion into the unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and in no other place. But he will live as a character, we surmise, as long as the memory of any reader lasts.
It is the story of this Jay Gatsby who came so mysteriously to West Egg, of his sumptuous entertainments, and of his love for Daisy Buchanan – a story that ranges from pure lyrical beauty to sheer brutal realism, and is infused with a sense of the strangeness of human circumstance in a heedless universe.
It is a magical, living book, blended of irony, romance, and mysticism.
5. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
Blurb: Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.
A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.
6. Aqson Level 1 by Sreejib.
Blurb: "Slowly, she sauntered towards Toya, stopped a few feet away, looked into Toya's eyes, and roared. It was an ear-splitting, feet-numbing, rib-shaking roar that promised death. This was the end of her, Toya knew. This was how she would die. In this unknown museum at the hands of this Olympian lioness, and, she would never be found again."
When it became impossible to choose between God and Satan, angels decided to play games. Games that would help them pick the guardian angel of this world. Every warrior angel got divided into two teams, Team God and Team Lucifer.
Strict rules were implemented, an unusual map was designed and a council was set up to administer these games. Satan has commenced one such game called Aqson and set the Indian Prime Minister's position as the goal of this game.
Now, a completely unknown species will collide with humans to play a game where losing is not figurative. Angels will stoop to enter the grunge of Indian politics.
A grey-eyed lioness will stop at nothing. And, a group of young boys and girls will be forced to rise above their identity to play and win Level 1 of Aqson.
Pick a side, because the game has begun.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
7. Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
Blurb: A beautiful, powerful new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of Sister of My Heart and The Mistress of Spices about three generations of mothers and daughters who must discover their greatest source of strength in one another—a masterful, brilliant tale of a family both united and torn apart by ambition and love.
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family’s situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover—but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak, and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of voices.
8. Small Acts of Freedom by Gurmehar Kaur.
Blurb: In February 2017, Gurmehar Kaur, a nineteen-year-old student, joined a peaceful campaign after violent clashes at a Delhi University college. As part of the campaign, Kaur's post made her the target of an onslaught of social media vitriol. Kaur, the daughter of a Kargil martyr, suddenly became a focal point of a nationalism debate. Facing a trial by social media, Kaur almost retreated into herself. But she was never brought up to be silenced. ‘Real bullets killed my father. Your hate bullets are deepening my resolve,’ she wrote then. Today, Kaur is doubly determined not to be silent. Small Acts of Freedom is her story. This is the story of three generations of strong, passionate single women in one family, women who have faced the world on their own terms. With an unusual narrative structure that crisscrosses elegantly between past and present, spanning seventy years from 1947 to 2017, Small Acts of Freedom is about courage. It’s about resilience, strength and love. From her grandmother who came to India from Lahore after Partition to the whirlwind romance between her parents, from her father’s state funeral to her harrowing experiences since her days of student activism, Gurmehar Kaur’s debut is about the fierceness of love, the power of family and the little acts that beget big revolutions.
Buy this book from Amazon.
9. The Fisher Queen's Dynasty by Kavita Kané.
Blurb: ‘I learnt to love like a man—to love without feelings. And I shall never forget this lesson.’
Matsyagandha, Daseyi, Yojanagandha — the queen of Hastinapur, Satyavati. Abandoned as a baby, preyed on by a Rishi, she hardens herself, determined that the next time she is with a man, she will be the one to win. And win she does: the throne of Hastinapur for herself and the promise that her sons will be heirs to the kingdom. But at what cost?
In a palace where she is disdained and scorned, Satyavati must set aside her own loss and pain if she is to play the game of politics. She learns to be ruthless, unscrupulous — traits that estrange her from everyone around. Everyone, except the man she cheated of his birthright.A piercing, insightful look at the grand matriarch of the Kuru family, the woman who set off the sequence of events that ended in the bloody battle of Kurukshetra, The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty will re-align your reading of the Mahabharata.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
10. We should all be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Blurb: What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.
With humour and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination but also the more insidious, institutional behaviours that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.
Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.
Out of the 65 books that I read in 2018, I have put down below my top ten books. I absolutely loved these books. The list below is not arranged in any particular order. All these are in my list of favourite books.
Without any further ado, let's begin the list.
1. When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
Blurb: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. W hen Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking w hat makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon w orking in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? W hat do you do when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your ow n life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
It is the story of this Jay Gatsby who came so mysteriously to West Egg, of his sumptuous entertainments, and of his love for Daisy Buchanan – a story that ranges from pure lyrical beauty to sheer brutal realism, and is infused with a sense of the strangeness of human circumstance in a heedless universe.
It is a magical, living book, blended of irony, romance, and mysticism.
Buy this book from Amazon.
3. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.
Blurb: Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
Buy this book from Amazon.
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
3. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.
Buy this book from Amazon.
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
Blurb: Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.
The ageing Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece.
Buy this book from Amazon.
5. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
Blurb: Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.
A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.
Buy this book from Amazon.
6. Aqson Level 1 by Sreejib.
When it became impossible to choose between God and Satan, angels decided to play games. Games that would help them pick the guardian angel of this world. Every warrior angel got divided into two teams, Team God and Team Lucifer.
Strict rules were implemented, an unusual map was designed and a council was set up to administer these games. Satan has commenced one such game called Aqson and set the Indian Prime Minister's position as the goal of this game.
Now, a completely unknown species will collide with humans to play a game where losing is not figurative. Angels will stoop to enter the grunge of Indian politics.
A grey-eyed lioness will stop at nothing. And, a group of young boys and girls will be forced to rise above their identity to play and win Level 1 of Aqson.
Pick a side, because the game has begun.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
7. Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family’s situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover—but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak, and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of voices.
8. Small Acts of Freedom by Gurmehar Kaur.
Buy this book from Amazon.
9. The Fisher Queen's Dynasty by Kavita Kané.
Matsyagandha, Daseyi, Yojanagandha — the queen of Hastinapur, Satyavati. Abandoned as a baby, preyed on by a Rishi, she hardens herself, determined that the next time she is with a man, she will be the one to win. And win she does: the throne of Hastinapur for herself and the promise that her sons will be heirs to the kingdom. But at what cost?
In a palace where she is disdained and scorned, Satyavati must set aside her own loss and pain if she is to play the game of politics. She learns to be ruthless, unscrupulous — traits that estrange her from everyone around. Everyone, except the man she cheated of his birthright.A piercing, insightful look at the grand matriarch of the Kuru family, the woman who set off the sequence of events that ended in the bloody battle of Kurukshetra, The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty will re-align your reading of the Mahabharata.
Read my review of this book here.
Buy this book from Amazon.
10. We should all be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
With humour and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination but also the more insidious, institutional behaviours that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.
Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.
Buy this book from Amazon.
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