May Wrap Up

May was a really good reading month as I was on vacation. I read small books for the most part (none of these exceeds 400 pages I think) and managed to finish 10 books, out of which 2 were graphic novels/comics.

1. Vader’s Little Princess by Jeffrey Brown –
   4 stars
   If you love Star Wars, you should definitely check this comic. I read the one about Vader’s son earlier and enjoyed it. I saw this book on sale recently for Kindle and immediately downloaded it. It was too funny.
2. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin –
   2 and 1/2 stars. With this book, I am officially giving up on this author. This was my second attempt to read a science fiction by her and even this was pretty meh. I couldn’t make head or tail of Left hand of darkness. I thought the story in this book was based on Earth so it might make some sense. This book started out great and I really loved the concept – a man who can change reality through his dreams and a shrink who takes advantage of this power.
   I wasn’t impressed with the ending. Too many philosophical and technical discussions which made the book boring. Also way too many descriptions of places in and around Portland. It was almost like reading a travel guide to Portland and that really bored me. Overall, one time read. Ideas presented weren’t that great or unique.
   {Spoilers: This book had so much potential but then midway it turned direction after aliens landed. I liked how playing God wasn’t really working out well. I was expecting Orr to somehow overcome this problem on his own. Seeking help from aliens about whom we don’t know anything or not knowing how the aliens helped him was a big letdown.}
3. The Flash Season Zero by Andrew Kreisberg, Phil Hester and Marcus To –
   4 stars
   I am a massive fan of the Flash TV series (thanks to hubby who introduced me to this series) and we recently met Grant Gustin (even spoke to him and took his autograph). Considering how this series is one of my most favorite TV series now, I had to read this comic book which continues the adventures of Cisco, Caitlyn and Barry from the season one. It was good but the artwork could have been better I guess as people here don’t resemble those in the TV show. Some characters like Eddie Thawn were little different from the series I felt (he was mean towards Barry here). But I was happy to see Dr. Wells who is my favorite character from season one. Caitlyn and Cisco had more role in this book as we follow them on their own adventure at the end (with some backstory about Caitlyn too). There is no repetition here – these meta humans are mostly different from those on the TV series. If you like the TV series, this is a must read. But this is more like a companion and can’t stand on its own I guess.
4. The Neverending story by Michael Ende –
   2 stars
   I really liked the idea behind this story but the story and the execution – not much I think. This is my first book where the reader enters the fantasy world in the book so I liked the concept. I liked the first half of the book before the main character enters the fantasy world more I think. Fantastica is a great fantasy world and pretty different from other worlds like Narnia. I think this is good for middle grade level but not for adults. A lot of it I felt was pretty juvenile so if I had read it a decade or two back, I would have probably given a higher rating.
5. Black Holes: The Reith Lectures by Stephen Hawking –
   5 stars
   This is a tiny book which can be read in an hour or so. If you love physics, I am sure you will love this book. I am on a mission to read everything written by Hawking and when I saw this book in a bookstore, I immediately bought a copy.
6. Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag –
   1 star
   I have already reviewed this book here and yes, I hated this book.
7. Love Among the Bookshelves by Ruskin Bond –
   4 stars
   This is a quick read about author Ruskin Bond’s love for books. He talks about how he got into reading and which authors influenced him the most. There is even a list of favorite books from his favorite authors. He also talks about his favorite authors in chapters dedicated to these authors and has included some excerpts from his favorite books. I think this book is a great place to get some English classics recommendations. I am definitely going to read some of his favorite books.
   One interesting tidbit I learnt was that people never read books. It is not that people have stopped reading because of television or games. There were always hardly any readers in India. No wonder Indians still ridicule those who read books. Only complaint with this book was that it was too short. Wish he had written more about his love for books.
8. Five Have a Wonderful Time by Enid Blyton –
   5 stars
   I haven’t reread this volume in the series I think. I did not remember much about this mystery. Usually when I start a Famous Five book, I already am aware of how it would end. So looks like I read this book again after 20+ years this time probably. Love it as always.
9. Embassytown by China Mieville –
   4.5 stars
   This was one of my favorite reads of this year and most favorite from May reads. I have done a full review here.
10. The secret seven by Enid Blyton –
    4 stars
    Secret seven mysteries aren’t as good as Famous Five ones but still they are fun and interesting to read.

No TBR for June as it will be a busy month. I will read whatever I can lay my hands on or find interesting.