Vishnupriya's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 09 Sep 2026 21:50:38 -0700 60 Vishnupriya's bookshelf: all 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Man-Eaters of Kumaon (Oxford India Paperbacks)]]> 475245
Corbett was also an author of great renown. His books on the man-eating tigers he once tracked are not only established classics, but have by themselves created almost a separate literary genre. Man Eaters of Kumaon is the best known of Corbett's books, one which offers ten fascinating and spine-tingling tales of pursuing and shooting tigers in the Indian Himalayas during the early years of this century. The stories also offer first-hand information about the exotic flora, fauna, and village life in this obscure and treacherous region of India, making it as interesting a travelogue as it is a compelling look at a bygone era of big-game hunting.]]> 228 Jim Corbett 0195622553 Vishnupriya 0 currently-reading 4.27 1944 Man-Eaters of Kumaon (Oxford India Paperbacks)
author: Jim Corbett
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1944
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> வால்காவிலிருந்து கங்கை வரை 36154720
ஆசிரியர்: ராகுல சங்கிருத்யாயன்
தமிழ் வாசகர்கள் நன்கறிந்த பெயர் 'ராகுல்ஜி'. உலகம் சுற்றிய பயணியான அவர், இந்தியாவின் தத்துவ வரலாற்றை மீட்டுக் கொண்டுவந்த பெருமையும் பெற்றவர். குறிப்பாக பவுத்த சமய இலக்கியங்கள் மட்டுமின்றி, புராதன பல்கலைக் கழகமான 'நாளந்தா' மீண்டும் உயிர் பெறவும் பாடுபட்டவர்.]]> 384 Rahul Sankrityayan Vishnupriya 5 4.59 1942 வால்காவிலிருந்து கங்கை வரை
author: Rahul Sankrityayan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.59
book published: 1942
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2026/09/08
shelves: classic, history, non-fiction, philosophical, political, tamil, essay-collection
review:
Extremely interesting. I will try to write a more detailed review in the weekend.
]]> <![CDATA[How to Win Friends & Influence People]]> 4865
Since its release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 30 million copies. Dale Carnegie's first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie's principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.]]> 288 Dale Carnegie Vishnupriya 2 self-help, did-not-finish 4.21 1936 How to Win Friends & Influence People
author: Dale Carnegie
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1936
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2026/09/03
shelves: self-help, did-not-finish
review:
I give up, I can't finish this one.
]]> <![CDATA[The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale, #2)]]> 42975172 The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death.

With The Testaments, the wait is over.

Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.

"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." --Margaret Atwood

An alternate cover edition of ISBN 978-0385543781 can be found here.]]> 422 Margaret Atwood Vishnupriya 4 feminist, fiction 4.17 2019 The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale, #2)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/16
date added: 2026/08/15
shelves: feminist, fiction
review:
Gives a hopeful ending to the dystopian handmaid's tale, I dont know if its good but i really wanted a good ending. if u think about it too much there's things that just don't make sense, the plot was extremely predictable, but it kept me engaged and gave a hopeful ending, atp i'll take it. Aunt lydia was so interesting to read, the rest could have been shorter. Its a very different book from handmaid's tale. tht's charm was in what was unsaid, tht was good because it made u uncomfortable, i don't think that could be replicated here. It is more of YA adventure and lacks what made tht a classic, that said but i still enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[வேலூர்ப் புரட்சி 1806 (Vellore Puratchi 1806) (Research Essays) (Tamil Edition)]]> 83822958 1806இல் நடந்த இந்நிகழ்வை வேலூர்ப் படுகொலை, வேலூர்க் கலகம், வேலூர் எழுச்சி, வேலூர்க் கிளர்ச்சி, வேலூர]]> 319 K A Manikumar 9355230249 Vishnupriya 0 currently-reading 4.00 வேலூர்ப் புரட்சி 1806 (Vellore Puratchi 1806) (Research Essays) (Tamil Edition)
author: K A Manikumar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Vishnupriya 5
Trad wives - Serena Joy
violent porn - OnlyFans and increasingly dehumanizing porn
Mentions of prevalent plastic surgery in a pre-Kardashian/social media era.

Not saying plastic surgery or porn or traditional wives didn't exist back then, but the way they were described in the book made them seem extremely prevalent - as prevalent as it is today. Were the 1980s in the US/Canada specifically a time of increase in stuff like this, and we saw a lull, then the cycle has started again in the big 2026? When I say increase in trad wives, plastic surgery, I mean from the society I remember in the 2010s. So is it a cycle? Or at that time, did those things seem that bad, like things in our time seem this bad to us? Like, for example, TVs—were they considered as menacing as social media when they were first introduced? Because now most people don't think of TV as something menacing but just a part of life, whereas social media is seen as destroying attention spans and dumbing us down and polarizing us and dividing us.

I don't know if it's the Christopher Columbus effect, that each generation "discovers" stuff like this. Maybe trad wives, increasingly violent and dehumanizing porn, and prevalent plastic surgery were always a thing. Instead of pressure from algorithm, it was from magazines, instead of trad wife influencers, there were trad tv stars. But even still it doesn't seem as bad as its today, but maybe because I actually don't how it was. I'm going to go read what was going on in that period.

For my final words, in addition to being creepily similar to today, it was also really good, especially the last half, literally need to start The Testaments right now.
]]> 4.15 1985 The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/14
date added: 2026/07/14
shelves:
review:
So eerily similar to the US today. The pre-Gilead society and the parallels we can draw to today are startling. I am unsure if the social conditions of pre-Gilead were like that (similar to that) when she wrote it in US, or whether she contrived a future from existing social conditions. If she did the latter, she is a seer.

Trad wives - Serena Joy
violent porn - OnlyFans and increasingly dehumanizing porn
Mentions of prevalent plastic surgery in a pre-Kardashian/social media era.

Not saying plastic surgery or porn or traditional wives didn't exist back then, but the way they were described in the book made them seem extremely prevalent - as prevalent as it is today. Were the 1980s in the US/Canada specifically a time of increase in stuff like this, and we saw a lull, then the cycle has started again in the big 2026? When I say increase in trad wives, plastic surgery, I mean from the society I remember in the 2010s. So is it a cycle? Or at that time, did those things seem that bad, like things in our time seem this bad to us? Like, for example, TVs—were they considered as menacing as social media when they were first introduced? Because now most people don't think of TV as something menacing but just a part of life, whereas social media is seen as destroying attention spans and dumbing us down and polarizing us and dividing us.

I don't know if it's the Christopher Columbus effect, that each generation "discovers" stuff like this. Maybe trad wives, increasingly violent and dehumanizing porn, and prevalent plastic surgery were always a thing. Instead of pressure from algorithm, it was from magazines, instead of trad wife influencers, there were trad tv stars. But even still it doesn't seem as bad as its today, but maybe because I actually don't how it was. I'm going to go read what was going on in that period.

For my final words, in addition to being creepily similar to today, it was also really good, especially the last half, literally need to start The Testaments right now.

]]> அரிதானதொரு வாழ்க்கை 252694380 கோகிலா Kokila 9348641557 Vishnupriya 5 5.00 அரிதானதொரு வாழ்க்கை
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/28
date added: 2026/05/28
shelves: tamil, feminist, essay-collection
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Breadwinner (The Breadwinner #1)]]> 828015 The Breadwinner is trapped inside her family's one-room home. That is, until the Taliban hauls away her father and Parvana realizes that it's up to her to become the "breadwinner" and disguise herself as a boy to support her mother, two sisters, and baby brother. Set in the early years of the Taliban regime, this topical novel for middle readers explores the harsh realities of life for girls and women in modern-day Afghanistan. A political activist whose first book for children, Looking for X, dealt with poverty in Toronto, Ellis based The Breadwinner on the true-life stories of women in Afghan refugee camps.

In the wily Parvana, Ellis creates a character to whom North American children will have no difficulty relating. The daughter of university-educated parents, Parvana is thoroughly westernized in her outlook and responses. A pint-sized version of Offred from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Parvana conceals her critique of the repressive Muslim state behind the veil of her chador. Although the dialogue is occasionally stilted and the ending disappointingly sketchy, The Breadwinner is essential reading for any child curious about ordinary Afghans. Like so many books and movies on the subject, it is also eerily prophetic. "Maybe someone should drop a big bomb on the country and start again," says a friend of Parvana's. "'They've tried that,' Parvana said, 'It only made things worse.'" (Ages 9 to 12) --Lisa Alward

]]> 171 Deborah Ellis 0888994168 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.02 2000 The Breadwinner (The Breadwinner #1)
author: Deborah Ellis
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Daughters of Smoke and Fire 50279982 The unforgettable, haunting story of a young woman’s perilous fight for freedom and justice for her brother, the first novel published in English by a female Kurdish writer
 
Set in Iran, this extraordinary debut novel takes readers into the everyday lives of the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up. Leila’s younger brother Chia, influenced by their father’s past torture, imprisonment, and his deep-seated desire for justice, begins to engage with social and political affairs. But his activism grows increasingly risky and one day he disappears in Tehran. Seeking answers about her brother’s whereabouts, Leila fears the worst and begins a campaign to save him. But when she publishes Chia’s writings online, she finds herself in grave danger as well.
Daughters of Smoke and Fire is an evocative portrait of the lives and stakes faced by 40 million stateless Kurds and a powerful story that brilliantly illuminates the meaning of identity and the complex bonds of family, perfect for fans of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.
 ]]> 320 Ava Homa 1683358945 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.23 2020 Daughters of Smoke and Fire
author: Ava Homa
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison]]> 39284186 Winner of The Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019

Where have I come from? From the land of rivers, the land of waterfalls, the land of ancient chants, the land of mountains...

In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani was illegally detained on Manus Island. He has been there ever since.

People would run to the mountains to escape the warplanes and found asylum within their chestnut forests...

This book is the result. Laboriously tapped out on a mobile phone and translated from the Farsi. It is a voice of witness, an act of survival. A lyric first-hand account. A cry of resistance. A vivid portrait through five years of incarceration and exile.

Do Kurds have any friends other than the mountains?]]> 374 Behrouz Boochani 176055538X Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.95 2018 No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison
author: Behrouz Boochani
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Modern History of the Kurds 126398 504 David McDowall 1850434166 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.18 1958 A Modern History of the Kurds
author: David McDowall
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1984 40961427
Living under constant state surveillance via ubiquitous telescreens, Winston covertly rebels against the ruling Party through private journal writing and an illicit relationship with a coworker, Julia. The novel examines the mechanics of political authoritarianism, the manipulation of language and history, and the tension between individual consciousness and state power.]]> 298 George Orwell Vishnupriya 3 4.24 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1949
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/22
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: classic, fiction, political, satire
review:
Great world building. Kinda boring at some parts. But it was good, I guess. Should give it another read
]]> Normal People 41057294
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> 273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.81 2018 Normal People
author: Sally Rooney
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Vishnupriya 4 fiction, made-me-cry, romance
3.5/5]]> 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/15
date added: 2026/04/22
shelves: fiction, made-me-cry, romance
review:
I liked it. But the dialogues were, how do I put it... very crash course world history coded, I heard them in John Green's voice instead of the characters'. I cried throughout the book.

3.5/5
]]> Excavation 21983147
In Excavation: A Memoir, the black and white of the standard victim/perpetrator stereotype gives way to unsettling grays. The present-day narrator reflects on the girl she once was, as well as the teacher and parent she has become. It's a beautifully written and powerful story of a woman reclaiming her whole heart.]]> 235 Wendy C. Ortiz 1892061708 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.75 2014 Excavation
author: Wendy C. Ortiz
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I Who Have Never Known Men 60811826 Deep underground, forty women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.

Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.]]> 173 Jacqueline Harpman 1945492600 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.99 1995 I Who Have Never Known Men
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> My Dark Vanessa 44890081
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.]]> 373 Kate Elizabeth Russell 006294150X Vishnupriya 5 feminist ]]> 4.09 2020 My Dark Vanessa
author: Kate Elizabeth Russell
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/21
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: feminist
review:
engrossing, enraging and extremely sad

]]> அணிலாடும் முன்றில் 15995260 144 Na. Muthukumar 8184763719 Vishnupriya 4
நெருங்கிய சொந்தங்களைப் பற்றி எழுதிய அத்தியாயங்கள் — அம்மா, அப்பா, ஆயா, மனைவி, மகன் — மிகவும் அழகாக இருந்தன. You could feel the author's love in every sentence. மற்ற அத்தியாயங்களும் படிக்க இனிமையாக இருந்தன. அக்கா இல்லாவிட்டாலும், பக்கத்து வீட்டு அக்காக்களைப் பற்றி எழுதிய அத்தியாயமும் ரசிக்கும்படி இருந்தது. நெருங்கிய சொந்தங்கள் அத்தியாயங்களில் இருந்த அன்பும் வாஞ்சையும் சில தூரத்து சொந்தங்களில் அதே அளவு இல்லை. Not every relation was glorified, and that restraint made it feel real.

One observation I haven't seen in any of the other reviews is about the author's usage of அஃறிணை when referring to the women in his life. "ஆயா இருந்துச்சி", "அம்மா சொல்லும்." But for the men, it's உயர்திணை. "தாத்தா இருந்தார்", "அப்பா படித்தார்."

இது முத்துக்குமாரை, தனி நபராக விமர்சிக்க சொல்லவில்லை. ஆயாவைப் பற்றி எழுதும்போது அன்பும் மரியாதையும் தாத்தாவுக்கு கொடுத்ததை விட அதிகமாகவே இருந்தது. இந்த புத்தகத்தில் இருந்தமாதிரி பெண்களை அவ, இவ, அது, இது என்று சொல்வது தமிழ் புத்தகங்களிலும் கலாசாரத்திலும் பொதுவான வழக்கமாக இருக்கிறது — most of us don't even notice it. But that's exactly the point. The women in this book are written with so much warmth, so much reverence — and yet the language places them a tier lower.

வார்த்தைகளுக்கு வலிமை உண்டு. பெண்களுக்கு எந்த சொற்கள் பயன்படுத்துகிறோம் என்பதில் இன்னும் conscious ஆக இருக்கவேண்டும் — This is not an indictment of anyone, but a nudge to examine our habits as a society and what language we use about our women.

Overall, a wholesome, feel-good book.]]> 4.51 2012 அணிலாடும் முன்றில்
author: Na. Muthukumar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/16
date added: 2026/04/19
shelves: feel-good, tamil, essay-collection
review:
"அவரவர் வாழ்க்கையில் ஆயிரம் ஆயிரம் மாற்றங்கள்" பாட்டு ஒரு புத்தகமாக இருந்தால் இப்படித்தான் இருக்கும்.

நெருங்கிய சொந்தங்களைப் பற்றி எழுதிய அத்தியாயங்கள் — அம்மா, அப்பா, ஆயா, மனைவி, மகன் — மிகவும் அழகாக இருந்தன. You could feel the author's love in every sentence. மற்ற அத்தியாயங்களும் படிக்க இனிமையாக இருந்தன. அக்கா இல்லாவிட்டாலும், பக்கத்து வீட்டு அக்காக்களைப் பற்றி எழுதிய அத்தியாயமும் ரசிக்கும்படி இருந்தது. நெருங்கிய சொந்தங்கள் அத்தியாயங்களில் இருந்த அன்பும் வாஞ்சையும் சில தூரத்து சொந்தங்களில் அதே அளவு இல்லை. Not every relation was glorified, and that restraint made it feel real.

One observation I haven't seen in any of the other reviews is about the author's usage of அஃறிணை when referring to the women in his life. "ஆயா இருந்துச்சி", "அம்மா சொல்லும்." But for the men, it's உயர்திணை. "தாத்தா இருந்தார்", "அப்பா படித்தார்."

இது முத்துக்குமாரை, தனி நபராக விமர்சிக்க சொல்லவில்லை. ஆயாவைப் பற்றி எழுதும்போது அன்பும் மரியாதையும் தாத்தாவுக்கு கொடுத்ததை விட அதிகமாகவே இருந்தது. இந்த புத்தகத்தில் இருந்தமாதிரி பெண்களை அவ, இவ, அது, இது என்று சொல்வது தமிழ் புத்தகங்களிலும் கலாசாரத்திலும் பொதுவான வழக்கமாக இருக்கிறது — most of us don't even notice it. But that's exactly the point. The women in this book are written with so much warmth, so much reverence — and yet the language places them a tier lower.

வார்த்தைகளுக்கு வலிமை உண்டு. பெண்களுக்கு எந்த சொற்கள் பயன்படுத்துகிறோம் என்பதில் இன்னும் conscious ஆக இருக்கவேண்டும் — This is not an indictment of anyone, but a nudge to examine our habits as a society and what language we use about our women.

Overall, a wholesome, feel-good book.
]]> <![CDATA[Oru Manithan Oru Nagaram ஒரு மனிதன் ஒரு நகரம்]]> 203792670 164 கோகிலா Kokila 9395511672 Vishnupriya 5 5.00 2023 Oru Manithan Oru Nagaram ஒரு மனிதன் ஒரு நகரம்
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2026/04/16
shelves: historical-fiction, history, non-fiction, tamil, currently-reading
review:
This is an intriguing take on Chennai's history which aims to convey decades of history into bite sized chapters. The author's use of Chennai's colloquial slang is quite refreshing from conventional all-facts history books. A quick read to understand our city and its culture better.
]]> The Love Hypothesis 56732449 When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships—but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor—and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. And when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding. . . six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.]]> 373 Ali Hazelwood 0593336828 Vishnupriya 3
]]> 4.07 2021 The Love Hypothesis
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/22
date added: 2026/04/16
shelves: feel-good, fiction, rom-com, romance
review:
A romance novel. I think this is my first full-on rOmAnCe read. I liked it but it wasn't great literature or anything. Felt a lot like the harry potter fanfics I used to read. I think romance works better for me as a subplot in other genres. It was silly and kinda stupid at points, but still finished it in like 2 days so I guess that's something.


]]> வேடிக்கைப் பார்ப்பவன் 25637826 231 Na. Muthukumar Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.55 2014 வேடிக்கைப் பார்ப்பவன்
author: Na. Muthukumar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> பட்டாம்பூச்சி விற்பவன் 22233935
எங்கள் ஊர் பக்கங்களில் ஓலைச்சுவடியில் நூலை நுழைத்து சோதிடம் பார்ப்பார்கள். சிலருக்கு நல்லது வரும் சிலருக்குக் கெட்டது வரும். இந்தப் புத்தகத்தில் கண்ணை மூடிக்கொண்டு எந்தப் பக்கத்தைப் பிரித்தாலும் நல்ல கவிதைகள்தாம் வரும்.



பாரதிராஜா]]> 48 Na. Muthukumar Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.31 பட்டாம்பூச்சி விற்பவன்
author: Na. Muthukumar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[சிவப்பு நிற மழைக்கோட்டில் ஒரு பெண்]]> 33973003 162 Saadat Hasan Manto 812342468X Vishnupriya 4
Review of the ones I have read so far:
[spoilers removed]]]> 3.80 சிவப்பு நிற மழைக்கோட்டில் ஒரு பெண்
author: Saadat Hasan Manto
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.80
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/07
date added: 2026/04/07
shelves: classic, short-story-collection, tamil, fiction
review:
The prose and the writing itself is very beautiful, which contrasts starkly with the viscerally disturbing subjects Manto writes about. Each short story has this emotional rawness and realism to it. The stories have a matter-of-fact tone to them, no romanticizing or criticizing. Manto paints the scene as if he is a witness, an unflinching observer, and lets the reader sit with — not over the top violence [edit: [spoilers removed]]— but the real cruelty that is in humans. This realism will leave its mark on you. The emotional weight of each story is so intense that it is impossible to read the book straight through — each story demands a pause afterward, to sit with the unease of the story.

Review of the ones I have read so far:
[spoilers removed]
]]> Thadayam 249491564 Collection of articles 188 Rishi Ramana 9347206660 Vishnupriya 5 5.00 Thadayam
author: Rishi Ramana
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2026/04/01
shelves:
review:
தமிழில் வந்த forensics பற்றிய புத்தகம். ஒவ்வொரு அத்தியாயமும் ஒரு குற்ற சம்பவத்தில் தொடங்கி, அந்தக் குற்றத்தை துப்பறிய எந்த forensic நுட்பம் பயன்படுத்தலாம் என்பதை விரிவாக விளக்கும். முதலில் வரும் குற்றக் கதை சாதாரணமாகப் படிக்கும்படி சுவாரஸ்யமாகவும், அதைத் தொடர்ந்து வரும் விளக்கம் forensics/criminology பற்றிப் படிப்பவர்கள் இதை supplementary reading ஆகப் படிக்கலாம் என்பது போல தகவல் நிறைந்து இருக்கும். I found the subject matter so intriguing that I finished it incredibly quickly on my Kindle and was kind of shocked that this book is almost 200 pages long.
]]> உரு 242137472 கோகிலா Kokila Vishnupriya 5 5.00 உரு
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> தடை அதை உதை 227992286 கோகிலா Kokila Vishnupriya 5 5.00 2024 தடை அதை உதை
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[இந்தியாவில் சாதிகள் : Indiyaavil Saathikal (Political Book 2) (Tamil Edition)]]> 37835761 196 B.R. Ambedkar Vishnupriya 5 tamil, history, sociology Also truly don't get why and how this system exists/works - because the oppressed and oppressor are extremely similar in their looks & culture

This was a question I had when reading ஒரு விசாவுக்காகக் காத்திருத்தல். Caste-based violence is often the most amplified in incidents of inter-caste marriages, I have always wondered why about that too. Ambedkar's seminar turned short book explains it all in a scientific way with his reasonings on how endogamy forms the foundation of caste. The book also introduced to me a caste based take on forced widowhood, child marriage, sati which I have only looked at from a gender-based lens. It was truly an unique read because like said in the book, most works deal with how caste works and why it has worked for a long time, nothing ever deals with the origin of caste, a system that is as unnatural as its inhumane. ]]> 4.67 1916 இந்தியாவில் சாதிகள் : Indiyaavil Saathikal (Political Book 2) (Tamil Edition)
author: B.R. Ambedkar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.67
book published: 1916
rating: 5
read at: 2026/03/11
date added: 2026/03/11
shelves: tamil, history, sociology
review:
Also truly don't get why and how this system exists/works - because the oppressed and oppressor are extremely similar in their looks & culture


This was a question I had when reading ஒரு விசாவுக்காகக் காத்திருத்தல். Caste-based violence is often the most amplified in incidents of inter-caste marriages, I have always wondered why about that too. Ambedkar's seminar turned short book explains it all in a scientific way with his reasonings on how endogamy forms the foundation of caste. The book also introduced to me a caste based take on forced widowhood, child marriage, sati which I have only looked at from a gender-based lens. It was truly an unique read because like said in the book, most works deal with how caste works and why it has worked for a long time, nothing ever deals with the origin of caste, a system that is as unnatural as its inhumane.
]]> <![CDATA[ஒரு விசாவுக்காகக் காத்திருத்தல்: டாக்டர் பாபாசாகேப் அம்பேத்கரின் நினைவலைகள் (Tamil Edition)]]> 53567723 50 B.R. Ambedkar Vishnupriya 5 biography, political, tamil
அப்பொழுதுதான் எனக்குப் புரிந்தது ஓர் இந்து டோங்காவாலா, ஒரு கடைநிலை வேலைக்காரனைப் போன்ற நிலையிலிருந்தாலும் தான் மற்ற எல்லா தீண்டத்தகாதவர்களையும் விட ஏன் பாரிஸ்டரையும் விடக்கூட உயர்ந்தவன் என்ற எண்ணம் கொண்டவன் என்பதைத் தெரிந்து கொண்டேன்


படிப்பு, பணம் என்று எது இருந்தாலும் தலித் என்றால் தீட்டு — “untouchable” என்ற மனநிலை எவ்வளவு ஆழமாக இருக்கிறது என்பதையும், இந்துமதத்தில் மட்டும் இல்லாமல் இந்திய சமூகத்தில் உள்ள எல்லா மதங்களும் எப்படிப் இந்த ஜாதி அமைப்பை உட்கொண்டு வைத்திருக்கின்றன என்பதையும் தெளிவாகக் காட்டும் நூல். For people who think reservation is a poverty alleviation scheme, this is a must read to understand the nuance of how caste discrimination manifests in society and makes it harder or near impossible for oppressed classes to access good education, career, housing, healthcare and the hit it takes on psyche & self-esteem. Also truly don't get why and how this system exists/works - because the oppressed and oppressor are extremely similar in their looks & culture, unlike racism where there's differences (not saying that's okay, but at least it makes sense in a twisted way)]]> 4.55 1931 ஒரு விசாவுக்காகக் காத்திருத்தல்: டாக்டர் பாபாசாகேப் அம்பேத்கரின் நினைவலைகள் (Tamil Edition)
author: B.R. Ambedkar
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1931
rating: 5
read at: 2026/02/28
date added: 2026/03/11
shelves: biography, political, tamil
review:
A short read about Ambedkar's lived reality of discrimination as a Dalit man.
அப்பொழுதுதான் எனக்குப் புரிந்தது ஓர் இந்து டோங்காவாலா, ஒரு கடைநிலை வேலைக்காரனைப் போன்ற நிலையிலிருந்தாலும் தான் மற்ற எல்லா தீண்டத்தகாதவர்களையும் விட ஏன் பாரிஸ்டரையும் விடக்கூட உயர்ந்தவன் என்ற எண்ணம் கொண்டவன் என்பதைத் தெரிந்து கொண்டேன்


படிப்பு, பணம் என்று எது இருந்தாலும் தலித் என்றால் தீட்டு — “untouchable” என்ற மனநிலை எவ்வளவு ஆழமாக இருக்கிறது என்பதையும், இந்துமதத்தில் மட்டும் இல்லாமல் இந்திய சமூகத்தில் உள்ள எல்லா மதங்களும் எப்படிப் இந்த ஜாதி அமைப்பை உட்கொண்டு வைத்திருக்கின்றன என்பதையும் தெளிவாகக் காட்டும் நூல். For people who think reservation is a poverty alleviation scheme, this is a must read to understand the nuance of how caste discrimination manifests in society and makes it harder or near impossible for oppressed classes to access good education, career, housing, healthcare and the hit it takes on psyche & self-esteem. Also truly don't get why and how this system exists/works - because the oppressed and oppressor are extremely similar in their looks & culture, unlike racism where there's differences (not saying that's okay, but at least it makes sense in a twisted way)
]]> <![CDATA[The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe]]> 449573 176 Stephen W. Hawking 0641587716 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.18 2002 The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe
author: Stephen W. Hawking
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Lolita 7604 Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141182537.

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.]]> 368 Vladimir Nabokov Vishnupriya 5 classic, fiction
I simply did not know a thing about my darling's mind


One of the reviews was like, would it be a tragic tale of love if she was an adult - like it would still be fucking wrong if he kidnapped a 18 year old and forced himself on her. wtf is wrong with people. Don't tell me people need critical reading skills - the book was like legitimately so very clear that H.H was a narcissist and a manipulative, unreliable narrator and Dolores Haze was not a willing participant (even if the unreliable narrator says "sHe seDuced Me") I'm still processing the book, I was not really planning on writing a review (maybe I'll write a review someday after a re-read) but some of these reviews are sending me.]]> 3.87 1955 Lolita
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/13
date added: 2026/01/15
shelves: classic, fiction
review:
I just read through the reviews - who in their right mind thinks this is a book about love, and that carnal desire for 12-year-old children is normal, innate, and comes from the midbrain and is tabooed by American civilization? wtf. I thought the book was so clear that Humbert Humbert is a predator - witty, eloquent, self-aware sometimes, but a predator nonetheless. The narration was all about Humbert, nothing about Dolores being happy in that relationship. I would have assumed her saying "no", "not again" multiple times throughout the book, doing what he wants just to save enough money to run away, being manipulated explicitly to not say anything about the relationship lest the state take her away, tearing up seeing a normal father-child interaction and not a single nice thing said by Dolores about the relationship throughout the book will make it extremely clear to the reader that this is not a love story. Humbert does not become loving and doting because he says so and calls her darling, my love, and whatever other French terms of endearment. Humbert Humbert loved the idea of Lolita, the nymphet, a person who only exists in his mind. He did not care about Dolores, he did not know Dolores.

I simply did not know a thing about my darling's mind


One of the reviews was like, would it be a tragic tale of love if she was an adult - like it would still be fucking wrong if he kidnapped a 18 year old and forced himself on her. wtf is wrong with people. Don't tell me people need critical reading skills - the book was like legitimately so very clear that H.H was a narcissist and a manipulative, unreliable narrator and Dolores Haze was not a willing participant (even if the unreliable narrator says "sHe seDuced Me") I'm still processing the book, I was not really planning on writing a review (maybe I'll write a review someday after a re-read) but some of these reviews are sending me.
]]> Before I Die 1314332
Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.]]> 336 Jenny Downham 0385613466 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.84 2007 Before I Die
author: Jenny Downham
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Monster Calls 8621462
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting - he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.

From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd - whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself - Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.]]> 226 Patrick Ness 1406311529 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.35 2011 A Monster Calls
author: Patrick Ness
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> Manto: Selected Stories 7518598 130 Saadat Hasan Manto 8184000499 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.21 2003 Manto: Selected Stories
author: Saadat Hasan Manto
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> அவமானம் 20402561 - சாதத் ஹசன் மண்ட்டோ]]> 95 Saadat Hasan Manto 938282698X Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.95 அவமானம்
author: Saadat Hasan Manto
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.95
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl]]> 12700353
Until Greg's mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.]]> 295 Jesse Andrews 1419701762 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.53 2012 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
author: Jesse Andrews
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times]]> 56268863
Looking at the headlines--a global pandemic, the worsening climate crisis, political upheaval--it can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed.

In this urgent book, Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist and Doug Abrams, internationally-bestselling author, explore--through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue--one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope”: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.

Told through stories from a remarkable career and fascinating research, The Book of Hope touches on vital questions including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? Filled with engaging dialogue and pictures from Jane’s storied career, The Book of Hope is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in today’s world.

And for the first time, Jane tells the story of how she became a messenger of hope: from living through World War II, to her years in Gombe, to realizing she had to leave the forest to travel the world in her role as an advocate for environmental justice. She details the forces that shaped her hopeful worldview, her thoughts on her past, and her revelations about her next--and perhaps final--adventure.

There is still hope, and this book will help guide us to it.]]> 252 Jane Goodall 1250784093 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.22 2021 The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
author: Jane Goodall
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Inheritance of Loss 95186
When a Nepalese insurgency threatens the blossoming romance between Sai and her handsome tutor, they, too, are forced to consider their colliding interests. And the judge must revisit his past, his own journey and his role in this grasping world of conflichting desires - every moment holding out the possibility of hope or betrayal.

A story of such depth and emotion, hilarity and imagination, rich, beautiful and infinitely wise, The Inheritance of Loss is a glorious second novel from the author of the universally praised Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard.
--back cover]]> 357 Kiran Desai 0802142818 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.47 2005 The Inheritance of Loss
author: Kiran Desai
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Palace of Illusions 1774836
Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

The Palace of Illusions traces the princess Panchaali's life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war involving all the important kings of India. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her strategic duels with her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands' most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female redefining for us a world of warriors, gods, and the ever-manipulating hands of fate.]]> 360 Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 0385515995 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.19 2008 The Palace of Illusions
author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> பருவம் [Paruvam] 28382228 928 S.L. Bhyrappa 8126014385 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.50 1979 பருவம் [Paruvam]
author: S.L. Bhyrappa
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1979
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Draupadi: The Sati Series III 62598929 BIBEK DEBROY

THE THIRD BOOK IN THE EXCEPTIONAL FIVE-PART SATI SERIES BY KORAL DASGUPTA

Draupadi is immortalized as the beloved princess of Panchal and the queen of Indraprastha in Indian myth and legend. Yet what do we really know of the fire-born queen’s dreams? What were her true desires?

In Koral Dasgupta’s thrilling new interpretation, Draupadi’s interior story, often relegated to the margins, is vividly foregrounded – from her unique friendship with Krishna, unconventional marriage to the Pandav brothers, to her quirky relationships with Kunti and Bhishma, and her deep passion for building a loving home. Bold, intimate and immersive, it thrusts the reader straight into the heart and mind of an unforgettable heroine from the Mahabharat, who remains both contemporary and timeless.

***

In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from the Hindu epics and reinvents them with a feminist consciousness.

Praise for the Sati series

‘Magical and thought-provoking’ CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI

‘Enigmatic’ NAMITA GOKHALE

‘A must for those wishing to know about our past and the dialectics of gender within it’ PAVAN K. VARMA]]> 151 Koral Dasgupta 9390742625 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.92 Draupadi: The Sati Series III
author: Koral Dasgupta
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> Clear Light of Day 35997 Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize: A "rich, Chekhovian novel" about family and forgiveness from the acclaimed author of Fire on the Mountain (The New Yorker).

At the heart of this wonderful novel are the moving relationships between the estranged members of the Das family. Bimla is a dissatisfied but ambitious teacher at a women's college who lives in her childhood home, where she cares for her mentally challenged brother, Baba. Tara is her younger, unambitious sister, married and with children of her own. Raja is their popular, brilliant, and successful brother. When Tara returns for a visit with Bimla and Baba, old memories and tensions resurface, blending into a domestic drama that leads to beautiful and profound moments of self-understanding.

Set in the vividly portrayed environs of Old Delhi, "Clear Light of Day does what only the very best novels can do: it totally submerges us. It also takes us so deeply into another world that we almost fear we won't be able to climb out again" (New York Times Book Review).]]> 183 Anita Desai 0618074511 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.72 1980 Clear Light of Day
author: Anita Desai
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Countdown 109308 108 Amitav Ghosh 8175300256 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.75 1999 Countdown
author: Amitav Ghosh
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles, #2)]]> 9067850
And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.

To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished.

First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly?

Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.]]> 452 Rick Riordan 1423140567 Vishnupriya 4 4.18 2011 The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Prophet (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)]]> 39945240 A stunning new hardcover edition--with a full linen case, copper stamping, gilded edges, and colored endpapers--of one of the world's most beloved and popular spiritual classics, featuring a new foreword by Rupi Kaur, the multimillion-copy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers

"This book cracked my heart wide open. And I think it's going to do the same to yours." --Rupi Kaur, from the Foreword

The most famous work of spiritual fiction of the twentieth century, The Prophet is rooted in Kahlil Gibran's own experience as an immigrant and provides inspiration to anyone feeling adrift in a world in flux. As a prophet named Almustafa is about to board a ship to travel back to his homeland after twelve years in exile, he is stopped by a group of people who ask him to share his wisdom before he leaves. In twenty-eight poetic essays, he does so, offering profound and timeless insights on many aspects of life, including love, pain, friendship, family, beauty, religion, joy, sorrow, and death.

An immediate success when first published in 1923, The Prophet is a modern classic, having been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than ten million copies in the United States alone. The message it imparts, of finding divinity through love, made it the bible of 1960s culture and continues to touch hearts and minds across generations and national borders. This edition is illustrated with twelve of Gibran's famous visionary paintings and features a foreword by Rupi Kaur.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. ]]> 128 Kahlil Gibran 0143133586 Vishnupriya 4 classic 4.28 1923 The Prophet (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1923
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/20
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: classic
review:
Every single line is quotable in this book. Some things I agree and few I don't but overall a very good book. Idk why but it gives rain + warm rich drink vibes. Perfect book to escape the world, very calming.
]]> <![CDATA[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1)]]> 389627
The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary. But as Greg says: “Just don’t expect me to be all “Dear Diary” this and “Dear Diary” that.”

Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won’t do and what he actually does are two very different things.]]> 226 Jeff Kinney 0810993139 Vishnupriya 4 3.98 2007 Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1)
author: Jeff Kinney
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Vishnupriya 5 4.12 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> Percy Jackson's Greek Gods 20829994 417 Rick Riordan Vishnupriya 4 4.44 2014 Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)]]> 27396489 3 Rick Riordan 0739381245 Vishnupriya 4 3.95 2009 The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)]]> 27904311 "Magnus Chase, you nearly started Ragnarok. What are you going to do next?"

It's been six weeks since Magnus and his friends returned from defeating Fenris Wolf and the fire giants. Magnus has adjusted to life at the Hotel Valhalla—as much as a once-homeless and previously alive kid can. As a son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus doesn't exactly fit in with the rest of Odin's chosen warriors, but he has a few good peeps among his hallmates on floor nineteen, and he's been dutifully training for Ragnarok along with everyone else. His days have settled into a new kind of normal.

But Magnus should have known there's no such thing as normal in the Nine Worlds. His friends Hearthstone and Blitzen have disappeared. A new hallmate is creating chaos. According to a very nervous goat, a certain object belonging to Thor is still missing, and the thunder god's enemies will stop at nothing to gain control of it.

Time to summon Jack, the Sword of Summer, and take action. Too bad the only action Jack seems to be interested in is dates with other magical weapons. . . .]]> 459 Rick Riordan 1423160924 Vishnupriya 4 4.28 2016 The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2)]]> 30145666
After experiencing a series of dangerous--and frankly, humiliating--trials at Camp Half-Blood, Lester must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships--with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride. . . .]]> 432 Rick Riordan 1484746422 Vishnupriya 4 4.07 2017 The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Senior Year Adventures, #1)]]> 63035432
Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him yet. Poseidon breaks the bad news that if Percy expects to get into New Rome University, he will have to fulfill three quests in order to earn the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus.

The first task is to help Ganymede, Zeus’s cupbearer, retrieve his golden goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. You see, one sip from it can turn a mortal into a god, and Zeus would not be pleased with that result. Can Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth find the precious cup in time? And if they do, will they be able to resist its special power?

Readers new to Percy Jackson universe and fans who have been awaiting this reunion for more than a decade will delight equally in this latest hilarious take on Greek mythology by the "storyteller of the gods."]]> 288 Rick Riordan 1368098177 Vishnupriya 4 4.24 2023 The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Senior Year Adventures, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Serpent's Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, #3)]]> 12893742 406 Rick Riordan 1423140575 Vishnupriya 4 4.26 2012 The Serpent's Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, #3)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)]]> 26252859
By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.]]> 376 Rick Riordan 148473274X Vishnupriya 4 4.11 2016 The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1)]]> 15724396
One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus's birthright: a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

The more Randolph talks, the more puzzle pieces fall into place. Stories about the gods of Asgard, wolves, and Doomsday bubble up from Magnus's memory. But he doesn't have time to consider it all before a fire giant attacks the city, forcing him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents. . . .

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die.]]> 491 Rick Riordan 1423160916 Vishnupriya 4 4.22 2015 The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/12/29
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]]> Sense and Sensibility 14935 'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

This edition includes explanatory notes, textual variants between the first and second editions, and Tony Tanner's introduction to the original Penguin Classic edition.

Note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141439662]]> 409 Jane Austen 0141439661 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.10 1811 Sense and Sensibility
author: Jane Austen
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1811
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Heidi (Heidi, #1-2) 93 352 Johanna Spyri 0753454947 Vishnupriya 4 4.03 1880 Heidi (Heidi, #1-2)
author: Johanna Spyri
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1880
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/20
date added: 2025/12/27
shelves: children-s-literature, classic, feel-good, fiction
review:
Feel good classic. Read if you used to watch Heidi on Chutti tv.
]]> Stumbling on Happiness 56627 • Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight?
• Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want?
• Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it?

In this brilliant, witty, and accessible book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to mis-conceive our tomorrows and mis-estimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.]]> 263 Daniel Todd Gilbert 1400077427 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.82 2006 Stumbling on Happiness
author: Daniel Todd Gilbert
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Steve Jobs 11084145 630 Walter Isaacson 1451648537 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.15 2011 Steve Jobs
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> ஜே ஜே சில குறிப்புகள் 5637432 230 Sundara Ramaswamy 8190080180 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.00 1981 ஜே ஜே சில குறிப்புகள்
author: Sundara Ramaswamy
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Avamanam 59515379 0 Saadat Hasan Manto Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.15 Avamanam
author: Saadat Hasan Manto
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Karaindha Nizhalgal (Tamil Edition) by Ashokamitran, Mr. Ashokamitran (2009) Paperback]]> 138720569
ஆனால் யதார்த்தத்தில் மனிதர்கள், அன்றாடம் அல்லல் படுபவர்களாகத்தான் வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள். பன்னெடுங்காலமாகவே இந்த உலகம் வலிமையானவர்களுக்கு மட்டுமானதாகவே இருக்கிறது. தமிழ் சினிமாவில் காட்டப்படுவதைப் போன்ற “எங்கள் வீட்டில் எல்லா நாளும் கார்த்திகை” த்தனமான வாழ்க்கை எல்லோருக்கும் அமைவதில்லை. பிரச்சனைகளுடன் போராடுவதிலேயே தங்கள் பெரும்பகுதி வாழ்நாளைக் கழிப்பவர்கள் இங்கு அனேகம். இந்த உண்மையைப் பதிவு செய்வதன் வழியாகத்தான் இலக்கியங்கள் ஒரு மகத்தான நிலையை அடைகின்றன. இருத்தலியல் தத்துவத்தின் எழுச்சிக்குப் பிறகு பெரும்பாலான இலக்கியங்கள் மனித வாழ்வின் வீழ்ச்சிகளைப் பதிவு செய்துவரும் நிலையில், சினிமாவில் பணியாற்றும் மனிதர்களினூடே இந்த உலகத்தின் அசலான அவலத்தைப் பேசும் நாவலாக அசோகமித்திரனின் கரைந்த நிழல்கள் இருக்கிறது.]]> 0 Ashokamitthiran Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.21 2005 Karaindha Nizhalgal (Tamil Edition) by Ashokamitran, Mr. Ashokamitran (2009) Paperback
author: Ashokamitthiran
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead]]> 51648276
A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Duration: 11 hours 39 minutes.]]> 274 Olga Tokarczuk Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.90 2009 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
author: Olga Tokarczuk
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Trust 58210933 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593420317.

An unparalleled novel about money, power, intimacy, and perception

Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly boundless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.

Hernan Diaz's TRUST elegantly puts these competing narratives into conversation with one another—and in tension with the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction. The result is a novel that spans over a century and becomes more exhilarating with each new revelation.

At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle, TRUST engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate facts.]]> 402 Hernan Diaz Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.75 2022 Trust
author: Hernan Diaz
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Brief History of Modern India (2019-2020 Edition) by Spectrum Books]]> 52346859 848 Spectrum Books Pvt.Ltd. 8179307212 Vishnupriya 0 currently-reading, upsc-prep 4.43 A Brief History of Modern India (2019-2020 Edition) by Spectrum Books
author: Spectrum Books Pvt.Ltd.
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: currently-reading, upsc-prep
review:

]]> திருக்குறள் கதைகள் 227992121 கோகிலா Kokila Vishnupriya 5 children-s-literature, tamil 5.00 2024 திருக்குறள் கதைகள்
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/21
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: children-s-literature, tamil
review:
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Clever, short stories & straightforward funny dialogues make this a refreshing take on the age old classic.
]]> எழுத்து பிறந்த கதை 227991262 36 கோகிலா Kokila Vishnupriya 4 children-s-literature, tamil 4.00 2024 எழுத்து பிறந்த கதை
author: கோகிலா Kokila
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/20
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: children-s-literature, tamil
review:

]]> A Scandal in Bohemia 48677897 24 Arthur Conan Doyle 1980910855 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.14 1891 A Scandal in Bohemia
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1891
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Speckled Band 2029162
When Helen Stoner hears the same low whistle and strange metallic clang that heralded the death of her twin sister Julia, she knows of only one man who can unravel the mystery and prevent a second death in the family - the great Sherlock Holmes.]]> 45 Arthur Conan Doyle 1860920039 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.06 1892 The Speckled Band
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1892
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, #7)]]> 2395757
But a strange thing happens. Trivial is what Sherlock Holmes calls it. He's studying an old hat when Dr. Watson visits to wish him "The compliments of the season." Holmes tells Watson about Commissionaire Peterson's report of seeing a little knot of roughs assault a man carrying a Christmas goose home for the family. They all ran, leaving both the goose and the hat. No one could locate the man, Henry Baker, whose name was tagged to the goose so Peterson took possession.

Soon another strange thing - Mrs. Peterson found Morcar's fabulous blue jewel inside the goose while preparing it for their family festivities.

Can S.H. sort this all out?]]> 72 Arthur Conan Doyle 8124200238 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.83 1892 The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, #7)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1892
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)]]> 8921 256 Arthur Conan Doyle Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.16 1902 The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1902
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)]]> 102868
But it's not long before Sherlock Holmes, with Watson in tow, is working with Scotland Yard investigating the murder of two Americans whose deaths have some mysterious connection to sinister groups gathering power in both Britain and America.

Here's where it all began - 'A Study in Scarlet.' Meet Sherlock Holmes, one of the world's leading consulting detectives - fictional of course!]]> 123 Arthur Conan Doyle 1420925539 Vishnupriya 3
Unrelated to the book, but why do all shows portray Sherlock as rude & condescending, he's literally such a chill person, loves to explain his methods, tad bit eccentric - yes, but he's really not a jerk. Does he get rude in the next books?]]> 4.16 1887 A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1887
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/21
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: crime, classic, murder-mystery
review:
I fw Holmes, love Holmes-Watson chemistry, but the story was not it. The whole Mormon portion could have been cut - I was genuinely so confused by Part II and thought something was wrong with my e-book.

Unrelated to the book, but why do all shows portray Sherlock as rude & condescending, he's literally such a chill person, loves to explain his methods, tad bit eccentric - yes, but he's really not a jerk. Does he get rude in the next books?
]]> The Passion 15047
In her unique and mesmerizing voice, Winterson blends reality with fantasy, dream, and imagination to weave a hypnotic tale with stunning effects.]]> 160 Jeanette Winterson 0802135226 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.14 1987 The Passion
author: Jeanette Winterson
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat]]> 38318462
As you follow her story from forest to habitation, independence to motherhood, you recognise in its significant moments the depth and magnitude of your own fears and longings, fuelled by the instinct for survival that animates all life. Masterly and nuanced, Perumal Murugan’s tale forces us reflect on our own responses to hierarchy and ownership, selflessness and appetite, love and desire, living and dying. Poonachi is the story of a goat who carries the burden of being different all her life, of a she-goat who survives against the odds. It is equally an expression of solidarity with the animal world and the female condition. The tale is also a commentary on our times, on the choices we make as a society and a nation, and the increasing vulnerability of individuals, particularly writers and artists, who resist when they are pressed to submit.

Reviews for Poonachi

“Murugan’s sarcasm speaks of the robustness of his spirit … As in all his novels, (his) story is rich in detail … (He) sustains the narrative tension right from the start.”- Elizabeth Kuruvilla, The Hindu Literary Review]]> 179 Perumal Murugan Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.10 2016 Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat
author: Perumal Murugan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> One Part Woman 20655934 One Part Woman lays bare with unsparing clarity a relationship caught between the dictates of social convention and the tug of personal anxieties, vividly conjuring an intimate and unsettling portrait of marriage, love and sex.]]> 240 Perumal Murugan 0670086517 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.78 2010 One Part Woman
author: Perumal Murugan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> பனி மனிதன் 13110856 - ஜெயமோகன்]]> 216 Jeyamohan Vishnupriya 5 4.14 2009 பனி மனிதன்
author: Jeyamohan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]> யானை டாக்டர் 21457151 Jeyamohan Vishnupriya 5 4.61 2011 யானை டாக்டர்
author: Jeyamohan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Letters for a Nation : From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963]]> 23434088 352 Jawaharlal Nehru 0670087726 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.13 2016 Letters for a Nation : From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963
author: Jawaharlal Nehru
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Myth of Sisyphus 91950 The Myth of Sisyphus transformed twentieth-century philosophy with its impassioned argument for the value of life in a world without religious meaning.]]> 192 Albert Camus Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.22 1942 The Myth of Sisyphus
author: Albert Camus
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Notes from Underground 49455 Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) penned the darkly fascinating Notes from the Underground. Its nameless hero is a profoundly alienated individual in whose brooding self-analysis there is a search for the true and the good in a world of relative values and few absolutes. Moreover, the novel introduces themes — moral, religious, political and social — that dominated Dostoyevsky's later works. Notes from the Underground, then, aside from its own compelling qualities, offers readers an ideal introduction to the creative imagination, profundity and uncanny psychological penetration of one of the most influential novelists of the nineteenth century. Constance Garnett's authoritative translation is reprinted here, with a new introduction.]]> 136 Fyodor Dostoevsky 067973452X Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.20 1864 Notes from Underground
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1864
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Indian Polity 20656089 1266 M. Laxmikanth 9383286997 Vishnupriya 5 upsc-prep 4.44 2009 Indian Polity
author: M. Laxmikanth
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/20
date added: 2025/12/19
shelves: upsc-prep
review:
Forced to shelf an 'academic book' to meet the year's reading goals 😭
]]> Gone Girl 19288043 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

Who are you?
What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.

So what did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?]]> 415 Gillian Flynn 0307588378 Vishnupriya 4 4.22 2012 Gone Girl
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/20
date added: 2025/12/19
shelves: thrillers, psychological-thriller, fiction
review:
I love twists with clever foreshadowing :)
]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)]]> 16343
A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.

All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie's well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. Poirot also appears, in this period, in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel and short story has its own entry on Goodreads.]]> 121 Agatha Christie 0646418432 Vishnupriya 5
Agatha Christie. This name kept popping up in my phone, first in some Instagram post about crime novels or something, then in another and so on. I knew her as a writer but nothing more. Seeing the name a bunch of times in a single day, intrigued me, so I googled her for a while and ultimately decided to buy her books. The very first book she wrote is "The mysterious Affair at Styles". And it is definitely worth reading.

Before starting my take on the novel, I will give you the slightest gist of the story. (Who likes spoilers for a crime novel?)

Captain Hastings was invited as a guest by John Cavendish to his step-mother’s mansion at Styles. But things aren't so well at styles, where everyone in the house seemed to be arguing in hushed tones. But, worse happens (Yes, someone died) when Emily Inglethrope, the stepmother of Cavendish, heiress of a wealthy fortune is murdered mysteriously. The list of suspects is brimming, with the much younger husband, not-so-happy stepsons, mysterious daughter-in-law, and whatnots. Police are clueless. And Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective supreme, sets out to find the murderer.

This book was written a hundred years ago in 1920, and you should read this book because it keeps someone born a century later, on the edge. What makes this book and Christie special is the way she weaves the mystery. No wonder, they call her the 'Queen of mystery'. The whole book is a slow build-up to the climax. There are no unbelievable revelations at the end of every chapter. The story has these subtle clues, tucked away as a seemingly important less piece of information. Some of which I picked up the first time, some I will see later when I re-read.

And the characters and plot are amazingly written. Speaking of amazingly written characters, this book introduces “Hercule Poirot”, the long-standing detective who appeared in 33 full-length novels and 50 short stories. His character is calm, funny and kinda cartoonish.

It's a great crime story that I would curl up with any day. The novel is not violent or graphic, so I would say a 12-year-old would find it an interesting read.]]> 3.99 1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1920
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/11
date added: 2025/12/13
shelves: crime, fiction, murder-mystery, thrillers
review:
The Mysterious Affairs at Styles

Agatha Christie. This name kept popping up in my phone, first in some Instagram post about crime novels or something, then in another and so on. I knew her as a writer but nothing more. Seeing the name a bunch of times in a single day, intrigued me, so I googled her for a while and ultimately decided to buy her books. The very first book she wrote is "The mysterious Affair at Styles". And it is definitely worth reading.

Before starting my take on the novel, I will give you the slightest gist of the story. (Who likes spoilers for a crime novel?)

Captain Hastings was invited as a guest by John Cavendish to his step-mother’s mansion at Styles. But things aren't so well at styles, where everyone in the house seemed to be arguing in hushed tones. But, worse happens (Yes, someone died) when Emily Inglethrope, the stepmother of Cavendish, heiress of a wealthy fortune is murdered mysteriously. The list of suspects is brimming, with the much younger husband, not-so-happy stepsons, mysterious daughter-in-law, and whatnots. Police are clueless. And Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective supreme, sets out to find the murderer.

This book was written a hundred years ago in 1920, and you should read this book because it keeps someone born a century later, on the edge. What makes this book and Christie special is the way she weaves the mystery. No wonder, they call her the 'Queen of mystery'. The whole book is a slow build-up to the climax. There are no unbelievable revelations at the end of every chapter. The story has these subtle clues, tucked away as a seemingly important less piece of information. Some of which I picked up the first time, some I will see later when I re-read.

And the characters and plot are amazingly written. Speaking of amazingly written characters, this book introduces “Hercule Poirot”, the long-standing detective who appeared in 33 full-length novels and 50 short stories. His character is calm, funny and kinda cartoonish.

It's a great crime story that I would curl up with any day. The novel is not violent or graphic, so I would say a 12-year-old would find it an interesting read.
]]> Speak 439288
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.]]> 202 Laurie Halse Anderson 014131088X Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.01 1999 Speak
author: Laurie Halse Anderson
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Richest Man in Babylon 43097201 160 George S. Clason 9388118359 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 4.17 1926 The Richest Man in Babylon
author: George S. Clason
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1926
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli in his World]]> 36236113 384 Erica Benner 0393355810 Vishnupriya 0 to-read 3.91 2017 Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli in his World
author: Erica Benner
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones]]> 40121378 Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:
- Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
- Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.]]> 319 James Clear Vishnupriya 4
You probably got it figured from the title, this book is all about Habits; Cultivating good ones and breaking free of the bad ones. The book went through four laws (make it obvious, attractive, easy, satisfying) for creating lasting habits and each of them are illustrated vividly with an example of a great athlete or businessman or someone applying the principle. Then the psychology behind the principle is explained with real life applications, like cutting back on screen time or getting into shape.

The application of these principles were very practical and the writing was clear and concise.

Reading this book is definitely going to give you some good ideas on how to make your habits stick.
]]> 4.31 2018 Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
author: James Clear
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2025/11/22
shelves: self-help, personal-development, motivational
review:
This is the first book I’ve read on the self help/personal development genre. I expected a dry, tedious read. But, boy, was I wrong. Each chapter of the book was quite short, straightforward, entertaining and made for an overall pleasant reading experience.

You probably got it figured from the title, this book is all about Habits; Cultivating good ones and breaking free of the bad ones. The book went through four laws (make it obvious, attractive, easy, satisfying) for creating lasting habits and each of them are illustrated vividly with an example of a great athlete or businessman or someone applying the principle. Then the psychology behind the principle is explained with real life applications, like cutting back on screen time or getting into shape.

The application of these principles were very practical and the writing was clear and concise.

Reading this book is definitely going to give you some good ideas on how to make your habits stick.

]]> The Kite Runner 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Vishnupriya 4 4.34 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/17
date added: 2025/11/22
shelves:
review:
This book had me so invested, that I stayed up late to finish this which is a rare feat for me these days. The writing is rich with descriptions. The characters are well written. I felt connected to them, I could put myself in their shoes and somewhat understand where they are coming from. The metaphors and symbolisms could have been a *little* subtle but still it was pleasing aesthetically. The story itself is the saddest, it will engulf you absolutely. Warning though, This book will make you shed a tear. Overall a great read. If you haven't read this book yet, read it now ❤️‍
]]> The Metamorphosis 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]> 201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 Vishnupriya 4 3.92 1915 The Metamorphosis
author: Franz Kafka
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/11/22
shelves: classic, fiction, philosophical
review:
Kafka takes a situation so improbable and writes it like he has lived it. Very interesting. A good novella to kick you out of the reading stump. The controlling father layer adds an intriguing layer to the story. I liked it.
]]> Unfinished 55538528
A remarkable life story rooted in two different worlds, Unfinished offers insights into Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s childhood in India; her formative teenage years in the United States; and her return to India, where against all odds as a newcomer to the pageant world, she won the national and international beauty competitions that launched her global acting career. Whether reflecting on her nomadic early years or the challenges she has faced as she has doggedly pursued her calling, Priyanka shares her challenges and triumphs with warmth and honesty. The result is a book that is philosophical, sassy, inspiring, bold, and rebellious. Just like the author herself.

From her dual-continent twenty-year-long career as an actor and producer to her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, from losing her beloved father to cancer to marrying Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s story will inspire a generation around the world to gather their courage, embrace their ambition, and commit to the hard work of following their dreams.]]> 256 Priyanka Chopra Jonas 1984819216 Vishnupriya 3
10/10 for the audiobook version.]]> 3.64 2021 Unfinished
author: Priyanka Chopra Jonas
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/09
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:
A good book with a sassy narrator to pass your time but nothing too impactful or anything.

10/10 for the audiobook version.
]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Vishnupriya 4 4.31 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/09
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:
Though, it was actually quite an interesting book about the evolution of homo sapiens, I took foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr to read it 🤷‍♀️ This book provides a fresh perspective on us humans as a species. I found the parts about religion and the concept of money to be particularly interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[The Importance of Being Earnest]]> 92303
Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.]]> 89 Oscar Wilde 158049580X Vishnupriya 4 classic, satire, play 4.17 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1895
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves: classic, satire, play
review:
If you read for pleasure, read this. Witty writing and a simple story. Really short, right to the point, entertaining play. Classic wilde sass ✅
]]> <![CDATA[The A.B.C. Murders (Hercule Poirot, #13)]]> 16322
There's a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway Guide beside each victim's body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover, and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill, who will then be Victim C? More importantly, why is this happening?

Often considered to be one of Agatha Christie's best.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on Goodreads.]]> 207 Agatha Christie 1579126243 Vishnupriya 4 4.03 1936 The A.B.C. Murders (Hercule Poirot, #13)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1936
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves: crime, fiction, murder-mystery
review:

]]> The Mother 29337783
“A book of the utmost importance”, in the words of Lenin, and a landmark in Russian literature, The Mother – here presented in a brilliant new version by Hugh Aplin, the first English translation in almost a century – will enchant modern readers both for its historical significance and its intrinsic value as a work of art.]]> 384 Maxim Gorky 1847495648 Vishnupriya 5
Gorky's most famous work till date, "The Mother '' follows Pelageya Nilovna Vlassova. At first, she is a weary wife to an abusive drunkard with whom she has a teenage son, Pavel. The Russian communist literature is set up in a factory on the city outskirts. The factory sucks half the life out of the proletariat in the day with its poor working condition, low pay and unbelievably heavy labor. And at night, what remaining life they have in them is drowned in alcohol. Living like this, very expectedly, Pelageya's husband dies. Leaving Pelageya with the full responsibility of managing the house and raising their son, Pavel.

Pavel, who at first seemed to be following his father's footstep and becoming a drunkard, changed path and began reading books on socialism. After reading the prohibited books, Pavel involved himself with socialist youngsters and began holding meetings in his home and distributing pamphlets about socialism among the workers. Pelgeya, illiterate and uneducated about politics, was afraid of these revolutionary principles in the beginning. With time however she began carrying books and pamphlets for the cause. By the end of the book, She was as much an inspiring revolutionary as her young son.

The character development in the novel was well done. All the characters were well-written but the most elaborately created character arc was of the titular character, Pelgaya. Her character was slowly yet steadily transformed throughout the novel from a depraved, disheartened housewife to "The mother" who is wise, brave, absolutely committed to "the cause" and hopeful of a bright dawn on the working class. The transformation was so seamless that I didn't even notice that the Pelgeya at the end of the book is completely different from the person introduced at the start.

The novel's greatest strength is how it is rooted in realism. The novel is based on historical events and the settings which caused great revolutions to happen in Russia. Gorky keeps the scene and characters as close to the truth as possible. The characters are lifelike and multi-dimensional. They have their own agendas that don't always revolve around the protagonist.

The writing is very simple and easy to read as it was targeted towards the general masses. The Tamil translation was brilliant.

Though this book is considered as a means to spread communist propaganda, it is honestly more than that. The story of the mother, tugs at your heart strings. The fleshed out characters in their authentic environment make this book a wholesome read.

If you are into communism, Russian history or just history in general, you should be reading this. The character development and the plot alone makes this a must read book.]]> 3.97 1906 The Mother
author: Maxim Gorky
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1906
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves: historical-fiction, history, tamil, political
review:
The book is about the rise of socialism in Russia in response to the inhumane living conditions experienced by the working class.

Gorky's most famous work till date, "The Mother '' follows Pelageya Nilovna Vlassova. At first, she is a weary wife to an abusive drunkard with whom she has a teenage son, Pavel. The Russian communist literature is set up in a factory on the city outskirts. The factory sucks half the life out of the proletariat in the day with its poor working condition, low pay and unbelievably heavy labor. And at night, what remaining life they have in them is drowned in alcohol. Living like this, very expectedly, Pelageya's husband dies. Leaving Pelageya with the full responsibility of managing the house and raising their son, Pavel.

Pavel, who at first seemed to be following his father's footstep and becoming a drunkard, changed path and began reading books on socialism. After reading the prohibited books, Pavel involved himself with socialist youngsters and began holding meetings in his home and distributing pamphlets about socialism among the workers. Pelgeya, illiterate and uneducated about politics, was afraid of these revolutionary principles in the beginning. With time however she began carrying books and pamphlets for the cause. By the end of the book, She was as much an inspiring revolutionary as her young son.

The character development in the novel was well done. All the characters were well-written but the most elaborately created character arc was of the titular character, Pelgaya. Her character was slowly yet steadily transformed throughout the novel from a depraved, disheartened housewife to "The mother" who is wise, brave, absolutely committed to "the cause" and hopeful of a bright dawn on the working class. The transformation was so seamless that I didn't even notice that the Pelgeya at the end of the book is completely different from the person introduced at the start.

The novel's greatest strength is how it is rooted in realism. The novel is based on historical events and the settings which caused great revolutions to happen in Russia. Gorky keeps the scene and characters as close to the truth as possible. The characters are lifelike and multi-dimensional. They have their own agendas that don't always revolve around the protagonist.

The writing is very simple and easy to read as it was targeted towards the general masses. The Tamil translation was brilliant.

Though this book is considered as a means to spread communist propaganda, it is honestly more than that. The story of the mother, tugs at your heart strings. The fleshed out characters in their authentic environment make this book a wholesome read.

If you are into communism, Russian history or just history in general, you should be reading this. The character development and the plot alone makes this a must read book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5)]]> 18705209 Nico had warned them. Going through the House of Hades would stir the demigods' worst memories. Their ghosts would become restless. Nico may actually become a ghost if he has to shadow-travel with Reyna and Coach Hedge one more time. But that might be better than the alternative: allowing someone else to die, as Hades foretold.

Jason's ghost is his mother, who abandoned him when he was little. He may not know how he is going to prove himself as a leader, but he does know that he will not break promises like she did. He will complete his line of the prophecy: To storm or fire the world must fall.

Reyna fears the ghosts of her ancestors, who radiate anger. But she can't allow them to distract her from getting the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood before war breaks out between the Romans and Greeks. Will she have enough strength to succeed, especially with a deadly hunter on her trail?

Leo fears that his plan won't work, that his friends might interfere. But there is no other way. All of them know that one of the Seven has to die in order to defeat Gaea, the Earth Mother.

Piper must learn to give herself over to fear. Only then will she be able to do her part at the end: utter a single word.

Heroes, gods, and monsters all have a role to play in the climactic fulfillment of the prophecy in The Blood of Olympus, the electrifying finale of the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.]]> 516 Rick Riordan Vishnupriya 4 4.41 2014 The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Demigod Diaries (The Heroes of Olympus)]]> 12959086 244 Rick Riordan 1423163001 Vishnupriya 4 4.10 2012 The Demigod Diaries (The Heroes of Olympus)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)]]> 12127810 Hazel stands at a crossroads. She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reincarnated in the mortal world. Whichever road they decide to take, they have to hurry, because time is running out. Gaea, the bloodthirsty Earth Mother, has set the date of August 1 for her rise to power.

Annabeth and Percy are overwhelmed. How will the two of them make it through Tartarus? Starving, thirsty, and in pain, they are barely able to stumble on in the dark and poisonous landscape that holds new horrors at every turn. They have no way of locating the Doors of Death. Even if they did, a legion of Gaea's strongest monsters guards the Doors on the Tartarus side. Annabeth and Percy can't exactly launch a frontal assault.

Despite the terrible odds, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and the other demigods of the prophecy know that there is only one choice: to attempt the impossible. Not just for themselves, but for everyone they love. Even though love can be the riskiest choice of all.

Join the demigods as they face their biggest challenges yet in The House of Hades, the hair-raising penultimate book in the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.]]> 597 Rick Riordan 1423146727 Vishnupriya 5 4.56 2013 The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)]]> 7736182 JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids," as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.]]> 576 Rick Riordan 142311339X Vishnupriya 4 4.27 2010 The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)]]> 9520360 PERCY IS CONFUSED. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth.

HAZEL IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem—when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wishes she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

FRANK IS A KLUTZ. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery—although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially in front of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely—enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.]]> 521 Rick Riordan 1423140591 Vishnupriya 4 4.40 2011 The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)]]> 4556058
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.]]> 381 Rick Riordan 1423101472 Vishnupriya 5 4.59 2009 The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2)]]> 40727118 Qui d'autre que Percy Jackson (c'est moi), demi-dieu et fils de Poséidon, pour tout t'apprendre sur les secrets de l'Olympe ?

Je commence par une devinette : qui règne sur l'Olympe ?
Zeus, bonne réponse.
Mais avant lui, il y avait les Titans... Sombre histoire, des mangeurs d'enfants, violents, vengeurs, et j'en passe.
Prépare-toi, ça va saigner.]]> 279 Rick Riordan 0120000318 Vishnupriya 4 4.23 2006 The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Vishnupriya
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]>