My year in books

This is a post inspired by the erstwhile POTUS, Barack Obama, no less! End of every year, Mr Obama publishes a list of his favourite books for that year. Reading through his list, I started thinking of the books I have read over the past year. I had imagined that it would be fairly easy to compile my list as I don't read as much. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that smooth as I experienced several senior moments - firstly, not able to recall all the books, and then, not being able to determine whether I had read certain books during the current year or the last, duh! That said, following is the list of the books that I think I have started and completed during 2022, in no particular order, with my quick notes and rating. 

English:

1. A Promised Land - Barack Obama. Exhaustive & exhausting. The longest read this year. I found it worthwhile and enjoyable. 4/5

2. Will - Will Smith. Mediocre content but nevertheless, entertaining. 2.5/5

3. Beyond the Last Blue Mountain - A life of JRD - RM Lala. A quick, bordering on superficial, peek into JRD's extraordinary life. 2.5/5

4. Four Thousand Weeks - Oliver Burkeman. A satisfactory read with plenty of moments that resonated with me. 3.5/5

5. Never Split the Difference - Negotiating as if your life depending on it -Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz. Can't say I learnt enough negotiation tactics but I sure enjoyed Voss's stories. And to me, that was value enough! 3.5/5

6. Wings of Fire - APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari. A simple book, reflective of the simple yet exceptional person that Sri APJ was. Inspirational and fulfilling. 4/5

7. A man called Ove - Fredrik Backman. Emotional & heartwarming. 4.5/5

8. Anxious People - Fredrik Backman. Another story that makes the heart ache. 4.5/5

9. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine - Gail Honeyman. I quite liked it. So you see the trend - heartwarming novels remain the closest to my heart. 4.5/5

10. Blandings Castle - PG Wodehouse. It is a PGW - need I say more?

11. Maus - Art Spiegelman. A graphic novel on holocaust. Always heart-wrenching, this is special because of the unusual approach. 4.5/5

12. Ikigai - Miralles and Garcia. Outstanding work. Worth its weight in gold! 5/5

13. Atomic habits - James Clear. I remember this being a good book, but it was early in the year and I can't remember most of it. Senior moments, here we go again! 3.5/5

14. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho. Repeat read, so 5/5

15. Sapiens - Yuval Harari. Repeat read. 5/5

16. The greatest works of Oscar Wilde - Wilde. The Oscar Wilde.. Enough said! 5/5

17. Down Under - Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson's insights on Australia. What is not to like? 4.5/5

Hindi:

1. Gaban- Premchand. Every word written by Premchand is 10/5 for me. 

2. Boodhi Kaki and other stories. - Premchand.

3. Roz Savere- Narendra Kohli - Nice read, the lack of breadth is compensated by the depth of writing. 3.5/5

4. Manto ki sarvashreth kahaniyan - Manto- Tad difficult to comprehend due to so many Urdu/Hindustani words. Awe-inspiring. 4.5/5

That's all, folks! I will edit the post if I can remember any more.