Starting early
I have always enjoyed a good story! In school, before starting every new academic year, I used to pick up my English literature books and read through all the chapters as stories.
Being transformed
One of my favourite books is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I read it when I was still in school before it appeared in our curriculum a few years later, and remember being so moved by it. Ever since, I have always tried to live my life as the new, transformed Ebenezer Scrooge.
On my fave list
This may be hotly contested, but I really love some of Dan Brown’s works! Such gripping storylines, such impeccable research. I am such a cliché, but I do find myself gravitating towards the crime fiction aisle first at an airport bookstore. There is something inexplicably satisfying about reading a racy crime novel on an airplane! I guess clichés do exist for a reason.
Reading on the go
My work makes me travel a lot, and I use the time on planes and on the road to catch up on my reading list. I don’t always succeed, but I try to read two a month. However, for the last few months, I have barely averaged one.
Sources of info
For recommendations, friends and family are my primary sources. The New York Times bestseller list is another one — you cannot go wrong with that one!
A digital friend
Kindle is my friend; it’s so convenient when you are on the road as much as I am. But at home, I prefer the touch and smell of an old book.
Currently reading
I’m currently reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Shantaram by G D Roberts and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex.
Bookish memory
I met my best friend at a bookstore in Connaught Place in Delhi some 14 years ago!
Best book adaptation
In the spirit of the season, I’d say the book adaptation I love is Game of Thrones! I haven’t read the books, but if the show is this brilliant, can’t imagine what the books would be like!
Magical dream
At the cost of sounding like a dork, I was one of those millions of kids who wanted to live in the world of Harry Potter. Being part of the films would have been the closest one could get to realising that fantasy.
From book to film
I would love to see Chitra Banerjee’s Palace of Illusions made into a film.
Liar, liar
I haven’t read Gone with the Wind, but I claimed to have read that book…(melting away in shame!).
Must reads
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini, George Orwell’s 1984, and all Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
