oh, don't you dare look back
I am home! I'm sad vacation is over and also that it's cold out, but it is nice to be home. Less nice is the fact that I apparently lost my secret stash of extra cash (tucked between Always pads in a little pouch), because it wasn't in my purse or my tote bag, and I doubt I packed it in the suitcase that I checked, though I don't have enough energy to sort through that right now. I'm also not looking forward to having to go to work tomorrow, but I suppose that's my own fault for not taking the rest of the week off. At least it's a three day weekend coming up, so I can unpack and also catch up on all the TV I've missed.
Anyway, tomorrow I'll try to make a more complete (if not entirely comprehensible) post about the trip, but since it's Wednesday, and I've finished a few books since we last spoke, I figured I'd do the Wednesday reading meme:
What I've just finished
I finished off Verdigris Deep the night before I left. It was good. I enjoyed it. It was an interesting cautionary tale about why you should never steal coins from a wishing well, with some lovely writing.
I brought three paperbacks with me on the trip and finished all three, which were all also by the same author. Back in late 2013 (I think?) there were a few posts on my flist about the novels of Anuja Chauhan, which were not at the time available in the US - I believe they're being released here this year by Harper Collins? - but a couple of months ago, I got my hands on copies via half.com. But I very rarely read paper books anymore, so they just sat unread for a while. Until I decided to take them with me, since there's always those ten minutes when you have to turn your electronic devices off on the plane etc.
So first I read The Zoya Factor, which is about junior ad exec Zoya Solanki, who was born at the exact moment that India last won the cricket World Cup (27 years ago!), and so the team comes to believe she's a lucky charm for them after they win after she's had breakfast with them. And she and the team captain, Nikhil Khoda, have an excellently sparky romance. I thought their misunderstandings went on a little too long, but overall I enjoyed this tremendously, even though I understand nothing about cricket. I read this in one day, most of which was spent on a plane/waiting at the airport.
Then I read Battle for Bittora, which I didn't like quite as much, mostly because the main couple - Jinni and Zain - are willing to believe terrible things of each other as they run against each other in a local election. I probably would have gotten more out of this if I knew anything about Indian politics - it's a pretty scathing satire of elections in general, I thought - but I just felt like Jinni, in particular, was eventually really nonchalant about running (even though it wasn't her decision; possibly especially because it wasn't her decision to run). Still, it was enjoyable, and I wanted to know a lot more about her grandmother, Pushpa Pande.
And then over this past weekend I finished Those Pricey Thakur Girls, which was an amazing and hilarious "Pride and Prejudice" riff. I laughed out loud a lot, and I loved all the family shenanigans that went on around the romance - all of Chauhan's books have a lot more going for them than just the romance - and I especially loved that I was right about what the Judge was up to on his secret phone calls.
And then on the plane home today, I read Family Life by Akhil Sharma (bought in the newsstand at the airport, just to continue the Indian writers theme of the trip), which has some strong writing (the Hemingway influence is noticeable in a good way) but is much too slice of life and depressing for me to recommend. Nothing really happens and the ending feels abrupt. Ajay's brother has a tragic accident and the family has to cope. *hands* I left it on the plane when I disembarked (which, admittedly, was the plan). I kind of wish I'd bought one of the other two books that intrigued me instead though.
What I'm reading now
For the rest of the flight home, I started Frances Hardinge's Fly By Night, but I'm not far enough into it to have an opinion yet.
What I'm reading next
????
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/726322.html.
people have commented there.
Anyway, tomorrow I'll try to make a more complete (if not entirely comprehensible) post about the trip, but since it's Wednesday, and I've finished a few books since we last spoke, I figured I'd do the Wednesday reading meme:
What I've just finished
I finished off Verdigris Deep the night before I left. It was good. I enjoyed it. It was an interesting cautionary tale about why you should never steal coins from a wishing well, with some lovely writing.
I brought three paperbacks with me on the trip and finished all three, which were all also by the same author. Back in late 2013 (I think?) there were a few posts on my flist about the novels of Anuja Chauhan, which were not at the time available in the US - I believe they're being released here this year by Harper Collins? - but a couple of months ago, I got my hands on copies via half.com. But I very rarely read paper books anymore, so they just sat unread for a while. Until I decided to take them with me, since there's always those ten minutes when you have to turn your electronic devices off on the plane etc.
So first I read The Zoya Factor, which is about junior ad exec Zoya Solanki, who was born at the exact moment that India last won the cricket World Cup (27 years ago!), and so the team comes to believe she's a lucky charm for them after they win after she's had breakfast with them. And she and the team captain, Nikhil Khoda, have an excellently sparky romance. I thought their misunderstandings went on a little too long, but overall I enjoyed this tremendously, even though I understand nothing about cricket. I read this in one day, most of which was spent on a plane/waiting at the airport.
Then I read Battle for Bittora, which I didn't like quite as much, mostly because the main couple - Jinni and Zain - are willing to believe terrible things of each other as they run against each other in a local election. I probably would have gotten more out of this if I knew anything about Indian politics - it's a pretty scathing satire of elections in general, I thought - but I just felt like Jinni, in particular, was eventually really nonchalant about running (even though it wasn't her decision; possibly especially because it wasn't her decision to run). Still, it was enjoyable, and I wanted to know a lot more about her grandmother, Pushpa Pande.
And then over this past weekend I finished Those Pricey Thakur Girls, which was an amazing and hilarious "Pride and Prejudice" riff. I laughed out loud a lot, and I loved all the family shenanigans that went on around the romance - all of Chauhan's books have a lot more going for them than just the romance - and I especially loved that I was right about what the Judge was up to on his secret phone calls.
And then on the plane home today, I read Family Life by Akhil Sharma (bought in the newsstand at the airport, just to continue the Indian writers theme of the trip), which has some strong writing (the Hemingway influence is noticeable in a good way) but is much too slice of life and depressing for me to recommend. Nothing really happens and the ending feels abrupt. Ajay's brother has a tragic accident and the family has to cope. *hands* I left it on the plane when I disembarked (which, admittedly, was the plan). I kind of wish I'd bought one of the other two books that intrigued me instead though.
What I'm reading now
For the rest of the flight home, I started Frances Hardinge's Fly By Night, but I'm not far enough into it to have an opinion yet.
What I'm reading next
????
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/726322.html.