Tag: books

I wrote a blog post talking about how I write down lines from books I’m reading. Here are some lines that I loved from the books that I read in Q1 2017:

Everything that happens doesn’t mean something else. – The Sunset Limited

She had heard it said that humans are supposed only to use about a tenth of their brains, and that no one was very clear what the other nine tenths were for, but she had certainly never heard it suggested that they were using for storing penguins. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Dirk hardly liked to think. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

She found him exactly where he was not supposed to be. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

No private detective looks like a private detective. That’s one of the first rules of private detection. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

It was his subconscious which told him this – that infuriating part of a person’s brain which never responds to interrogation, merely gives little meaningful nudges and then sits humming quietly to itself, saying nothing. – The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

The music stopped abruptly, with the air of having delivered exactly five cents worth of joy. – Player Piano

“Tell me about today.” “Nothing about today. One more, like all the rest.” – Player Piano

The two were inseparable, though their personalities met at almost no point. Together, they made an approximately whole man. – Player Piano

Yeah, it’s tough – like anything else. Tough to be the best. – Player Piano

The television cameras dollied and panned around him like curious, friendly dinosaurs, sniffing and peering. – Player Piano

I do know that it’s far easier to ask questions than to answer them. – Player Piano

“I want a stronger word than happy.” – Player Piano

The truth can never be spoken without someone getting hurt, John. – Player Piano

Jimmy, I.Q. isn’t everything. Some of the unhappiest people in this world are the smartest ones. – Player Piano

Here you are at a crossroads, my boy. You’re lucky. Not many crossroads left for people. Nothing but one-way streets with cliffs on both sides. – Player Piano

We’ll rediscover the two greatest wonders of the world, the human mind and hand. – Player Piano

One of my goals of 2016 was to read 24 books over the course of the year. According to Goodreads, I ended up reading 33 books. This makes me happy.

Here are (in no particular order) some of my favorite books that I read last year:

• The Nightingale
• The Complete Maus (favorite graphic novel I read in 2016)
• Ghostwritten
• Contact
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
• The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (favorite collection of short stories I read in 2016)

It’s quite hard for me to pick one book as “Karan’s Book of the Year” for 2016. Each the books above had great stories, were well written, made me experience a smorgasbord of emotions, and had something that stuck to my soul long after the book was over. If I was forced to pick one, I would have to say that book would be The Nightingale. I felt that this book was pure literary perfection. As I said about the book in September —

I LOVED this book! It’s beautifully written, with an engaging story, a haunting backdrop, and well developed characters. It made me cry quite a bit. This is one of my favorite books of all time

(why yes, I did just quote myself)

This simplistic review doesn’t even come close to describing how breathtakingly sublime The Nightingale is. Please read this book.

I wrote a blog post talking about how I write down lines from books I’m reading. Here are some lines that I loved from the books that I read in October:

If you’d take your head out of the clouds and look around you now and then you’d be surprised at what you see. — Asterios Polyp

Life is stressful dear. That’s why they say “rest in peace.” — Asterios Polyp

After all, folks aren’t so hard to figure out, y’know — you just ignore what they say and watch what they do. — Asterios Polyp

How can we call death — about which we know nothing — the opposite of life, when we barely comprehend life itself? — Asterios Polyp

I am the hero of my own story. — Asterios Polyp

Her breath is wine-sweet, and she has one of those smiles that seem architecturally impossible. It still slays me. — Dark Matter

He laughs. Beautifully. — Dark Matter

Perfect in their imperfection and asymmetry, like a range of mountains. Or the shape of a river. — Dark Matter

I’ve always been an ardent fan of physical books, refusing to read e-books as much as possible. There’s something about the feel of a non-electronic book, of how you can feel the weight and texture of a physical tome, and how the book smells, and how the pages rustle when the wind blows fiercely (San Francisco is surprisingly windy at times), that I find irresistible.

But the times are changing, and I decided to give e-books a try. This had nothing to do with Amazon adding free e-books as a Prime benefit. That was simply a coincidence.

I’ve been reading my first e-book on my iPhone for the past 10 days now. Here’s how I feel about e-books so far:

• I miss everything I wrote in the first paragraph of this post about physical books. 
• Having a book pretty much always with you (since I was reading this book on my phone) is excellent. I find it hard to carry a book with me unless I’m also carrying a backpack, but when the book is on your phone this is a non-issue. I’ve found myself reading much more as a result of this. Previous moments of solitary, aimless waiting have now been transformed into consumption of passages of an e-book.
• I typically read 2-3 books at a time, and having the ability to carry all of them with me always will be great.
• I have a (bad) habit of folding down the corners of pages of books. I do this when the page has a nice line (or lines) that I would like write down at some point. With e-books this is another non-issue — I simply highlight the lines in the app. Though this does take out the fun of going back to a page I folded and trying to figure out which line caught my attention in the first place.
• Reading in between sets at the gym is fun. Though sometimes I lose track of time and end up with unintentionally long breaks.
• One of the more interesting things about having physical books on display, say on a book shelf, or lying untidily in a pile by your bed, is that they are a great conversation starter. Or even a conversation killer. With e-books this facet of reading is lost.

Overall I’ve quite enjoyed my first encounter with an e-book. I don’t see it ever replacing physical books for me, but I do see it augmenting my reading experience moving forward.

I discovered The Folio Society yesterday. I instantly fell in love with a number of their books, and I’m currently trying to decide which book(s) I want to purchase for myself. I’ve always loved books, and am starting to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of art (SF MOMA and the de Young Museum are some of my favorite places in the city). I can’t wait to add these books to my personal library.

I wrote a blog post talking about how I write down lines from books I’m reading. Here are some lines that I loved from the books that I read in September:

(I also just realized that both the books I read in September were about World War 2)

People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore. — Slaughterhouse-Five

But sleep would not come. Tears came instead.  — Slaughterhouse-Five

“That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones.” — Slaughterhouse-Five

“Other people’s dreams aren’t very interesting, usually.” — Slaughterhouse-Five

The worst can always be true. — The Nightingale

Inside, the house echoed the voice of a man who wasn’t there. — The Nightingale

I belong to a generation that didn’t expect to be protected from every danger. — The Nightingale

Vianne finished the letter and immediately began reading it again. — The Nightingale

But when he looked at her — and she looked at him — they both knew that there was something worse than kissing the wrong person.
It was wanting to.
— The Nightingale

“Now that you’ve met me, you’ll never be able to forget me. That’s something.” — The Nightingale

I see the surgeon in him suddenly, the man who is used to staring past blood and bone to find what is broken. — The Nightingale

How can I start at the beginning, when all I can think about is the end? — The Nightingale

“Some stories don’t have happy endings. Even love stories. Maybe especially love stories.” — The Nightingale

I wrote a blog post talking about how I write down lines from books I’m reading. Here are some lines that I loved from the book that I read in August:

It’s tough to live with people stuck in the past, isn’t it? — Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. — Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I exist to serve. — Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Thank you for being my light in the darkness. — Harry Potter and the Cursed Child