Reading List - October

Well, October began 12 days back, and I have to admit to some lack of discipline in my reading challenge for September. I finished The Night Watch and San Andreas in time, though An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth is still very much a work-in-progress. Besides, a week-long trip to home culminated in further digression, as I picked up some other works too (which I shall report on in due time). So, I'll be rolling forward the last month's dues and fix my targets for October, some of which I have already embarked on.

1. The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 2: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud: The trilogy came highly recommended to me by a colleague and Book 1: The Amulet of Samarkand did manage to hold my attention rather well. Given that everything magical pales in comparison to Harry Potter, I was wary of embarking on The Amulet, reminding myself of how I had been disappointed in Artemis Fowl. But its been quite some time since Harry saw off his sons on the Hogwarts Express, and my appetite for the other-worldly has recovered. At least, that's how I felt when I finished The Amulet. Bartimaeus himself is an absolute pleasure, and so it is with much eagerness, that I have plunged into The Golem's Eye and though I am barely a few chapters in, its already becoming difficult to tear myself off it.

2. HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean: This one, I am supposed to start reading for so many reasons; the primary of which is that it happens to be the seminal book of Alistair MacLean, and as a rabid fan of his works, I am almost ashamed to have not tackled it. I did make a stab at it many years back, but I was overwhelmed by the technicalities. There's more to MacLean's stories than just the ship's hull and anchor and the transmitters and receivers and the men and women of MacLean's stories stoke my imaginations about the dangerous yet noble (nobler?) times of the past. It might take me more than a month to do justice to the book, especially given that twenty four hours is all that I have to do everything in a day.

The third is of course, An Astronaut's Guide, which, since it is nearing completion, should allow me additional time on HMS Ulysses. Needless to say, I cannot strictly restrict myself to these three works alone (as was evident in last month's progress), but it is certainly panning out to be a month filled with action, albeit on paper.

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