December 7, 2010

2011 South Asian Challenge

Just happened to read about the 2011 South Aisan Challenge from Monika and Swaram and I am so excited about it!

I have been a book lover for as long as I can remember.  Books are a big part of my life and I love surrouding myself with books though of late this is the only thing that I seem to be doing, surrounding myself with more and more books and not actually reading them. Still I can proudly say that at any point of time, I would be having at least a book in my current reading list.  Allz not lost yet!

So when I came across this Challenge, I thought of grabbing up the opportunity.  I have been reading more books by Indian Authors lately and this seems to gel in so well with my current interest.  (Out of the measly 12 books that I read in 2010, 7 are by Indian Authors!!) Its also such a great opportunity to come across new authors.  This is also the first time that I am taking up any kind of challenge here and really have no clue as to how well I will be able to progress with the time constraints.  But why to put limits ….. I am ambitious and planning to read at least 10 South Asian books in 2011!  Here’s a list I have drawn up immediately upon hearing of the challenge.  Longing to start working on this and to add more!

1)      The Mistress of Spices – Chitra Banerjee
2)      The House of Blue Mangoes – David Davidar
3)      Shalimar The Clown – Salman Rushdie
4)      Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
5)      Saraswati Park – Anjali Jospeh
6)      Six Suspects – Vikas Swarup
7)      The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai (This is a re-read partly.  I am not sure if it counts)
8)     Mahashwetha - Sudha Murthy


So while you read up more about the challenge, I will go ahead and sign up here.  Happy reading to you all!

5 comments:

Swaram said...

Wow! Welcome and I ws planning to re-read Shantaram. Thatz part of my challenge too :)

Mana said...

Gregory David Roberts is an aussie author. According to rules, does it qualify?

Sandhya said...

@Manasa - This is what the second qualifying rule says:

A book must be about South Asia. In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad. It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia. In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.

On these grounds, doesnt the book qualify?? All the same, its a book I have been planning to read for quite some time, put off by the size though. Its been in my shelf for over a year!

@ Swaram - Hmm... re reading a book as thick as Shantaram would be a huge ordeal for me!

Mystica said...

My first challenge (South Asia Challenge 2011) and I am very keen to introduce some Sri Lankan authors and also go beyond the popular south asian authors as well.

You have some good ones to start with.

Sandhya said...

I would love to know of good Sri Lankan authors as well. To begin with, I was contemplating on Love Marriage by VV Ganeshananthan but the reviews are quite mixed!! Probably you could suggest some good books! And btw, I love your country and more so the people!!