Here ends the year. What a year of reading has it been! I think I have evolved much as a reader the past year. I have new reading plans for 2016 and I think I am going to do away with the 5 books feature on the blog. I will instead post some reviews and recommendations every so often.

Here is the last 5 Books edition

Beloved by Toni Morrison

A classic and a heart-wrenching one too. I have read a few other books on slaves and their history but this one is much more graphic and punches you in the gut. A mother’s love is the anchor holding this story together. There are places when the story drags on and on but it still managed to hold me captive.

Morning Sea by Margaret Mazzantini (Translated by Ann Gagliardi)

I have no clue why I picked this book up. I saw it on the new arrivals list at my library and picked it up. What a wonderful moving read it turned out to me. Heart-wrenching too and fits in with the world we live in perfectly. Highly recommended

Two Across by Jeff Bartsch

This book caught my attention as I was listening to its review on radio. It was so interesting to know that the book was based on crosswords and its creators. I was hooked. The book opened well and I was looking forward to more. But the book lost momentum somewhere in between and I just got enough of Vera and Stanley.

The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin

Fiction from Asia always hold a special spot in my reading list. I have previously read another of Kyung-sook’s works and wasn’t much impressed but this book shook me to the core. It took me to a world I had known existed but never paused to learn/explore. Almost autobiographical this book traces the past – its conflicts and pain and brings the author closer to closure.

Cinnamon Gardens by Selvadurai Shyam

Sadly I haven’t read many works out of Sri Lanka. I have recently started reading some war poetry coming from the country and when I saw that this book was set in Sri Lanka I pounced on it. Set in the 1920’s in a society constrained by rules Annulakshmi and Balaendran face the realities of life. The book is rich with descriptive narrations that I could almost feel like I was in that place. The characters are relatable and a wonderful read indeed.

Random books from my collection

5 books is a monthly series featuring some of the books I read and loved recently. For more book updates and to check my current reading list, head to my Goodreads account