Monday, January 28, 2013

Sacred Games by Vikam Chandra

This is the first book this year for the Chunkster Challenge.  At 900 pages, I was amazed I finished it in two weeks!  Despite it's long length, it's very readable with an engaging plot or plots.  It's a novel about contemporary India.  Most of the novel takes place in Bombay but other parts of India as well as other parts of the world and other time periods are included.  There is quite a collection of characters, as well, but the main character is Sartaj, a Sikh on the Mumbai police force. Following at a close second is Gaitonde, a powerful mobster in the Indian underworld.  The bare bones of the book are: Sartaj gets an anonymous tipoff that Gaitonde can be found hiding out in a heavily fortified bomb shelter on Sartaj's turf. He is finally able to penetrate the shelter only to find Gaitonde and an unknown woman dead inside.  Gaitonde has committed suicide but the woman has been murdered.  With this as the starting point, the book proceeds to tell several stories; of how Gaitonde rose to power, of how Sartaj's mother's family suffered during partition of India, of an exploration of Hindu fundamentalism and the role of the Guru, and the striving out of obscurity and poverty that millions of Indians are engaged in today. Along the way, the author also explores Mumbai as a city-entity, terrorism threats, and the all pervasive corruption of Indian society.  Parts are very disturbing but it's also filled with tenderness and caring between people even as tragedies occur. This book has a very Dickens feel and sympathy for its' characters even as their actions are despicable  I recommend this book to anyone but especially to anyone who's interested in India.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Chunkster Challenge Wrap-up

Unfortunately, I did not finish my final book, boo hoo. However, I would like to sign up again for the challenge. I will have to let you know later at what level. Thanks.

2012 Book List

  • Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
  • Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon
  • Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
  • The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
  • Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
  • The Man Who Killed The Deer by Frank Waters
  • Broken Harbor by Tana French
  • The Likeness by Tana French
  • Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
  • Human Trafficking by Current Controversies, Christina Fisanick, Book Editor
  • An Irish Country Courtship by Patrick Taylor
  • The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong
  • The Primal Teen by Barbara Straugh
  • The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
  • An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor
  • The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook
  • Fire In The Ashes by Jonathan Kozol
  • The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura
  • An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor
  • this child of mine by Martha Wakenshaw
  • The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
  • Manic by Terri Cheney
  • Escape From Lucania by David Roberts
  • Only One Life by Sara Blaedel
  • the dark side of innocence by terri cheney
  • Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs with Maia Szalavitz
  • Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
  • Finding Everett Ruess by David Roberts
  • The Gold of Troy by Robert Payne
  • Changeling by Philippa Gregory
  • The Woods by Harlan Coben
  • People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
  • The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
  • The Ancient Ship by Zhang Wei
  • Tooth & Nail by Ian Rankin
  • Hide & Seek by Ian Rankin
  • Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin
  • Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
  • The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
  • The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton
  • The Reckoning by Sharon Kay Penman
  • Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir
  • Delirium by Laura Restrepo
  • Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac
  • Document of Expectations by Devon Abbott Mihesuah
  • Have Mercy On Us All by Fred Vargas
  • The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas
  • The Train by Georges Simenon
  • Blue Lights by Joan Didion
  • Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman
  • Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
  • The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
  • Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
  • The White Rock by Hugh Thomson
  • Turn Right At Machu Picchu by Mark Adams
  • The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks
  • Addicted to Danger by Jim Wickwire and Dorothy Bullitt
  • The Oath by Michael Jecks
  • The Bishop Must Die by Michael Jecks
  • In Search of the Missing by Mick McCarthy&Patricia Ahern
  • Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk
  • The Abbot's Gibbet by Michael Jecks
  • One for Sorrow by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
  • The Crediton Killings by Michael Jecks
  • A Moorland Hanging by Michael Jecks
  • The Last Templar by Michael Jecks
  • Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer 
  • Total 68 books