My parents are two very different people. My mom is shy, home-happy and always planning for a rainy day, where as, my dad is a flamboyant, party hopping, live-for-today person. Hence it comes as a surprise, to even me, that I might have inherited something common from both of them. And that wonderful inheritance is the love for books! Again, my dad preferred the serious kind of books like Ayn Rand, Frederick Forsythe, Leo Tolstoy and my mom was a big time M&B fan! :D She likes books which focus on human relations and emotions. I seem to have taken after my mom though I swear I haven't touched a single M&B book till date!
My mom introduced me and my sister to books at a very early age. But it was my uncle who actually led us right into this magical world. He would always gift a book on our birthday and whenever we did something commendable like winning a competition or scoring good marks. He gifted us our first Enid Blyton and since then we haven't stopped reading. Enid Blyton could make stories out of nothing. I mean she could describe the most simple thing in the most beautiful way. Once I was reading The Famous Five and the way Blyton had described how beautiful the day was made me actually go out and appreciate the bright sunshine and cool breeze! And she always had some nice message in her books. That's the kind of books I would want my kids and every other kid to read.
I haven't read many authors in my childhood and this was mainly due to lack of knowledge. My parents were from small towns and I doubt whether they had read such books in their childhood. So, to me Enid Blyton was the only one who wrote books for kids. But my uncle enlightened me again ( I seem to be making him a kind of Fairy Godfather now :P ). I started reading Nancy Drew by Carolyne Keene and there was a time when I thought I would become a detective too! Agatha Christie is another author who amazes me. Her mysteries are so straight-forward, that is after she explains the solution to them. It is always based on cool, simple logic and you end up feeling 'Oh! Why didn't I see it!'
As I grew up I read a lot of books like Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Peter Pan, Robinhood etc. But honestly, I can't remember them so well. Later I read J.K.Rowling, Meg Cabot, Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, Chetan Bhagat, Dan Brown and others. I agree I am partial towards chick-lit, but I do try to read all genres of books. However, it was only recently I noticed that I seem to have enjoyed women authors more than men. May be, its the books I have read or may be its because women are so good at humor. It is never cheap or vulgar and though we women are known for our vanity, we are sporty enough to laugh at our own mistakes.
When Harry Potter released, nobody expected it to be such a huge hit. Those days, we would look up the best-sellers in the newspapers and harass our parents to buy us those books ;) We read 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', the second book in the series, first. I was so mesmerized by the magical world created by the very talented J.K.Rowling, that I refused to read the final book in the series just because I didn't want the magic to end. I couldn't hold my curiosity for long and the mixed reviews added fuel to my fire. I ended up reading the book at one go and I was pretty impressed. I somehow felt Rowling had lost her touch, somewhere in the middle, when she sounded like she was writing for a movie rather than a book. Nevertheless, her last book made up for it, having twists and turns in every chapter, though I felt the final showdown could have been better.
Meg Cabot's 'Princess Diaries' is like a teenager's dream. Sweet and good for a one-time read. I flipped through her other books and felt it was more of M&B kind, so I skipped them. Sophie Kinsella is my discovery, I mean nobody suggested her to me. I happened to read her 'Can you keep a Secret?' and loved her style of writing. Again, her comic timing is very good. I also liked her 'The Undomestic Goddess' and 'Twenties Girl'. I have an affinity towards best-sellers and that's why I wanted to read Pearl.S.Buck's 'The Good Earth'. The book is very inspiring and believe me, once you have read it, you will have more respect for the good Earth. Oh! I almost forgot to mention Danielle Steel. I cry every time I read 'The Mirror Image'. 'Daddy' is another great read. Keep a box of tissues next to you when reading Danielle Steel :P
I haven't read all the books in Stephanie Meyer's Edward-Bella series. Yet, I strongly suggest anyone interested to read 'Twilight' and 'Midnight Sun'. In 'Twilight' Bella narrates how she falls in love with a vampire. 'Midnight Sun' is the same story, but, from Edward's perspective and it remains my favorite book till date. It is a small book, in fact not even complete, yet, I love Meyer for this! It's fascinating to read how the two characters perceive the same thing in so different ways. This book made me fall in love with Edward and 'Edward' is my definition of The Perfect Soulmate!
