Sunday, January 1, 2012

Books read - 2011

This has been an intense year for me, both academically and "bookishly". I'm in the middle of my research project on the interconnections between postcolonialism and feminism in Indian women's writing. For this reason, you will be encounter books on postcolonial theory and postcolonial feminism (1, 2, 3, 31), a lot of India and poetry, not to mention books for my seminars (10, 30, 34, 37-44, 46, 48) . On top of this list, I have read tons of essays on various topics and this is why, even though I am two books short of my record of 51 books achieved last year, I have actually read a lot. My only regret is that the project is draining me of time to read other books I have bought and I am eager to read (Kenaz, Aminatta Forna, V.S. Naipaul, Kiran Nagarkar, some American and English poetry that is piling up on my bedside table...). I hope I can squeeze them in next year, but I know I'll be even busier than now.
In the meantime, a book hug. Happy New Year everyone!


January
1. The Shock of Arrival - Meena Alexander
2. The Empire Writes Back - Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths & Helen Tiffin
3. Borderlands / La Frontera - Gloria Anzaldua
4. London Fields - Martin Amis
5. Il visconte dimezzato - Italo Calvino

February
6. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
7. Rich Like Us - Nayantara Sahgal
8. No New Land - G.V. Vassanji
9. Felicia's Journey - William Trevor

March
10. A Writer's People - V.S. Naipaul
11. Il Dono (The GIft)- Vladimir Nabokov
12. The Skin Between Us - Kym Ragusa
13. Cime tempestose (Wuthering Heights)- Emily Bronte

April
14. Possession - A.S. Byatt
15. Tabaccherie Orientali - Clara Nubile
16. Con il sari rosa - Sampat Pal
17. Scintille - Gad Lerner

May
18. My Story - Kamala Das
19. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - Ayi Kwei Armah
20. Raw Silk - Meena Alexander
21. The Country without a Post Office - Agha Shahid Ali
22. Fedeltà (Fidelity) - Grace Paley
23. The Shadow Line - Joseph Conrad

June
24. Jasmine - Bharati Mukherjee
25. Mañana en la Batalla Piensa en mi - Javier Marías
26. Because of India - Suniti Namjoshi

July
27. The Ramayana - R.K. Narayan
28. Italiani, Brava Gente? - Angelo del Boca
29. Shooting Water - Devyani Saltzman

August
30. Guerra e Pace (War and Peace) - Lev Tolstoj

September
31. Woman, Native, Other - Trinh T. Minh-Ah
32. The Finkler Question - Howard Jacobson
33. Come diventare Italiani in 24 ore - Laila Wadia

October
34. The Beggar's Opera - John Gay
35. Feminist Fables - Suniti Namjoshi
36. A Sin of Colour - Sunetra Gupta

November
37. For colored girls who... - Ntozake Shange
38. Topdog/Underdog - Suzan Lori-Parks
39. Funnyhouse of a Negro - Adrienne Kennedy
40. Middlemarch - George Eliot

December
41. Fences - August Wilson
42. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - August Wilson
43. Gem of the Ocean - August Wilson
44. Le Affinità Elettive - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
45. Building Babel - Suniti Namjoshi
46. The White Boy Shuffle - Paul Beattile
47. A Bowl of Warm Air - Moniza Alvi
48. Polly - John Gay
49. Il Vecchio e il Mare (The Old Man and the Sea) - Ernest Hemingway



3 comments:

  1. Some great titles, one or two I've read. The rest I haven't. I love to hear what friends are up to. Are you working on your theses? Reading will become normal once you are through with the academics.

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  2. @Nana: I am still researching: the actual writing period hasn't started yet.
    Uff, I had misspelled "The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born" again.

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  3. Impressive list. With some interesting titles. Looking forward to read those.
    Good luck with your research!!

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