'My True Love Gave To Me'...because 'cold nights are for falling in love (with books)'!

Let's just all take a minute to admire the cover! This is the UK cover of My True Love Gave To Me : Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins.

Ain't it a beauty? It is. It. Is.
Let's stare at it a while longer! :D 

I still cannot get over the fact that the edge of the pages are lined with pink!!! :')

Now if you asked me to make a list of my favourite current YA authors I'd probably name most of the writers listed in this book. I've been dying to buy this book since Stephanie Perkins announced that she's editing a collection of 12 festive YA stories by some of the heavy hitting young adult fiction authors (including herself) for christmas.

Like most short story book compilations by various authors, this one too guarantees to be a pile of hits and misses. More hits than misses, I hope. :)

There are 12 stories in here, for the 12 days of Christmas, and I know I'm a bit late to the reading party, but I found out that you can enjoy them whenever you need to revel in a bit of yuletide or festive spirit, which I'll admit, I need pretty much all round the year!

I'm not through the entire book, but I'll keep updating this post as I read a new story and review it for you guys. As for now, I'm literally pumped to read them. :D

Here are the titles of the stories in My True Love Gave To Me,

1. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell

2. The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link

3. Angels in the Snow by Matt De La Pena

4. Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han

5. It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins

6. Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan

7. Krampuslauf by Holly Black

8. What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman

9. Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire 

10. Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White

11. Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter

12. The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Have you read any anthologies lately? Do share! :)

Enjoy!

December-January Book Haul!

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed a good read. There's nothing like cozying up to a book after a tiring day, or any day for that matter. Over time I have switched to ebooks for the portability factor (what with tons of free titles available and customized e-reading apps and devices). So after my exams were over in December, I  decided to pick up a few books and it's such an amazing feeling to physically turn a page and breathe in the chlorinated odour of a fresh book I tell you!
I'm buzzing with excitement to share my haul with you guys. Here we go...

(left to right)

1. The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee. 

It is set in the 1960s and deals with the ups and downs of Ghosh family during the Naxalite era in West Bengal. What I've gathered from the rave reviews of this ambitious and successful novel by Neel Mukherjee is that it speaks about the quintessential 'bangaliyana' (bengali-ness) within the folds of a family in trying times in the history of politics of Bengal. It was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker prize in 2014. I'm really looking forward to reading this book.
  OR  Buy from Amazon.in


2. Insurgent by Veronica Roth.
 I loved Divergent, no lie. So naturally I started reading Insurgent, the second book in the series but had to stop half way through it because my expectations fell flat. But I'm going to give this book another go! Second time's the charm, maybe?
   OR  Buy from Amazon.in

Insurgent releases in 2015! And the trailer looks real good. :D

3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. 

This book has garnered adulations from almost everybody on BookTube and I'm very excited to start the Shatter Me series by one of NYTimes bestselling authors.
  OR  Buy from Amazon.in

4. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. 

    The overview of this book got me hooked and honestly, I can't wait to read it. Here's what wikipedia had to say,

"A teenage girl in Tokyo sees no escape from the bullying of her classmates, and her sense of isolation is deepened by an unhappy family life. Before she takes her own life, Nao is determined to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who is more than one hundred years old. Nao finds comfort in writing in her diary, addressing an imagined reader and friend.

On the other side of the Pacific, Ruth, a novelist living on a small island off the coast of British Columbia, finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the beach—possibly debris from the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. Inside is Nao's diary, and Ruth becomes obsessed with finding out how the story ends."

  OR  Buy from Amazon.in

5. The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

    I was charmed by A Young Doctor's Notebook by the same writer, so i decided to pick up this number. (And yes, the comedic drama series A Young Doctor's Notebook is based off of Bulgakov's acclaimed novel by the same name and has Daniel 'Harry Potter' Radcliffe and Jon 'Mad Men' Hamm playing the young and old doctor respectively!)

  OR  Buy from Amazon.in

6. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. 

Well if you haven't heard of A Game of Thrones by now, I don't know which rock you've been living under! This already popular series was popularised by the HBO drama series titled The Game of Thrones (go watch it, i'll wait. And you can thank me later :D :P ) So I finally went ahead and treated myself for Christmas with this set. And needless to say, I am beyond excited to finish reading them all before the next season of GoT arrives!  

  OR  Buy from Amazon.in


Stay tuned for upcoming reviews for the books mentioned! :)
Have a book-tastic weekend y'all! :D

A Dystopian World

If you are rooting for Katniss Everdeen to bring down the Capitol or running with the Maze Runners or even searching for a Brave New World in your Time Machine, you dear reader, are a fan of dystopian literature.

Nowadays we associate the word dystopia with any work of fiction that depicts a bad place/circumstances preferably set in the near future. In this post I'll be listing the works of fiction that I've come to love as a piece of dystopian literature and hope that you find reading suggestions from amongst them.

I'll be segregating this post into two parts, listing dystopian novels by 'classic' or 'contemporary' tag. Hope you have as much fun reading through list, as I had compiling it!

Classic Dystopian Literature

1. "Utopia" (1516) by Thomas More 

     First published in 1516, Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveler Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. Addressing such issues as religious pluralism, women's rights, state-sponsored education, colonialism, and justified warfare, Utopia seems remarkably contemporary nearly five centuries after it was written, and it remains a foundational text in philosophy and political theory.

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2. "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949) by George Orwell

      Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. While 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia", that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world — so powerful that it's completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions — a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

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3. "The Caves of Steel" (1954) by Isaac Asimov

       A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's "Robot" novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the " R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim.
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4. "A Clockwork Orange" (1962) by Anthony Burgess 

      A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title.
In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex—to "redeem" him—the novel asks, "At what cost?

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5. "Lord of the Flies" (1954) by William Golding

      William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first, it seems as though it's all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious & life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic & death. As ordinary standards of behavior collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket & homework & adventure stories—& another world is revealed beneath, primitive & terrible. Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was 1st published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger'sThe Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought & literature. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a classic.

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6. "The Handmaid's Tale" (1985) by Margaret Atwood

      Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

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7. Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley

     While this dystopian masterpiece and “Fahrenheit 451″ could be interchangeable as the top two, “Brave New World” gets the nod because the writing itself is the best. This novel is incredible, showing a society where left leaning thinking and self hedonism is taken so far to the extreme that one person’s utopia turns out to be an appalling place where the irony of a peaceful existence has caused society to lose all concept of art, honor, religious beliefs, or anything that often defines culture. The “utopia” has people who have no sympathy, no empathy, and this vision of a future is as chilling as any other on this list.
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Contemporary Dystopian Literature

8. "The Hunger Games" (2008) by Suzanne Collins 

     Set in a dark vision of near future a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her younger sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence.
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9. "Divergent Trilogy" (2011) by Veronica Roth

     In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
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10. "The Maze Runner Series" (2009) by James Dashner

Described as "Lord of the Flies meets Ender's Game meets Holes" by Dashner himself,The Maze Runner is Dashner's first attempt at conquering a national market with his writing.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Everything is going to change.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
Remember. Survive. Run.
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11. "Legend Trilogy" (2011) by Marie Lu

      The flooded coast of former Los Angeles. Two warring nations of North America–the Republic and the Colonies.

Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen–year–old June is a prodigy. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country, she is being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles.

Born into the slums of the Republic’s Lake Sector, fifteen–year–old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother is murdered. And Day becomes the prime suspect. Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival while June tries desperately to avenge her brother’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together and the sinister lengths their country will go to in order to keep its secrets.
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12. "Never Let Me Go" (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro

      As a child, Kathy – now thirty-one years old – lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.
And so, as her friendship with Ruth is rekindled, and as the feelings that long ago fueled her adolescent crush on Tommy begin to deepen into love, Kathy recalls their years at Hailsham. She describes happy scenes of boys and girls growing up together, unperturbed – even comforted – by their isolation. But she describes other scenes as well: of discord and misunderstanding that hint at a dark secret behind Hailsham’s nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood–and about their lives now.
A tale of deceptive simplicity, Never Let Me Go slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance – and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro’s finest work.
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P.S. All the summaries have been taken from Goodreads and Amazon. I thought it'd be better to get professional help this one time than me trying to describe each book in brief!

If I've missed out on titles or if there are books you think I should read, please do put them in the comments! Thanks for reading. :)