Since I love books so much, I thought I would share some of my all-time favorites in this post. For majority of the books I vaguely remember the characters or certain details, but I rate my books on Goodreads as soon as I’m done so I can at least remember if I liked it or not.
I usually read at night right before sleep so I eagerly wait till the end of the day to open my Kindle. There is nothing better than getting lost in a story, and I enjoy finishing a book that has captivated me for days (or weeks, or in some cases months).
Note: This list is compiled in purely random order.
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"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - is the story of seven generations of the Buendía Family in the town of Macondo, who are unable or unwilling to escape their periodic misfortunes.
"No One Writes to the Colonel" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - is the story of an impoverished, retired colonel, a veteran of the Thousand Days' War, who still hopes to receive the pension he was promised some fifteen years earlier.
"Innocent Erendira and Other Stories" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - is the story of a twelve year old who accidentally sets fire to the house where she lives with her grandmother. The grandmother decides that Erendira must pay her back for the loss, and sells her into prostitution in order to make money.
"Eva Luna" by Isabel Allende - is the story of Eva Luna's journey through life so far and her ability to tell stories, interweaving Eva's personal story with the broader geopolitical turmoil of Latin America during the 1950s – 1980s.
"The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende - is the story story of the life of the Trueba family, spanning four generations, and tracing the post-colonial social and political upheavals of Chile.
"The Mystic Masseur" by V.S. Naipaul - is about a frustrated writer of Indian descent who rises from an impoverished background to become a successful politician on the back of his dubious talent as a 'mystic' masseur — a masseur who can cure illnesses.
"In a Free State" by V.S. Naipaul - is a trilogy of two short stories and one novella. The work is symphonic, with different movements converging towards a common theme; although the theme is not spelled out, it evidently concerns the price of freedom, with analogies implicitly drawn between the three scenarios.
"Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie - is the story of Saleem Sinai, who was born with telepathic powers at the exact moment when India became an independent country. It portrays India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and the partition of India.
"The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy - is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" that lay down "who should be loved, and how. And how much." The book explores how the small things affect people's behavior and their lives.
"The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai - is the story about migration, living between two worlds, and between past and present. The story centres around the lives of Biju and Sai. Biju is an Indian living in the US illegally, son of a cook who works for Sai's grandfather. Sai is an orphan living in mountainous Kalimpong with her grandfather, the cook, and a dog.
"Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel - is the story of a young girl named Tita, who longs for her beloved, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition: the youngest daughter cannot marry, but instead must take care of her mother until she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks.
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens - is the story of a life and adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marsh of North Carolina from 1952 to 1969.
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini - is the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime.
"And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini - is a collection of short stories, with each being told from the perspective of a different character. The book's foundation is built on the relationship between ten-year-old Abdullah and his three-year-old sister Pari and their father's decision to sell her to a childless couple in Kabul, an event that ties the various narratives together.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini - is the story of Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat, who is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a family tragedy. Laila, born a generation later, lives a relatively privileged life, but her life intersects with Mariam's when a similar tragedy forces her to accept a marriage proposal from Mariam's husband.
"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes - is a story of Charlie Gordon, the first human subject for the surgery to increase intelligence, and it touches on ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled.
"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold - is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death.
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari - is the book, that surveys the history of humankind, starting from the Stone Age, and going up to the twenty-first century. The account is situated within a framework that intersects the natural sciences with the social sciences.
"Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari - is the book, that describes mankind's current abilities and achievements and attempts to paint an image of the future. Many philosophical issues are discussed, such as humanism, individualism, transhumanism, and mortality.
"21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari - is a loose collection of essays, that attempts to untangle the technological, political, social, and existential quandaries that humankind faces.
