Following is a list of book I’ve read in the last five years (or was it ten?):

They are not in the order I read. And they are not necessarily that I do or do not recommend. To see what I recommend log on the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AGQSXL1SAL4VF/ref=cm_cr_pr_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview to read my reviews on amazon.com. Is there a debate as to what is the best way to improve your writing? Read or write? More and more authors tend to agree that voracious reading is a better way to become a good writer than prolific writing. It’s a pity the hobby of reading books is fast disappearing. I am lucky I take a train to work. That allows me to read half an hour each way.

There is no other enjoyment like to be in bed on a rainy afternoon with a good book (till you fall asleep).

1) Hungry Tide – Amitav Ghosh

2) Light of Lights – Lata Pimplaskar

3) The Outsider – Albert Camus

4) The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna.

5) Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

6) Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

7) A Fine Balance – Robinton Mistry

8) Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri

9) French Lieutenant’s Woman - John Fowles

10) Guru of Love - Samrat Upadhyay

11) Tales from Firozshah Baug – Robinton Mistry

12) Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

13) Family Matters – Robinton Mistry

14) Maximum City – Suketu Mehta

15) Word Magic – Cindy Rogers

16) You Can Write A Mystery – Gillian Roberts

17) A House For Mr. Biswas – V. S. Naipaul

18) Stein On Writing – Sol Stein

19) Self-editing For Fiction Writers – Browne and King

20) Creating Unforgettable Characters – Seger

21) Shop Girl – Steve Martin

22) Fondling Your Muse – John Warner

23) Writer’s Book of Days - Judy Reeves

24) Gotham Writer’s Workshop –

25) Better – Atul Gawande

26) Complications – Atul Gawande

27) The Cripple and His Talisman – Anosh Irani

28) Fasting, Feasting – Anita Desai

29) Life of Pi – Yann Martel

30) Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

31) Twilight Hour – Udaya Kabadi

32) K. E. M. Ward No. 5 – A Marathi Lannguage Book

33) The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

34) Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

35) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

36) Red Letters – Ved Mehta

37) All For Love – Ved Mehta

38) The Artful Edit – Susan Bell

39) On Writing Well – William Zinsser

40) The Elements of Style – Strunk & White

41) Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri

42) On Writing – Stephen King

43) Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami

44) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

45) The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai

46) Kadambari – A Marathi translation of Banbhatta’s 7^th (?) century Sanskrit classic

47) Atonement – Ian McEwan

48) The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

49) Kraunch Vadh - A Marathi Book by V. S. Khandekar

50) Relentless – Dean Koontz

51) Too Much Happiness – Alice Munro

52) A Traitor to Memory – Elizabeth George

53) Going After Cacciato – Tim O’Brien

54) Writing Tools – 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer – by Roy Peter Clark

55) Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (An Oprah Club Book)

56) Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

57) Hridayastha – A Marathi Language book based on my late friend Dr. Nitu Mandke’s life – By Dr. Alka Mandke

58) Short Cuts – Raymond Carver

59) Scarecrow – Michael Connolly

60) Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut

61) Tracks – Louise Erdrich

62) ‘Nalache Paani’ – V. A Buwa (Marathi)

63) Just After Sunset – Stephen King

64) Harvest – Tess Gerritsen

65) Maddhya – Magala Godbole ( a Marathi book)

66) The Cry of the Sloth – Sam Savage

67) City of Bones – Michael Connolly

68) The Husband – Dean Koontz

69) Summer Guest – Justin Cronin

70) Give Me Your Heart – Joyce Carol Oates

71) We were the Mulvaneys – Joyce Carol Oates

72) A Reliable Wife – Robert Goolrick

73) Dirty Job – Christopher Moore

74) The China Study – Colin Campbell

75) Lagav Batti – Shirish Kanekar (Marathi book)

76) How To Write a Damn Good Novel – James N Frey

77) Cutting the Stone – Abraham Verghese (Left halfway)

78) Roopagandha – Suresh Bhat (A Marathi poetry collection)

79) Saptarang – Suresh Bhat (A Marathi poetry collection)

80) The Best American Short Stories 2007 – Selected by Stephen King

81) The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion

82) How to Write a Damn Good Novel 2 – James N Frey

83) Ward No. 6 and other Stories – Dr. Anton Chekhov

84) The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eastern Philosophy

85) The Spiritual Crisis of Man – Dr. Paul Brunton

86) Love – Toni Morrison

87) Manobodh – Anant Damodar Athawale (A Marathi Language Book)

88) Sole Survivor – Dean Koontz