Books read in 2016

Read in 2016 (46 = 32 + 14; NF 10) 

ENGLISH FICTION (17) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (6): South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami,  The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco, Therese Raquin by Emile Zola, Fountain and Tomb by Naguib Mahfouz, Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, Life's Good Brother by Nazim Hikmet [translated from Turkish by Mutlu Konuk Blasing],

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (11): Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, 41 Stories by O Henry, Native Son by Richard Wright, Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott, Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill, Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, 

ENGLISH POETRY (10) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (2): Selected Poems by Francis Ponge, The Selected Poetry of Ranier Maria Rilke [Translated by Stephen Mitchell], 

POETRY IN ENGLISH (8): A Street of Clocks  by Thomas Lux, Mystery, So Long  by Stephen Dobyns, The Emperor of Water Clocks by Yusef Komunyaka, To the Left of Time by Thomas Lux, Tracer Particles by Allison Joseph, Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Selected Poems by W. B. Yeats,

ENGLISH NON-FICTION (12)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY / HISTORY (5): The Histories by Herodotus (translated by)),   Bhagavad Gita (sermons by Mahatma Gandhi), The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin, 

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (1): (A History and Philosophy of Fluid Mechanics by G. A. Tokaty)
 
NON-FICTION - OTHER (4): (I am OK, You are OK by Thomas A. Harris), The Ode Less Traveled by Stephen Fry,  My Kumaon by Jim Corbett, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi,


MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18):

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (9=5+4; 1 )

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 4 + Poetry: 2 + Non-fiction: 1): Jhoota Sach: Desh ka Bhavishya by Yashpal, Talkhiyan by Sahir Ludhianvi, Neem Ka Ped by Rahi Masoon Raza, Meghadoot: Ek Purani Kahani by Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Seemayen Toot-ti hain by Shrilal Shukla, Aashad ka Ek Din by Mohan Rakesh, Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar,

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 2): Bhagavad Gita by Maharishi Ved Vyas, Meghdoot by Kalidas

(If I am through more  than 50% of the book, it goes into the list of the year past, otherwise it appears in the new list next year. See here for the books read in 2015, with a selection of my favorite reads from the year past.)

Favorite reads of the year 2016
1. Life's Good Brother by Nazim Hikmet: The novel set in early twentieth century is similar to Nazim's great work Human Landscapes: multiple characters and stories, knitted together across multiple decades, the narrative goes back and forth in time with relative ease.
2. Native Son by Richard Wright,  
3. Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe,  
4. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan,   
5. Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa,
6. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin 
7. Jhoota Sach: Desh ka Bhavishya by Yashpal,