The 10 Best Books I Read in 2016- Part II

Continuing from where I left off last week, here are the next five book recommendations.

If you missed last week’s post, you can look up The 10 Best Books I Read in 2016- Part I.

6. Fool for Love

After all the heavy reading I’d been doing, Fool for Love made for a lovely break. This may be a simple romantic story, but Marie Force has a way of telling her story that makes you a part of the characters’ world. On several occasions, the book brought a smile to my face or a lump in my throat. Joe and Janey go through all sorts of ups and downs, yet none of the situations seem forced. The story flows beautifully and makes for a lovely read. Personally, I thought it was better than the first book in the series, Maid for Love.

7. Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park transported me back to those days of young teenage love, when everything around you takes on a magical quality. These teenagers establish a beautiful bond between them, and the earnest sincerity with which they approach it, really touched my heart. You may be tempted to drop the book halfway through, thinking it is meant for a teenage audience. But go through with it. The message in the end is universal. A sweet story, all in all.

8. Seabiscuit

Though I’m usually a fiction-reader, this non-fictional book had me hooked throughout the way. Laura Hillenbrand has done a brilliant job in taking what had become a forgotten legend and portraying it in an extra-ordinary manner. 

Seabiscuit was a famous racing horse in the 1930s and 40s in the US. Apparently, he received greater acclaim and fame than any human figure in those years. Laura takes you through Seabiscuit’s story, ensuring that you truly live beside the horse, its owner, trainer and jockey. You feel each of their emotions, their highs, their lows, until Seabiscuit’s victories make you personally overjoyed while his losses leave you despairing. 

What a story! What narration! What a book!

9. The House that BJ Built

A sequel to ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’, this book is fun to read even if you haven’t read the first one. Five sisters have inherited a massive house on Hailey Road, Delhi and want to sell. One of the sisters is no more and instead, it is her feisty daughter Bonu, who has a say on whether she will sell or not. Throw in a couple of oddball aunts, mercenary builders, astute politicians and a smoking-hot cousin, Samar Vir Singh, and Bonu is up to her eyes in a tangle.

10. Silent Promises

Now this one would seem quite a cliché, me recommending my own book. So of course I won’t tell you about it. But here’s what people who’ve read the book have to say:

“The beauty about this collection is that you don’t need to be a serious or voracious reader to appreciate them, but a person who emotionally connects with things that happen around them in their day to day lives. It will resonate in every heart.”  

“The book is full of emotions, energy and warmth that will sweep you along from the first page to the last.”  

“It’s a sheer joy to read her book as one can emotionally connect to the characters of the story and see the story unfold in front of them…a must read for everyone !!”

“Her narrative style is gripping, intense as well as moving. A good short read!”

I hope you enjoyed the list. If you did, you may also want to take a look at The 10 Best Books I Read in 2015.