Monday, December 31, 2012

2013 Thriller Challenge

NPR had released a list of the best 100 Thrillers ... (Link here). Here's the list.

1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
7. The Shining, by Stephen King
8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
9. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
11. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
12. The Stand, by Stephen King
13. The Bone Collector, by Jeffery Deaver
14. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
15. Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown
16. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham

17. The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton
18. Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane
19. The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth
20. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
21. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
22. It, by Stephen King
23. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
24. The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
25. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
26. The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
27. Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
28. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
29. The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
30. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson
31. No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
32. Gone Baby Gone, by Dennis Lehane
33. Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
34. Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin
35. Subterranean, by James Rollins
36. Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy
37. Salem's Lot, by Stephen King
38. Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
39. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre
40. The Poet, by Michael Connelly
41. The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin
42. Cape Fear, by John MacDonald
43. The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker
44. Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
45. Dead Zone, by Stephen King
46. The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon
47. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre

48. The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
49. Tell No One, by Harlan Coben
50. Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn
51. The 39 Steps, by John Buchan
52. Blowback, by Brad Thor
53. The Children of Men, by P.D. James
54. 61 Hours, by Lee Child
55. Marathon Man, by William Goldman
56. The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
57. 206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs
58. Psycho, by Robert Bloch
59. The Killing Floor, by Lee Child
60. Rules of Prey, by John Sandford
61. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
62. In the Woods, by Tana French
63. Shogun, by James Clavell
64. The Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
65. Intensity, by Dean Koontz
66. Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming
67. Metzger's Dog, by Thomas Perry
68. Timeline, by Michael Crichton
69. Contact, by Carl Sagan
70. What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman
71. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
72. The Cabinet of Curiosities, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
73. Charm School, by Nelson DeMille
74. Feed, by Mira Grant
75. Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child
76. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay
77. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
78. The First Deadly Sin, by Lawrence Sanders
79. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
80. The Brotherhood of the Rose, by David Morrell
81. Primal Fear, by William Diehl
82. The Templar Legacy, by Steve Berry
82. The Hard Way, by Lee Child [tie]
84. The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper
85. Six Days of the Condor, by James Grady

86. Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler
87. Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith
88. The Eight, by Katherine Neville
89. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
90. Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming
91. Bangkok 8, by John Burdett
92. The Kill Artist, by Daniel Silva
93. Hardball, by Sara Paretsky
94. The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte
95. The Deep Blue Good-by, by John MacDonald
96. The Monkey's Raincoat, by Robert Crais
96. Berlin Game, by Len Deighton [tie]
98. A Simple Plan, by Scott Smith
99. Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
100. Heartsick, by Chelsea Cain.

The ones crossed out are the ones I have read (or watched in movie, and that is the equivalent of reading - especially for thrillers). so here is the target. 45.

i.e. 15 new ones read during 2013. 

Well, that means 15 X 12 = 180 i.e. about 240 days of gym, assuming 45 minutes of cardio everyday.

Well, cheers to good health, then.


[While reading through the summaries of a few of the books, I realised that I am just not interested at all in reading a few of them. The themes etc are not something I would like to spend 10+ hours with. Have highlighted those in grey]

2012 reembered book-wise

That's it, then. 2012, (late late 2011 included), when I rediscovered books, and reading, through audiobooks. Thank you, audible.com . 23 books read, another humongous one halfway completed... that's at about two books per month. Pretty good, I say...

Let's set a new year target. And the target is..... maintain. 2 books a month is good.

Year end commentary:

Most notable three books read (not the best, mind you), in 2012, remain
Guns Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond
The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson
The Five Dysfunctions of a team - Patrick Lencioni

with Graham Greene's The Quiet American a notable mention.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Author - Jared Diamond
Genre - Society; History

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 5

Oct 2012

Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power

Author - Niall Ferguson
Genre - Society; History

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 4

Sep 2012

The Ascent Of Money

Author - Niall Ferguson
Genre - Society; Ecomonics, History

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 5

May 2012

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Author - Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Genre - YA, fiction, romance,

Source - Online
Rating - 4 (almost 5)

Oct 2012

The Cobra

Author - Frederick Forsyth
Genre - Thriller, War

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 2

Aug 2012

The Quiet American

Author - Graham Greene
Genre - Classic, War, Fiction, Thriller

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 5

July 2012

Duct Tape Marketing

Author - John Jantsch
Genre - Marketing, Business, Society;

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 4

July 2012

Crooked House

Author - Agatha Christie
Genre - Thriller, Detective

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 4

June 2012

The No Asshole Rule

Author - Robert I Sutton PhD
Genre - Business, Strategy

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 4

June 2012

Here Comes Everybody

Author - Clay Shirky
Genre - Society; Business; Economics

Source - Audiobook
Rating - 4

May 2012