Saturday, September 15, 2007

New Feature: Recent Reads

The more observant among you may have noticed that there's a new addition to the sidebar of this blog - a section called Recent Reads.

Technically, it's just a link to my Shelfari Book Shelf. The plan though, is this - every time I read a book I'm going to add it to the shelf, along with a rating [1] and (possibly) a short 2-3 line review. I may even include an extract. That way those of you who actually care about my opinions on books will have a constantly renewed list of things to read (and not read), those of you who just can't get enough of this Falstaff character will have more fuel for your fascination and, most importantly, I'll actually remember what I've read and how I felt about it.

A few requests:

Resist the urge to quibble with my choices or argue with my ratings. I'm happy to receive e-mail about books I've just finished but try not to start them with either "Why were you reading X? Everyone KNOWS that Y is his / her greatest work" or "How could you give my beloved Z only 2-stars?"

Resist the urge to try and keep up. Remember you have a job [2].

Resist the urge to tell me what an elitist, snobbish, pseudo-intellectual prat I am. I already know. And you'll only encourage me.

Resist the urge to take out your DIY Psychological Profiling at Home kit.

Resist the urge to beat either yourself or your bookseller up because a majority of these books aren't available at your local bookstore (this is especially true if you live in India). Feel free to congratulate yourself if you have access to a library that has all of these though.

Resist the urge to say "What! You're only reading that now?!"

Resist the urge to take print-outs of these lists and thrust them at your football / cricket- watching boyfriend / husband and say "Why can't you be more like Falstaff?".

Resist the urge to give me technical advice on how to make this thing look better. Do not use the words RSS, Widget or Javascript, all of which mean nothing to me.

Finally, resist the urge to ask "How do you find the time?". Okay, so I'm an insomniac and my life is meaningless and empty. Do you have to rub it in?

Enjoy.

Notes:

[1] I'm not, in general, a big fan of ratings, but I suppose they're better than nothing. Just so you know, the rating system I'm trying to follow in my head looks something like this:

1 star - It's crap!

2 stars - It's not bad. It had some good points, but overall I was unimpressed / bored

3 stars - It was fun. A bit spotty in parts, perhaps, and not brilliant, but I enjoyed it.

4 stars - It's very good. I really loved it.

5 stars - You have to read this! It's so brilliant I went out and bought myself a copy just to have on my shelf.

[2] Remember also that I'm not necessarily sticking to books I'm currently reading. Every now and then I may throw in a book that I read a while ago but that I feel like mentioning.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

no.1 of the psycho profiling -y the defensiveness :p...(sorry cudnt resist)
is it operative yet@the link? for doesnt show the shelfari link ...am pretty shelfari obessed currently, YOUR list wud be Major must read!

Anonymous said...

uh-huh! jumped the gun.slow connection-loads late -above stands negated.

Anonymous said...

have you added anything to the 'recent reads' list ? if not, then I can't view it! only the heading appears and below that, there is nothing.

Anonymous said...

We worship you everyday, Master Falstaff.

And behold! If any one of ye infidels go against our Master's request, We will slit your slimy throat and watch ye die a slow death at the altar of our Master benevolently created by Us under the Banyan tree.

Hail Him, for he careth for our every needs.

Anonymous said...

"Resist the urge to take print-outs of these lists and thrust them at your football / cricket- watching boyfriend / husband and say "Why can't you be more like Falstaff?"."

Tsk. Now that's a bit much.

Pat yourself too many times and you're likely to bruise.

Anita =)

??! said...

"...be more like Falstaff?"
what - they should also be "elitist, snobbish, pseudo-intellectual prats"? ;)

Falstaff said...

anon1: What? No, no, I'm not defensive. Why would you say I'm defensive? I'm not defensive at all. Not the least bit. Errr.

Just to be clear - it's not really my list - in the sense that it only includes stuff that I've read since the beginning of this month.

anon2: Yes, I have. There should be a column of books beneath the Recent Reads tab - though it takes a while to show up, especially if you have a slow connection. If it doesn't appear it's probably because you need Flash Player or Donuts Enabled or something.

u-kno-who-we-are: Cool. Can you post the videos on YouTube afterward?

Anita: Yes, but imagine how much worse I'll bruise if one of these boyfriends actually find me.

??!: Of course. It's the best kind of prat to be. Would you really prefer a beer-guzzling, pretzel-munching couch potato prat?

Cheshire Cat said...

"Resist the urge to try and keep up. Remember you have a job."

When? Where?

Sigh... I've got to try and keep up.

Szerelem said...

Ummm..........nothing is showing up under the recent reads column.
And I dont have a slow connection and doubt that donuts are the issue.

ggop said...

Good one - if we resist all these urges, we can write a book called Zen and the art of dealing with Falstaff. :)

Anonymous said...

prat you are.
such levels of modesty puts some ppl off
seesh

Aishwarya said...

Have you reviewed No one belongs here more than you anywhere? I was rather curious about it, and I'd like to know what you thought. I need to find a copy somewhere.

Falstaff said...

cat: I was referring, of course, to normal people. Not to cats, grinning or otherwise.

szerelem: Hmmm...that's strange. See if you can see it now - I tried changing the thing so it didn't need 'scripts' whatever that means.

shinyshoes: Ah, but the real question is - can you resist the urge to write books about dealing with Falstaff?

rs: True

aishwarya: Not really. I have a two line review up on Shelfari (just click on the Shelfari link). It's a fun read - whimsical, surprising and deliciously funny in bits, though a little uneven and not strikingly brilliant. I enjoyed it, but I think the hype you'd associate with it if you were, say, a regular reader of the New Yorker, is probably overdone.

Szerelem said...

shows up now...thanks!