Books read in 2008

I am enlisting the names of books read by me in 2008 with their background and my feedback.I also embed here their original language of creation and mine language of study (either Hindi /English). This is done because I believe that the thinking pattern of author is reflected much in original language of his writings. The emotional binding content between reader and book is somewhere lost in translation / transliteration. Ratings are highly personal.

A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini-English--7.5/10
Slow paced and Heart wrenching story of a woman in Afghanistan.

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life-Lance Armstrong-English--8/10
Inspirational autobiography of a sports person.

Lajja-Taslima Nasreen-Bangla(Read in English)--8/10
Story of Hindu family living in Bangladesh in religious riots.

Midnight's Children-Salmaan Rushdie-English--8/10
Facts interwoven with Fiction.Beautiful art of story telling with post Indian sub-continent independence background of a Muslim family.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain-English-7.5/10
Journey of young and rebel boy in 1870's American dropout with strong remarks on orthodox society practices with ton of laughs.

Smaran ko pathey banane do -Vishnukant Shastri-Hindi-7.5/10
Detailed and poetic autobiographic epilogue of important personalities that influenced the writer's life and literature.

Ghumakkar Shastra-Rahul Sankrityayan-Hindi-7.5/10
An inspiring push for young minds to travel in the world with his autobiographical experince.

Animal Farm-George Orwell-English-9.5/10
A deep and sarcastic look at Stalin era communism with simple narrative and absolute masterpiece.

Sanvatsar- ‘Agyeya’-Hindi-8.5/10
4 brief psychological essays on time and human consciousness.

Garden of Essays-Firaq Gorakhpuri-English-8.5/10
Essays for all the seasons of life with wide diversity in topics.

Kim-Rudyard Kipling-English-7/10
Adventures of young English boy with Buddhist monk across India in 1900;

The Pearl-John Steinbeck-English-7/10
Short novel about Poverty,Lust and Luck of a mankind intertwisted with a simple story.

Srimadbhagvadgita-???-Sanskrit(Read in English)-10/10
Is anything needed to say about this larger than life book?

Srimad Dayanand Prakash-???-Hindi-7/10
Biography of Dayanand Saraswati.

Anamdas ka Potha-Hazariprasad Diwedi-Hindi-7/10
Struggle to know the ultimate truth by a young sage in ancient India.

Gunahon ka Devta-Dharmveer Bharti--Hindi-7/10
Compelling novel about man-woman relationships and traditions set in Allahabad of 1960's.

Volga se Ganga tak-Rahul Sankrityayan--Hindi-9/10
Chronological migratory detail of human from 6000 BC to 1940 AD ;15 short stories with focus on social and cultural evolution in India.

Life is no bargain-Indira Goswami-Assamese(Read in Hindi)-7.5/10
Autobiography of this prolific writer and inner views of changing times in her life.

Freedom at Midnight-Larry Collins & Domanic Lapierre-English(Read in Hindi)-8.5/10
Honest opinion and detailed account of Indian partition and Independence.A must read for learning about Indian subcontinent in 1947;

The Old man & the Sea-Ernst Hemingway-English-7/10
Saga of constant struggle of man and nature depicted with only 2 main protagonists.