Apparently in US people indulge in, what is called, March Madness, and I did not escape the lunacy either. I made a trip to Austin for SXSWi, made my peace with pets, and even started indulging in some American behaviour. With those things accomplished, I felt no guilt for reading just four books.

Slant

I started reading Slant early March, and plodded through it by the end of the month. Surprisingly, I liked it (despite all the plodding). It is based in a very contemporary future where software behave like humans and there is a “global threat” to eliminate humans who have suffered a psychological breakdowns. Jill (a software designed to eliminate the threat) and her creator Nathan Rashid manage to stop that from occurring in the nick of time. The story is not all that interesting, except for the romance between Jill and Roddy (another program) – that was quite well done (as in, I did not feel sick after reading that).

Amazing Spiderman Death & Dating

I must have been drugged when I picked up this book because it is not what I usually read. The ideal audience is a pimply 12-year-old looking for a girlfriend and I am glad to say I did not identify with that.

Sandman

I had read Sandman Volumes 2 and 7, so when I chanced upon Volume 1, I picked it up. As usual Neil Gaiman is brilliant. Nothing more needs to be said. He is the best story-teller alive.

Crash

Crash is supposedly a short read, and I was curious about J G Ballard. It is very well written but I could not proceed to the next page without uttering four-letter curses every few sentences. I did not finish it, and I hope I can find another novel by him that is, ahem, less scandalous.

As usual, I await your recommendations! Any book you recommend?