5 books that made me grow the most

 

Sometimes, you read a book, and you never think about your life or the world same way again. These books introduced me to a world that I hadn’t considered. They expanded my mind, made my question the assumptions and beliefs I had held on to for a long time. Also, I read these books at a stage when I was ‘ready’ to be receptive to them. I suppose this is why everyone’s list of life-changing books is different. The right book that we read at the right time speaks us to us more deeply. Provokes deeper thinking. Provokes rethinking. Ignites new possibilities. Gives us hope. Makes us smarter, kinder, bolder, and generally more effective.

 

Superthinking : The Big book of mental models  -

"You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head."

- Charlie Munger

 The book doesn’t go very deep, but is a great introduction to learning to think better. Once you get introduced to a model, you will find its application in numerous areas in your own life. Indeed, with this crystallized understanding, you can leverage these models to understand puzzling phenomenon and to generate valuable outcomes in your own life. This is a valuable book as it compiles information and ideas that are hard to find, in one place. Occams’s razor, the Eisenhower matrix , cognitive distortions –look out for all this goodness and a lot more in this super book !

‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ – by Bill Bryson  - This book forced me discard my preconceived notions of what a popular science book must look like.  Bryson combines brilliance with wit in a truly unique way – many of the pages are laugh-out-loud funny. Bryson’s coverage of topics is awe-inspiring. And here’s the incredible part – This book was published when Bryson was 52 years old. He claims he knew very little about science before he began working on the book. And that’s the magic in this book – Someone demonstrating incredible powers of comprehension in mastering a new subject, and giving a new twist to the genre of popular science by combining good science with his own wit. How impressive is that ! ..  This book in fact inspired me to write a full review. 

 

Living the 7 habits  - by Stephen covey – I don’t know about you, but I found that ‘The Seven habits of highly effective people’ made for labored reading. You know that he is saying something valuable, and yet find yourself facing an inexplicable resistance to turning to the next page. Thankfully, Covey has remedied this by writing a perhaps lesser known, and yet, arguably a better book on the 7 habits – Living the 7 habits – Covey shares real –life stories which illustrate the habits in action. The choice of stories is truly wonderful – I found them thought –provoking, written with deep empathy, and uncovered for me, newer dimensions in effectiveness. This book increased not just my effectiveness, but also my emotional intelligence.

 

Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers – Every once in a way, you read a book, and wonder at your ignorance up to that point. You wonder how you got by in life for so many years being unaware of such valuable and life-changing information. The book was first published in 1987, but don’t let that dissuade you, for this book remains absolutely relevant to this day. Most of us are held back in life by fears of some sort. We cannot hope to conquer those fears until we first become aware of them, and have the courage to acknowledge them. I read this book at a time when I was ready for it. Someone said ‘Do not wish for easier lives. Pray to be a stronger person’. Read this book to figure out how to be stronger.

 

‘Atomic habits’ by James Clear  - there is a reason this book has sold over a million copies. The author breaks down the science of developing good habits. All the incredible tips that we learn about how to improve our life is useless – until, we learn how to incorporate that tip into our own life. Behavioural change is hard – some experts go so far as to say that behavior change is about the hardest thing that sentient beings can do. This book will give you practical ideas on how you can develop and maintain good habits over the long term.  I tested the books ideas on a few habits I myself wanted to develop, and a few that I was keen to get rid of.  Clear’s ideas worked perfectly. I was able to apply James’s suggestions to every single habit – coming up with a list of things that would dramatically raise the odds of my succeeding on my endeavors. Read this book to understanding how behavior change works, before you attempt to change your life. It will save you years of frustration and heartache.

 

The first two books made me smarter. The third one improved my sensitivity and effectiveness. The fourth one made me more courageous. And the last one taught me how to internalize all the great life-changing ideas that I encountered elsewhere.

The Practicing Mind by Thomas Sterner

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.
-Eckhart Tolle

Maybe you know the feeling. The feeling that a writer has secretively found out about your existence, and overcome with an overpowering sense of altruism, has written a book exclusively for you. I have that feeling. Of all the books I have read in my life, 'The Practicing mind resonated with me and my life the most.

Sterner starts out with a simple enough premise. How do you go about learning a new skill ? What mindset do you need to adopt while practicing the skill, and refining your technique? And just as importantly, how do you do so without experiencing a sense of struggle ? And taking it a step further, how does this apply to our life. In fact, as he points out, this applies to every aspect of our lives.

The whole of life is a practice. Each day requires us to learn new things. We can go about this in a harried way, just doing enough to get things going, while simultaneously worrying about a million other things that demand our attention, or we can deal with it all in a calm manner, giving our complete undivided attention to the task at hand at the present moment. He breaks down the process of developing this mindset into relatively simple steps.

This is a tiny book, but Sterner has managed to pack in an incredible amount of wisdom into it while still employing a down-to-earth writing style. His choice of everyday episodes as examples to illustrate his thought process, infact makes them seem all the more powerful.

I have little patience for abstract theories that have nothing useful, or 'actionable' to offer. What makes Sterner's ideas truly credible is that he has been an entrepreneur, an endeavour that is bound to have one facing reality and dealing with practical problems on a regular basis. A process that works in such a context is also one that is likely to benefit most people.


Lastly, this book has cemented in my mind, a thought that has occupied it for the last year or so. One of the most underrated forces on the planet is the power of self-discipline ( when applied to good habits) Self-discipline lends a sense of direction to our lives..Constantly and repetitively doing something pushes us steadily in a certain direction instead of allowing us expend our energy in scattered efforts that die out every so often.

This is a truly powerful book, and I strongly recommend it.

"The Art of Possibility" - Some thoughts ..

"The Art of possibility" (by Rosamund, and Benjamin Zander) is a book  I stumbled upon by sheer chance. I first noticed it listed under the 'recommend reading' section in another unconventional book, and remember making a note of it, since one of the authors happens to be the music conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and I was curious to see what he had to say in a book of this nature. As is sadly often the case, this mental note was relegated to the 'Things I've forgotten all about' section of my brain; that is, until my father happened to glance at this 'recommended reading' section himself, and suggested that I might enjoy reading it, and gifted it to me for my birthday !

The Zanders note that the lenses through which we view the world are coloured, no matter how objective we claim to be. They then proceed to offer a set of practices/world-views that lure us into the possibility of inventing our own world, one that throws open vast vistas of possibility, to live into. They share several anecdotes and personal experiences that add significantly to the book, and help convey their ideas.The language is often metaphorical in nature, which lends it a touch of the poetic (albeit at the threshold of my own appreciation of it :-), which some might find exasperating; more so, if one is looking for a cookbook of techniques. However, it is, in fact this imprecise phrasing, that throws open the doors to various possible interpretations, that made the book all the more appealing to me. 

In essence, the practices they recommend enable us to become more open-minded, less self absorbed, more inclusive, and less judgemental. An outlook that combines childlike curiosity with an attitude of equanimity doesn't necessarily have to result in an incongruous mix..The book struck a chord with me because of the musical connection, but it doesn't assume any knowledge of music as such.. It has been a while since I have seen such compelling use of language, though the Zanders also occasionally left me exasperated; with a feeling that they are saying the same thing in 23 different ways, while any one of those would have adequately conveyed their point.. That however, is a small annoyance to put up with when you consider the possibilities the book has to offer, for it seems to achieve the near impossible - it is inspiring enough to appeal to the idealists, compassionate enough to satisfy the humanitarians, and intelligent enough to confuse the cynics :-)

At the end of the day, books like this are only as powerful or life-changing as we allow them to be. All in all, this is definitely a worthwhile read, and unique in its offerings in this genre .. I am aware that I have conveyed merely my impressions about the book, and little about the contents itself; I will leave that for you to discover :-)

Some Thoughts on a couple of books

1) I recently read 'The Old man and His God' by Sudha Murthy.Its along the same lines as her other book 'Wise and Otherwise', a collection of her life experiences ; her encounters with people from remote corners of India. It really should've gone through much better editing, and if you're looking for literary value, you should look elsewhere. Nevertheless, this is a book I would highly recommend for its content. On second thoughts, in a strange way, the simple writing style seems appropriate. When a piece of writing is stripped of all embellishments, its true nature is revealed...

There are two things that came through as I read the stories - perspective, and the emphasis on empathy. Someone once said ' The quickest way to learn about life is to be a cab driver for six months, and then a restaurant waiter for six months, immediately after graduation'. For those of us who can't take that route, reading 'Wise and Otherwise' would be a great alternative. I have always felt that when we perceive things to be not so great, or when things look grim, getting some perspective can do wonders.  The experiences she recounts are moving, and many force us to pay attention to things we so often take for granted. A must read...

2)On the other end of the spectrum, I am currently reading 'Leave me alone, I'm reading' by Maureen Corrigan. Corrigan is a book critic, and an English Professor, who's read thousands of books in the last few decades. She shares some wonderful insights, with some autobiographical digressions along the way, that I thought add a nice personal touch to the book. To pinch a reviewer's words, 'Corrigan is erudite without being the least bit pretentious'. She pokes fun at the academics ( being one herself ; and admits that one of the advantages of being a grad student in English is that you can insult elegantly), engages often in self deprecating humour, adopts a light tone, and wears her knowledge lightly; yet you can sense the smartness oozing through :-) I happen to have read only a tiny fraction of the books she talks about, but it didn't really seem to matter. An engaging, funny read, that anyone who loves books will find interesting....

Book Review - The finer points of Sausage Dogs

This is the second in the series of books by Alexander McCall Smith on Von Igelfeld, a professor of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is socially inept, and yet in constant search of respect that he believes is due to him. This leads him, much to his dismay, into situations of increasingly embarrassing nature where he is forced to swallow his pride, and discover that it is non fattening.

The wit is very dry, and hence this book may not be for all readers. Those looking for thrillers will be disppointed. Yet, McCall Smith, in his inimitable style, turns this collection of short stories into a profound observation on human psyche. Like many people, Von Igelfeld believes that his colleagues have won all the laurels that Von himself rightfully deserves. Besides, he judges people on the basis of their degree of familiarity and respect they show towards his esteemed book 'Portugese Irregular Verbs", a mighty tome. Von Igelfeld oscillates between feelings of jealosy towards his colleages, and a sense of guilt upon realising his assumptions regarding his colleagues to be untrue.This makes Von endearing in a pleasantly irritating way, for , in essence he is a good man.

In the opening story, von Igelfeld has himself invited to give a lecture, only to realize that he has been mistaken to be a Professor of Veterinary science with expertise in the area of Sausage Dogs. Von Igelfeld successfully delivers a talk on the finer points of sausage dogs, eminently accessible to the public, thus making it a grand success. Elsewhere in this collection of short stories, he finds himself aboard a ship, being pursued by marriage minded ladies! Igelfeld, at first makes awkward attempts at sounding coy and myseterious, and soon finds himself utterly unequal to the task.

This book is far from being a thriller, yet it constantly left me itching to know what's going to happen next, for Igelfeld constantly finds himself in settings of deliciously( only to the reader) embarrassing nature. Its the writing, and the elegant phrasing that stand out. Indeed, coming from a less gifted writer, the stories might seem downright silly. The hidden message seems to be to not take oneself too seriously, or spend inordinate amounts of time wondering what others are thinking about us! But that is never made explicit, which is what makes this book all the more charming.

In the course of writing this post, I was distressed to discover a marked dip in my active vocabulary. Words acquired over the years and tucked away into safe corners, seemed to be glued to the safe corners, and refused to budge or answer my call as I beckoned to them. Sigh! There is much work to do. Else, there soon will come a day when even my puns will no longer pack the pun-ch! (not that they do now, but still:-)

Coming back to the book, I definitely liked it, and would recommend it, thought I must add that it may not appeal to all readers. I found the first book in the series, "Portugese Irregular verbs" better though, and would definitely recommend trying that out first.

Three books I did not enjoy !

I tend to enjoy most books I read, for I usually read a few reviews before I get started with any book. Plus, I am the kind who is looking to see how I can 'appreciate' a book, trying to find the right viewpoint that would make me get the most out of it. But there are some books that leave me feeling that they are terrible substitutes for the trees that have been felled to have them printed. I've listed three such books here. I've kept it short as I'd much rather write at length about things I like :-)

1) The Alchemist - In spite of being an idealist myself, this book did not appeal to me ! I can't quite put my finger on it. I enjoyed 'Illusions' by Richard Bach a lot more.

2) Love story - I didn't enjoy the book, for the storyline seemed very cliched, and seemed to have been borrowed from the Hindi movies from the 80s! That is until I discovered that Eric Segal wrote this book in 1970, which mean the movies probably pinched the storyline from him :-) I, however loved his other book, "The Class".

3) Eat Pray Love - I couldn't get past the first few pages in this book. Gilbert is clearly a gifted writer, and apparently leads a privileged existence,  and yet, all she can she can think about is herself, and her needs ! Way too self-sbsorbed, and narcissistic for my liking ..In her quest to find herself, she is yet to figure out that "It's a sign of maturity when you begin to fall out of love with your own drama.".

Five books on science/scientists!

Here are five books on science/scientists that I have enjoyed reading and which I highly recommend :

1) 'Disturbing the universe' by Freeman Dyson - Dyson is that rare find - A man blessed with intelligence and sensitivity in equal measure! I read this book a long time ago ( about 10 years ago when I was a 19 year old:-) , and about all I remember now is that I liked it very much ! I am trying to get hold of it ( I had earlier discovered it in a library) so that I reread it and write a more useful review !;-)


2) 'Genius - The life and Science of Richard Feynman' by James Gleick - In my opinion, among the greatest intellectual pursuits that mankind has undertaken, ranks the progress in Physics between 1900 and 1950. With folks like Feynman, Gamov, Fermi, Teller, Oppenheimer and Bethe  on the scene, physicists were treated like rock stars ! Gleick, with some amazing skill recreates those golden times, with his prime focus being arguably the best physicist of his generation, Richard Feynman. Feynman was once described by Dyson as 'Half buffoon , half genius', and by Wigner as 'He is a second Dirac, only this time human '. 

Feynman's own books 'Surely you're joking Mr Feynman' and its sequel - 'What do you care what other people think? have a quirky flavour, and it soon becomes obvious that Feynman had little respect for authority, and got away with a whole lot of things simply because he was so smart ! This book would rank among the top ten books I've read, for it recreates with great beauty, times that science will never again see after the dawn of computers. I sometimes feel computers(and the internet) have caused more harm than good, proving themselves to be efficient tools in creating zombies out of humans.


3) 'Feynman's Rainbow' by Leonard Mlodinow - As you might've guessed, I was a huge Feynman fan :-) (I now have a more measured opinion after getting to know of his activities outside of academics.)  Mlodinow, upon finishing a high-flying  Phd, joined Caltech to take up a cabin along side Feynman, and Murray Gell-Mann. Intimidated by their stature, and concerned about his own insecurities of turning out to be a one-trick-pony, he recounts the moments he shares with Feynman. He also describes the disdain with which Schwarz, and his string theory were treated in its nascent stage. Infact Schwarz was around solely because Gell Mann looked out for him. Schwartz later became very famous for his work, and observed dryly that the same jokes that were ignored in his early years elicited loud laughter once he became famous..

Mlodinow, interestingly went on to become a screen-writer for the television series "Star Trek - the next generation'!. This book, is in my opinion, a good read for anyone doing a phd, or in general, for anyone who doubts their abilities, or is wondering what next to do in life. While it may not give you the answers, it just might help you ask yourself the right questions.


4) 'Fermat's Last theorem' by Simon Singh - The story of Fermat's last theorem began innocuously enough with a letter Fermat wrote to his friend in 1637 where he only stated the theorem and added "I have found a truly wonderful proof but the margin is too small to contain it". Indeed the margin was too small to contain it, for the actual proof by Andrew Wiles runs to over 100 pages. Besides, it took mathematicians over 300 years before Wiles finally cracked the problem in 1995. This book traces the path various mathematicians undertook in their attempts to solve the problem, the most enigmatic/romantic among them being Galois, who tragically ended up losing his life in a pistol duel at the age of twenty.

Simon Singh keeps the math simple, and chooses to focus atleast as much on the historical bits, thus making this book accessible and interesting to readers of varying mathematical ability. Interestingly Wiles worked on the proof in secrecy for six years, and was distraught to find that the first version of his proof contained a flaw, but thanks to a flash of insight roughly a year later, he successfully furnished an alternate proof. I would highly recommend this book to everyone irrespective of their mathematical background, for it reads like a thriller, and is hard to put down once you get started. As an aside, I would also highly recommend "The code book" by the same author, which traces the history of cryptography.


5) 'How do you move Mount Fuji' by William Poundstone- This book doesn't really belong in this list, for its not really a science book. But I changed my mind the last moment and decided to include it anyway, for there is some fun in breaking rules:-)  This is a compilation of questions that folks who apply to Microsoft for employment have to contend with and answer, for them to nurture any hopes of bagging an offer. The focus really is on questions that need some degree of lateral thinking.

The title was perhaps inspired by the kind of questions Enrico Fermi was famous for asking his students, such as 'How many piano tuners would you guess are there in chicago?" or "If I were to drop a cannon ball over the Mariana's trench, how long would it take to hit the sea floor?". Infact these kind of questions that teach approximation and the importance of clearly identifying one's assumptions are now called "Fermi Problems". Again, the math is relatively simple yet interesting enough to engage the reader. There are other books that treat problem solving in a far more rigorous manner, but this would qualify as a nice gentle introduction.

Here lies the elixir that thou seeketh !

At the age of 14, I fell in love with physics, maths and with ideas in general. I was desperately in search of inspiration; for influences. To my utter frustration at the time, I couldn't find anyone to guide me, or the right books to uncover the magic that lay hidden. I didn't realize that the books I picked up then were not appropriate for my age(such as the Feynman lectures). Over the years, I scoured many a store and book fair, and discovered some gems. Were I to meet my 14 year old wide-eyed self again , these are the books I would thrust firmly into his hands, with the instruction 'This is the elixir that thou seeketh. Drink deep'. I believe each one of these books can change a youngster's life, especially if he/she is exposed to them early enough. To exaggerate a little( only a little), these books will leave you wishing you were stranded on a desert island where you can  read them in peace :-)

1) Mathematical circles : Russian experience by Fomin, Genkin.and Itenberg - Written for high school students, this book of elegant math problems can flummox even graduate students in math ! It has the range to address students of varying mathematic maturity, and working through this book can vault you into a whole new league of problem solving. Alas I found this too late, but still hope to work through this at some point. The other highly acclaimed related book is 'The art and craft of problem solving' by Paul Zeitz  ,of which an Indian edition is not available. I am planning to buy the international edition anyway, for it promises to a treat well worth its price.


2)Godel Escher Bach : An eternal golden braid - Written by Douglas Hofstadter during a torrid time in his life when he ended up taking about ten years to do his phd, with its writing distracting him from his work, this is a groundbreaking book that combines the works of 3 giants with a whole lot more. The section on the Crab canon which consists of a dialogue that can be read either from beginning to end, or the other way round was, by his admission , fiendishly difficult to write. For some, this might the first time they encounter the magic of Escher. ( I first got to know him in one of Martin Gardener's books).  As an additional tidbit, he describes Tamil script as an 'an elegant curvi-linear language' ! :-) This book would certainly be hard reading for a 14 year old, but even browsing through it can help add more connections between your neurons !

3) The Art of looking sideways by Alan Fletcher - This is a book that's even harder to describe than 'Godel Escher Bach. Compiled over a period of 18 years by a man who calls himself a 'visual jackdaw', each one of its pages has a different design! Filled with bewitching images, and with hundreds of quotes,metaphors and other witticisms sprinkled all over, this book is truly 'one of a kind'. If there can be such a thing as a textbook for creativity for it, this would be it. 'All seagulls look like they should be called Emma'. Does that leave a smile in your mind ? If so , go grab this book !

4) 1, 2, 3 ..... Infinity by George Gamov - This delighful book written by the eminent physicist is eminently readable and meant for a teenager. With the first print being dedicated to his 'Son Igor , who wants to be a cowboy' , to the second where sadly Igor took to computer science, this book can actually coax a youngster to admit that ' Science is not all bad' .

5)Creativity: Flow and psychology of discovery and invention,  by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - I highly recommend this book for a simple reason. It reproduces verbatim, interviews with some of the most creative people in the last few decades. As they recount their thought process, their apprehensions, and perseverence, this book can inspire you too to reach for your best ! And like hope, inspiration is a good thing !

Book Review - A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson

Descended from the apes! My dear, let us hope that it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known.
-Remark attributed to the wife of the Bishop of Worcester after Darwin's theory of evolution was explained to her

I can picture myself seated in a well-lit-cave like classroom, scratching my head in the hope of arriving at the fourth 'advantage' of biogas plants( advantage of biogas plants over what wasn't specified in the question, but presumably advantage of their existence over their non-existence). Biogas plants needed to have 4 advantages as it was a 2 mark question, which implicitly meant that each advantage was worth half mark. I thought my first 'advantage' was twice as important as the other two, and was justifiably worth one full mark. Obviously the teacher didn't agree with me on this, and to compound my misery, upon receiving my answer sheet, I learnt that I'd lost more marks as my biogas plant was not drawn neatly enough. I was tempted to point out that biogas plants contained manure, and consequently weren’t expected to be neat, and that I'd tried to capture some of that feel in my drawing. I desisted, for I knew her favorite one-liner (or two worder) to be 'minus five!'

If you have a similar tale of woes to share, and treat science books and teachers to be sinister entities well worth avoiding, and expect much printed boredom adorning the book's pages, be prepared for total liberation (I should mention that this isn't the first popular science book I've read.). For one, Bryson doesn't ask you to draw neat labeled diagrams of biogas plants, and ask you to send it over to him for his critical evaluation. Nor does he assault you with a graded questionnaire at the end of the book. Instead he helps you imbibe a lot of good science, and dare I say it- have fun along the way. Bryson takes you an exciting journey that covers a short history of -well nearly everything! From the magnificently distant quasars, the tantalizingly inscrutable big bang, the extremely retiring dinosaurs to the shamelessly promiscuous carbon atom( So much for live life dino size!) , nothing worth a mention escapes his scrutiny. Besides these, Bryson also touches upon Geology, Taxonomy, Paleontology, Chemistry, Particle physics, evolution, DNA, and a lot more!

If you love hearing about what all the eccentric folks are up to , rub your hands in glee, for a sumptuous feast awaits you. Eccentric folks abound here. At times one can't help but think that Bryson picks his scientists not primarily for their contribution to the field, but for the variety and flavour that they bring to the human race.

Sample this - Bryson says ' Darwin played piano to worms'. Fair enough - we all have our hobbies. Bryson is curiously silent on what the worms had to say about this( Worms are rather reticent, aren't they). Given that it's been well over a century since Darwin affectionately engaged in this serenading, and the fact that worms continue to remain earth-bound, and haven't sprouted wings, they presumably did not find the experience - uplifting. I personally think he might have had more success with fish (provided he played the right scales, of course)

There is an unsettling theme that emerges as you make your way through this book. Every so often in science, progress in a field comes to a halt, and seems to need intervention from an incompetent outsider, as history shows again and again. Acclaimed experts in the field hunt for a solution with no success, that miraculously is eventually supplied by an outsider trespassing in their domain. Of course these 'incompetent' folks are treated with much disdain which only seems to slow down the progress, until their views are attached any importance at all. The secret to discovering a solution to a complicated problem seems to lie in naivety. So if you want to enter a field that you are clueless about, history shows that you are eminently qualified.

Bryson offers some survival tips. Don't venture near dormant volcanoes. Lightning and earthquakes might leave you to deal with an electrifying or grave situation. In fact Bryson tells you again and again why should've been history by now, or come to think of it, should never have had an opportunity to have been a part of history. He offers several reasons, all of which are ludicrous enough to be believable, that seek to explain why humans shouldn't be here. He reminds you again and again how lucky you are. And all this repeated luck-reminding is not a necessarily a bad thing- an overpaid overworked soul can occasionally do with some positive reinforcement :)

On the downside, Bryson at times offers explanations that are at best ambiguous. The eccentricity bits are overdone at times, and form the primary content of some of the chapters. When Bryson says the earth is 5 billion years.old, limited by my longetivity, I have no choice but to accept his word for it. The choice of topics is wonderful, and Bryson's witty, self effacing style is a joy to read .Bryson finds the right balance between describing the trade, and tricks of the trade, often leaving with you a feeling that you are in possession of some privileged , esoteric knowledge.

All in all a truly impressive well written book, that will rekindle your interest (and respect) for science, and in general, the wondrous beauty of this world that we inhabit.

Bravo Mr Bryson!

Back to the world of books !

Just finished "The Uncommon Reader" by Allan Bennett. A delightful book ! Highly recommended. Have happily rediscovered the passion for reading! Now, its back to 'A Short history of nearly everything '

Book Reviews!

This one’s a review of the books I recall reading this year and my comments on them. Of course the verdicts are purely subjective, so you should probably take them with a pinch of salt:)

1) Love Story by Eric Segal – I did not enjoy this book. The language is crude, sometimes forcefully so, and the plot has been used in (or copied from :) far too many Hindi movies. Verdict- Not recommended or ‘Unrecommended’.
2) Illusions by Richard Bach – I liked this book; a lot in parts. This is neither a thriller, nor a philosophical discourse. I really liked the writing style- simple words and elegant phrasing. It’s a short book; a quick and easy read. Verdict – Recommended.
3) The Greatness Guide by Robin Sharma – While reading the initial chapters of the book (each one atmost 3 pages), I wasn’t happy. I felt the language was occasionally cheesy, and tad overconfident. Further many of the ideas area not original, and have appeared in loads of other self help books. What I look for in such books are powerful ideas captured in a single sentence in a way that appeals to me. The ideas may be obvious (most of that stuff is fairly obvious if we really think about it) but I look for the powerful and motivating ways in which they are expressed in writing. And in quite a few places, this book has them. So, once I began to ignore the language(maybe he just talks that way), and the fact that many of the ideas are perhaps not original, I began to like it. Verdict – Recommended with Reservations
4) The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz- I really enjoyed this book. Written in a very simple and direct manner, it gives concrete ideas/points to work on. Really leaves you feeling – ‘ What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve’. Sounds clichéd? Yes, but its conveyed in this book with conviction that cannot be faked. Verdict – Highly Recommended
5) Life’s Little Instruction Book, Vol I,II and III by Jackson Brown – Fantastic perspective towards leading an enriching life. Each of the Volumes has about 500 short observations on how to make the most of our lives. A very quick read, that will leave you wondering if you are truly leading the life you imagined. Verdict – Very Highly Recommended
6) Mike and Psmith by P.G Wodehouse – One of the schoolboy stories written by the man. Being one of its earlier works, its not as mature as his later creation, ‘The World of Smith’, by far the greatest display of humour I’ve encountered. However, this book is worth reading for another purpose – It the shows the seeds of genius, that later bloomed into full glory years later. Be looking at his (or any artist’s earlier works for that matter), you can trace the way he progressed, something invaluable to anyone in the arts. Verdict –Recommended for Wodehoue fans; others may not enjoy it as much
7) Intuitive Analog Electronics by Thomas Frederiksen – Haven’t completely finished the book yet. The book is written from absolute basics, in a way that’s very enjoyable to read. The subtitle reads ’From electron to the Opamp’, and does far more justice than loads of other books which claim to be advanced and end up covering loads of maths. The author designed the very popular LM324 and was declared ‘one of the best arm-wavers of this era’ by none other than ‘Bob Pease’, a legendary analog circuit designer himself. (National Semiconductor earlier had a link on him at its homepage) Verdict – Highly recommended for all circuit designers, even if it turns out to be refresher.


That’s all right now. At the moment, I can’t recall reading any other books. I hope the remainder of the year is spent in equalizing the number of self-help/mgmt books I’ve read, and the technical ones:)

The Book Tagging Business

1.Number of books I own : Somewhere around 250 perhaps.I don't count tinkle, chandamama,champak and the likes as books here :)

2.Last book I bought :Not very sure , but was either 'Feynman's rainbow' by Leonard Mlodinow (don't trust my spelling:) or 'Fermat's last thorem' by Simon Singh.

3.Last book I read : Alchemist.Has been in my possession for a long time now.Atlast got around to reading it.

4.Five Books which mean a lot to me:

• Awaken the giant within, by Anthony Robbins : It's a book on shaping your destiny instead of 'letting things happen to you'.Discovered this book when I needed it the most and it has had a profound impact on my life.
• The world of Psmith, by P.G. Wodehouse : Though most Wodehouse fans love Jeeves, I vote for Psmith.This book is a mastepiece.Again, though I'd already read several Wodehouse books inlcluding Jeeves before I discovered found this one,I felt this one was in a league of its own.
• The Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, by Arthur Conan Doyle:One of the very few works that I can read countless number of times without experiencing any boredom whatsoever.
• The 7 habits of highly effective people, by Stephen Covey : A book on how to live. Uses 7 short phrases to list the habits and the rest of the book to elaborate on them.The book's slowly growing on me , but easily one of the most important books I shall have read in my life.
• The Reader's Digest : Have been reading this since I was 12 and is one of the main reasons why my English is not as rotten as it might have been.The broad range of topics it covers instilled in me a liking and appreciation for all kinds of things.

I have definitely enjoyed several technical books but they aren't as important to me as the ones listed above.Can turn to any of the 5 listed above for relaxed reading , though can't say the same when it comes to technical books:)Will list out some of the less well known books that I've enjoyed in another post.