We read and we critique

This is by far the best book I have read this year. Despite the crazy work schedule during the week that I was reading this book, I just couldn’t put it down, or rather, hit the pause button. Of course, the fact that there were only 5 days before the library loan ended also motivated me to listen to the book at breakneck speed. I took every single chance that I got – daily walks, lunch and tea breaks, short breaks between work calls and tasks, before going to sleep, while doing household chores. In the words of the social scientist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, I was in the flow (more on Mihaly’s book Flow to follow in another book review)   The book is a captivating take on how geography plays a pivotal role in political strategies of nations. The author, Tim Marshall, is a journalist and explains strategies of various countries beautifully and systematically. He takes us through 10 maps to explain the global politics – Russia, China, USA, Latin America, Western Europe, Africa, M...

The book raises a lot of relevant questions on what next after liberalism with information & bio technology advances happening in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, most questions remain unanswered. Some of the topics that the author talks about have also already been discussed in his previous books giving a sense of deja-vu. The author talks about a myriad topics such as political structures, impact of AI on work/careers, war, terrorism, education, health & medical services, importance of information etc. The book gives a lot of food for thought and gives a sneak peek into how the 21 st Century could look like – what education and skills we should possess to continue to be relevant, how AI systems could start ruling our mind and free thinking would be just a myth, how national level politics and interests conflict in solving global problems like climate change and global economic chain-collapse, how fear and overreaction to terrorism means we are playing ri...

Celeste Ng’s latest novel touches on motherhood and racism and is set in Shaker Heights in Ohio, where she grew up. It is a gripping suspense filled tale where the house owner is trying to piece together the background and past of a mysterious tenant who moves into the neighbourhood with her daughter. The suspense is made possible as the story is set in the 90s where internet wasn’t ubiquitous. The author has done a lot of research on photography and the unique photography style that one of the central characters in the story uses adds more layers of mystery. I read this page turner at a furious pace to unravel the mystery. I recommend reading it if you would like a well written lighter novel which is a rarity.

In this book, Condoleezza Rice talks about her childhood, education and work life as a girl and as a young woman. For a woman who has accomplished so much in her life and who went on to become the first ever black woman to become US Secretary of State, she comes across as humble, hardworking and down to earth. She follows a simple narrative style. My one gripe is that her intelligence, above-average talent and skills don’t come through in her stories. On the positive side, after reading her memoir, some of my negativity towards a political career and politicians has reduced. I haven’t followed her career closely and I am now curious to read and get to know more about her and her achievements and get an outsider's perspective on her career and her political life to see if this corroborates her image I have formed in my mind.

This book came as a recommendation from a colleague. It is a children’s story of a group of rabbits and touches upon cruelty of man towards animals, procreation and looks at the world from animals’ point of view. I read the book summary and reviews online before starting the book and it had rave reviews extolling it as more than a children’s story where a lot of the stories and events in the book are metaphorical. For me, it did not live up to all the hype and it was like any other decently written book and nowhere close to a masterpiece or a classic. An author writes a book to give a certain message and this book is no different. Granted, the idea to present an animal view of the world is different and stands out as a unique and interesting theme but nothing else about it appealed to me. I have this habit of finishing a book once I begin and also, I am aiming at reading 36 books this year. So, I toiled and pursued. After 17.5 hours of sometimes grueling listening,...

Reading this book was like déjà vu. I had just finished reading Believe in Yourself. When I chose Think and Grow Rich as my next book, I didn’t realize they both are so similar. Both the authors have the same theory and recommendations to achieve one’s goals, so much so that I double-checked if both the books are written by the same author. This book is more prescriptive and lays down steps and instructions to get rich – The author primarily focuses on getting rich, but it can be generalized to achieving one’s goals. The author also switches between principles, deeper analysis & explanations of some of the steps & concepts and instructions. So, in a single reading of the book, it is difficult to connect all the dots and get the complete picture. When reading about the principles/steps, I again felt a sense of déjà vu as the principles/steps are extensions of each other. There is an interesting chapter on sex transmutation where the author claims all achieve...