Non-fiction Connect by John Browne The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace Hooked by Nir Eyal Saving Capitalism by Robert B Reich The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman Fiction Birdman by Mo Hayder Stranger by Dean Koontz Memory Man by David Baldacci Trunk Music…
Posts tagged Books
What I read in 2015
Non-fiction Essentialism by Greg Mckeown Move Up by Clotaire Rapaille and Andres Roemer How to Be Alone by Sara Maitland Looking Away by Harsh Mander Fiction I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes The Farm by Tom Rob Smith Einstein’s Dream by Alan Lightman The Accidental Universe by Alan Lightman The Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins One False Move by Harlan Coben The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen Descent…
The Path to Serenity
In theory, there are said to be eighty-four thousand approaches, or entrance doors, in Buddhism. The large number is to indicate that, in fact, anyone can start wherever they are. To climb Mount Everest, you could set out from the traffic jams of a Parisian suburb or from the lush greenery of a Nepalese valley. The goal is the same, but the ways you might travel are different. In the…
What I read in 2014
Non-fiction Capital by Thomas Piketty The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell Think Like a Freak by Levitt and Dubner Fiction Decoded by Mai Jia Night Film by Marisha Pessl The Colorado Kid by Stephan Kind Deception by Jonathan Kellerman Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo The Goldfinch by Donna Tart Personal by…
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hours Bookstore – A nostalgic read
Some places might not be very exotic, scenic or on people’s list of must see-must visit but often they offer something that many places do not: nostalgia and comfort arising out of familiarity. The neighbourhood park where one spent many of the childhood evenings playing with friends is one such place. If we take this analogy to stories, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hours Bookstore is one such story. This is a…
Decoded – An Unusual Thriller
Although, Decoded blurb and reviews considered the book to be a thriller, it is surely not a thriller in the traditional sense. It is a languid and intriguing story of a mathematical genius who worked for a top secret cryptography unit of Chinese government. However, this is surely worth a read for its beautiful, poignant and intelligent portrayal of a life of a mathematics genius. I had never heard of…
What I read in 2013
Non-fiction Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo Eat by Globe by Simon Majumdar Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan and Elder Shafir David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Focus by Daniel Goleman The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stieglitz Why Does the World Exist by Jim Holt Fiction The salvation of a…
What I read in 2012
Non-fiction The Stuff of Thoughts by Steven Pinker Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Fiction A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino Shibumi by Trevanian Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Things Fall Apart by China Achebe Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Why…
What I read in 2011
Fiction 1. Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro Kazuo Highly recommended if you are looking for a good thought provoking science fiction. A mushy story about the lives of clones who were raised to be ‘donors’ for human beings. Was shortlisted for Booker in 2005. 2. 1984 by George Orwell I read a couple of dystopian novels recently. This was surely one genre defining novel. Does not need any recommendation….
Night Train to Lisbon
Some stories gradually grow on you and some characters seem that they have been made from ingredients picked from your own life. And when this happens in a book, which is written lyrically and full of erudition, for readers like me, it is a something mesmerizing. A few weeks back I finished Pascal Mercier’s “Night Train to Lisbon”, a book originally written in German and later translated in several languages….