Sunday, December 18, 2011

2011 - Book Review


Love Happens Like That - Ritwik Mallik

I was in India and wanted to read books by new Indian writers. I purchased a few which had 'National Bestseller' tag on it.
Love happens like that is a pathetic book and I wonder why it says national bestseller? Total waste of time...

I Had A Love Story Too - Ravinder Singh

I guess now there is a series of writers who are trying to copy Chetan Bhagat's writing style, Ravinder being one of them. Book is just okay...

Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Now that is what I call good writing and a great book!
Life is an unending search for love, family, home, acceptance, a healthy society, and a promising future. You can go home again, even if "home" has evolved and been transformed. As home is transformed one adapts and maintains what one can of tradition. "One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."

Its Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong

This is the book in which Armstrong shares his journey through triumph, tragedy, transformation, and transcendence. It is the story of a world-famous cyclist and his fight against cancer.
Inspiring!

2 States - Chetan Bhagat

This is it! I swear not to read this one time wonder's books again...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Immortal

What if we were immortal?

Would we have been able to remember the details of our entire life? Would it still have been exciting? For how many days would we enjoy hobbies, job, relationships and learning new things? What if there was no end to it? Would life have been a dull experience then?


The stars, planets are the same since thousands of years just their names would keep changing.

Communication would still remain just the language would change.

Man from earth is the name of the movie. It revolves around 5-6 characters just sitting in a room and chatting. What a wonderful movie! Let me know if you like it.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

August Books

Read 2 amazing books in the month of August (along with some other books like photography and how to be a novel writer!)

The Help: By Kathryn Stockett
Best book I read this year. It is compulsively readable while teaching strong truths about the way the United States evolved from a shameful undercurrent of persistent racism to the hopes and dreams of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Ultimately, will the next generations children learn (and be taught) that skin color is nothing more than a wrapping for the person who lives within?
(The help movie revolves around toilet issue, book is so much more than that!)



Mapping Human History:
Steve Olson's Mapping Human History is an excellent introduction to historical genetics, and indeed it has been called by the New Scientist as "the most balanced, accessible and up-to-date survey of the field currently available."

Washington Hikes : Part II


Spencer Islanda wildlife-rich ecosystem where salt- and freshwater mix

Squak State Park Trail
This forested park, a wilderness with glimpses of Issaquah below, has miles of winding trails alongside bubbling creeks and narrow ravines. There are several trail loop options on this 2,024-foot-high mountain. With multi-use trails and a natural area, equestrians and hikers alike have plenty to explore.

St. Edward State Park
I had a blast on the trails of Saint Edward State Park. There are miles & miles of fun trails and something for every skill type. I highly recommend this ride.

Sculpture Park
This is my all time favorite biking trail. It is right in the middle of downtown, goes by the sea..

Chucknaut Trail
located just south of Bellingham. You will find great views of Mount Baker, Bellingham Bay, and more - Fragrance Lake is part of this trail

Mercer Slough and Bellefields Nature Parks Trail
Good trail but full of mosquitos :-)

Washington Park Arboretum
Words fail to describe the beauty of this arboretum...

Coal Creek Park Trail
Here is the link to details of this trail - http://www.weekendhike.com/2008/05/coal-creek-trail.html

East Tiger Mountain Trail
This trail is just awesome. I thought there are no snakes in WA state, they won't be able to survive the cold and rainy weather but I was wrong. I was really enjoying the hike until I saw a snake for the first time on any of the Washington hikes. I lost all the strength in my legs after I saw the black snake with green stripes (I think it is called green runner) and left the trail in the middle.

Ebey's landing
I think this is the most beautiful trail in Washington

Lake Serene
I found it tough, I was exhausted after the hike, Challenge is always fun - Roundtrip 7.2 miles
Elevation Gain 2000 ft
Highest Point 2521 ft

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Business Maharajas

Business Maharajas

An Insight into Some of India’s Most Powerful Business Tycoons and the Eight of India's most powerful men - DHIRUBHAI HIRACHAND AMBANI, RAHUL KUMAR BAJAJ, ADITYA VIKRAM BIRLA, RAMA PRASAD GOENKA, BRIJ MOHAN KHAITAN, BHARAT AND VIJAY SHAH and RATAN TATA

Instead of concentrating on strategy and strategic decisions, Gita Piramal focuses on the personal experiences, aims, and visions of these important industrialists to expose how they think, how they conduct their businesses, and how they arrive at complex investment decisions involving billions of rupees. Though the book is interesting she fails to portray the maharajas look interesting.

Under the Tuscan Sun

If you are looking for a novel which works faster and is more effective than a sleeping pill, then this is the book for you. Not sure why Frances Mayes wrote this and most of all why I read it...

Alice In Wonderland

People generally interpret this book depending on the phase of life they are in. When I read it I was working in a company with extreme micro management so my interpretation was completely based on my work life. I might read it again to see how I interpret it now.


Some other good books:
7 habits of highly effective people, first things first by Stephen Covey

Grow younger live longer - Deepak Chopra (I want to explore some more books by Deepak Chopra)

Who moved my cheese, one minute manager - Spencer Johnson

Friday, March 04, 2011

B O O K S


The great Indian Novel – Shashi Tharoor
Mahabharata has its own charm. It is kind of boring to read or watch it getting compared with India’s struggle for independence or India’s politics. If you don’t know anything about Mahabharat then it’s a good read.


The White Tiger – Arvind Adiga
Booker prize for such an author?
My objection is not because of the subject (taking the point of view of the underclass), or the topic (corruption) or the plot line (finding a way out of a harsh social trap); rather my objection is to the quality of the work which is characterized by inauthentic situations and laughable coincidences and plot twists.

The confession – First John Grisham’s book that I read (I have seen a few movies based on his novels), after reading this book I swore not to read any of the Grishm’s book ever… it is that bad!

Some of my favorite books:

Cheaper by the dozen – This book CHANGED my life.
It is probably known for its humor, but there is much more to the book than just humor. This book is about a person who brought the idea of time management into industries for the first time. This book is an answer to people who complain they don’t find time to pursue their hobbies because of their jobs/ hectic schedules.

Fountainhead – I have no words to explain how much I admire Ayn Rand’s writing; I think she is one of the best writers. I am in love-hate relationship with the characters in her books. One of my most favorite book is Atlas shrugged.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

The first thing that is missing in the book is an explanation on what does success mean to the author. Success might mean different things to different people. Is it about being famous, rich, doing something that changes people’s lives, helping others or being happy? So many people with values similar to mine would reject the traditional definitions of success: being rich or famous or having a best-selling book or creating a huge business is not all there is to life.

For me success isn’t about achieving something in the future, but about doing something right now that you love.

Unfortunately the author has covered examples of famous and rich people like Bill Gates to prove his theory on secret of success. There are not enough examples in the book to support his theory. I found the last few chapters irrelevant to the topic; specially the ones on math skills, airline accidents and farming. But it is definitely something that makes you think on what success mean to you. Worth a read!