Book Reviews

1. Start - Jon Acoff

I love to read motivational books once in a while. Start is a very short and sweet book. If you have a dream that scares the heck out of you so much so that you fear even to start working on it then this book is for you. I give it 4/5 stars.

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth

This is a famous book series and its author is already a multimillionaire at age 25. I found the book silly, shallow and mindless. The occasionally too-dumb-to-live protagonist annoyed me the most. The story still compelled me to finish reading the book. I give it 2.5/5 stars.

3. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I found the book Divergent very silly, I still read the second part - Insurgent, simply because its story is very engrossing. Needless to say I am waiting for the third part in the series (Allegiant). I give 2.5/5 stars. Divergent movie will be released in 2014.

4. Chanakya's Chant - Ashwin Sanghi

We all know Chanakya as a great strategist, scholar and diplomat. Ashwin Sanghi - in his political thriller 'Chanakya's Chant' weaves two parallel stories - spanning across two different timelines. The historical part depicting Chanakya is relatively gripping but the modern day narrative is too amateurish.
There is so much politics, jealousy, bitter words and games that people play in every sentence of the book that it caused me headache. I give it 2.5/5 stars.

5. Ender's game - Orson Scott

My imagination fails me most of the times while reading sci-fi genre. When I watched the trailer of this movie it looked so much better and different than the way I imagined it while reading the book.
I did not like the book but it has a cult following of people absolutely smitten with it. Give it a try if you like sci-fi genre. I give it 1/5 stars.

Not just about weight loss

Two and half years ago when I weighed 171 pounds I dreaded to see myself in the mirror and hated every second of mirror/photo time.

The issue wasn't just weight it was also sickness, I went through 10 antibiotic treatments, 5 root canals and one gruesome surgery in a single year. Even one antibiotic treatment is very harsh for the body so I don't need to explain what these treatments one after the other did to me, it damaged every aspect of my system. I needed to feel hearty, cleanse my body toxins and almost certainly wanted to lose weight.

I decided to lose weight, the timeline set was 3 years! Any aggressive timeline wouldn't have been realistic.There were months in a row when I didn't lose a single pound and didn't know where I was going wrong, in turn it got harder to feel motivated and positive.

My quest to feel healthy and lose weight continues... 3 years are not over yet! I wanted to share review of some reading that kept me inspired and not give up:

1. Zenhabits (blog) - Leo is motivational writer, he writes about how to build really simple but very helpful habits - flossing your teeth, waking up early, advantages of green tea and how to build a habit to have it daily, exercise, how to find time to work on a hobby, good diet, travel tips and the list goes on.

I must say weight loss and working on fitness is not easy, Leo taught me how to be organized, manage time, prioritization in simple small steps. His posts get repetitive at times but I need that!
www.zenhabits.net - Read it and get inspired....

2. Books by Rujuta Diwekar - The more one reads on this topic the more number of theories confuse the mind. Some say eating frequent meals makes your body work all the time and some say eating small quantities after every 2-3 hours is the key to weight loss as our body can digest very small quantity at a time.
I like Rujuta's theory better, it suits my eating habits. Her books give me an affirmation that I am on a track that will work.

3. Perfect 10 Diet -  by Michael Aziz - Mind blowing book. It taught me the difference between food and food like products. A must read even if you don't want to lose weight.

Books that I didn't like - flat belly diet and Ultramind solution - This book is an advertisement of supplements. One might end up taking a bowl full of supplements if they plan to follow this book. A solution to each problem in life is some supplement according to the book. Little introspection is required if you have temper issues, no Gaba can help you with that.

Idiot box : part 3

7. Sherlock: Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous detective character till today. What I like about the new series Sherlock by BBC is this Sherlock has all the gadgets that are available in today's world. He is way faster, nimble and intelligent than the old Sherlocks. Why are there only three episodes in each season GAHHHHHHHH.

8. Death Note:  Clever, slick, suspenseful - anime at its best. It is an intellectual thriller with a complex plot and a story that is remarkably inventive. This will remain a classic forever, hopefully no one will attempt a remake!

9. Broadchurch: Simple town, simple people but not a simple murder. It is an emotional murder mystery.  I LOVED all the actors. Watching too many murder mysteries sometimes spoils the end for me (I ended up guessing who the murderer was in fourth episode).

10. 24 : 24 hours, Nuclear bombs, terrorist attacks and Jack Bauer taking care of everything. The show is pretty amazing. I watched 3 seasons and of course it gets repetitive. (loved the one starring Anil Kapoor). I am curious to watch the Indian version with Anil kapoor playing Jack Bauer.

(Part 1 covered: Black Mirror, Forbrydelsen, Game of Thrones. Part 2 covered: Orphan Black, The Fall, Homeland)