[GTO]

Just completed a thoroughly entertaining book by the founder of Domino's pizza.

Pizza Tiger = 4 / 5 stars. Really shows the kind of struggles that he (and entrepreneurs in general) go through. You have to have a fighting spirit & very thick skin. Monaghan is candid about his mistakes and pleasantly conservative about his successes. I wanted to order their cheese burst pizza right after reading the book

Among the better business autobiographies I've read. I recommend a read:

[ValarMorghulis]

Recently completed Chernobyl Series and the series creator tweeted his reference material's list. Picked up this one (helped that it won the 2015 Nobel)
Title: Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

Author: Svetlana Alexievich


The book is a sad reading, not in terms of the writing but reading the plight of the people makes one's heart heavy. If one is scared of nuclear energy this book is perfect to scare away people!
Engaging yet ruthless, heart breaking yet brutal, this is the story of a nation's struggle with one of the most catastrophic accidents, the affects of which will be born by generations to come.

[Ithaca]

While scrolling through Indian TED talk videos, I stumbled upon this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4dEXXsiOrA

Then I searched Amazon and found his book - The Bihar Diaries by Amit Lodha IPS.

Link: The Bihar Diaries

Just finished it and it is a fantastic ride.
An account of how he captured two dreaded killers using technology as he has elaborated in his TED talk.
The book informs us about what the life of an IPS officer really is in the smaller districts of our country. The lack of police infrastructure, internal politics, the backstabbing, the treachery.

Some humour thrown in.
Do not miss the incident of the IG of police and his Ambassador car & Beauty Kumari.

It is being made into a movie by Neeraj Pandey.

[shashanka]

"The Mothman Prophecies" by John A. keel - A true story of unexplained terror.

Another old favourite I dug out from the etc. pile and read once again. And found it as riveting as the first time.
As the blurb says :-

"The Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by John Keel. The book relates Keel's accounts of his investigation into the reported sightings of a large, winged creature called Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967. It combines these accounts with some of his theories about UFOs and various phenomena. He ultimately connects the strange sightings as possibly an omen or premonition to the collapse of the Silver Bridge across the Ohio River on December 15th 1967. Thus putting the "Prophecies" in "The Mothman Prophecies".

John Keel's unsettling account of what he encountered in Point Pleasant has long been regarded as a classic in the literature of the unexplained. The book is a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into more than thirteen languages. It also loosely inspired the 2002 film of the same name starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney"

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GTO

Bad Blood = Must read. A true story that reads like a filmy drama! One of the biggest frauds to come out of the west coast. Brilliantly written, will have you captivated.

Strongly recommend another great book that is as captivating!

Super Pumped: The battle for Uber. Giving this book 5 / 5 stars. An epic read on an iconic company that has changed the way the world travels. Written by an NYTimes journalist in NYTimes-level of language & skill (I'm a big fan of their writing style). You will love Travis Kalanick for his vision and hate him for his lack of ethics. The author must truly have top-level access as he's gotten all the inside juicy stuff. Extremely fast-paced, I stopped all my other reading & was glued to this one. Buy it today .

[Vitalstatistiks]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

I am searching for a book that details out indian history. Right from the early empires to the mughals. How each empire thrived, their conquests, how they fell, etc. Then the coming of the french, british, etc.
Most books i saw have been compiled keeping in mind competitive exams where history is optional. However am searching for something that's more casual in tone, yet covers most of the stuff!

Saw this too late, but if you haven't invested a lot of time on any other title, consider "India" by John Keay. What a fantastic book, based on facts and verifiable information, lucidly presents origins of civilization in India. There are so many 'Wow' moments when you are reading this, you realize there is so much that we had no idea about ourselves. Touches quite a bit on customs and systems of the time, presents counter facts and very logically explains the narrative. The very best i have read on the subject so far, without it reading like a textbook.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks

Saw this too late, but if you haven't invested a lot of time on any other title, consider "India" by John Keay. What a fantastic book, based on facts and verifiable information, lucidly presents origins of civilization in India. There are so many 'Wow' moments when you are reading this, you realize there is so much that we had no idea about ourselves. Touches quite a bit on customs and systems of the time, presents counter facts and very logically explains the narrative. The very best i have read on the subject so far, without it reading like a textbook.

Okay there have been one too many coincidences recently when I was not even looking out for books and this one kept popping up! Like in the cupboard of a hotel where i stayed, a street vendor waving this at me and similar instances. Your response only seals the fact that I need to get this asap. Thanks for suggesting..

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

While scrolling through Indian TED talk videos, I stumbled upon this.

Then I searched Amazon and found his book - The Bihar Diaries by Amit Lodha IPS.

Just finished it and it is a fantastic ride.
An account of how he captured two dreaded killers using technology as he has elaborated in his TED talk.
The book informs us about what the life of an IPS officer really is in the smaller districts of our country. The lack of police infrastructure, internal politics, the backstabbing, the treachery.

Some humour thrown in.
Do not miss the incident of the IG of police and his Ambassador car & Beauty Kumari.

It is being made into a movie by Neeraj Pandey.

Thanks for this recommendation, bought and read it and it was very good

[ksameer1234]

Finally got a chance to re-kindle (paperbacks though ) my hobby of reading books. Past couple of months, have been able to read through a few books, all from the recommendations here! Here's my take on them:

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Amazon.com: The Everything Store : 4 / 5

Very nicely written book. I felt that the message this book wanted to convey was that Amazon and Jeff Bezos always puts customer first. If that was intended, book truly succeeds. On the other hand, since this was commissioned by Bezos, don't expect it to talk about its failings.

Originally Posted by Samurai

It is a brilliantly written book by a former white house speechwriter. The book contains experiences of studying MBA at Stanford, and how students from various background are stirred and shaken while learning business economics, finance, etc.

[url="https://www.amazon.in/Snapshots-Hell-Making-Peter-Robinson/dp/1857880781"]

My masters wasn't in business administration but in engineering albeit interdisciplinary. I could actually relate to every page of the book. The fact that writer has super narrative skills shows the way book paces. Surprisingly, he only talks about first year of the MBA. However, it totally makes sense because it is the first year which has all the fireworks while second year is tame, simply because students have gathered pace. Also, I had a confused perspective of MBA simply because I never took a class but now I can relate better. It is all about the challenges of life condensed in a brief course.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Iacocca : An Autobiography: 3.5 / 5

I picked this book up with mixed expectations. Knowing the legend of Iacocca I expected this to be a great read. However, being an automobile enthusiast, I knew a lot might seem trivial. The other day, I was telling wife some incident I read in this book and referred to it as a book about Ford! Honestly, that is the summary of this book. Even though this is all about Iacocca, he has spent pages after pages ranting about Ford. When not ranting, he doesn't miss opportunity to tell how great he is. Since the book must appear balanced, he talks about some of the setbacks and simply glosses them over stating "so what".

I won't call Iacocca bad since he has earned success but this book is nothing but heap of self-praise. One thing though, he deserves 5/5 for self-promotion, something very few can actually do.

Originally Posted by GTO

Read a damn good book on the rise & fall of Blackberry.

This has to be one of the best books I have ever read. The pace of narration is like a thriller and it stays taut throughout. With a brief experience of blackberry phones and very extensive experience of playbook, it felt so nice to be able to gain perspective of why things happened the way they did.

This is one book I would recommend even to those who have no interest in Blackberry simply because the narrative is so good.

[avingodb]

I am currently reading VVS Laxman's biography 281 and beyond. It is a good effort in explaining what makes a cricketer and what goes through the mind of a player in different stages of life.

However, at about 75 percent of the book, I feel its beginning to get repetitive now. None of the controversies are really handled in detail; this book may please all, except perhaps Greg Chappel. By now I also feel that the timeline is confusing and the book could have used better editing. However, I am going to power through the rest of the book. Hoping that he throws some light on his retirement and how it happened at the start of the home season.

[abhi7013]

Anyone been to the Bangalore book fest? Collections were good with some healthy collection of regional novels as well.
I just picked up war and peace by Tolstoy upon instinct. Its a pretty heavy read and am nervous to start it, lol! Any members who have read it, i hope it is gripping and not too plain..

[deathwalkr]

Finished reading THE MOPLAH REBELLION, 1921 by Diwan Bahadur C. Gopalan Nair, a retired deputy collector of Calicut,Malabar.

Book was written in 1923 and he lists out multiple events based on newspaper articles at the time about incidents connected with the revolt.

Good reading.

[srini1785]

One of the best books i have read. PARKINSON'S LAW By Northcote parkinson. A satire on public administration whose predictions are relevant even today. Published way back in the 60's i think. Book is probably out of print. However, i was able to get this pdf copy. Sorry for the very bad editing. Still an enjoyable read.

[GTO]

Flawed on Nirav Modi. My god, what an outstanding book! Paval Lall is a story teller par excellence. Fascinating read on Modi, Mehul Choksi and the diamond industry in general.

Rating 5 / 5 stars. Strongly recommended.

[Tranz]

Hey Guys,

Am so glad I found this post. Almost all of my reading is Non fiction.
2019 has been a year of reading biographies..The reading has been slow this year largely due to the onslaught of OTT platforms. Finding the time to read away from the screen has been a huge challenge

The Phoenix Moment By Praful Bidwai :( Still reading it ).
A book on the Indian Left , its origins ,downfall . It's a good read so far

Sharad Pawar On My terms
It's a piece of self propaganda. But was great to delve into his mind. Love him or hate him this man is the rightful Chanakya



[i] Bill Byrson A short History of Nearly Everything[/I] I have never managed to complete this book even though it's a delightful read. I just read snippets of this book on and off) .

Rebel Sultan by Manu S Pillai - A Great read about the rise and fall of the Deccan empire

Ali baba the house that Jack ma built - Good read tracing the early stages of Alibaba .

Shoe Dog phil knight - A decent read Again mostly self propaganda but decent nonetheless

[I]Network 18 by Indira Kannan[/I] : Written by a former Employee so the organisation is glorified yet a good read to understand how Raghav Bahl managed to built a vast empire like Network 18 out of nothing.

Hoping to increase my 2020 quota of books.

Thanks and Happy New Year Guys