[casnov]

I just finished this great book.
Rating:4/5.
Goes in great depth into how Russia used social media to interfere in US elections, how the social media companies themselves underestimated their power.

[abhi_tjet]

I read this couple of month before. An absolute firecracker and nothing short of a movie. Lots of cases which we used to read in newspapers, watch on TV is here, straight from horse's mouth. Definitely worth a read.
Let me say it now - Rakesh Maria (IPS), Retired CP, Mumbai.

[sahil624]

I would like to suggest ‘Our Moon has blood clots’ by Rahul Pandita on the sufferings of the Kashmiri Pandits during 1990 and the after effects it had on the mental health of many of the survivors.

[casnov]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Been reading Discovery of India by Nehru. A pretty massive read and a good read thus far halfway through

After you done with this. I would also recommend Glimpses of World History. Another massive and a great read.

[Sebring]

How I Blew It, the current book in my hand, talks to some of India's biggest digital entrepreneurs and tells stories that inspire. Quick thinking, astute decision making (and sometimes, sheer luck), paved the way for many successes - making for an interesting read

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sebring

How I Blew It, the current book in my hand, talks to some of India's biggest digital entrepreneurs and tells stories that inspire.

I read this one, but don't think I completed it. The author's writing / story-telling skills were strictly average. Would give it a 3 / 5 at best.

[Sebring]

Writing could have been more gripping, I agree. But there were rare nuggets which I loved, like the one below.
Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Founder of InfoEdge and Naukri - 'I got five phone calls from Housing.Com investors saying, "You've got the business" (because 99Acres was already generating Rs70-80 crore of revenue). They said, "We've got the product right with Housing.com. Why don't we merge?" And my answer was, "If you've got the product, how come we have the business?"

Originally Posted by GTO

The author's writing / story-telling skills were strictly average.

[maktags]

Need recommendations for good books on Product Design and Development. I have been a long-standing follower of Clayton Christensen and have followed several principles suggested by him in product development. Also, loved few books like "Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love". However, with tha large-scale adoption of Data Analytics and practical usage of Machine Learning, my sense is that conventional "Product Development" approaches might have also evolved and no longer applicable. Something recent that helps pls.

[ss212]

Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust

Not very technical, pretty short, and easy to read. Makes you think about quite a few ideas of game theory.

4/5.

[YD14]

Some suggestions from my reading history.

1. The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics: Its is one the best books I have read. Some might say it is a little onesided and it just reflects the opinion of the authors, but it connects so many dots in the politics that it is hard to disagree with. The arguments in the book are common sense yet so strong. Read it and you will feel like you can outsmart anyone around you. Just keep in mind to apply the ideas of the book to politicians only and not friends and family. I would rate it 5/5.

2. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford: Again it is one of the book that explains many things observable in daily life. The explanation on how companies price their products will answer your question why the car you like has a bare bones base variant and an overpriced top variant. Reading this book will also make the horses of your mind go wild to find a prefect strategy to solve the problems that plague the current market. I would rate it 4/5.

3. Measurement by Paul Lockhart: This book talks about the beauty of maths and mathematicians. If you have spent hours thinking about a single maths problem (even at high school level), you will connect with this book. I liked the book even more when the author bluntly refused to baby the reader by providing solutions. You have to be a math person to really fall in love with this book, but even for general people it is not that bad of a read, just ignore the problems. I would rate it 5/5 for maths enthusiasts and 3/5 for average reader.

Though you will be able to find pirated e-books of these books, I highly recommend you to buy a physical copy or an authorised e-book. Its already a decade gone by from their publishing date (15 for Undercover Economist and 9 for Dictator's handbook) and the content of these books has never been more relevant. They are worth the little money you will have to spend.

[whitecloud]

A few of the non fiction books which I have read :

1)" Himalayan Blunder " published in 1969 by Brigadier J.P Dalvi gives a true account of the 1962 Indo China war in the NEFA /Arunachal Pradesh sector where the author was taken as Prisoner of War by Chinese Army and was in their captivity for 7 months.The book is a factual account of how Indian Army was overerwhelmed by the Chinese.

2) "Dragon on our doorstep "by Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab published in 2017 .The book deals with geopolitics of China and Pakistan nexus and how Indian Defence Forces and Political Leadership seem to be so unprepared to tackle china .The book specifically had a chapter titled "Threat to Ladakh " which seems to have come true in April 2020.

3) "One life is not enough " an autobiography of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh published in 2014 .The book tells of his journey from being a member of Royal Family of Bharatpur to being an Indian Foreign Service officer and later on the External Affairs Minister of India.

4) "The Siege " by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clare published in 2013 on the Mumbai Terror Attacks of 26th November 2008.A must read .

5) "In the Line of Fire " by Parvez Musharaff is his autobiography published in 2006.

6) "The trial of Bhagat Singh -Politics of Justice " by A.G Noorani published first in 1996.The book was written as a study in the politics of justice. The book has explored how the trial of Bhagat Singh was conducted with a predetermined aim of getting rid of the revolutionary along with his fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev who could have shaken the very foundation of the British Empire.Copies of the original handwritten notes of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev are there in the book .A must read .

7) "The Accidental Prime Minister " published in 2014 by Sanjay Baru.An interesting facet on the professional life of Dr Manmohan Singh the former Prime Minister of India.

8) "I Dare " biography of Dr Kiran Bedi, the former I.P.S officer published in 1995.

9) "Amritsar Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle "by Mark Tully and Satish Jacob is the original account of operation Blue star carried out by the ndian Army in 1984 in Golden Temple Amritsar.

10) "Operation Blue Star -The true Story " by Lt General Kuldip Singh Brar ,the operational commander of the operation blue star .The book tells the perspective from operational point of view.

[Abhineet Singh]

During the Covid lockdown, I finished ten books in ten days. Here is the list:

1. 1971: A global history of the creation of Bangladesh by Srinath Raghvan
2. The dirt on clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg
3. Spillover: Animal Infections and the next Human Pandemic by David Quammen
4. Pandemic: Tracking Contagions by Sonia Shah
5. India, Pakistan, and the Secret Jihad by Praveen Swami
6. The 9/11 Wars by Jason Burke
7. Mythos: The Greek Mython Retold by Stephen Fry
8. Inside the Kingdom by Robert Lacy
9. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
10. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Abhineet Singh

During the Covid lockdown, I finished ten books in ten days. Here is the list:

Please add a short review & recommended / not recommended for each so the rest of us can decide which to read. Thanks .

[Abhineet Singh]

1. 1971: A global history of the creation of Bangladesh by Srinath Raghvan

A fascinating account of the history of the creation of Bangladesh. The author very neatly sews in the global narrative which led to this pivotal change in South Asia. The level of research is impressive, which can be seen from the author's confidence in trying to shed light on a number of counterfactual situations related to the crisis. The role of global hegemons like the US, USSR, and China is well played in this event.

A good read if you are interested in the history of the subcontinent.

2. The dirt on clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg

A decent book on an interesting topic. The history of cleanliness is captivating if we look at it from today's standards. The author also explains how the excessive focus on cleanliness, guided by the power of advertising, has taken us away from our natural standards.

However, the author explores the subject from inherently western eyes (in her defense, she admits to this). There is no focus on the way eastern cultures have dwelled and responded on the subject. It would have been interesting if there was a comprehensive dealing of the topic.

3. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen

A thoroughly researched book detailing the way diseases have been able to do a crossover. The book made me think about the way we interact with animals and how that needs to change. Another point is that the fall in biodiversity leads to an increase in such zoonotic crossovers, reiterating the much-related mantra about respecting nature.

4. Pandemic: Tracking Contagions by Sonia Shah

What a fascinating book.

I started reading this book during the ongoing "Great Lockdown" of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the curiosity to make better sense of things going on in the world. But I was so wrong. I should have read this book a long time ago.

The author beautifully explains the way microbes have come to rule over lives. Wrong! While the prevalent notion is that the microbes have recently started playing an important role in our lives, the fact is that the microbes have always had played a pivotal role in the lives of homo sapiens. Right from our evolution, to our bodily mechanisms, our food habits, our cultural habits, as well as our political outlook, xenophobic tendencies, etc. Even the way we reproduce (Sexually, and not by cloning ourselves) and the inevitability of death, microbes have played a more important role than we could have ever imagined.

The role of personal and societal hygiene, food habits, and the inability of the old school of medicine (Hipprocatic school) and their role in aiding/mitigating the disease spread have been lucidly explained in the book. The role of WHO has been rightly questioned (as seen clearly by their response to the Coronavirus), and so has been the response of various governments to the WHO's disease surveillance mechanism (Italy's secret cholera epidemic, India's response to NDM-1).

The Logic of pandemics is probably the most important chapter I have read in my life. It explains the role of microbes and their ferocious, destructive power. It provides a glimpse of the role of sexual reproduction and death in our lives. It explains the role of evolution and the role these microbes have played in them.

I will recommend this book to everyone.

5. India, Pakistan, and the Secret Jihad by Praveen Swami

The book presents the events in a very black and white style. The author tries to bring some buzz into the narrative but fails to do so. The book does present a clear understanding of the events in Kashmir but it does not explain the narrative in a comprehensive manner. The role of the political process, sectarian fault lines, geographical advantages, international events, etc. are not covered.

In short, the book expounds the terrorism in Kashmir from a narrow vantage point.

6. The 9/11 Wars by Jason Burke

The book authors a different viewpoint about the events post 9/11, and tried to present them in a broader narrative. It explains the difference between the zealous narrative fed by the mainstream media and the ground reality. How various factors led to radicalization and it is a mix of multiple factors like local issues, ethnic fault lines, religious outlook, lack of proper education, corruption. It also highlights how one size fits all approach will not work to counter such radicalization.

The thinking that western values of democracy, liberty, equality, secularism, etc. will be accepted across the globe, especially if they are forced from the top, is a fallacy. The lack of a ground-level approach to development and cooperation is the prime reason for the failure of the 9/11 wars to fundamentally change the situation. The hard-hitting approach of President Bush was as stupid as the religious fanatics of the terrorists. They will never achieve the objectives they wanted to.

What is not discussed in the book is the fundamental role of Islam and its role in the radicalization of people. The author generally mentions that the people in the Middle East hate western values, hate America, hate secularism, etc. but no effort is made to understand why all these values flow from the teachings of Islam (which might be distorted by radical mullahs with the support of the government like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan). It is these events that provide fodder to the terrorist churning factories who are adept at exploiting the ethnic divisions, lack of purpose, unemployment, sexual frustrations, and so on.

Until a fundamental change is made in the way Quranic values are being interpreted by mullahs around the world, with the active support of the government, terrorism will keep on rising again and again. The lack of local government, promoting education are a must to counter this trend. The rise of ISIS explains how the 9/11 wars have merely subdued the trend, not curved it.

The role is Pakistan and KSA needs to be fundamentally looked at by the world to counter-terrorism. One provided the foot soldiers and the other provides the funding.

The book has very sensible arguments about the role of zealot ideology and the role of positive forces. The minuscule number of radicalized Muslims in Europe is a testament to this trend.

Overall, this is a good book as it tries to look at the events from a unique point of view.

7. Mythos: The Greek Myth Retold by Stephen Fry

A fascinating book. It vividly describes the Greek mythology. The book is not a dull representation of mythology. The author has dealt with the subject in quite a humourful manner, highlighting the events in a joyful manner.

If one is interested in such subjects, this is the book to start.

8. Inside the Kingdom by Robert Lacy

Highly entertaining book. The history is presented in such a manner that it zooms past the reader as a thriller. The gripping context of the grand design, interspersed with the multiplicity of individual stories keeps the reader woven into the narrative.

9. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

A fascinating, vivid, and humorous account of the author's stay at the Corfu island. The books made me laugh many times, and the bits about animal behavior has instilled a sense of curiosity and respect for the animal world. This book, ideally, should be a must-read for children in schools.

Thoroughly enjoyed the book.

10. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

A nice read, the myths sail through as fascinatingly interwoven stories. It is like watching a movie.
The only downside is that the book is a little short on details. It could have been a bit longer, which would have made it much more enjoyable.

[GTO]

Loved the legendary Bog Iger's book - The ride of a lifetime. He is an acknowledged genius in the business world & the book takes us through his remarkable journey to the top of Disney. Epic management skills, and you'll be surprised at how humble he seems to be.

Rating 4 / 5 stars.