The art of racing in the rain

The book was touching! A dog narrates its story - the story of the family he considers his own. The happy moments with the family, the evenings spent watching racing videos, arrival of a child in the family and things that turn their lives upside down. Its a fiction novel but when you see if from a dog's head it is touching!

Girl who played with Fire

Second in the series of the Millenium Trilogy - an interesting read. It deals more with the past of Lisbeth Salander. We did not read much about her in the first book. This book tells us about how she came about to be the way she is and some more hidden secrets. Worth a read!

2 States : The Story of My Marriage

Found this book on my book shelf, untouched for many months, since my BIL's last visit. Picked it up one cloudy afternoon and finished it too!
The most imp thing abt Chetan Bhagat's book is to not expect anything. If you feellike a Bollywoodish story, you will not be disappointed :) If you expect literature - then :(
Boy meets girl - parents disagree plus throw in some sex, abuse and wedding - and that is 2 states. If you care for some subtle humor about the cultural differences, give it a shot.

The girl with dragon tattoo

Good book - worth one read. Not sure why it is a phenomenon though - there is nothing astoundingly new. Its like any mystery, thriller genre book. The only thing that surprised me was that the girl with the tattoo was not introduced till quite a bit (some 150+ pages later). The movie was much better with parallel stories.
The second half of the book was gripping though!

And why exactly do they brew so many many pots of coffee - mentioned almost in every other page of the book? This guy needed a better editor, btw :)

Twilight Saga

The Twilight Saga - What can I saw about Edward and Bella that's not already said? A phenomenon. Well, read the books if you care for some light hearted romance that involves vampires :)
Of the 4 books, I liked the first one. The rest felt like a drag!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

One of the best novels I have read in the recent past. The story just flows and the format of the book is like letter writing. A person from Guernsey writes a letter to this writer requesting a book. The conversation continues and the writer gets an idea for her new book. Her friend at Guernsey gets others in the club to write to her too about their experiences during the war. The conversation is mostly about the German occupation of Guernsey and how they formed the literary club. There is a subtle love story, but that hardly gets much importance and is exactly the way it should be.

Do grab a copy at your nearest library and read this one!

Three Mistakes of My Life

Alright, biggest mistake of "MY" life is reading this book. Its like a horribly written Bollywood movie, that I wouldn't even watch if its free! Cliched story! Has been told a million times - cricket, religion and politics. Language is too simple and story is pathetic! Please pass up on this one!

The White Tiger

Back to reading and updating again...

This book talks about nothing new that we Indians don't know, but does a good job reminding us of the other face of India. A corrupt India is what we choose to conveniently ignore/forget and this book brings it all back. A lot of people feel that this book shows India in a poor light, but I think it shows India exactly the way it is!

The story is in the first person, its a story of rags to riches of Balram Halwai. Born in his village (called Darkness), he moves from there to become a driver and later becomes at entrepreneur in the Bangalore (called Light). The corrupt journey he undertakes is the essence of this book.

A good read and a light one too! And for once an Indian book that does not talk about sarees, sindoor and spicy food, like its meant for Westerners.

Good Quotes :

See the muslims have one god. The christians have three gods. And we hindus has 56000000 gods.

Only three have never let themselves be ruled by foreigners: China, Afghanistan and Abyssinia. These are the only three nations I admire.

To break the law of his land-to turn bad news into good news- is the entrepreneur prerogative.

To sum up-in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with big bellies, and men with small bellies. And only two destinies: eat or get eaten up.

These are three main diseases in this country: cholera, typhoid and election fever. The last one is the worst; it makes people talk and talk about things that they have no say in.

The Great Gatsby

March was a slow month, in terms of reading. A lot going on at my end, so was able to read one book amidst all that life has brought.

Lesson learnt : Never be fooled by Amazon reviews. If 1000 people find it a 5-star rated book, you need not.

If you watched Bollywood flicks, then this story comes as no surprise. The heros, heroine, affairs (extra-marital ones) and so on. No character in this book is a hero to celebrate except the author himself. The setting is good, prose is great and the story has been re-told several times.

A short book, took me longer than expected to read, but give it a shot! Not much to lose there.

Sold

If you have read Memoirs of a Geisha (one of my favorite book) or watched Umrao Jaan (a Hindi movie), this is the same in a much more simpler form. But the topic of human trafficking is never a simple one. It does make you cold, especially if you have kids of your own. This is a story of a Nepalese girl sold by her step-father for a few rupees. It is a story, in first person, about how she felt each moment. It does not have a fairy-tale ending and leaves the reading wanting to know a little more. But it sure delivers its point and leaves you a little disturbed. It is a Young-Adult book. So it is spaced and a very quick read. Maybe one afternoon, at the most.

Tuesdays With Morrie

Yet another book, that says nothing new, but kicks you in the butt, just in case you forgot how to lead your life. This one, like the Last Lecture, has nothing new to offer. It is the same inspirational kind. But you need one such book every year to realize that a mechanical life does not lead you anywhere, and that there is a huge difference between "want" and "need".

Good quotes:

Love each other or perish.

People are only mean when they're threatened.

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Once you know how to die, you know how to live.

You're not a wave, you're part of the ocean.

If you can accept that you can die at any time - then you might not be as ambitious as you are.

Three Cups of Tea

Have you ever sat through a movie because so many people said its good and you thought the best is coming yet? That's exactly how I felt about this book. 1200 people on Amazon cannot give wrong reviews. I trust them. So I kept pushing myself to read this book despite the fact that skipped a few paragraphs here and there. Then I reached page 333. Nothing yet! Mr Mortenson's work is absolutely laudable. But the book, awful! painful to read!

The whole book is in third person. A first person report would have made it more personal and a pleasure to read. Too many adjectives to describe something simple and finally, too much of deviation from the whole point. It could have easily been several pages shorter. Maybe the young reader version is better. Try that one.

Five Point Someone

I just finished reading this ebook online and well, it deserves an ebook only! Very breezy read, thanks to amateurish writing. Complete fiction. I mean rosy endings, Bollywood style!

So much for criticizing. Then why did I read through it. Well, it was hilarious. You could relate some of it to your own college life. Bunking classes, ragging, hating the strict Profs, hanging out with friends etc - Some of these moments, you relive through the books. Thats what kept me hanging. You just wish he had kept the love life part of it out of the book and did not go into much detail there. But what you desperately wish, is some reality check and a good writing.

Read it online free.

Unaccustomed Earth

This is another set of short stories and they are good. That is all I can say. Her stories have gotten too monotonous for me, and except for the surprise endings, there is not much. They are again descriptions of Bengali families that grew up close to MIT or Harvard and the differences in generations. Ms Lahiri is a good writer. She has talent, but I think after a certain point, descriptions of sari, vermilion, fish curry etc becomes plain boring. I was looking forward to something a little more than that but was disappointed. If you can ignore or skip these trivial things, the stories are not bad. I particularly enjoyed the second part which has one story in 3 parts.

If you want more detailed review, go here : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/books/review/Schillinger3-t.html

A Long Way Gone

This is one book thats a must read!

It is about the author's childhood in Africa. He starts the book with what seems like a normal childhood when his village is attacked by Rebels. He loses his family and run from village to village, as the rebels keep attacking the villages. He stays in a forest for sometime and eventually joins the army to fight the rebels. His transformation from a young innocent boy to this monster teenager that can kill people is pretty painful. He writes about how easy it was to brainwash a little boy into killing so many innocent people. This book is a page turner and is extremely honest. The language is quite simple, that you feel someone is telling this during a friendly chat. The first part where he runs and learns to live independently but the second part, where he becomes a normal child again seems a little rushed. I wish he had written a detailed ending about his life after. But the author sure leaves you wondering and seeking more.

Eat Pray Love

Yet another book that I like in some ways and don't like it in some other. This is a travelogue of the author. She is a divorcee and travels through Italy, India and Indonesia. She enjoys the food at Italy, the prayer and meditation in India and she finds love in Indonesia. While I enjoyed the Italy part and Indonesia part, I did not quite enjoy the India part. I could be biased since I am from India and though her description of everything seemed OK, sometimes it felt like a drag. There is some humor in her observation and I personally think that the book is such a hit because of her talented and very honest writing.

Some humor:
"Here in Rome, the pope's health is recorded daily in the newspaper, very much like weather, or the TV schedule. Today the pope is tired. Yesterday, the pope was less tired than he is today. Tomorrow we expect that the pope will not be quite so tired as he was today."

"In Bali, there are only four names that the majority of the population give to their children, regardless of whether the baby is a boy or a girl. The names are Wayan, Made, Nyoman and Ketut. Translated, these names mean simply First, Second, Third and Fourth, and they connotate birth order."

Water For Elephants

I have a very mixed opinion about this book. It is a story of a boy that joins circus, as circumstances force him to, and his journey along with the team. He is currently 90 years old and living in an old age home. The chapters alternate between his past and current life. There are certain parts of the story I really like and that includes his current life and his old age feelings. His journey with the circus is also described very well. But eventually, it is a love story and I think I have outgrown love story days. So thats a big no-no. The narration is quite brutal too, describing how life in Circus was during the Great Depression and how badly animals and workers were treated. It may be worth a read, if you enjoy love stories.

A few of my favorite quotes:

Age is a terrible thief. Just when you're getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies your head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse

One of the greatest indignities about being old is that people insist on helping you with things like bathing and going to the washroom.

With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini has this way of writing that brings every character to life. And even after you close the book, the characters come back to haunt you for several days. He has done a brilliant job, just as he did with Kite Runner. This is a beautiful story about women, relationships between woman and Afghanistan during the 90's. It is a story about this woman Mariam, he childhood as an illegitimate child and her journey through womanhood. It is about how bad her luck was and how it got worse. The story also involves another woman Laila, who was born lucky but her world turns upside down due to the way. The author also given an insight to how the Talibans treated woman and how everything we take for granted like freedom of speech and freedom of life is not free!

Definitely a must-read book. The author has left me craving for more of his work.

The Last Lecture

The last lecture is the kind of book you read when you need to derive inspiration or when you need someone to just remind you how precious, unpredictable and darn short life is! I know I can find faults with this book like any, but I picked the book fully knowing that this was one man's view of the world. So I will save the criticism this time. I also watched the video on YouTube and I was touched by this man's words. Randy Pausch passed away in July 2008, but I am sure the world will continue to remember him.

This book goes a long way in telling you what life is all about. There are some wonderful quotes in this book, some of which I would love to remember a life-time and re-iterate to my kids.

- When there’s an elephant in the room, introduce him.
- We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
- When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that means they have given up on you.
- I probably got more from that dream and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish. (About one of his dreams)
- You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.
- Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
- Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap.
- Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.
- Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.
- Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.
- The best piece of parenting advice I’ve ever heard is from flight attendants. If things get really tough, grab your own oxygen mask first.

The Old Man and The Sea

This book, while simple and a beautiful read, has so much of depth in every sentence, that it is hard to not miss some. Every line written can be analyzed and compared to our everyday actions. The tale starts in a small Cuban village and most of it is in the sea. There are a few moments that make you realize how old age is but then there are a few that bring strength and valor back. The old man praises the fish for his dignity and says he is noble but then wants to kill him soon.

It is a very small book, some 125 pages and I enjoyed reading it. It took a couple of hours.

My favorite line:
They beat me, Manolin," he said. "They truly beat me."
"He didn't beat you. Not the fish."
"No. Truly. It was afterwards."

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Pay attention to the title "A Leadership Fable", it indeed is. It starts with a story of a silicon valley company in trouble. The Board decides to bring in a new CEO, a woman who is a mother, teacher and leader. The story of how she takes this company and rebuilds its team is amazing. The people on her team are realistic: the CTO with his notebook open during meetings or the eager Sales head who wants to make another acquisition to add a feather to his cap. She writes down the five things on a dysfunctional team at their first meeting and how they tackle each of this is what the book is all about. Every team lead or manager can relate to this book very well. At some point or another, most of the teams have been dysfunctional and there is some reality there.

What it tries to convey is cohesive teams :
- trust one another (duh!)
- engage in conflict around ideas (conflict is a good thing after all!)
- commit to decisions and plans of actions (yeah... give me a date when it will be done and how it will be done!)
- hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans (there goes your pay cut!)
- focus on the achievement of results (ta-da!)

Seriously, the pros of this books are many : simple and easy read, morals taught through story (well it is a fable!) and a lot of points just stick. The only con I can see is: A lot of effort/pages have been wasted in describing some unnecessary details like someone frowning or biting nails (I am exaggerating here). Sometimes the effect is lost because of this.

Well, easier said than done, try putting all this to practice. May not be as easy as it was for the fictional Kathryn.

God of small things

When I finished the Kite Runner, I wanted another book that would keep me headed in a similar direction. Now, I don't know what direction that is, but I think I wanted a book that would be a page-turner. Several reviewers compared Kite Runner to God of Small Things (GOST). So I picked this book. It is not a page-turner. It is not an easy read. It takes time to understand the characters. While some characters are well introduced, some aren't. The characters are definitely interesting esp the twins Rahel and Estha. The book is not in the first person like Kite Runner, so I was a little annoyed initially. The plot takes some turns but nothing that makes you jump off your seat. The only similarity I see between GOST and KR is "guilt". Everything else is different. There are a lot of metaphors used and it may come in the way of your reading pace. I did not think this book was exceptional but who knows, you may enjoy it. It probably requires a certain kind of reader to appreciate it and I may not be one of them.
Maybe my review is more biased since I read KR right before this and enjoyed it immensely.

The Kite Runner

One word to describe this book : Gripping. This book is hard to put down once you start. The story set both in Afghanistan and US, comes together very well. It is a story about redemption. Can we correlate to the story? Most of us can. The setting, the innocence of childhood and the darkness of the past all make this book a very compelling read. The story starts with 2 young boys, Amir and Hassan. Their world seems so diffent : one rich the other poor, one educated the other illeterate, one master the other servant. But they share a bond. But one incident changes their lives forever and this is when the story takes a turn. The twists keep coming. The selfishness of youth and guilt of old are all portrayed very well. For me, having born and raised in India, it was very easy to relate the settings to my own childhood. The warmth of friends and relatives were very easy to understand and it did not seem unreal, even for a moment. It is a very emotional ride.

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

As the title explains, this is the story of some MIT grads, who took Las Vegas casinos for a ride. They used probability theory, which is quite popular now (the ho-lo trick in blackjack), and the entire team, made millions at the casinos. This story is all about how the team was formed and how they made it big, before their secret was compromised. The first half is a little drag but the second half is quite gripping. It is hard to put the book down once you start the second half. The writing style is not very appealing, but the story itself moves fast.

Well, it is still hard to believe that this is a non-fiction book. I strongly feel that some of the facts may have been exaggerated to the length of the book. But I believe, it is consoling to know that most of is probably non-fiction. I recommend this book for some fun. There may be more books in the "fiction" section of your library that gives more adrenaline rush, but this is pretty darn good!

Rich Dad Poor Dad

With the flu season on, all four of us are down. I took a couple of days off from work so I can be with the kids. With nothing much to do when the kids slept, I looked for a book to read. I had bought some books at the airport store in Bangalore and this was one of them. I still remember the look my husband had given when I picked this book. With one child next to me and another in my tummy, he had expected me to pick some books on parenting. But, I remembered one of my friend mentioning this book and I picked it. I had never read a book on investment and I felt all the more compelled to pick this.

Well, this book is quite an easy read; give it a couple of evenings. It teaches you common sense and these books fascinate me. How people make millions by writing about common sense? Aren't we supposed to know it? Well, let me save that topic for another day. There are most of us that pay very little attention to investment. While we all dream of a happy retired life but not many of us plan for it. This book is an eye-opener of sorts if you have never ever read an investment book, like me :-) The author emphasizes that rich people teach their kids to make money work for them, while the poor teach them get an education and work for money. By poor, the author does not mean people that cannot afford 2 meals a day. When he says poor, they are the people who have more liabilities than assets. The sort that spend too much on car, clothes etc and assume they are living a rich life. For instance, he says that if someone considers their home the biggest investment, then that person is in trouble. He points out a couple of ways to make money like real estate and stocks, which of course has worked for him but the same may not work for everyone! The author does a good job at narrating ideas but has very little information on implementing them. This book is more of an inspirational book than a financial book. So get hooked, if you want some inspiration to save money! If you are looking for a recipe to get rich, pass this one.

A lot of people seem to suggest "The Millionaire Next Door" is a better book. I may read it sometime but this is FYI.

The Alchemist

This is a book that different people may see differently: a fairy-tale for adults, a self-help inspirational book or it can be a simple easy book with some good quotes.
Basically, the books tells you to follow your heart, dream of something and live a life trying to achieve it. That is when life feels fulfilled. It is a story about a shepherd Santiago, who follows his dream and very prectiably, realizes them. Well, it is certainly a page turner, describing the various people he meets and the path to his destination. While this book can be a life changer for some, it was refreshing for me. There were some inspirational quotes and it was a different book. A very easy read and the book can be finished in one evening. What I take away from this book is, lead a life following a dream but the journey to achieve the dream is more beautiful than the dream itself.

More quotes from this book:

* When a person really desires something, all the Universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream

* There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

* The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.

* Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor being severely tested.

* Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

* It's not what enters man's mouth that is evil, it's what comes out of their mouth that is.

* When someone makes a decision, he is diving into a strong current that will carry him places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking

While I am writing one review for Malcolm Gladwell, I decided I should review the other book I have read too. Next time Malcolm Gladwell writes a book, I will buy it without blinking. I have read his Tipping point and this is his second book I read. I truly respect this author for the way he presents his ideas and the data. Coginitive science is presented in the form of a story book. He debates throughout the book if we should follow our gut-feeling or not. There are times when this have proven right and sometimes it has proven wrong. There are some good examples of how instincts may not be always right : as in sipping Pepsi and deciding if it is better than Coke (note : its just a sip), listening to one song by an artist and deciding if he is good or bad. There are no conclusions drawn whatsoever. If you are looking at core Cognitive science as in "science", then this is not the book for you. This book has more examples than explanation of human behavior.
All in all, it is a very light read like his previous book. It leaves you hungry, looking for more than what you read and an explanation of why we do what we do. Well, don't expect answers. Read it for the fun of reading! Have fun.

Some lines I liked:

* It is quite possible for people who have never met us and who have spent only twenty minutes thinking about us to come to a better understanding of who we are than people who have known us for years.

* There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.

Tipping Point

This is a book I read about a year back. And if I remember something today, then I believe that book has left some impression. This book is about data. Data gathered and presented well. Malcolm Gladwell does a wonderful job of correlating data. So if you are the kind that says "Show me the data to prove your point", then go for this one. The author starts the book with a Hushpuppies example. They were out of trend and a bunch of teenagers made them the fashion statement. The drop in the crime rate in NY city is another example of a phenomenon that reached the tipping point. This book is not only about mass behavior that causes a huge change but there are examples of personaities too. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend this for a light Sunday afternoon on the deck.

Books and more books!

I often wonder, when I look at the books on Amazon.com; how can one life be enough to read so many books. My wishlist keeps growing and so does my library at home. I know that not all books are read-worthy, but I don't want to miss out on any of the best books. So, even with my hectic schedule, I am trying to make time to read some books. I will post some reviews as I read them, maybe some favorite lines from the books, but feel free to add you comments and/or suggest books.