I chanced on Calibre-Web last week and finally got around better organizing my book collection. I really like the way it’s turned out and if anything, this has been a silent nudge to read more and read frequently! The beauty of this is that, I can now share my collection with friends and family just like yesteryear’s - when you would just borrow a book from a friend, read it and return it. ...
The other day I was at the Strand store looking for books on topics that was a bit offbeat when my eyes fell on one that was sandwiched between two hard bound books. The title read-Three cups of tea. I pull it out idyllically. The front page of its paperback illustrated three kids clad in white shawls intently reading from copies of disheveled books and the subtitle read - ‘One man’s mission to promote peace one school at a time’. Intrigued a bit, I turn over the book to see what this was all about and with that brief description - K2, Karakoram and building schools, I out rightly make my mind to purchase this. ...
It´s been a long long long week! Looks like the client out there has suddenly decided to catch up on things. Deployments are happening pretty frequently and every team claims to be on fire to push their deployment across. Next week looks to be even more hectic.But guess it´s all a part of sweet sweet life :). Caught up with two books this week. How Starbucks saved my life - Michael Gill ...
Just another book from an IIM grad. Don’t these nuts have any work? Five point someone, Joker in the pack and now this? Guess even I’ve got to start writing on my sulking life in SCSVMV! I was just looking around the racks searching for William Fotheringham’s ‘Put me back on my bike’ when I chance upon ‘Keep me off the grass’. Not finding anything else interesting I decide to give this a shot. Way back home in the bus as I read the first few pages, I start getting queer views from people beside me. I care a damn and am instantly engrossed in the book. Surprisingly, every other page has something or the other that gets you beaming out. Be it the typical ‘Collegian’ lingo or the out of the box expressions and language. ...
Whether you’re a hard core business strategist, a budding entrepreneur, an adventure loyalist or just someone who reads books to while away time, You need to give ‘Losing my Virginity’-Richard Bransons autobiography a read. I picked this book randomly sometime back at a Crossword store in Pune and believe me, this is the best book I’ve ever read till date. Written in a lucid language, this close to 600 pages book would give you a wonderful insight into the interesting up-bringing of Richard, his ideology in working to set the system right, how he entered the entrepreneurial world starting off from the Student magazine, how Virgin broke ground, how it organically diversified into the plethora of fields it currently operates in, hardships the group faced due to unhealthy and healthy competition, Richards take on life and adventure, insight into his world record breaking ventures and finally Virgin’s take on social responsibility. While every other page gets you smirking for one reason or the other, you’re intermittently given insight into corporal responsibility and the onus that rests on each one of us to mend the way we use natural resources. ...
Of late, for some reason I’ve stopped reading fiction novels. ‘The Client’ still lies in my office desk half read. I just read a page or two to keep me awake after lunch! Last week when I’d been to E-Square to watch ‘A righteous kill’ , Rahul and I wandered into the Crossword store. Two books in particular caught my attention. ‘Losing my Virginity’ -An autobiography of Richard Branson and ‘Joker in the Pack’ by Ritesh Sharma and Neeraj Pahlajani. I’ve always had high respect for Richard for his attitude towards life and business, So I’d picked the book with no second thoughts. The reviews on ‘Joker in the pack’ on the other hand were pretty interesting. I sifted through a few pages and plop it went into my cart. ...
For some reason of late, I take quite some time to read novels. How gripping it is really doesn’t matter. I finish a chapter or two and set it aside. Probably it’s just about rekindling that thrill to get back to it later for the next read ;-) ! I just finished reading a very old novel of John Grisham - The Rainmaker. One of his best writings, I would say. It’s about a law student by name Rudy Baylor fighting against a big time Insurance Company for it’s insensitiveness to one of its well deserving insuree. Just having passed the bar, this is one of his first few cases. To make things worse, Great Benefit - the insurance firm deploys a reputed lawyer to fight for them. Things get murky as days pass, making him wonder if at all he did the right choice in running up with the case. Amidst all this, he happens to meet a female Kelly , who’s tortured by her husband, in a hospital where he’s scouting for more cases. This is where the rafu chakkar starts :-) ! After a long tedious trial, he finally manages to win the suit for his client in a flamboyant manner but the irony is that the parent company of Great Benefit manages to wash it’s hands off leading to Great Benefit’s bankruptcy. Neither Baylor nor his client get what they’re legally bound to. Vexed with how things turned out he leaves Memphis and Law for good with Kelly! ...