2025 ...................................................
Cohen, Andres (2021): The Universe,
Dazai, Osamu (1947): The Setting Sun (斜陽, Shayō)
Greene, Graham (1951): The End of an Affair
Hillers, Marta (1954): A Woman in Berlin
Murata, Sayaka (2016): Convenience Store Woman (コンビニ人間 - Conbini Ningen)
Yasigawa, Satoshi(2010): Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (森崎書店の日々, Morisaki Shoten no Hibi)
2024 ...................................................
Murakami, Haruki (2013): Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Dey, Monidipa (2022): Himachal Temples & The Bengal Connection - Why Temples of Mandi, Kullu resemble their Bengal Counterparts (Garuda Prakashan)
Karunatilaka, Shehan (2022): Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Khyentse, Dzongsar Jamyang (2016): The Guru Drinks Bourbon
Kundera, Milan (1984): The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Pandit, Narayan (~10c CE) : Hitopadesha (/ Haksar, Aditya Narayana Dharyasheel (1998 translation from Sanskrit)
Pollock, Sheldon (2006): The Language of the Gods in the World of Men , UCPress
2023 ...................................................
Flaubert, Gustav (1857): Madame Bovary (eBook)
Pamuk, Orhan (2002): The New Life, eBook (Translated by Guneli Gun)
Ganatra, Ami (2021): Mahabharata Unravelled - Lesser-Known Facets of a Well-Known Story, Bloomsbury
Brown, Percy (1959): Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu), D B Taraporewala Sons & Co. PL
Rinpoche, Sogyal (2017): The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying
2022 ...................................................
Winfrey, Oprah and Bruce D Perry (2021): WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing, eBook
Pullman, Philip (2005): NORTHERN LIGHTS (Volume 1: His Dark Materials), Scholastic
Kanisetti, Anirudh (2022): LORDS OF THE DECCAN - Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas, eBook
Ishmael, Beah (2008): A LONG WAY GONE - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, eBook (The most translated book from Sierra Leone - 30+ languages - Preply)
2021 ...................................................
Murakami, Haruki (2016): Absolutely on Music: Conversations , eBook
Lawrence, DH (1913): Sons and Lovers, Penguin Classice
Damodaran, Harish (2021): Broke to Breakthrough: Rise of India's Largest Private Sector Dairy Company, Penguin India
Süskind, Patrick (1985): PERFUME: The Story of a Murderer, (translated from German - Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders ), eBook (The most translated book from Germany - 49+ languages - Preply)
Gokhale, Vijay (2021): THE LONG GAME - How the Chinese Negotiate with India, Penguin Randomhouse, 2021
Albom, Mitch (1998): TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE - An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
Paternostro, Silvana (2014): SOLITUDE AND COMPANY - Life of Gabriel García Márquez Told with Help from His Friends, Family, Fans, Arguers, Fellow Pranksters, Drunks, and a Few Respectable Souls
Reyes, Reyes (2015): LOS AÑOS DE ALLENDE, Hueders (Español)
Raghavan, Srinath (2018): THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE - A History of the United States in South Asia, Allen Lane 2018
Quiroga, Horacio (2001): CUENTOS DE LA SELVA, Pehuén 2001. (Español)
Kahneman, Daniel (2011): THINKING, FAST AND SLOW,
Murakami, Haruki (2017): MEN WITHOUT WOMEN, Knopf 2017
Torres, Mara (2012): LA VIDA IMAGINARIA, eBook - Planeta 2012 (Español)
Abulafia, David (2020): THE BOUNDLESS SEA: A Human History of the Oceans, eBook
Coll, Steve (2018): DIRECTORATE S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, eBook
2020 ...................................................
Ogawa, Yoko (2009): THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE PROFESSOR, eBook
George, Susan (1976): HOW THE OTHER HALF DIES, eBook
Frankl, Viktor (1946): MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, ebook
Tumbe, Chinmay (2018): INDIA MOVING - A History of Migration, Penguin-Viking
Yousaf, Mohammad, Mark Adkin (2002): AFGHANISTAN, THE BEAR TRAP - The Defeat of a Superpower, eBook
Stanley, Amy (2020): STRANGER IN THE SHOGUN'S CITY - A Japanese Woman and Her World, eBook
Junger, Steven (2009): WAR, eBook
Zamzar (20xx): SPANISH SHORT STORIES FOR BEGINNERS, eBook
Jerome K Jerome (1889): THREE MEN IN A BOAT (To Say Nothing of the Dog), Library Genesis
Dalrymple, William (2018): THE ANARCHY - The East India Company, Corporate Violence and the Pillage of an Empire
Harari, Yuval Noah (2018): 21 LESSONS FOR THE 21st CENTURY, Penguin Random House 2018
Singh, Sarbpreet (2019): THE CAMEL MERCHANT OF PHILADELPHIA - Stories from the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Tranquebar / Westland Publications PL, 2019
Patil, Vishwas (1988/2019): PANIPAT - Translated from Marathi by Nadeem Khan, Eka / Westland Publications 2019
Tharoor, Shashi (2019): THE HINDU WAY - An Introduction to Hinduism
Hariri, Yuval Novah (2015): SAPIENS - A Brief History of Humankind, Vintage Books London
Harari, Yuval Noah (2018): 21 LESSONS FOR THE 21st CENTURY, Penguin Random House 2018
Singh, Sarbpreet (2019): THE CAMEL MERCHANT OF PHILADELPHIA - Stories from the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Tranquebar / Westland Publications PL, 2019
Patil, Vishwas (1988/2019): PANIPAT - Translated from Marathi by Nadeem Khan, Eka / Westland Publications 2019
Tharoor, Shashi (2019): THE HINDU WAY - An Introduction to Hinduism
Hariri, Yuval Novah (2015): SAPIENS - A Brief History of Humankind, Vintage Books London
2019 ...................................................
De Rohit (2018): A PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTION - Everyday Life of Law in the Indian Republic, Princeton University Press
Bryson, Bill (1997): A WALK IN THE WOODS, Black Swan 1998
Joseph, Tony (2018): EARLY INDIANS - The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, Juggernaut
Taseer, Aatish (2018): THE TWICE BORN - Life and Death Along the Ganges, Fourth Estate India
Morton-Jack, George (2018): THE INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR - From Jihad to Victory - The Untold Story of the Indian Army in the First World War
- Blogpost here
Schipper, Mineke (2017): NAKED or COVERED - A History of Dressing or Undressing Around the World, Speaking Tiger
Hosseini, Khaled (2018): SEA PRAYER, Penguin RH
Ramakrishnan, Venki (2018): GENE MACHINE - The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome, Harper Collins India, 2018
Jacobson, Howard (2010): THE FINKLER QUESTION (audiobook)
Das, Gurcharan (2018): KAMA - THE RIDDLE OF DESIRE
Iyengar, Sheena (2010): THE ART OF CHOOSING, Little Brown, London 2010
Pillai, Manu S (2018): REBEL SULTANS - The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji, Juggernaut
Bryson, Bill (1997): A WALK IN THE WOODS, Black Swan 1998
Joseph, Tony (2018): EARLY INDIANS - The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, Juggernaut
Taseer, Aatish (2018): THE TWICE BORN - Life and Death Along the Ganges, Fourth Estate India
Morton-Jack, George (2018): THE INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR - From Jihad to Victory - The Untold Story of the Indian Army in the First World War
- Blogpost here
Schipper, Mineke (2017): NAKED or COVERED - A History of Dressing or Undressing Around the World, Speaking Tiger
Hosseini, Khaled (2018): SEA PRAYER, Penguin RH
Ramakrishnan, Venki (2018): GENE MACHINE - The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome, Harper Collins India, 2018
Jacobson, Howard (2010): THE FINKLER QUESTION (audiobook)
Das, Gurcharan (2018): KAMA - THE RIDDLE OF DESIRE
Iyengar, Sheena (2010): THE ART OF CHOOSING, Little Brown, London 2010
Pillai, Manu S (2018): REBEL SULTANS - The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji, Juggernaut
2018 ...................................................
Raghavan, Srinath (2018): THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE - A History of the United States in South Asia, Pelican Allen-Lane (Random House)
Devadas, David (2018): THE GENERATION OF RAGE IN KASHMIR, Oxford University Press
Peretti, Jacques (2017): DONE: The Secret Deals that are Changing our World, Hodder & Stoughton
Bagchi, Subroto (2009): THE PROFESSIONAL, Penguin Portfolio 2009
Lal, Ankit (2017): INDIA SOCIAL: How Social Media is Leading the Charge and Changing the Country, Hachette India 2017
Tully, Mark (2017): UP COUNTRY TALES - Once Upon a Time in the Heart of India, Speaking Tiger 2017
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (1963): ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, Penguin Books
Paz, Octavio (1995): IN LIGHT Of INDIA - Translated from Spanish by Eliot Weinberger, The Harville Press, London
Murakami, Haruki (2009-11): 1Q84 - Book I, II and III
Poonam, Snigdha (2018): DREAMERS - How Young Indians are Changing Their World, Penguin-India
Vittal, N (2018): MODI'S MIRACLE - Shift to Right, Sage
Erum, Nazia (2017): MOTHERING A MUSLIM - The Dark Secrets in Our Schools and Playgrounds, Juggernaut
Livio, Mario (2014): BRILLIANT BLUNDERS - From Darwin to Einstein, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2014
Haskar, Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel (1998 translation): SIMHASANA DVATRIMSIKA - Thirty-Two Tales of the Throne of Vikramaditya
Shafak, Elif (2010): THE FORTY RULES OF LOVE -- Never knew that the the man behind the genius of Rumi was a dervish called the Shams of Tabriz...and of similarities with Vedanta.
2017 ...................................................
Bar-Zohar, Michael and Nissim Mishal (2015): COMMANDO - The Death Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces, JAICO -- makes you wonder how so many SF guys ended up as prime ministers in Israel...
Farivar, Masood (2009): CONFESSIONS OF A MULLAH WARRIOR, Atlantic Books London -- answers the question - 'How exactly are zealots created?'
Higashino, Keigo (2012): THE SALVATION OF A SAINT, Abacus Publishing - a whodonit with the finer points of making coffee.
Rajan Raghuram G (2017): I DO WHAT I DO, Harper Business, 2017 - mostly a collection of old lectures. Denser than expected.
Bhattacharjee, Kalol (2017): THE GREAT GAME IN AFGHANISTAN - Rajiv Gandhi, General Zia and the Unending War, Harper Collins India, 2017
Aroor, Shiv and Rahul Singh (2017): INDIA'S MOST FEARLESS - True Stories of Modern Military Heroes, Penguin Books
Pamuk, Orhan (2017): THE RED HAIRED WOMAN, Penguin Random House India (This time it's Rustom and Sohrab, from Shahnama, the Persian classic...but how come Mr. Cek's lawyer failed to include the son's pic in his detective report? :/ )
Bagchi, Subroto (2017): SELL - The Art, the Science, the Witchcraft, Hachette India (A quick, easy read, with some nuggets strewn along the way)
Doniger,Wendy (2017): THE RING OF TRUTH: And Other Myths of Sex and Jewelry (Dense - in an academic kind of way)
Mairowitz, David Zane (1990): KAFKA FOR BEGINNERS (Graphic Novel - brilliant illustrations and narrative)
Mukherjee, Neel (2017): A STATE OF FREEDOM, Penguin
Singh, Kushwant (2017): EXTRAORDINARY INDIANS - A Book of Profiles
Higashino, Keigo (2014): MALICE, LittleBrown UK (Wheels within wheels that gets a bit tiresome towards the end - despite detective Kaga)
Dalrymple, William (2013): RETURN OF A KING: The Battle for Afghanistan, Bloomsbury Publishing (Another brilliant piece of scholarly story-telling!)
Dalrymple, William and Anita Anand (2016): KOHINOOR - Story of the World's Most Infamous Diamond, Juggernaut Books
Dubey, Amit (2017): RETURN OF THE TROJAN HORSE, Platinum Press, Time Group Books, 2017
Sapru, Abhay Narayan (2017): THE BECKONING ISLE - The Real Special Forces Story, Wisdom Tree / Chlorophyll Fiction
Bar-Zohar, Michael and Nissim Mishal (2016): MOSSAD - The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, JaiCo Publishing House, New Delhi
Barker, Eric (2017): BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
Allen, Charles (2003): A MOUNTAIN IN TIBET: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Source of the Great Rivers of Asia, Abacus 2017
Nilekani, Nandan and Viral Shah (2015): REBOOTING INDIA: Realizing a Billion Aspirations, Allen Lane-Penguin India
Thompson, Craig (2011): HABIBI (Graphic Novel)
Clydesdale, Greg (2016): WAVES OF PROSPERITY - India, China and the West: How Global Trade Transformed the World
Kalidasa (circa 170 BCE - 634 CE): RAGHUVAMSAM - The Line of Raghu
Surendran, C.P (2015): HADAL (ISRO Spy Scandal repackaged)
Kshemendra (990-1070 CE): THE COURTESAN'S KEEPER (Samaya Maatrika) - Tanslated from Sanskrit by A.N.D. Haskar, Penguin Classics (What a brilliant piece of work! - makes you see Sanskrit language in a new light :) )
Brittlebank, Kate (2016): TIGER - The Life of Tipu Sultan, Juggernaut-Delhi
2016 ...................................................
Tharoor, Shashi (2016): AN ERA OF DARKNESS - The British Empire in India, Aleph-India, 2016
Aiyar, Pallavi (2013): PUNJABI PARMESAN - Dispatches from a Europe in Crisis, Hamish Hamilton / Penguin 2013
Haskar, A.N.D (2014): JATAKAMALA - Stories from Buddha's Previous Births, Harper Collins India
Sanyal, Sanjeev (2016): OCEAN OF CHURN - How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Penguin Random House 2016
Orwell, George (1945): ANIMAL FARM
Greene, Graham (1969): COLLECTED ESSAYS, The Bodney Head Ltd.
Banville, John (2005): THE SEA
Sharma, Ruchir (2016): THE RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS - Ten Rules of Change in the Post-Crisis World, Allen Lane India
Pillai, Manu (2015): THE IVORY THRONE - Chronicles of the House of Travancore, Harper Collins India
Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2016): THE GENE: An Intimate History, Allen Lane / Penguin; NYT Review
Hemingway, Ernest (1926): THE SUN ALSO RISES, AudioBooks
Davidar, David (2014): A CLUTCH OF INDIAN MASTERPIECES - Extraordinary Stories from the 19th Century to the Present, Aleph, 2014
Raghavan, Srinath (2016): INDIA'S WAR - The Making of Modern South Asia 1939-1945, Penguin
Fosryth, Frederick (2010): THE COBRA, GPutnam & Sons (Kindle)
Rinpoche, Sogyal (2012): TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING, HarperOne
Fosryth, Frederic (2015): THE OUTSIDER: My Life in Intrigue, GPutnam & Sons
Levi, Scott (2015): CARAVANS: Indian Merchants on the Silk Road
Ninan T.N (2015): THE TURN OF THE TORTOISE - The Challenge and Promise of India's Future, Penguin India
Bryson, Bill (2015): THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBING - More Notes from a Small Island
Yamamatsu, Yukichi (2015): STUPID GUY GOES to INDIA (Indo e Baka ga Yattekita) , Translated by Kumar Sivasubramanan, Nihonbun Geisha Tokyo / Blaft Publications PL, Chennai
- Review in the Hindu
Karnad, Raghu (2015): FARTHEST FIELD: An Indian Story of the Second World War, Random House India
2015 ...................................................
Rajdou, Navi and Jaideep Prabhu (2015): FRUGAL INNOVATION - How to Do Better With Less, The Economist, 2015
Gawande, Atul (2009): THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO: How to Get Things Right, Penguin Viking 2009
Pamuk, Orhan (2004): ISTANBUL : Memories and the City, Vintage Intl, 2006
Radjou, Navi, Jaideep Prabhu & Simone Ahuja (2013): JUGAAD INNOVATION, Random House India
Kaplan, Robert D (2012): THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, Random House, NY
Tripathy, Salil (2014): THE COLONEL WHO WOULD NOT REPENT - The Bangladesh War and its Unquiet Legacy,
Bagchi, Subroto (2013): ZEN GARDEN - Conversations with Pathmakers. Portfolio/Penguin, 2013
Doniger, Wendy (2009): THE HINDUS - An Alternative History , Penguin / Viking 2009
Sharma, Robin (2008): THE GREATNESS GUIDE 2
Singh, VK, Maj.Gen. (2007): INDIA'S EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE - Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2007
Kumar, Rajeev (2014): INTRAPRENEURS @ MJUNCTION - The making of an e-commerce giant, Rupa India 2014
Hemmingway, Ernest (1932): DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON
Morrison, Tony (2008): A MERCY
Murakami, Haruki (2006): BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN
Mehta, Vinod (2014): EDITOR UNPLUGGED: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me
Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2010): EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES
Singh, Daman (2014): STRICTLY PERSONAL - Manmohan & Gursharan, Harper Collins India
Rushdie, Salman (2001): FURY
Johnson, Faith (2013): FOUR MILES TO FREEDOM - Escape from a Pakistani POW Camp, Random House, New Delhi-- Surprising to know that Chuck Yeager was going around in full USAF uniform, interrogating IAF POWs!
Hesse, Hermann (1930): NARCISSUS AND GOLDMUND -- Into the mind of a compulsive wanderer in the middle ages... the portrayal of the great plague is haunting.
Rushdie, Salman (2005): SHALIMAR THE CLOWN -- Like a patchwork quilt with some outstanding bits here and there, but, on the whole not quite Rushdie enough..
Morris, Ian (2014): WAR - What is it Good For? , Profile Books, London, 2014
Gawande, Atul (2014): BEING MORTAL - Medicine and What Matters in the End, Penguin, 2014
2014 ...................................................
Guha, Ramachandra (2014): MAKERS OF MODERN ASIA - I was keen to know more about leaders like Ho Chi Minh but this was more about political context than personalities. Disappointed. Here is a review from the Economist
Bellow, Saul (1953): ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH - A wonderful 'bildungsroman' - coming-of-age story set in the depression years of Chicago.
Atwood, Margaret (2000): THE BLIND ASSASSIN - Two sister's coping with a family business that has run aground..
Guha, Ramachandra (2012): PATRIOTS & PARTISANS, Allen Lane, 2014
Krishnamurthy V (2014): AT THE HELM - A Memoir, Collins Business, 2014 - A common thread runs through BHEL, Maruti-Suzuki and SAIL...
Ashtavakra Gita: Discourse by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
Sanyal, Sanjeev (2012): LAND OF SEVEN RIVERS - A Brief History of India's Geography, Penguin Global, 2012
Hemingway, Ernest (1961): SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO and Other Short Stories -- I liked the last one the best - "The Short Life of Francis Macomber" (is there a better description of a lion-hunt?)
Mantel, Hilary (2009): WOLF HALL - The gory life and times of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII
Orwell, George (1938): HOMAGE TO CATALONIA -- Franco's Spain, and the Civil War unveiled.
Murakami, Haruki (1982): WILD SHEEP CHASE - All the essential Murakami ingredients are there - cats, music, food, surreal experiences.... plus an odd sheep, a blood clot and a girlfriend with exquisite ears.
Grass, Gunter (): PEELING THE ONION - My first peek into life during war-time Germany... great narrative but it still leaves you with the impression that Grass is not being entirely truthful..
Philip Roth (1959): GOODBYE, COLUMBUS: A mixed bag..."Defender of the Faith" left an impression..
Deepa & Raja Kodikal (2000): LIFE OF BHAGAWAN NITYANANDA, Kohinoor Printers, Mumbai
Philip Roth (1997): AMERICAN PASTORAL: A neat little window into the world of leather workers (esp. glove mfrs), cattle breeding, Jewish middleclass, anti-Vietnam War protests, and, surprisingly, Jainism!
Chatwin, Bruce (1977): IN PATAGONNIA, AudioBook
Achebe, Chinua (1958): THINGS FALL APART, AudioBook -- very evocative use of language -- a book about Okonkwo and the white man's "Pacification of primitive tribes of the Lower Niger"...
Satrapi, Marjane (2006): EMBROIDERIES, eBook -- chai & granny's gossip in Tehran
Brookner, Anita (1984): HOTEL DU LAC, AudioBook
Pattanaik, Devdutt (2013): BUSINESS SUTRA - A Very Indian Approach to Management, Aleph Book Company
Murakami, Haruki (1988): DANCE DANCE DANCE, AudioBook
Naipaul, V.S (1979): A BEND IN THE RIVER, AudioBook -- brilliant narrative
Gladwell, Malcom (2013): DAVID AND GOLIATH - Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Little Brown
Mahfouz, Naguib (1981) : ARABIAN DAYS AND NIGHTS: A Novel, AudioBook
Ramo, Hoshua Cooper (2009): THE AGE OF THE UNTHINKABLE, Little, Brown & Co.
Allen, Charles (2012): ASHOKA: India's Lost Emperor, Little Brown & Co.
Singh, Natwar K (2012): WALKING WITH LIONS: Tales from a Diplomatic Past, Harper-Collins India
Boo, Katherine (2012): BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS - Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, Hamilton-Penguin, India
Manto, Saadat Hasan(): BITTER FRUIT - The Very Best of Saadat Hasan Manto - Edited & Translated by Khalid Hasan, Penguin, 2008
Raman, B (2007): THE KAOBOYS OF R&AW, Lancer Publishers, 2007 - eBook here - http://getebook.org/?p=112368
Sapru, Abhay Narayan (2013): IN THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS, Chlorophyll -- Good to see the Para's telling their stories..
Levy, Adrian and Cathy Scott-Clark (2013): THE SIEGE - The Attack on the Taj, Penguin -- blogpost here.
Dawkins, Richard (2009): THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - The Evidence for Evolution, Bantam Press, 2009
Churchill, Winston (): BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS & SWEAT - Collected Speeches, Penguin
Sharma, Ruchir (2010): BREAKOUT NATIONS - In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, Penguin India
2013 ...................................................
Pattanaik, Devdutt Dr., (2006): MYTH = MITHYA: A Handbook of Indian Mythology, Penguin India 2006
Joseph, Mathai (2013): DIGITAL REPUBLIC - India's Rise to IT Power, Power Publisher's Kolkata
Aurelius, Marcus (CE 121-180): MEDITATIONS
Khan, Mumtaz Ali (Sri.M): APPRENTICED TO A HIMALAYAN MASTER, Magenta Press (2010)
Suzuki, Shunryu (1970): Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, e-Book narrated by Peter Coyote
Naipaul, Vidiadhar Surajprasad (1961): A HOUSE FOR Mr. BISWAS, Kindle-Ed
Munshi, Porus (2009): MAKING BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION HAPPEN, Collins Business, 2009
Rushdie, Salman (1995): EAST, WEST, Vintage, 1995
Perkins, John (): THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, Dutton
Wei, Zhang (2008): THE ANCIENT SHIP, Harper Perennial Modern Chinese Classics, 2008
Gladwell, Malcom (2008): OUTLIERS, Kindle
2012 ...................................................
Faulks, Sabastien (1993): BIRDSONG (Kindle Ed.)
Okakura, Kakuzo (1912): THE BOOK OF TEA (Kindle Ed.)
Gopinath, G.R, Capt., (2010): SIMPLY FLY, Harper Collins India, 2010
Devadoss, Manohar (2007): MULTIPLE FACETS OF MY MADURAI,
Ropp, Paul S. (2010): CHINA IN WORLD HISTORY, Oxford University Press, 2010
Tully, Mark (2007): INDIA'S UNENDING JOURNEY, Random House India, 2007
Hoover, Thomas (1988): THE SAMURAI STRATEGY (Fiction/Thriller), Kindle Edition
Hazarika, Sanjoy (1994): STRANGERS IN THE MIST - Tales of Watr and Peace from India's North-East, Viking-Penguin India
Verghese, BG (1990): WATERS OF HOPE: Himalaya-Ganga Cooperation for a Billion People, Oxford-IBH, Delhi, 1990.
Corbett, Jim (1944): MAN-EATER'S OF KUMAON, Oxford University Press, New Delhi --- Full Text from Internet Archives
Stepan, Alfred, Juan J. Linz and Yogendra Yadav: CRAFTING STATE NATIONS - India and Other Multinational Democracies, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2011
Austin, Granville (1999): WORKING A DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION, OUP, Oxford India Paperbacks
Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens): WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS, Kindle E-books
Hanif, Mohammad (2008): A CASE OF EXPLODING MANGOES, Random House -- This was a let-down...I wonder what the reviewers found so funny in this book. Also, is Maj.Kiyani now Gen. Kayani?
Hoover, Thomas (1980): THE ZEN EXPERIENCE, Kindle Edition -- Quite an eye-opener - especially the portion on
Jalan, Bimal (2007): INDIA'S POLITICS - A View From the Back-Bench, Penguin Global (Note at Jalan's website)
Scoones, Ian (2005): SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE AND THE POLITICS OF POLICY: THE CASE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN INDIA, Orient Longman India, 2005
2011 ...................................................
Bhagat, Dhiren (1990): The Contemporary Conservative, Viking/Penguin Books India, 1990
Galbraith, John Kenneth (1975): Money - Whence It Came, Where It Went, Bantam Books, New York, 1975
Hemmingway, Ernest (1952): The Old Man and the Sea - Another book that improves with age :)
Gonick, Larry (2009): Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part-I - Brilliant! Can't wait to get my hands on Part-II and the rest.
Ananth, Sashikala (1999): Vaastu - The Classical Indian Science of Architecture and Design, Penguin-India, 1999
Haskar, Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel (2000): Shuka Saptati - Seventy Tales of the Parrot, Harper Collins, India, 2000
McDonald, Hamish (2010): Ambani & Sons - The Making of the World's Richest Brothers and their Feud (Formerly titled as The Polyster Prince), Lotus-Roli, 2010
"Kazuma Tateisi: The Story of OMRON & Ninety Years of Driving Innovation"
Nilekani, Nandan (2008): Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century, Penguin India / Allen Lane
Stein, Burton (2005): The New Cambridge History of India - Vijayanagara, Cambridge, 2005
Ahamed, Liaquat (2009): Lords of Finance. Windmill Books
O'Hare, Mick (2006): Why Don't Penguin's Feet Freeze?, New Scientist / Profile Books (Collection of Q&A from the "Last Word")
Ghosh, Amitav (2010): River of Smoke (Ibis Trilogy - II), Wiki article
Diyanni, Robert (2008): One Hundred Great Essays (Third Edition)
Talbott, Strobe (2004): Engaging India - Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb
Gaarder, Jostein (1995): Sophie's World
Tolstoy, Leo (1877): Anna Karenina
Bowles, Paul (1949). The Sheltering Sky
Shourie, Arun (2010).We Must Have No Price: National Security, Reforms, Political Reconstruction
Yoro, Takeshi (2003). Baka no Kabe - The Wall of Fools.
(Is it the translation that makes Japanese scholars appear to be so full of themselves? or is it just the way they are? This is the sort of book that makes you wonder about `bestsellers` in Japan... Yoro`s book does have some gems though - tucked away under loads of drivel.)
Ellul, Jacques (1965). Propaganda - The Formation of Men`s Attitudes. Vintage Books, NY
Excerpt - here.
Diamond, Jared (1997). Guns, Germs and Steel - the Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Co. New York.
Wiki-page - here; Google videos - Part 1/3.
Daviron, Beniot and Ponte, Stefano (2005). The Coffee Paradox - Global Markets, Commodity Trade and the Elusive Promise of Development.
Easterly, William (2001). The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economist's Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics.
Spiegelman, Art (1986). Maus -I: A Survivor`s Tale - My Father Bleeds History
Spiegelman, Art (1991). Maus -II: A Survivor`s Tale - And Here My Troubles Began
Weston, Anthony Hackett(2009). A Rulebook For Arguments, 4th ed
Mauss, Marcel/translated by W.D. Halls/foreword by Mary Douglas. Norton(1990). The Gift : The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies
2010 ...................................................
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (1880). The Brothers Karamazov - my first book on a Kindle (what a boon for those who want to read bulky classics! :) )
Davis CB, Wilburn KE Jr., Robinson RE (1991), Railway Imperialism, Greenwood Press, New York, 1991
Odagiri Hiroyuki and Goto Akira (1996), Technology and Industrial Development in Japan - Building Capabilities by Learning Innovation and Public Policy, OUP-New York Press, 1996
Murakami, Haruki (2007), What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,
Drea, Edward J (2009), Japan's Imperial Army - Its Rise and Fall (1853-1945), University of Kansas, 2009
Frank, Andre Gunder (1998), ReOrient - Global Economy in the Asian Age, University of California Press, 1998
Mokyr, Joel (1990), The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity & Economic Progress, Oxford University Press, 1990
An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro
Story of Masuji Ono, former artist of the floating world (pleasure quarters), who becomes a member of the Cultural Committee of the Interior Department in pre-war Japan. Also Official Adviser to the `Committee of Unpatriotic Activities`...
December 2009
Exploring Japanese Literature (Murray, Kondansha)
Short-stories by Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and Juichiro Tanizaki
In A Free State (V.S. Naipaul)
Loved the story `One Out Of Many` and `The Circus at Luxor`.
November 2009
Persepolis - The Story of A Childhood (Marjane Satrapi)
This is one graphic-novel I wanted to borrow for a long time now. Recently I got to know that it was available online, for free! It was a quick, good read. Now I want to know more about 'dialectic materialism' (Marx, Descartes), Ashraf Darvishian (Iranian Dickens), Iron Maiden and Kim Wilde, and, of course, the neo-colonial games (1935-1979) that led to the 'Islamic revolution' in Iran.
A couple of months ago I had sworn not to pick up another Murakami. But as Oscar Wilde said, "The best way to resist temptation is to yield". This was a collection of stories distantly related to the Kobe earthquake. A quick read - the last two stories were the best.
My Brother, Ant (Betsy Byars, illustrated by Marc Simont)
A wonderful little bed-time storybook for kids!
October 2009
The Pianist (Wladyslaw Szpilman)
Story of a man's survival in Warsaw (1939-45), saved, in part, by Chopin's Nocturne in C Sharp Minor. A one-day read after a long time - thanks to Typhoon 18/Melor, which hit Tsukuba today morning (8 Oct 2009)!
Lost Japan (Alex Kerr)
Lots of interesting insights on the transformation of Japan during the past 40 years. See this post for details.
September 2009
The Canon - A Wirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science (Natalie Angier)
August 2009
South of the Border, West of the Sun (Haruki Murakami)
Please see this post.
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami)
This must be the most surreal, other-worldly book I've read this year. Totu Okada is taking a break from being a salary-man, and lives a sedate life with his wife Kumiko. Trouble starts when their cat disappears. Desperate to find the cat (named Noboru Wataya, after Kumiko’s obnoxious brother), a sorority of clairvoyants come into the picture (Creta & Malta Kano), followed by a mother & son pair (Nutmeg & Cinnamon Asakasa) with similar talents, and a precocious teenager in the neighborhood - May Kasahara.If anything stands out in this book, it is the link with the Russia-Japan wars in the Mongolian border areas - especially the intelligence foray across the Khalka River in Outer Mongolia by Corporal Honda, Sergeant Hamano, Lieutenant Mamiya and Yamamoto, the intelligence officer. I am still haunted by the description of Yamamoto being skinned alive by Boris Gromov's 'specialist'...
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Murakami's are now beginning to feel like one of those Bollywood formula movies. The main characters love western classical music; somebody loves cats, cars and the right way of killing with bayonets. This story was an overdose of surreal metaphors and incestuous teenagers.
Kafka Tamura runs away from home, ends up in a private library. Mr. Nakata talks to cats and goes about looking for an 'entrance stone' with a truck-driver named Hoshino. Fatelines cross in the last few pages...long-winded and disappointing.
Little Book of Famous Insults (Edited by Betty Jo Ramsey; Illustrations - Fitz Kredel)
My favourites -
"Do not insult the mother alligator until after you have crossed the river." -- Haitian Proverb
Iphicrates, the Athenian general, was the son of a shoemaker. When a descendant of a Harmodius reproached the general for his ignoble birth, Iphicrates replied, "The nobility of my family begins with me; that of yours ends with you."
"Canning in office is like a fly in amber. Nobody cares about the fly: the only quesion is, 'How the devil did he get there?'" -- Rev Sydney Smith
A Stream of Windows - Jagdish Bhagwati
July 2009
A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (Hyaku-nin-isshu)
Please see A Few Tanka Verses.
Short-Stories by Ryonosuke Akutagawa
May 2009
Fooled by Randomness (Nassim Nicholas Taleb):
My first book from the Tsukuba University library... a good thing to read when you're exasperated by all those probability assignments on continuous random variables.
April 2009
Anil's Ghost (Michael Ondaatje):
Disappointing... I'd expected something better after 'The English Patient'
March 2009
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez):
Florentino Ariza, in the evening of his life, finally wins the confidence of his childhood sweetheart, Fermina Daza (widow of Dr. Juvenal Urbino). To think there may actually be people out there who are so compulsively obsessed with winning a woman's love, across a span of 50 years maybe be romantic to some. To me the very idea is disconcerting. But what a story!
February 2009
The Last Mughal (William Dalrymple):
Please see this post.
January 2009
Where The Rain Is Born - writings about Kerala (edited by Anita Nair) :
What a wonderful collection of articles! Some of them were quite thought-provoking -
- Charlis & I - Shashi Tharoor - The amazing social transformation in Kerala over the past 50 years, seen through the eyes of ST and his childhood friend, M.C. Thekkote, IAS.
- Fool's Paradise - Ammu Joseph - setting the record straight on the freedom allegedly enjoyed by the women of Kerala.
- കര്കിടകം (Karkitakam) - M.T Vasudevan Nair - Dignity, self-respect and one day in the life of a hungry schoolboy. Wish I could read / listen to the original in Malayalam!
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LINK to BOOKS 2008 - http://dinakarr.blogspot.com/search?q=books+2008
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Steady hands that turn molten glass into bangle spirals
Splitting the spirals
