Vivek's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 11 Jun 2025 14:39:07 -0700 60 Vivek's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness]]> 3450744 From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics, Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein: a revelatory look at how we make decisions

New York Times bestseller
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist and the Financial Times

Every day we make choices—about what to buy or eat, about financial investments or our children’s health and education, even about the causes we champion or the planet itself. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. Nudge is about how we make these choices and how we can make better ones. Using dozens of eye-opening examples and drawing on decades of behavioral science research, Nobel Prize winner Richard H. Thaler and Harvard Law School professor Cass R. Sunstein show that no choice is ever presented to us in a neutral way, and that we are all susceptible to biases that can lead us to make bad decisions. But by knowing how people think, we can use sensible “choice architecture� to nudge people toward the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society, without restricting our freedom of choice.]]> 260 Richard H. Thaler 014311526X Vivek 0 currently-reading 3.86 2008 Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
author: Richard H. Thaler
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/06/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Gift of Therapy 401748
The culmination of master psychiatrist Dr. Irvin D. Yalom’s more than thirty-five years in clinical practice, The Gift of Therapy is a remarkable and essential guidebook that illustrates through real case studies how patients and therapists alike can get the most out of therapy. The bestselling author of Love’s Executioner shares his uniquely fresh approach and the valuable insights he has gained—presented as eighty-five personal and provocative “tips for beginner therapists,� including:

•Let the patient matter to you
•Acknowledge your errors
•Create a new therapy for each patient
•Do home visits
�(Almost) never make decisions for the patient
•Freud was not always wrong

A book aimed at enriching the therapeutic process for a new generation of patients and counselors, Yalom’s Gift of Therapy is an entertaining, informative, and insightful read for anyone with an interest in the subject]]> 307 Irvin D. Yalom 0749923733 Vivek 0 to-read 4.40 2001 The Gift of Therapy
author: Irvin D. Yalom
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/06/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Vivek 5 4.35 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/09
date added: 2025/06/09
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]]> <![CDATA[An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth]]> 18170143 and enjoy every moment of it.

In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.

You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.]]> 295 Chris Hadfield 0316253014 Vivek 4 4.14 2013 An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
author: Chris Hadfield
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/27
date added: 2025/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't]]> 42041926 The Scout Mindset, Galef shows that what makes scouts better at getting things right isn't that they're smarter or more knowledgeable than everyone else. It's a handful of emotional skills, habits, and ways of looking at the world--which anyone can learn. With fascinating examples ranging from how to survive being stranded in the middle of the ocean, to how Jeff Bezos avoids overconfidence, to how superforecasters outperform CIA operatives, to Reddit threads and modern partisan politics, Galef explores why our brains deceive us and what we can do to change the way we think.]]> 288 Julia Galef 0735217556 Vivek 0 to-read 4.09 2021 The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't
author: Julia Galef
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data]]> 43722897
Ěý

Statistics are everywhere, as integral to science as they are to business, and in the popular media hundreds of times a day. In this age of big data, a basic grasp of statistical literacy is more important than ever if we want to separate the fact from the fiction, the ostentatious embellishments from the raw evidence -- and even more so if we hope to participate in the future, rather than being simple bystanders.

Ěý

In The Art of Statistics , world-renowned statistician David Spiegelhalter shows readers how to derive knowledge from raw data by focusing on the concepts and connections behind the math. Drawing on real world examples to introduce complex issues, he shows us how statistics can help us determine the luckiest passenger on the Titanic, whether a notorious serial killer could have been caught earlier, and if screening for ovarian cancer is beneficial. The Art of Statistics not only shows us how mathematicians have used statistical science to solve these problems -- it teaches us how we too can think like statisticians. We learn how to clarify our questions, assumptions, and expectations when approaching a problem, and -- perhaps even more importantly -- we learn how to responsibly interpret the answers we receive.

Ěý

Combining the incomparable insight of an expert with the playful enthusiasm of an aficionado, The Art of Statistics is the definitive guide to stats that every modern person needs.]]> 448 David Spiegelhalter 1541618513 Vivek 0 to-read 4.14 2019 The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data
author: David Spiegelhalter
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams]]> 34466963 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781501144318.

Neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night's sleep every night.]]> 368 Matthew Walker Vivek 0 to-read 4.36 2017 Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
author: Matthew Walker
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/14
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]]> Station Eleven 20170404 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 333 Emily St. John Mandel 0385353308 Vivek 0 to-read 4.05 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Commando [Oct 15, 2017] Michael Bar-Zohar,Nissim Mishal]]> 36537702 384 Michael Bar-Zohar 9386867168 Vivek 3 4.18 Commando [Oct 15, 2017] Michael Bar-Zohar,Nissim Mishal
author: Michael Bar-Zohar
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Vivek 2 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
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]]> THE JOURNEY HOME 26056229 The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self-awareness and also a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming.]]> 368 Radhanath Swami 8184954174 Vivek 0 currently-reading 4.90 2008 THE JOURNEY HOME
author: Radhanath Swami
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.90
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wealth Money Can't Buy: The 8 Hidden Habits to Live Your Richest Life Paperback � 9 April 2024]]> 212415182 424 Robin Sharma 8119792785 Vivek 4 4.27 The Wealth Money Can't Buy: The 8 Hidden Habits to Live Your Richest Life Paperback – 9 April 2024
author: Robin Sharma
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice]]> 22609522
Bill Browder’s journey started on the South Side of Chicago and moved through Stanford Business School to the dog-eat-dog world of hedge fund investing in the 1990s. It continued in Moscow, where Browder made his fortune heading the largest investment fund in Russia after the Soviet Union’s collapse. But when he exposed the corrupt oligarchs who were robbing the companies in which he was investing, Vladimir Putin turned on him and, in 2005, had him expelled from Russia.

In 2007, a group of law enforcement officers raided Browder’s offices in Moscow and stole $230 million of taxes that his fund’s companies had paid to the Russian government. Browder’s attorney Sergei Magnitsky investigated the incident and uncovered a sprawling criminal enterprise. A month after Sergei testified against the officials involved, he was arrested and thrown into pre-trial detention, where he was tortured for a year. On November 16, 2009, he was led to an isolation chamber, handcuffed to a bedrail, and beaten to death by eight guards in full riot gear.

Browder glimpsed the heart of darkness, and it transformed his life: he embarked on an unrelenting quest for justice in Sergei’s name, exposing the towering cover-up that leads right up to Putin. A financial caper, a crime thriller, and a political crusade, Red Notice is the story of one man taking on overpowering odds to change the world.]]> 380 Bill Browder 147675571X Vivek 5 4.39 2015 Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
author: Bill Browder
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Camino Island (Camino Island, #1)]]> 34121119 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER � “A delightfully lighthearted caper ... [a] fast-moving, entertaining tale.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars.

Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts.

Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous offer of money convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets.

But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver it.]]> 290 John Grisham 0385543026 Vivek 4 Definitely a good read. 3.69 2017 Camino Island (Camino Island, #1)
author: John Grisham
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
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Definitely a good read.
]]> <![CDATA[Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint]]> 103489691 Ěý
Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal. From his dramatic overhaul of Roman law, to his lavish building projects, to his fierce persecution of dissenters from Orthodox Christianity, Justinian’s vigorous statecraft—and his energetic efforts at self-glorification—not only set the course of Byzantium but also laid the foundations for the world of the Middle Ages.ĚýĚý
Ěý
Even as Justinian sought to recapture Rome’s past greatness, he paved the way for what would follow. Ěý]]> 544 Peter Sarris 1541601335 Vivek 0 to-read 4.30 Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint
author: Peter Sarris
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> The Corrections 3805 After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. The oldest, Gary, a once-stable portfolio manager and family man, is trying to convince his wife and himself, despite clear signs to the contrary, that he is not clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has lost his seemingly secure academic job and is failing spectacularly at his new line of work. And Denise, the youngest, has escaped a disastrous marriage only to pour her youth and beauty down the drain of an affair with a married man - or so her mother fears. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
Stretching from the Midwest at midcentury to the Wall Street and Eastern Europe of today, "The Corrections" brings an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions into violent collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental healthcare, and globalised greed. Richly realistic, darkly hilarious, deeply humane, it confirms Jonathan Franzen as one of our most brilliant interpreters of American society and the American soul.]]> 653 Jonathan Franzen 1841156736 Vivek 0 to-read 3.83 2001 The Corrections
author: Jonathan Franzen
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World]]> 58950736 From a New York Times investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, “an essential book for our times� (Ezra Klein), tracking the high-stakes inside story of how Big Tech’s breakneck race to drive engagement—and profits—at all costs fractured the world

We all have a vague sense that social media is bad for our minds, for our children, and for our democracies. But the truth is that its reach and impact run far deeper than we have understood. Building on years of international reporting, Max Fisher tells the gripping and galling inside story of how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks, in their pursuit of unfettered profits, preyed on psychological frailties to create the algorithms that drive everyday users to extreme opinions and, increasingly, extreme actions. As Fisher demonstrates, the companies� founding tenets, combined with a blinkered focus maximizing engagement, have led to a destabilized world for everyone.

Traversing the planet, Fisher tracks the ubiquity of hate speech and its spillover into violence, ills that first festered in far-off locales to their dark culmination in America during the pandemic, the 2020 election, and the Capitol Insurrection. Through it all, the social-media giants refused to intervene in any meaningful way, claiming to champion free speech when in fact what they most prized were limitless profits. The result, as Fisher shows, is a cultural shift toward a world in which people are polarized not by beliefs based on facts, but by misinformation, outrage, and fear.

His narrative is about more than the villains, however. Fisher also weaves together the stories of the heroic outsiders and Silicon Valley defectors who raised the alarm and revealed what was happening behind the closed doors of Big Tech. Both panoramic and intimate, The Chaos Machine is the definitive account of the meteoric rise and troubled legacy of the tech titans, as well as a rousing and hopeful call to arrest the havoc wreaked on our minds and our world before it’s too late.]]> 400 Max Fisher 031670332X Vivek 0 to-read 4.27 2022 The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
author: Max Fisher
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> The Maniac 75665931 From one of contemporary literature’s most exciting new voices, a haunting story centered on the Hungarian polymath John von Neumann, tracing the impact of his singular legacy on the dreams and nightmares of the twentieth century and the nascent age of AI

Benjamín Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World electrified a global readership. A Booker Prize and National Book Award finalist, and one of the New York Times� Ten Best Books of the Year, it explored the life and thought of a clutch of mathematicians and physicists who took science to strange and sometimes dangerous new realms. In The MANIAC, Labatut has created a tour de force on an even grander scale.

A prodigy whose gifts terrified the people around him, John von Neumann transformed every field he touched, inventing game theory and the first programable computer, and pioneering AI, digital life, and cellular automata. Through a chorus of family members, friends, colleagues, and rivals, Labatut shows us the evolution of a mind unmatched and of a body of work that has unmoored the world in its wake.

The MANIAC places von Neumann at the center of a literary triptych that begins with Paul Ehrenfest, an Austrian physicist and friend of Einstein, who fell into despair when he saw science and technology become tyrannical forces; it ends a hundred years later, in the showdown between the South Korean Go Master Lee Sedol and the AI program AlphaGo, an encounter embodying the central question of von Neumann's most ambitious unfinished project: the creation of a self-reproducing machine, an intelligence able to evolve beyond human understanding or control.

A work of beauty and fabulous momentum, The MANIAC confronts us with the deepest questions we face as a species.]]> 368 BenjamĂ­n Labatut 0593654471 Vivek 0 to-read 4.33 2023 The Maniac
author: BenjamĂ­n Labatut
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dog's Promise (A Dog's Purpose, #3)]]> 43263220 A Dog's Promise continues the story of Bailey, the good dog whose journey started in A Dog's Purpose and continued in A Dog's Journey (both major motion pictures). This time, Bailey is joined by Lacey, another very special dog, who helps Bailey fulfill his promise over the course of several lives.

This charming, wise canine soul brings joy, laughter, and comfort as he unites a family fractured by life's inevitable obstacles. The love and loyalty of these two memorable dogs shows us the incredible power of hope, truth, and unending devotion in this moving novel by award-winning author W. Bruce Cameron.]]> 384 W. Bruce Cameron 125016351X Vivek 0 to-read 4.26 2019 A Dog's Promise (A Dog's Purpose, #3)
author: W. Bruce Cameron
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dog's Journey (A Dog's Purpose, #2)]]> 13167796 The direct sequel to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling A Dog's Purpose.

Buddy is a good dog.

After searching for his purpose through several eventful lives, Buddy is sure that he has found and fulfilled it. Yet as he watches curious baby Clarity get into dangerous mischief, he is certain that this little girl is very much in need of a dog of her own.

When Buddy is reborn, he realizes that he has a new destiny. He's overjoyed when he is adopted by Clarity, now a vibrant but troubled teenager. When they are suddenly separated, Buddy despairs―who will take care of his girl?

A charming and heartwarming story of hope, love, and unending devotion, A Dog's Journey asks the question: Do we really take care of our pets, or do they take care of us? More than just another endearing dog tale, A Dog's Journey is the moving story of unwavering loyalty and a love that crosses all barriers.]]> 336 W. Bruce Cameron 0765330539 Vivek 0 to-read 4.38 2012 A Dog's Journey (A Dog's Purpose, #2)
author: W. Bruce Cameron
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dog's Purpose (A Dog's Purpose, #1)]]> 7723542
Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey's search for his new life's meaning leads him into the loving arms of 8 year old Ethan. During their countless adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog.

But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey's journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders, will he ever find his purpose?

Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh out loud funny, this book is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.]]> 319 W. Bruce Cameron 0765326264 Vivek 0 to-read 4.34 2010 A Dog's Purpose (A Dog's Purpose, #1)
author: W. Bruce Cameron
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Silk Roads: A New History of the World]]> 25812847
Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century—this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.]]> 636 Peter Frankopan 1408839970 Vivek 0 to-read 4.15 2015 The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
author: Peter Frankopan
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 517 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Vivek 0 to-read 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die]]> 69242 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to improve your idea's chances--essential reading in the "fake news" era.

Mark Twain once observed, "A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on." His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas--entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists--struggle to make them "stick."

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds--from the infamous "kidney theft ring" hoax to a coach's lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony--draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It's a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice.

Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas--and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.]]> 291 Chip Heath 1400064287 Vivek 4 3.98 2006 Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
author: Chip Heath
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
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]]> Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Vivek 0 to-read 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984]]> 41880043 1984 in a variety of contexts: the author's life and times, the book's precursors in the science fiction genre, and its subsequent place in popular culture. Lynskey delves into how Orwell's harrowing Spanish Civil War experiences shaped his concern with political disinformation by exposing him to the deceptiveness of people he'd once regarded as allies against fascism: the Soviets and their Western apologists.]]> 368 Dorian Lynskey 0385544057 Vivek 0 to-read 4.09 2019 The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984
author: Dorian Lynskey
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Children of Tomorrow: A Monk's Guide to Mindful Parenting]]> 44655826 190 Om Swami Vivek 0 to-read 4.40 The Children of Tomorrow: A Monk's Guide to Mindful Parenting
author: Om Swami
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.40
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date added: 2024/11/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Traitors Gate (William Warwick, #6)]]> 62792018 Impenetrable. Well protected. Secure. Home to the most valuable jewels on earth. But once a year, when the Queen attends the State Opening of Parliament, the Metropolitan Police must execute the most secret operation in their armory as they transport the Crown Jewels across London. SCOTLAND YARD�
For decades, the elite squad at Scotland Yard have been in charge of the operation. And for decades, it’s run like clockwork. THE HEIST�
But this year, everything is about to change. Because a master criminal has set his sights on pulling off the most outrageous theft in history―and with a man on the inside, the odds are in his favor. Unless the team can stop him before it’s too late� ”Only someone like Jeffrey Archer . . . could have written a compelling story like this.� ―David Baldacci “Archer is a master entertainer.� � Time “One of the top ten storytellers in the world.� � Los Angeles Times “A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas.� � The Washington Post]]> 367 Jeffrey Archer 0008607389 Vivek 3 3.92 2023 Traitors Gate (William Warwick, #6)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Next in Line (William Warwick, #5)]]> 62836233
Which means for Scotland Yard, the focus is on the elite Royalty Protection Command, and its commanding officer. Entrusted with protecting the most famous family on earth, they quite simply have to be the best. A weak link could spell disaster.

Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick and his Scotland Yard squad are sent in to investigate the team. Maverick ex-undercover operative Ross Hogan is charged with a very sensitive—and unique—responsibility. But it soon becomes clear the problems in Royalty Protection are just the beginning. A renegade organization has the security of the country—and the Crown—in its sights. The only question is which target is next in line…]]> 380 Jeffrey Archer 0008523231 Vivek 4 3.88 2022 Next in Line (William Warwick, #5)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> Britt-Marie Was Here 27406704
When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?]]> 324 Fredrik Backman 1501142534 Vivek 4 4.05 2014 Britt-Marie Was Here
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Over My Dead Body (William Warwick, #4)]]> 56754288

THE CLOCK IS TICKING IN THIS ROLLERCOASTER RIDE OF A THRILLER�


In London, the Metropolitan Police set up a new Unsolved Murders Unit—a cold case squad—to catch the criminals nobody else can.

In Geneva, millionaire art collector Miles Faulkner—convicted of forgery and theft—was pronounced dead two months ago. So why is his unscrupulous lawyer still representing a dead client?

On a luxury liner en route to New York, the battle for power at the heart of a wealthy dynasty is about to turn to murder.

And at the heart of all three investigations are Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick, rising star of the department, and ex-undercover agent Ross Hogan, brought in from the cold.]]> 375 Jeffrey Archer 0008476373 Vivek 4 3.79 2021 Over My Dead Body (William Warwick, #4)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Remix : How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace]]> 52082710
Millennials have only just begun their reign as the largest generation in the workplace. But they are not alone. For the next decade at least, these young professionals will be working side by side with more established generations, including the Baby Boomers who are working longer than ever, and an entirely new group coming up, Generation Z.

This means within any organization, any team, any meeting, any marketing opportunity, you may find any combination of generations. Each of these age groups has their own attitude, expectations, and professional style. To lead and succeed in any organization today, you must adapt to how Millennials work, while continuing to accommodate their older colleagues and paying attention to the next generations coming up. The Remix shows you how to adapt and win through proven strategies that serve all generations� needs.

As the leading expert on generations in the workplace, Lindsey Pollak combines the most recent data from a variety of authoritative sources with her own original research, as well as detailed case studies from her Fortune 500 clients. Pollak outlines the ways businesses, executives, mid-level managers, employees, and entrepreneurs can handle situations that may arise when diverse styles clash and provides clear strategies to turn generational diversity into business opportunity.

Generational change is impacting all industries, all types of organizations, and all leaders. The Remix is an essential read for anyone who wants to survive and thrive today and into the future.]]> 304 Lindsey Pollak 0062976354 Vivek 0 to-read 0.0 The Remix : How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace
author: Lindsey Pollak
name: Vivek
average rating: 0.0
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]]> <![CDATA[Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It]]> 75293505
“The dystopian future portrayed in some science-fiction movies is already uponĚýus. Kashmir Hill’s fascinating book brings home the scary implications of this new reality.”—John Carreyrou, author of Bad Blood

Longlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award

New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill was skeptical when she got a tip about a mysterious app called Clearview AI that claimed it could, with 99 percent accuracy, identify anyone based on just one snapshot of their face. The app could supposedly scan aĚýfaceĚýand, in just seconds, surface every detail of a person’s online their name, social media profiles, friends and family members, home address, and photos that they might not have even known existed. If it was everything it claimed to be, it would be the ultimate surveillance tool, and it would open the door to everything from stalking to totalitarian state control. Could it be true?

In this riveting account, Hill tracks the improbable rise of Clearview AI, helmed by Hoan Ton-That, an Australian computer engineer, and Richard Schwartz, a former Rudy Giuliani advisor, and its astounding collection of billions of faces from the internet. The company was boosted by a cast of controversial characters, including conservative provocateur Charles C. Johnson and billionaire Donald Trump backer Peter Thiel—who all seemed eager to release this society-altering technology on the public.ĚýGoogle and Facebook decided that a tool to identify strangers was too radical to release, but Clearview forged ahead, sharing the app with private investors, pitching it to businesses, andĚýoffering it to thousands of law enforcement agencies around theĚýworld.
 â¶Ä‚â¶Ä‚â¶Ä‚â¶Ä‚â¶Ä�
Facial recognition technology has been quietly growing more powerful for decades. This technology has already been used in wrongful arrests in the United States. Unregulated, it could expand the reach of policing, as it has in China and Russia, to a terrifying, dystopian level.
 â¶Ä‚â¶Ä‚â¶Ä‚â¶Ä�
Your Face Belongs to Us is a gripping true story about the rise of a technological superpower and an urgent warning that, in the absence of vigilance and government regulation, Clearview AI is one of many new technologies that challenge what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called “the right to be let alone.”]]> 352 Kashmir Hill 0593448561 Vivek 5 4.13 2023 Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It
author: Kashmir Hill
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Turn a Blind Eye (William Warwick Novels)]]> 57666169 349 Jeffrey Archer 1529065240 Vivek 5 4.01 2021 Turn a Blind Eye (William Warwick Novels)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/08/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cocaine Cartels—From the Jungles to the Streets]]> 44285788
"Toby Muse’s tautly written account of his intimate prowl through Colombia’s narco world is both compelling and unforgettable. With Kilo, cocaine now has its own Dispatches. Simply kickass.�

� Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker and author of Che A Revolutionary Life

Cocaine is glamour, sex and murder. From the badlands of Colombia, it stretches across the globe, seducing, corrupting and destroying. A product that must be produced, distributed, and protected, it is both a harbinger of violence and a source of immense wealth. Beginning in the jungles and mountains of Colombia, it filters down to countryside villages and the nightclubs of the cities, attracting money, sex, and death. Each step in the life of a kilo reveals a different criminal underworld with its own players, rules, and dangers, ranging from the bizarre to the diabolical. The killers, the drug-lords, all find themselves seduced by cocaine and trapped in her world.

Seasoned war correspondent Toby Muse has witnessed each level of this underworld, fueled by the appetite for cocaine in America and Europe. In this riveting chronicle, he takes the reader inside Colombia’s notorious drug cartels to offer a never before look at the drug trade. Following a kilo of cocaine from its production in a clandestine laboratory to the smugglers who ship it abroad, he reveals the human lives behind the drug’s complicated legacy. Reporting on Colombia for the world’s most prestigious networks and publications, Muse gained unprecedented access to the extraordinary people who survive on the drug trade—farmers, smugglers, assassins—and the drug lords and their lovers controlling these multi-billion dollar enterprises. Uncovering stories of violence, sex, and money, he shows the allure and the madness of cocaine. And how the War on Drugs has been no match for cocaine.

Piercing this veiled world, Kilo is a gripping portrait of a country struggling to end this deadly trade even as the riches flow. A human portrait of criminals and the shocking details of their lives, Kilo is a chilling, unforgettable story that takes you deep into the belly of the beast.

Kilo includes 16 pages of photographs.]]> 320 Toby Muse 0062905317 Vivek 0 to-read 4.19 2020 Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cocaine Cartels—From the Jungles to the Streets
author: Toby Muse
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A History of the 20th Century: Conflict, Technology & Rock 'N' Roll]]> 196411471
Ranging from the world wars to the traumas of decolonization and the technological triumphs of the space race, A History of the 20th Century documents the events, the characters, the ideologies, the cultural transformations, and the dramatic politics of these turbulent times. Jeremy Black examines subjects as diverse as the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, and the birth of the internet in a compelling narrative. Keen to highlight the role of demographics, the environment, culture, and technology, as well as the better-known tales of political rivalries, he brings a new perspective to this most important subject.]]> 352 Arcturus Publishing Staff 1398811866 Vivek 0 to-read 4.00 A History of the 20th Century: Conflict, Technology & Rock 'N' Roll
author: Arcturus Publishing Staff
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.00
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]]> <![CDATA[Hidden in Plain Sight (William Warwick, #2)]]> 49127523
As the investigation progresses, William runs into enemies old and new: Adrian Heath, from his school days, now a street dealer who he convinces to turn informer; and financier Miles Faulkner, who makes a mistake that could finally see him put behind bars. Meanwhile, William and his fiancée Beth enjoy making preparations for their upcoming wedding, though an unpleasant surprise awaits them at the altar.

As William’s team closes the net around a criminal network like none they have ever faced before, he devises a trap they would never expect, one that is hidden in plain sight . . .]]> 295 Jeffrey Archer 1250200784 Vivek 4 3.80 2020 Hidden in Plain Sight (William Warwick, #2)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History]]> 31020419
Sanjeev explores remote archaeological sites, ancient inscriptions, maritime trading networks and half-forgotten oral histories, to make exciting revelations. In his inimitable style, he draws upon existing and new evidence to challenge well-established claims about famous historical characters and the flow of history. Adventurers, merchants, explorers, monks, swashbuckling pirates, revolutionaries and warrior princesses populate this colourful and multifaceted narrative.

The Ocean of Churn takes the reader on an amazing journey through medieval geopolitics and eyewitness accounts of long-lost cities to the latest genetic discoveries about human origins, bringing alive a region that has defined civilization from the very beginning.]]> 346 Sanjeev Sanyal 0670087327 Vivek 0 to-read 4.25 2016 The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History
author: Sanjeev Sanyal
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World]]> 41795733
Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields--especially those that are complex and unpredictable--generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They're also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can't see.

Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.]]> 339 David Epstein 0735214484 Vivek 0 to-read 4.12 2019 Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
author: David Epstein
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Nothing Ventured (William Warwick, #1)]]> 43263542 Nothing Ventured heralds the start of a brand-new series in the style of Jeffrey Archer’s #1 New York Times bestselling Clifton Chronicles: introducing Detective William Warwick. But this is not a detective story, this is a story about the making of a detective . . .

William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective, and decides, much to his father’s dismay, that rather than become a lawyer like his father, Sir Julian Warwick QC, and his sister Grace, he will join London’s Metropolitan Police Force.

After graduating from university, William begins a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat under the watchful eye of his first mentor, Constable Fred Yates, to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting from the Fitzmolean Museum, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery who he falls hopelessly in love with, even as Beth guards a secret of her own that she’s terrified will come to light.

While William follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, he comes up against suave art collector Miles Faulkner and his brilliant lawyer, Booth Watson QC, who are willing to bend the law to breaking point to stay one step ahead of William. Meanwhile, Miles Faulkner’s wife, Christina, befriends William, but whose side is she really on?

This new series introduces William Warwick, a family man and a detective who will battle throughout his career against a powerful criminal nemesis. Through twists, triumph and tragedy, this series will show that William Warwick is destined to become one of Jeffrey Archer’s most enduring legacies.]]> 320 Jeffrey Archer 1250200768 Vivek 4 3.77 2019 Nothing Ventured (William Warwick, #1)
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst]]> 31170723 Why do we do the things we do?

More than a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky's genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: he starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy.

And so the first category of explanation is the neurobiological one. A behavior occurs—whether an example of humans at our best, worst, or somewhere in between. What went on in a person's brain a second before the behavior happened? Then Sapolsky pulls out to a slightly larger field of vision, a little earlier in time: What sight, sound, or smell caused the nervous system to produce that behavior? And then, what hormones acted hours to days earlier to change how responsive that individual is to the stimuli that triggered the nervous system? By now he has increased our field of vision so that we are thinking about neurobiology and the sensory world of our environment and endocrinology in trying to explain what happened.

Sapolsky keeps going: How was that behavior influenced by structural changes in the nervous system over the preceding months, by that person's adolescence, childhood, fetal life, and then back to his or her genetic makeup? Finally, he expands the view to encompass factors larger than one individual. How did culture shape that individual's group, what ecological factors millennia old formed that culture? And on and on, back to evolutionary factors millions of years old.

The result is one of the most dazzling tours d'horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted, a majestic synthesis that harvests cutting-edge research across a range of disciplines to provide a subtle and nuanced perspective on why we ultimately do the things we do ... for good and for ill. Sapolsky builds on this understanding to wrestle with some of our deepest and thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, morality and free will, and war and peace. Wise, humane, often very funny, Behave is a towering achievement, powerfully humanizing, and downright heroic in its own right.]]> 790 Robert M. Sapolsky 1594205078 Vivek 4 4.39 2017 Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
author: Robert M. Sapolsky
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/15
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]]> CONFESION 40969142 Rare book 512 John Grisham 8401339618 Vivek 4 4.08 2010 CONFESION
author: John Grisham
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/06/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things]]> 157095669 #1 New York Times bestseller

"This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would've helped me find a more joyful path to progress."
-Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distances we ourselves can travel. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.

Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid story­telling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess � it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the charac­ter skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.

This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there.]]> 304 Adam M. Grant 0593653149 Vivek 0 to-read 4.09 2023 Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/26
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]]> <![CDATA[A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains]]> 62050269 Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughsâ€� in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow. In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed, human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems. How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may depend on it. Now, inĚýA Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story, revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework, identifying the “Five Breakthroughsâ€� that mark the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain’s long journey, AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence. Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett’s work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With sweeping scope and stunning insights,ĚýA Brief History of IntelligenceĚý proves that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future.Ěý]]> 432 Max Solomon Bennett Vivek 0 to-read 4.44 A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
author: Max Solomon Bennett
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.44
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]]> <![CDATA[What I Learned About Investing from Darwin]]> 62792694
Pulak Prasad offers a philosophy of patient long-term investing based on an unexpected source: evolutionary biology. He draws key lessons from core Darwinian concepts, mixing vivid examples from the natural world with compelling stories of good and bad investing decisions―including his own. How can bumblebees� survival strategies help us accept that we might miss out on Tesla? What does an experiment in breeding tame foxes reveal about the traits of successful businesses? Why might a small frog’s mimicry of the croak of a larger rival shed light on the signs of corporate dishonesty?

Informed by successful evolutionary strategies, Prasad outlines his counterintuitive principles for long-term gain. He provides three mantras of investing: Avoid big risks; buy high quality at a fair price; and don’t be lazy―be very lazy. Prasad makes a persuasive case for a strategy that rules out the vast majority of investment opportunities and advocates permanently owning high-quality businesses.

Combining punchy prose and practical insight, What I Learned About Investing from Darwin reveals why evolutionary biology can help fund managers become better at their craft.]]> 328 Pulak Prasad 0231203489 Vivek 0 to-read 4.51 What I Learned About Investing from Darwin
author: Pulak Prasad
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.51
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date added: 2024/05/19
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ulysses Contract: How to never worry about the share market again]]> 88826560 334 Michael Kemp 1922611603 Vivek 0 to-read 4.16 The Ulysses Contract: How to never worry about the share market again
author: Michael Kemp
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.16
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]]> The Lost Bookshop 65137920 The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

â€The thing about books,â€� she said â€is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.â€�

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found�

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder� where nothing is as it seems.]]> 432 Evie Woods 0008609209 Vivek 0 to-read 4.03 2023 The Lost Bookshop
author: Evie Woods
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> Migrants: The Story of Us All 63270981
Humans are, in fundamental ways, a migratory species, more so than any other land mammal. For most of our existence , we were all nomads, and some of us still are. Houses and permanent settlements are a relatively late development - dating back little more than twelve thousand years. Borders and passports are much more recent. From the Neanderthals, Alexander the Great, Christopher Columbus and Pocahontas to the African slave trade, Fu Manchu, and Barack Obama, Migrants shows us that it is only by understanding how migration and migrants have been viewed in the past, that we can re-set the terms of the modern-day debate about migration.

Migrants presents us with an alternative history of the world, in which migration is restored to the heart of the human story. And in which humans migrate for a wide range of reasons: not just because of civil war, or poverty or climate change but also out of curiosity and a sense of adventure. On arrival, migrants are expected both to assimilate and encouraged to remain distinctive; to defend their heritage and adopt a new one. They are sub-human and super-human; romanticised and castigated, admired and abhorred. Migrants tells us that this is not a new narrative; this is the history of us all, part of everybody’s backstory - for those who consider themselves migrants and those who do not.]]> 448 Sam Miller 1408713527 Vivek 0 to-read 4.09 Migrants: The Story of Us All
author: Sam Miller
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse]]> 43708884
Here, you will find them together in this book of Charlie's most-loved drawings, adventuring into the Wild and exploring the thoughts and feelings that unite us all.]]> 128 Charlie Mackesy 1529105102 Vivek 4 4.56 2019 The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
author: Charlie Mackesy
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Bipin: The Man Behind the Uniform]]> 123216807
Bipin: The Man behind the Uniform is the story of the NDA cadet who was relegated in the third term for not being able to do a mandatory jump into the swimming pool; of the young Second Lieutenant who was tricked into losing his ID card at the Amritsar railway station by a 5/11 Gorkha Rifles officer posing as his sahayak; of the Major with a leg in plaster who was carried up to his company post on the Pakistan border because he insisted on joining his men for Dusshera celebrations under direct enemy observation; of the Army Chief who decided India would retaliate immediately and openly to every act of cross-border terrorism; of the Chief of Defence Staff who was happiest dancing the jhamre with his Gorkha troops.

Written by bestselling author Rachna Bisht Rawat and featuring in-depth interviews with Bipin Rawat's friends, family members and comrades, this book is a befitting tribute to one of India's greatest and most controversial Generals.]]> 304 Rachna Bisht Rawat 0670097195 Vivek 0 to-read 4.36 Bipin: The Man Behind the Uniform
author: Rachna Bisht Rawat
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.36
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]]> <![CDATA[The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience]]> 128082820 From Harvard stress expert, nationally sought after speaker, and television correspondent Dr. Aditi Nerurkar comes a reimagined approach to overcoming your stress and burnout using five small but mighty mindset shifts.

For Dr. Nerurkar, the common misperception of stress as “bad� needs reframing. Stress is a healthy biological phenomenon that helps us tackle life’s many demands. It becomes problematic when it’s out of tune with the frequency of our lives, result­ing in burnout, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and many other physical symptoms. To bring stress back to healthy levels, Dr. Nerurkar offers her five science-backed mindset shifts, rooted in more than two decades of clinical experience, for when life gets hard:

� The First Reset: Get Clear on What Matters Most
� The Second Reset: Find Quiet in a Noisy World
� The Third Reset: Sync Your Brain and Your Body
� The Fourth Reset: Come Up for Air
� The Fifth Reset: Bring Your Best Self Forward

Dr. Nerurkar illuminates why our everyday attempts at being “resilient”—like multitasking, sleeping less, and undergoing huge lifestyle overhauls—aren’t beneficial to our stressed brains. Instead, she prescribes practical, real-world solutions for our modern-day perils that are time efficient, cost-free, and can be applied to anyone’s life, including fol­lowing the Resilience Rule of 2 (making no more than two changes at a time because doing more is unsustainable), accepting that multitasking is a myth (our brains are wired to do one thing at a time!), and adopting her Bookend Method (creating boundaries to honor our brain’s need for compart­mentalization).

The five mindset shifts, along with fifteen proven techniques, offer you a road map to change your relationship with stress, bring your biology back into balance, and feel calmer right now.]]> 283 Aditi Nerurkar 0063289245 Vivek 0 to-read 4.10 2024 The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience
author: Aditi Nerurkar
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
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]]> The Physics of Sorrow 205637851 In the small and the insignificant - that's where life hides, that's where it builds its nest.

Our unnamed narrator is not well. He suffers from attacks of 'pathological empathy', which cause him to wander unbidden into other people's memories. He moves from recollection to recollection - from a Bulgarian country fair in 1925, where he meets a Minotaur, to inside the mind of a slug, as it is swallowed by his own Grandfather.

Part family history, part coming-of-age story, part meditation on life in Communist Europe, The Physics of Sorrow is a dazzlingly inventive, mind-expanding novel from one of Europe's most important writers.]]> 288 Georgi Gospodinov 1399623133 Vivek 0 to-read 4.05 2011 The Physics of Sorrow
author: Georgi Gospodinov
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure Is Leaving Us Numb]]> 1465636 288 Archibald D. Hart 0849918529 Vivek 0 to-read 3.67 2007 Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure Is Leaving Us Numb
author: Archibald D. Hart
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before the coming of the Muslims]]> 631246
The Wonder That was India takes a look at the country's history from the time of the Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization. It explores the possible causes for the decline of the Harappan civilization and settlements. The book talks about the possibility of the Harappans having moved towards the south and settled in the peninsular region.

The author also discusses the Aryan invasion theory, supporting it with various research papers and findings of that time. The evolution of Hindu religion is also talked about in this book--from the Harappan times, to the coming of the Aryans and the mutual influence that Hinduism and its off shoots Jainism and Buddhism had on each other.

This book is comprehensive in its coverage of Indian history. It looks at every aspect of Indian society and culture. The Wonder That was India covers everything from religion, governance, social evolution, literary traditions, philosophy languages, and science.

The author explores the significant role the Hindu religion played on the lives of the people. All the literary compositions of ancient times had religious associations. He also puts forward the theory that the European gypsies are of Indian origin.

The Wonder That Was India also gives an insight into modern Indian society and culture, how it became a confluence of different influences from many a quarter throughout the many stages of its history.]]> 578 A.L. Basham 033043909X Vivek 0 to-read 4.11 1954 The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before the coming of the Muslims
author: A.L. Basham
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1954
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Immortal India: Articles and Speeches by Amish]]> 35824747
India, a culture that witnessed the dawn of civilisation. That witnessed the rise of other cultures and watched them turn to dust. It has been celebrated and attacked. Admired and vilified. But through all these millennia, after all the ups and downs of history, it's still here! And now, after a few centuries of decline, it's driving a new dawn once again. Ajanaabhavarsh. Bharat. Hindustan. India. The names may change, but the soul of this great land is immortal.

Amish helps you understand India like never before, through a series of sharp articles, nuanced speeches and intelligent debates. Based on his deep understanding of subjects such as, religion, mythology, tradition, history, contemporary societal norms, governance, and ethics, in Immortal India: Young Country, Timeless Civilisation, Amish lays out the vast landscape of an ancient culture with a fascinatingly modern outlook.]]> 188 Amish Tripathi 8193432002 Vivek 0 to-read 3.84 2017 Immortal India: Articles and Speeches by Amish
author: Amish Tripathi
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality]]> 179311316 A groundbreaking exploration of the science of why and how we age and die—from Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan.

The knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. Throughout human history—from the immortal afterlife of Judeo-Christian thought to the cycle of reincarnation posited by many Eastern religions—we have developed beliefs that allow us to avoid recognizing its finality. One of the most difficult moments of childhood must be when each of us first realizes that not only we but all our loved ones will die—and there is nothing we can do about it.

Or at least, there hasn’t been. Today, we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in understanding why we age—and why some species live longer than others. Could we eventually cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?

Venki Ramakrishnan, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and former president of the Royal Society, takes us on a riveting journey to the frontiers of biology, asking whether we must be mortal. Covering the recent breakthroughs in scientific research, he examines the cutting edge of efforts to extend lifespan by altering our natural biology. But might death serve a necessary biological purpose? What are the social and ethical costs of attempting to live forever?

Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.]]> 320 Venki Ramakrishnan 0063113279 Vivek 0 to-read 3.94 2024 Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
author: Venki Ramakrishnan
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.94
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]]> Heartsong (Green Creek, #3) 176408159 Heartsong is the third book in the Green Creek series, the beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and family.

“Complex and startling... Green Creek is the perfect setting.� � Charlaine Harris

The Bennett family has a They're not just a family, they're a pack. Heartsong is Robbie Fontaine's story.

All Robbie Fontaine ever wanted was a place to belong. After the death of his mother, he bounces around from pack to pack, forming temporary bonds to keep from turning feral. It’s enough―until he receives a summons from the wolf stronghold in Caswell, Maine. Life as the trusted second to Michelle Hughes―the Alpha of all―and the cherished friend of a gentle old witch teaches Robbie what it means to be pack, to have a home. But when a mission from Michelle sends Robbie into the field, he finds himself questioning where he belongs and everything he’s been told.

Whispers of traitorous wolves and wild magic abound―but who are the traitors and who the betrayed? More than anything, Robbie hungers for answers, because one of those alleged traitors is Kelly Bennett―the wolf who may be his mate.

The truth has a way of coming out. And when it does, everything will shatter.

The Green Creek Series is for adult readers.
Now available from Tor Books.]]> 480 T.J. Klune 1250890403 Vivek 0 to-read 4.45 2019 Heartsong (Green Creek, #3)
author: T.J. Klune
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages]]> 57700842
Through a first-of-its-kind and incisive study of languages, such as the story of early Sanskrit, the rise of Urdu, language formation in the North-east, it presents the astounding argument that all Indians are of mixed origins. It explores the surprising rise of English after Independence and how it may be endangering India’s native languages.]]> 303 Peggy Mohan 9390914841 Vivek 3 4.21 2021 Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages
author: Peggy Mohan
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/26
date added: 2024/03/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Dwapar Katha: The Stories of the Mahabharata]]> 199426545
In Dwapar The Stories of the Mahabharata, Sudipta Bhawmik delves deep into the intricacies of human nature as he explores the psyches of an eclectic cast of characters, unearthing their motivations and desires. He immerses us in their ceaseless inner struggles on a battlefield more profound than Kurukshetra. Feel the seething anger of Bheem as he rages against the silent Yudhishtir during Draupadi's disrobing and grieve with Duroyadhan when he loses his dear friend Karna in the war. Explore the concepts of Dharma and Karma along with the Pandavas, as Sudipta unearths age-old tales of the Vana Parva, where rishis share life lessons with the exiled Pandavas.

Rooted in Sudipta's immensely popular podcast, which has recorded over 20 million downloads, Dwapar Katha is a delight to read. The captivating prose and stunning illustrations breathe new life into this timeless tale where darkness and light intertwine and heroes are often indistinguishable from villains. The Mahabharata has never been more enchanting, thought-provoking and alive.]]> 669 Sudipta Bhawmik 9356995702 Vivek 5 4.46 Dwapar Katha: The Stories of the Mahabharata
author: Sudipta Bhawmik
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.46
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rating: 5
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]]> Death: An Inside Story 50273386 Death is a taboo in most societies in the world. But what if we have got this completely wrong? What if death was not the catastrophe it is made out to be but an essential aspect of life, rife with spiritual possibilities for transcendence? For the first time, someone is saying just that.

In this unique treatise-like exposition, Sadhguru dwells extensively upon his inner experience as he expounds on the more profound aspects of death that are rarely spoken about. From a practical standpoint, he elaborates on what preparations one can make for one’s death, how best we can assist someone who is dying and how we can continue to support their journey even after death.

Whether a believer or not, a devotee or an agnostic, an accomplished seeker or a simpleton, this is truly a book for all those who shall die!>

]]> 376 Sadhguru 0143450832 Vivek 4 4.25 Death: An Inside Story
author: Sadhguru
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.25
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rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Asura Way: The Contrarian Path to Success]]> 204661152
What if someone told you that those age-old lessons on which you’ve based your whole life are ineffective today?

What if they also told you that you could live a better, more fulfilling life by following the path of the Asuras?

Is it not worth investigating what made the Asuras so successful against even the gods and trying to learn from them in this age of strife, chaos, and discord?

In his first nonfiction work, Anand Neelakantan, the national bestselling author of Tale of the Vanquished, explores a contrarian way of living that makes more sense in this Kali Yuga.

With great skill and logic, Anand shatters the myths associated with the so-called six enemies of the mind—anger, passion, greed, infatuation, pride, and competitive spirit.

He explains how following conventional advice holds you back from achieving success and happiness in life. Using riveting examples from mythology, he demonstrates how these same six qualities can propel you in the direction of success and help you achieve your goals.]]> 202 Anand Neelakantan 8119792343 Vivek 0 to-read 4.22 The Asura Way: The Contrarian Path to Success
author: Anand Neelakantan
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.22
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]]> <![CDATA[Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology]]> 60321447
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everythingâ€� from missiles to microwaves, smartphones to the stock market â€� runs on chips. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower. Now, America's edge isĚýslipping, undermined by competitors in Taiwan, Korea,ĚýEurope, and, above all, China. Today, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more money each year importing chips than it spends importing oil,Ěýis pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America's military superiority and economic prosperity.

Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the semiconductor came to play a critical role in modern life and how the U.S. become dominant in chip design and manufacturing and applied this technology to military systems. America's victory in the Cold War and its global military dominance stems from its ability to harness computing power more effectively than any other power. But here, too, China is catching up, with its chip-building ambitions and military modernization going hand in hand.ĚýAmerica has let key components of the chip-building process slip out of its grasp, contributing not only to a worldwide chip shortage but also a new Cold War with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap.

Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War shows that, to make sense of the current state of politics, economics, and technology, we must first understand the vital role played by chips.]]> 464 Chris Miller 1982172002 Vivek 5 4.38 2022 Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
author: Chris Miller
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/02/23
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]]> I am Gita 197528788
Moments before the Mahabharata war, Arjuna says, â€I don’t wish to slay my brothers or commit violence just to gain a kingdom; even the scriptures forbid this!â€�

Are you in agreement with Arjuna?
Why did Krishna disagree with Arjuna?
Did Krishna incite Arjuna to fight the war or did he show him the right path?
Can there be valid reasons for committing violence and waging a war?
Who is right—Krishna or Arjuna?
Why did it take Krishna all of 18 chapters to convince Arjuna?

Certainly, Gita is one but the questions are many! And Gita is the epitome of psychology, as Krishna is the first psychologist of human history; and it is spiritual psychology alone that can accurately answer all the questions related to mind and life. Yet, the psychological aspects of Gita have always been ignored.

â€I am Gitaâ€� is the first-ever book on Bhagavad Gita that elucidates the essence of all 700 shlokas along with its psychological and spiritual dimension in totality. In the book, Arjuna poses his questions in first person, and Krishna also answers in first person, which makes the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna come alive. Imparting the thrill of a story, the book, penned in a simple language, will help people of all age groups grasp the true essence of the Gita effortlessly.

Deep Trivedi is the author of several bestsellers such as â€I am Krishnaâ€�, â€I am The Mindâ€�, â€Everything is Psychologyâ€� and many more. He holds an international record for conducting 168 hours of workshops on the Bhagavad Gita. He has also been awarded with an Honorary Doctorate for his works on the psychology of Bhagavad Gita.

This book is available in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati at leading book stores and e-commerce sites.]]> 284 Deep Trivedi 9384850705 Vivek 3 4.18 2023 I am Gita
author: Deep Trivedi
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/15
date added: 2024/02/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The CFO Lens : How to Thrive in the Fast-Changing World of Finance]]> 136465547 The author is a former CFO of IBM India, with Finance, Consulting, Sales, Board level and global experience.]]> 210 R. Ravikumar Vivek 4 4.09 The CFO Lens : How to Thrive in the Fast-Changing World of Finance
author: R. Ravikumar
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results]]> 75665850 AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Few things will change your trajectory in life or business as much as learning to think clearly. Yet few of us recognize opportunities to think in the first place.

You might believe you’re thinking clearly in the moments that matter most. But in all likelihood, when the pressure is on, you won’t be thinking at all. And your subsequent actions will inevitably move you further from the results you ultimately seek—love, belonging, success, wealth, victory. According to Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish, we must get better at recognizing these opportunities for what they are, and deploying our cognitive ability in order to achieve the life we want.

Clear Thinking gives you the tools to recognize the moments that have the potential to transform your trajectory, and reshape how you navigate the critical space between stimulus and response. As Parrish shows, we may imagine we are the protagonists in the story of our lives. But the sad truth is, most of us run on autopilot. Our behavioral defaults, groomed by biology, evolution, and culture, are primed to run the show for us if we don’t intervene. At our worst, we react to events without reasoning, not even realizing that we’ve missed an opportunity to think at all. At our best, we recognize these moments for what they are, and apply the full capacity of our reasoning and rationality to them.

Through stories, mental models, and more, Parrish offers the missing link between behavioral science and real-life outcomes. The result is a must-have manual for optimizing decision-making, gaining competitive advantage, and living a more intentional life.]]> 284 Shane Parrish 0593086112 Vivek 0 to-read 4.16 2023 Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
author: Shane Parrish
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
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]]> The Hidden Hindu 55751155 0 Akshat Gupta Vivek 0 to-read 3.82 2020 The Hidden Hindu
author: Akshat Gupta
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[India's Wars: A Military History 1947-1971]]> 29983805 India's Wars, serving Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam seeks to rectify that oversight by giving India's military exploits their rightful place in history. Subramaniam begins India's Wars with a frank call to reinvigorate the study of military history as part of Indian history more generally. Part II surveys the development of the India's army, navy, and air force from the early years of the modern era to 1971. In Parts III and IV, Subramaniam considers conflicts from 1947 to 1962 as well as conflicts with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. Part V concludes by assessing these conflicts through the lens of India's ancient strategist, Kautilya, who is revered in India as much as Sun Tzu is in China.

Not merely a wide-ranging historical narrative of India's military performance in battle, India's Wars also offers a strategic, operational, and human perspective on the wars fought by independent India's armed forces. Subramaniam highlights possible ways to improve the synergy between the three services, and argues in favor of the declassification of historical material pertaining to national security. The author also examines the overall state of civil-military relations in India, leadership within the Indian armed forces, as well as training, capability building, and other vitally important issues of concern to citizens, the government, and the armed forces. This objective and critical analysis provides policy cues for the reinvigoration of the armed forces as a critical tool of statecraft and diplomacy. Readers will come away from India's Wars with a greater understanding of the international environment of war and conflict in modern India. Laced with veterans' intense experiences in combat operations, and deeply researched and passionately written, it unfolds with surprising ease and offers a fresh perspective on independent India's history.

Reviews:
"The battle for Goa was an early example of a combined operation for the Indian military, combining land, air, and sea elements. It is one small piece of a growing heritage for that nation, a history that is well told in this book. The work is impressive in its readability and clarity, as the author does not presume any foreknowledge of his subject and strives to make clear a subject relatively unknown in the Western world. The work deftly traces India's military origins in the 20th century." --Military Heritage

"Retired Indian Air Vice Marshal Subramaniam, who is now an instructor at the Indian National Defence College, has produced a comprehensive history of India's armed forces and their wars, from the First Indo-Pakistan War in 1947, which was sparked by partition and independence through the Third, sometimes known as the Bangladesh War in 1971�. Subramaniam's treatment of policy, strategy, and operations is very good, and his description of tactical encounters are well written, integrating air, ground, and naval operations as appropriate, and are pretty easy to follow�. India's Wars offers an excellent overview of Indian military history since independence for both the professional military historian or the interested layman." --StrategyPage

"The picture India's Wars paints of the evolving Indian military is a flattering one." --Naval War College Review

"Air Marshal (Retired) Arjun Subramaniam, in his book India's Wars: A Military History, 1947-1971, narrates an incident in Italy in 1943 that would make any Indian proud of the way the Indian man honoured -- and protected -- women." --The New Indian Express

"India's Wars is an eminently readable work on the Indian military and India's experiences with wars over a period of roughly twenty-five years after independence. Given the serious neglect of military history in the understanding of India's contemporary history (post-1947), this is a notable contribution�. Subramaniam has provided us with a useful and thought-provoking book on India's wars until 1971, and one hopes that the next volume on the period after the Bangladesh War will be equally engaging." --H-Asia

"[Subramaniam] offers a richly detailed history of India's wars with Pakistan, China, and Portugal as well as a balanced appraisal of India's military wartime performance, highlighting successes and failures." --Military Officer

"This book is a good introduction to the subject. It is generally quite detailed when it comes to the IAF�. The author has a definite political and ideological agenda [and] the details are accurate�. Well worth a read." --Brown Pundits

"In this turbulent twenty-first century, the rise of India will be critical for understanding global geopolitics. This superb overview of India's military history in the twentieth century is essential to appreciate th...]]> 576 Arjun Subramaniam 9351777499 Vivek 0 to-read 4.16 2016 India's Wars: A Military History 1947-1971
author: Arjun Subramaniam
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
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]]> <![CDATA[India that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution]]> 58508534 India, That Is Bharat, the first book of a comprehensive trilogy, explores the influence of European 'colonial consciousness' (or 'coloniality'), in particular its religious and racial roots, on Bharat as the successor state to the Indic civilisation and the origins of the Indian Constitution. It lays the foundation for its sequels by covering the period between the Age of Discovery, marked by Christopher Columbus' expedition in 1492, and the reshaping of Bharat through a British-made constitution-the Government of India Act of 1919. This includes international developments leading to the founding of the League of Nations by Western powers that tangibly impacted this journey.

Further, this work also traces the origins of seemingly universal constructs such as 'toleration', 'secularism' and 'humanism' to Christian political theology. Their subsequent role in subverting the indigenous Indic consciousness through a secularised and universalised Reformation, that is, constitutionalism, is examined. It also puts forth the concept of Middle Eastern coloniality, which preceded its European variant and allies with it in the context of Bharat to advance their shared antipathy towards the Indic worldview. In order to liberate Bharat's distinctive indigeneity, 'decoloniality' is presented as a civilisational imperative in the spheres of nature, religion, culture, history, education, language and, crucially, in the realm of constitutionalism.]]> 472 J. Sai Deepak 9354352499 Vivek 4 4.40 2021 India that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution
author: J. Sai Deepak
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/13
date added: 2024/01/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes]]> 125116554
� Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author


From the author of the international blockbuster, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY, a powerful new tool to unlock one of life’s most challenging puzzles.

Every investment plan under the sun is, at best,Ěýan informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past.

Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change.

With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners, not by squinting harder through the uncertain landscape of the future, but by looking backwards, being more broad-sighted, and focusing instead on what is permanently true. ĚýĚý

By doing so, we may betterĚýanticipate the big stuff, andĚýachieve the greatest success, not merely financial comforts, but most importantly, a life well lived.]]> 240 Morgan Housel Vivek 5 4.12 2023 Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes
author: Morgan Housel
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/02
date added: 2024/01/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't]]> 16144853 Why do only a few people get to say “I love my job�? It seems unfair that finding fulfillment at work is like winning a lottery; that only a few lucky ones get to feel valued by their organizations, to feel like they belong.

Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled.

This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders are creating environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

In his travels around the world since the publication of his bestseller Start with Why, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams were able to trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives were offered, were doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general.

“Officers eat last,� he said.

Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What’s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: great leaders sacrifice their own comfort—even their own survival—for the good of those in their care.

This principle has been true since the earliest tribes of hunters and gatherers. It’s not a management theory; it’s biology. Our brains and bodies evolved to help us find food, shelter, mates and especially safety. We’ve always lived in a dangerous world, facing predators and enemies at every turn. We thrived only when we felt safe among our group.


Our biology hasn’t changed in fifty thousand years, but our environment certainly has. Today’s workplaces tend to be full of cynicism, paranoia and self-interest. But the best organizations foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a Circle of Safety that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

The Circle of Safety leads to stable, adaptive, confident teams, where everyone feels they belong and all energies are devoted to facing the common enemy and seizing big opportunities.

As he did in Start with Why, Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories from a wide range of examples, from the military to manufacturing, from government to investment banking.

The biology is clear: when it matters most, leaders who are willing to eat last are rewarded with deeply loyal colleagues who will stop at nothing to
advance their leader’s vision and their organization’s interests. It’s amazing how well it works.
]]> 350 Simon Sinek 1591845327 Vivek 4 4.08 2014 Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
author: Simon Sinek
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/25
date added: 2023/12/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life and Achieve Real Happiness]]> 43306206
The Courage to Be Disliked shows you how to unlock the power within yourself to become your best and truest self, change your future and find lasting happiness. Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of 19th-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, the authors explain how we are all free to determine our own future free of the shackles of past experiences, doubts and the expectations of others. It’s a philosophy that’s profoundly liberating, allowing us to develop the courage to change, and to ignore the limitations that we and those around us can place on ourselves.

The result is a book that is both highly accessible and profound in its importance. Millions have already read and benefited from its wisdom. Now that The Courage to Be Disliked has been published for the first time in English, so can you.]]> 288 Ichiro Kishimi Vivek 0 to-read 3.89 2013 The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
author: Ichiro Kishimi
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The World in Conflict: Understanding the world's troublespots]]> 29855928 320 John Andrews 1781253684 Vivek 0 to-read 3.79 2016 The World in Conflict: Understanding the world's troublespots
author: John Andrews
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1)]]> 52439531
To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.]]> 386 Jennifer Lynn Barnes 1368052401 Vivek 0 to-read 4.13 2020 The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1)
author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Blaze - A Son's Trial by Fire: A True Story]]> 58741829 326 Nidhi Poddar 9391256813 Vivek 4 4.29 2021 Blaze - A Son's Trial by Fire: A True Story
author: Nidhi Poddar
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/18
date added: 2023/11/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life]]> 30646587
Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical.

"But Dad," she once said, "I know money is important. I just don't want to spend my life thinking about it." This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run.

Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms.

Here's an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective.

The simple approach I created for her and present now to you is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other.

Together we'll explore:

•Debt: why you must avoid it and what to do if you have it
•The importance of having f-you money
•How to think about money, and the unique way understanding this is key to building your wealth
•Where traditional investing advice goes wrong and what actually works
•What the stock market really is and how it really works
•Why the stock market always goes up and why most people still lose money investing in it
•How to invest in a raging bull or bear market
Specific investments to implement these strategies
•The Wealth Building and Wealth Preservation phases of your investing life and why they are not always tied to your age
•How your asset allocation is tied to those phases and how to choose it
•How to simplify the sometimes confusing world of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA, and Roth accounts
TRFs (target retirement funds), HSAs (health savings accounts), and RMDs (required minimum distributions)
•What investment firm to use and why the one I recommend is so far superior to the competition
•Why you should be very cautious when engaging an investment advisor and whether you need to at all
•Why and how you can be conned, and how to avoid becoming prey
•Why I don't recommend dollar cost averaging
•What financial independence looks like and how to have your money support you
•What the Four Percent Rule is and how to use it to safely spend your wealth
•The truth behind Social Security
•A case study on how this all can be implemented in real life]]> 286 J.L. Collins Vivek 0 to-read 4.42 2016 The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
author: J.L. Collins
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Mahagatha - 100 Tales from the Puranas]]> 63376691
The Puranas of Hinduism are a universe of wisdom, embodying a fundamental quest for answers that makes them forever relevant. Now, for the first time, 100 of the greatest mythological tales from these ancient texts have been handpicked and compiled into an epic illustrated edition. Besides popular legends of devas, asuras, sages and kings, Satyarth Nayak has dug up lesser-known stories, like the one where Vishnu is beheaded or where Saraswati curses Lakshmi or where Harishchandra tricks Varuna. Nayak also recounts these 100 tales in a unique chronological format, beginning with Creation in Satya Yuga and ending with the advent of Kali Yuga. Using Puranic markers, he constructs a narrative that travels through the four yugas, offering continuous and organic action. In such a reading, it is revealed that these stories are not isolated events but linked to each other in the grand scheme of things. That every occurrence has a past and a future. A cause and effect. An interconnected cycle of karma and karma-phal.

Delving into the minds of gods, demons and humans alike, Mahagatha seeks a deeper understanding of their motivations. The timelessness of their impulses speaks across the aeons to readers of today. Written in lively prose with charming illustrations, these 100 tales will entertain and enlighten, and make you connect the dots of Hindu mythology like never before.]]> 436 Satyarth Nayak 9356294496 Vivek 5 4.39 2022 Mahagatha - 100 Tales from the Puranas
author: Satyarth Nayak
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/27
date added: 2023/10/27
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Very well written and concise stories to recap stories one heard during childhood
]]> <![CDATA[Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent]]> 33407803
Did you know that the exquisite caves of Ellora were hewn from rock formed in the greatest lava floods the world has known—eruptions so enormous that they may well have obliterated dinosaurs? Or that Bengaluru owes its unique climate to a tectonic event that took place 88 million years ago? That the Ganga and Brahmaputra sequester nearly 20 per cent of global carbon, and their sediments over millions of years have etched submarine canyons in the Bay of Bengal that are larger than the Grand Canyon? Ever heard of Rajasaurus, an Indian dinosaur which was perhaps more ferocious than T rex? Many such amazing facts and discoveries—from 70-million-year-old crocodile eggs in Mumbai to the nesting ground of dinosaurs near Ahmedabad—are a part of Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent.

Researching across wide-ranging scientific disciplines and travelling with scientists all over the country, biochemist Pranay Lal has woven together the first compelling narrative of India’s deep natural history, filled with fierce reptiles, fantastic dinosaurs, gargantuan mammals and amazing plants. This story, which includes a rare collection of images, illustrations and maps, starts at the very beginning—from the time when a galactic swirl of dust coalesced to become our life-giving planet—and ends with the arrival of our ancestors on the banks of the Indus. Pranay Lal tells this story with verve, lucidity and an infectious enthusiasm that comes from his deep, abiding love of nature]]> 468 Pranay Lal 8184007574 Vivek 0 to-read 4.53 Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent
author: Pranay Lal
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up]]> 40858227

In the seventy thousand years that modern human beings have walked this earth, we've come a long way. Art, science, culture, trade - on the evolutionary food chain, we're real winners. But, frankly, it's not exactly been plain sailing, and sometimes - just occasionally - we've managed to really, truly, quite unbelievably f*ck things up.

From Chairman Mao's Four Pests Campaign, to the American Dustbowl; from the Austrian army attacking itself one drunken night, to the world's leading superpower electing a reality TV mogul as President... it's pretty safe to say that, as a species, we haven't exactly grown wiser with age.

So, next time you think you've really f*cked up, this book will remind you: it could be so much worse

]]> 238 Tom Phillips 1472259033 Vivek 0 to-read 4.05 2018 Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
author: Tom Phillips
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals]]> 54785515 The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs to be told there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and ceaseless battle against distraction; we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient and life hacks to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,� Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing that many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.]]> 271 Oliver Burkeman 0374159122 Vivek 5 4.19 2021 Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
author: Oliver Burkeman
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/25
date added: 2023/09/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Abroad in Japan: Ten Years in the Land of the Rising Sun]]> 64645770
Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that came with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most complex cultures.

Spanning ten years and all forty-seven prefectures, Chris takes us from the lush rice fields of the countryside to the frenetic neon-lit streets of Tokyo. With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a mortifying experience at a love hotel and a week spent with Japan's biggest movie star, Abroad in Japan is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.]]> 320 Chris Broad 1787637077 Vivek 0 to-read 4.10 2023 Abroad in Japan: Ten Years in the Land of the Rising Sun
author: Chris Broad
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/09/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Mein Kampf Volume 1 - A retrospect]]> 42361236 313 Adolf Hitler Vivek 2 3.29 1925 Mein Kampf Volume 1 - A retrospect
author: Adolf Hitler
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1925
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/12
date added: 2023/08/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind]]> 760025 224 Al Ries 0071373586 Vivek 0 to-read 4.03 1980 Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
author: Al Ries
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1980
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/27
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]]> The Selfish Gene 61535
Chapters:
1. Why are people?
2. The replicators
3. Immortal coils
4. The gene machine
5. Aggression stability and the selfish machine
6. Genesmanship
7. Family planning
8. Battle of the generations
9. Battle of the sexes
10. You scratch my back, I'll ride on yours
11. Memes: the new replicators
12. Nice guys finish first
13. The long reach of the gene]]> 360 Richard Dawkins 0199291152 Vivek 4 4.15 1976 The Selfish Gene
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/24
date added: 2023/08/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Tiger of the Snows: The Autobiography of Tenzing of Everest]]> 1508257 294 Tenzing Norgay Vivek 0 to-read 4.36 1955 Tiger of the Snows: The Autobiography of Tenzing of Everest
author: Tenzing Norgay
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The 10 New Life-Changing Skills: Get Them and Get Ahead!]]> 61665431 Now, we are in the midst of the 4th Industrial revolution (4IR), also called Industry 4.0. It is creating 'green collar' jobs, which need people to 'think, reflect and act' . To develop these abilities and perform the green collar jobs efficiently, it is critical that professionals develop certain skills -the 10 new life-changing

1. Creativity
2. Innovation
3. Critical Thinking
4. Framing the Right Question
5. Smart Problem-Solving
6. Lifelong Learning
7. Storytelling
8. Influence Without Authority
9. Humanness
10. Entrepreneurial Spirit.

This book will introduce readers to these skills, which they can apply in their businesses and professions to come up trumps.
Ěý]]> 400 Rajesh Srivastava 014345191X Vivek 3 3.88 The 10 New Life-Changing Skills: Get Them and Get Ahead!
author: Rajesh Srivastava
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2023/06/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us about Modern India]]> 63186862
Fuelled by a surge of migration to cities, the country's growth appears to be defined by urbanisation and by its growing, prosperous middle class. It is also defined by progressive and liberal young Indians, who vote beyond the constraints of identity, and paradoxically, by an unchecked population explosion and rising crimes against women. Is it, though?

In 2020, the annual population growth was down to under 1 per cent. Only thirty-one of hundred Indians live in a city today and just 5 per cent live outside the city of their birth.

As recently as 2016, only 4 per cent of young, married respondents in a survey said their spouse belonged to a different caste group. Over 45 per cent of voters said in a pre-2014 election survey that it was important to them that a candidate of their own caste wins elections in their constituency. A large share of reported sexual assaults across India are actually consensual relationships criminalised by parents. And staggeringly, spending more than Rs 8,500 a month puts you in the top 5 per cent of urban India.

In Whole Numbers and Half Truths, data-journalism pioneer Rukmini S. draws on nearly two decades of on-ground reporting experience to piece together a picture that looks nothing like the one you might expect. There is a mountain of data available on India, but it remains opaque, hard to access and harder yet to read, and it does not inform public conversation. Rukmini marshals this information—some of it never before reported—alongside probing interviews with experts and ordinary citizens, to see what the numbers can tell us about India. As she interrogates how data works, and how the push and pull of social and political forces affect it, she creates a blueprint to understand the changes of the last few years and the ones to come—a toolkit for India.

This is a timely and wholly original intervention in the conversation on data, and with it, India.]]> 348 Rukmini S. 9395073004 Vivek 4 4.33 Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us about Modern India
author: Rukmini S.
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2023/06/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy]]> 50542735 From the creator of Valuetainment, the #1 YouTube channel for entrepreneurs, and “one of the most exciting thinkers� (Ray Dalio, author of Principles ) in business today, comes a practical and effective guide for thinking more clearly and achieving your most audacious professional goals.

Both successful entrepreneurs and chess grandmasters have the vision to look at the pieces in front of them and anticipate their next five moves. In this book, Patrick Bet-David “helps entrepreneurs understand exactly what they need to do next� (Brian Tracy, author of Eat That Frog!) by translating this skill into a valuable methodology. Whether you feel like you’ve hit a wall, lost your fire, or are looking for innovative strategies to take your business to the next level, Your Next Five Moves has the answers.

You will gain:
CLARITY on what you want and who you want to be.
STRATEGY to help you reason in the war room and the board room.
GROWTH TACTICS for good times and bad.
SKILLS for building the right team based on strong values.
INSIGHT on power plays and the art of applying leverage.

Combining these principles and revelations drawn from Patrick’s own rise to successful CEO, Your Next Five Moves is a must-read for any serious executive, strategist, or entrepreneur.]]> 275 Patrick Bet-David 1982154829 Vivek 0 to-read 4.03 2020 Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy
author: Patrick Bet-David
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease]]> 25663961 New York Times Bestseller

"This book may help those who are susceptible to illnesses that can be prevented."—His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"Absolutely the best book I've read on nutrition and diet" –Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones Solution

From the physician behind the wildly popular NutritionFacts website, How Not to Die reveals the groundbreaking scientific evidence behind the only diet that can prevent and reverse many of the causes of disease-related death.

The vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented through simple changes in diet and lifestyle. In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts, examines the fifteen top causes of premature death in America-heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson's, high blood pressure, and more-and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing us to live healthier lives.

The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The fifteen leading causes of death claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn't have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger's advice, all of it backed up by strong scientific evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.

History of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed to your diet whenever you can. Have high blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a leading hypertensive drug-and without the side effects. Fighting off liver disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer? Consuming soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart disease (the number 1 killer in the United States)? Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has been repeatedly shown not just to prevent the disease but often stop it in its tracks.

In addition to showing what to eat to help treat the top fifteen causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen -a checklist of the twelve foods we should consume every day. Full of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these doctor's orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives.]]> 576 Michael Greger 1250066115 Vivek 0 to-read 4.41 2015 How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease
author: Michael Greger
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[As a Man Thinketh (Fingerprint! Classics)]]> 38312640
First published in 1903, James Allen's literary essay became an inspirational classic. It shows how, in his own thought-world, each man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters into his life, and that, by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life, and transform his circumstances.]]> 96 James Allen 9386538172 Vivek 4 4.05 1902 As a Man Thinketh (Fingerprint! Classics)
author: James Allen
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1902
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/01
date added: 2023/05/01
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization]]> 59808487 Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all.

In a time when our political and cultural views feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment—a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science.

After thinking deeply about how science sees the world and about Earth as a planet, the human brain has the capacity to reset and recalibrates life’s priorities, shaping the actions we might take in response. No outlook on culture, society, or civilization remains untouched.

With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.]]> 271 Neil deGrasse Tyson 1250861500 Vivek 5 4.09 2022 Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization
author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/01
date added: 2023/05/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Krueger's Men: The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot and the Prisoners of Block 19]]> 334315 304 Lawrence Malkin 0316057002 Vivek 0 to-read 3.45 2006 Krueger's Men: The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot and the Prisoners of Block 19
author: Lawrence Malkin
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/04/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War]]> 28503837
Despite intense opposition, Winston Churchill personally gave Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he could find. So began the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.

Now, 75 years later, the SAS has finally decided to tell its astonishing story. It has opened its secret archives for the first time, granting historian Ben Macintyre full access to a treasure trove of unseen reports, memos, diaries, letters, maps and photographs, as well as free rein to interview surviving Originals and those who knew them.

The result is an exhilarating tale of fearlessness and heroism, recklessness and tragedy; of extraordinary men who were willing to take monumental risks. It is a story about the meaning of courage.]]> 400 Ben Macintyre 110190416X Vivek 0 to-read 4.31 2016 Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
author: Ben Macintyre
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/04/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis]]> 58565357 320 Coomi Kapoor 9390679559 Vivek 0 to-read 4.14 The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis
author: Coomi Kapoor
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/04/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Beautiful Questions: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead]]> 37941659
When confronted with almost any demanding situation, the act of questioning can help guide us to smart decisions. By asking questions, we can analyze, learn, and move forward in the face of uncertainty. But "questionologist" Warren Berger says that the questions must be the right ones; the ones that cut to the heart of complexity or enable us to see an old problem in a fresh way.

In The Book of Beautiful Questions , Berger shares illuminating stories and compelling research on the power of inquiry. Drawn from the insights and expertise of psychologists, innovators, effective leaders, and some of the world's foremost creative thinkers, he presents the essential questions readers need to make the best choices when it truly counts, with a particular focus in four key decision-making , creativity , leadership , and relationships .

The powerful questions in this book can help
- Identify opportunities in your career or industry
- Generate fresh ideas in business or in your own creative pursuits
- Check your biases so you can make better judgments and decisions
- Do a better job of communicating and connecting with the people around you

Thoughtful, provocative, and actionable, these beautiful questions can be applied immediately to bring about change in your work or your everyday life.]]> 288 Warren Berger 163286956X Vivek 0 to-read 4.08 2018 The Book of Beautiful Questions: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead
author: Warren Berger
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
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date added: 2023/04/12
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]]> <![CDATA[I Came Upon a Lighthouse: A Short Memoir Of Life With Ratan Tata]]> 56545030
I told him that when I write a book, I would write about another side of him and not just historic events or business milestones. I would write about us and our adventures together, and how I saw him, colours and shades of him unknown to the world. Life beyond the great steel wall of 'industry doyen'.

He agreed. 'There cannot be one book that captures everything ... So you do your thing, give your perspective.'

It was their shared empathy for homeless dogs that sparked an unlikely friendship. In 2014, Shantanu Naidu, an automobile design engineer in his early twenties, developed an innovation to save the local strays from being run over by speeding cars. Ratan Tata, himself known for his compassion for stray dogs, took note. Impressed, he not only decided to invest in the venture, but over the years became a mentor, boss and an unexpectedly dear friend to Shantanu.

I Came Upon a Lighthouse is an honest, light-hearted telling of this uncommon bond between a millennial and an octogenarian that gives glimpses of a beloved Indian icon in a warm light.]]> 232 Shantanu Naidu 9390327520 Vivek 4 4.44 2021 I Came Upon a Lighthouse: A Short Memoir Of Life With Ratan Tata
author: Shantanu Naidu
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/10
date added: 2023/04/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience]]> 66354 303 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 0060920432 Vivek 0 to-read 4.11 1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/03/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most]]> 54895700 The New York Times bestselling author of Essentialism takes on the holy grail of human performance: How can we make it easier to get the right things done?

Is there a goal you want to make progress on, if only you had the energy? Do you assume that anything worth doing must take tremendous effort? Have you ever abandoned a hard but important activity for an easy but trivial one? Are you often overwhelmed by the complexity that's expanding everywhere?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you might be making life much harder for yourself than it needs to be.

In the New York Times bestseller Essentialism, Greg McKeown urged readers to eliminate nonessential activities and focus on the few that truly matter. He's since talked with thousands of readers about the challenges they face in putting those ideas into practice. The problem, he's found, is that the complexity of modern life has created a false dichotomy between things that are "essential and hard," and things that are "easy and trivial." But what if the trivial tasks became harder and the essential ones became easier? If the important projects became enjoyable, while the trivial distractions lost their appeal entirely?

In Effortless, McKeown offers proven strategies for making the most important activities the easiest ones. For example:
- Streamline your process by mapping out the minimum number of steps.
- Prevent problems later by solving them before they happen.
- Let Go of perfectionism by finding the "courage to be rubbish."
- Accelerate your learning by leveraging the best of what others know.

By making the toughest tasks just a little bit easier, we can accomplish more of what matters, without burning out.]]> 272 Greg McKeown 0593135644 Vivek 0 to-read 4.01 Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most
author: Greg McKeown
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.01
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]]> Why Evolution Is True 4005310 Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact.

In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned—the "evidence," the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past—dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs.

Why Evolution Is True weaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is True dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.]]> 282 Jerry A. Coyne 0670020532 Vivek 0 to-read 4.18 2008 Why Evolution Is True
author: Jerry A. Coyne
name: Vivek
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2008
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date added: 2023/03/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less]]> 59891634 Ěý
InĚý SMART The Power of Saying More with Less , Ěý Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format. They also share communications lessons learned from their decades of experience in media, business and communications.
Ěý]]> 224 Jim Vandehei 1523516976 Vivek 0 to-read 3.90 2022 Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less
author: Jim Vandehei
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/03/16
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]]> Six Thinking Hats 97030 Edward de Bono invented the concept of lateral thinking. A world-renowned writer and philosopher, he is the leading authority in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. Dr de Bono has written more than 60 books, in 40 languages, with people now teaching his methods worldwide. He has chaired a special summit of Nobel Prize laureates, and been hailed as one of the 250 people who have contributed most to mankind]]> 177 Edward de Bono 0140296662 Vivek 0 to-read 3.75 1985 Six Thinking Hats
author: Edward de Bono
name: Vivek
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/03/15
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