This is a 1500 plus odd pages novel written about a search for a bride groom through the Indian Arranged Marriage process. The setting is in the 1950s after the Indian independence. BBC Channel 4 made a radio adaptation. I did not read the book but the radio adaption was really impressive.
Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for this book of short stories. It is about immigrants to the US and their lives and how they adjust to new settings and but still hold on to their country roots. Jhumpa has the unique way of writing and you feel as if you are living and seeing it in reality.
Jeffrey Archer is a terrific story teller and this is about two best friends with different backgrounds who fall apart. It has been adapted into a movie and it is also followed up with sequels.
The Class is one of my favorite fictional books. It is about five Harvard students lives and how they take a different turn. It is a great read and very gripping.
Osho was one of the famous Gurus in the 1980s who took the west by storm and was owner of 93 odd Roll Royces. Though his image was tarnished in the US and Indian media, he has not been given the due credit he deserves. He simplifies extremely difficult concepts in easy to understand manner. He has some thought provoking suggestions such as Communes that might not jive with everybody. It is up to the reader to filter the information. I strongly recommend this book and his main message is to MEDITATE.
I find Tara’s story very compelling and authentic. She talks about her journey from having various mental/medical issues to having a healthy prescription drug free lifestyle. It is indeed remarkable for someone, who was overmedicated and popping nearly a dozen pills through most of her adult life to make such a drastic change. It reiterates that Change happens when one hits rock bottom and accepts that failure is no more an option and makes a shift for the better with positive beliefs
Louise Hay talks about the metaphysical world and how our thoughts cause some of the diseases. She gives a detailed account about her life and also has an appendix of the list of illnesses and their root causes. She gives affirmations that help overcome them. She is the founder of Hay Publications, which publishes many famous authors in Self Help and Personal Development.
Eckert Tolle is all about living in the present moment- future is mystery and past is history. He talks about his journey and gives some valuable suggestions. It is a book you want to keeping a number of times so that you can practice it.
Neil Pasricha is young author who has been a New York Times Best Seller and known for his blog Thousand Awesome things- events in our life that we don’t appreciate and bring us joy. It is about living in the present moment. His latest book is compilation of all the latest research and studies done in the Happiness world. He presents his findings in an easy to understand way. It is a quick read and reinforces things that you already know and encourages you to practice.
Paul Brunton is an Englishmen who travelled to India in the early 20th century. He writes about his fascinating accounts of spiritual experiences and interesting people and healers he met along his path. He was a follower of Ramana Maharishi who know for his philosophy for self discovery- probing and asking yourself ‘ Who am I ?’
This is one of the best spiritual books told in non spiritual story telling way. Paulo was rejected initially by his publishers but then it just went on to become a global best seller. People like Julia Roberts, Bill Clinton and Madonna indirectly promoted the book as they were photographed with it. It is a fun read and highly recommend this book.
Joshua Waldman provides a wealth of information about Social Media can help in job search. He gives tactics and examples that can be used. He tells the reader that social media can help you expand your network as well as land your next job. There are good tips on Linkedin Profiles and Personal branding.
Though it is a self published book in Amazon, it has many golden nuggets regarding job search. Scott does a good job looking at the hiring manager’s perspective as well as the job seeker and the disconnect. He gives practical examples and tactics to implement and has special section for Ageism, Veterans, New Grads and people who are out of work for long time.
This is one of the best books written about the importance of Networking (connecting with people). It is useful for job seekers, salesmen and also anybody who wants to advance his or her career.
Lynn O’ Shaughnessy writes a good primer for college admissions and gives some interesting facts. I recommend this book to every parent who has their kids in high school and applying through the stressful college admissions process. She has own website and consultancy where she has many relevant blogs.
Mohnish Pabrai talks about the dynamism of the Patel community (South Asian Indian business community) and the investing in low risk and high return businesses. He is very conversational and gives anecdotes about his fund. It is fast read and you do get some good nuggets from it.
This book gives us the real picture of the Investment Planning industry and how the past 5 years top performing funds are not the best funds to invest in. It is a very easy read especially for someone who does not know about investing. The takeaways are there is never a right time to sell or buy particular stock. It is about investment made on various time horizons and your risk tolerance. It gives some practical examples.
This is a book about Social Sciences but very business relevant. Malcolm Gladwell is a journalist, contributor and presents some interesting theories on word of mouth such Law of the Few; Connectors- people who amazing ability to bring people together, Mavens- make change happen through ideas and information and Salesmen – who skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing.
One of the global best sellers and the Dale Carnegie’s capstone work. Warren Buffets has his Dale Carnegie Training Certificate hung in his office wall and attributes his success to the principles he learned from the Dale Carnegie training.
A Lean Startup series book started Eric Ries/ Steve Blank. It is relevant for all sizes of companies. The main premise is that you need to come up with hypothesis of your customers wants, interview them with open ended questions and validate your hypothesis with their answers and find more about the painpoints. It is an hands on book with practical tools and sample questions to ask customers.
One of the best strategy books available especially finding those white spaces that the competition has not tapped. The authors compares Red Oceans- beating the competition to Blue Oceans- making the competition irrelevant.