By: Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein
Pages: 294
Psychology
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 23rd Apr'18
Brief review: The book talks two patterns of how human mind thinks; called automatic thinking (rapid) and reflective thinking (deliberate) and how our decisions are hugely dependent on the way we think. A small nudge can make a big difference to the outcome. It can change what kids decide to eat in the canteen. It can influence close to 100% people to donate their organs on death (Austria) and it can make a big impact on your retirement savings. Well researched book. Read slow. Richard H. Thaler (author) is also the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. A good read. Another excellent book on this topic is 'Thinking Fast & Slow' written by Daniel Kahnman.
By: Rolf Potts
Pages: 224
Non Fiction
My recommendation: 7 / 10
Date read: 13th Apr'18
Brief review: Vegabonding means a person who wanders from place to place. It generally involves longer duration travel ranging between few weeks to few months to a couple of years. Rolf Potts is a vegabonder. He advocates to discover and experience the world on your own terms. He once traveled for 18 months straight with an average cost of under $1,000 a month. In the book he shares the idea behind vegabonding, developing a mindset to travel long and gives several execution tips. The first section of the book is specially inspiring wherein he makes a strong case of travelling more. He strongly recommends to cut costs on things we don't need and use it for travel. Having a money rich and time poor person is worthless.
By: Steve Martin
Pages: 228
Biography, Inspiration
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 9th Apr'18
Brief review: Steve Martin was one of the world's most sought after stand up comedian during the 1970's. But it didn't last long. Not because people stopped laughing at his performance but because he chose to leave. In this book, Steve tells his story straight from the heart. How he reached from empty halls to massive attendance of over 50,000 people in his shows and why decided to abruptly end his performances. He candidly shares his personal challenges, emptiness and reconciliation with his family. A true story of sheer hard work and dedication. An inspiring and motivating read.
By: Derek Sivers
Pages: 92
Business, Inspiration, Sales
My recommendation: 9 / 10
Date read: 6th Apr'18
Brief review: I am a fan of Derek Sivers. His thoughts and blogs are inspirational. Being a budding musician he could not find a distribution company for his album. That led to him creating one of the largest online music stores in the world for independent artists named CDBABY. Around 2008, he sold his company for $22 million and donated the proceeds to charity. In this book, Derek tells his story as it happened. It's refreshing, inspirational and motivational. A no nonsense book with absolute clarity on secret of happiness and how you can also create something big. A must read.
By: Paul B. Caroll & Chunka Mui
Pages: 332
Business
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 4th Apr'18
Brief review: The book is about mistakes made in the corporate world with respect to new launches, mergers and acquisitions and other activities which resulted in billion dollar losses. More than 70% of all mergers and acquisitions fail and destroy shareholders value. Still, they are considered 'cool' on the high street. CEOs with big egos and seeking to become icons for their big bold aggressive decisions regularly engage in activities which they think will put them in history, although they make little sense. Investment Managers who claim to be advisers promote such activities because they have a vested interest to earn a fat cheque out of it. The book gives a thorough account of several such failed instancess , eroding billions of dollars of value for investors. Many of such decisions looked flawed and foolish from the beginning but they were overruled by people at the top. The unfortunate part is that inspite of such history, the game is still on. If you are interested to know how some of these 'big marriages' miserably failed, read this book.
By: Kahlil Gibran
Pages: 690
Fiction, Philosophy
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 30th Mar'18
Brief review: Kahlil Girbran's writing touches our mind as well as soul. His connects well with readers. One needs to dive deep into her own soul to fully resonate with his thoughts. His best work is 'Prophet'. This book is a collection of many of his writings, including 'The Prophet' which is by far his best work. I also liked 'The Broken Wings' and 'Tears and Laughter'. If you like philosophy, if you feel love, if you like poetry; you must read Kahlil Gibran. Read it slow to feel it more.
By: Cal Newport
Pages: 304
Self Help
My recommendation: 5 / 10
Date read: 23rd Mar'18
Brief review: Most of us believe that we should follow our passion. In this book, Newport debunks this belief. Rather, his advice is to be so good in your work that people can't ignore you. This comes from years and years of hard work. Apart from his own hypothesis, he uses examples of other researches like Anders Ericsson who coined the idea of 'deliberate practice' and Malcolm Gladwell who talks about the '10,000 hour rule'. It's a good read as a stand alone book but when I consider the alternatives, I would suggest you to give it a pass.
By: Alice Schroeder
Pages: 838
Biography
My recommendation: 10 / 10
Date read: 19th Mar'18
Brief review: A brilliant read. Though we all know Warren Buffet and a lot has been written about him in the world media, nothing comes close to this book. It captures the essence of Buffet's life as he lived it. It highlights his investing achievements and also exposes his mistakes. It gives almost a day to day view to his private life, his legal battles, his attachment of money, his frugal lifestyle, his negotiating skills and his need for female companionship. Alice Schroeder has done a wonderful job of putting down everything as it is and it makes a wonderful read. A must read for every Buffet fan.
By: Bob Burg and John David Mann
Pages: 190
Sales
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 12th Mar'18
Brief review: Selling should not a win-lose game between sellers and buyers. It has to be a win-win. Burg and Mann demonstrates through their effective examples that selling need not be a stressful activity. It could in fact, be a rich experience leading to a joyful life. To become an exceptional sales person, one should focus on giving rather than wanting. The law of compensation says that your rewards will be directly proportionate to number lives you touch. One should be focused on the other person, ask good questions, be authentic and create exceptional value for the buyer. Like their previous book, 'The Go-Giver', this book will definitely help you change your mindset from being a seller to a giver and thereby selling more.
By: Daniel Kahneman
Pages: 448
Psychology
My recommendation: 10 / 10
Date read: 8th Mar'18
Brief review: Written by a Nobel Prize winner, the book is about human bias, emotions, probabilities and luck. It digs deep into the human mind and reveals interesting behavior patterns which we never new existed. It's a brilliant piece of work after decades of research. We may think ourselves to be smart though we may just be lucky. It gives a lot of insight on how we perceive risk and the vulnerability of first impressions. Why so called experts choose complexity over simplicity and why doctors are reluctant to take chances with new forms of treatments with terminally ill patients. Read it slow. It will change your paradigm of thinking.
