By: John Carreyrou
Pages: 320
Business, Non Fiction
My recommendation: 10 / 10
Date read: 30th Mar'19
Brief review: It is one of the most thrilling fictional stories you would ever read, the only caveat being; it's not fictional. It's a story of boom to bust. It's about a 19 year old Stanford dropout girl, Elizabeth Holmes who founded a blood testing startup company called Theranos in the year 2003. Theranos claimed to do hundreds of blood tests from a tiny drop of blood. At it's pick, the valuation of the company reached a mind boggling figure of $9 billion. However, the company went out of business shortly after as it was all built on false premises and revolved around the charm and charisma of Elizabeth. The investors included prominent names like Rupert Murdoch and others. Elizabeth and Theranos got worldwide attention from start to finish. The author did a commendable job by putting it all in a fascinating story which I found unputdownable. A must read.
By: Yuval Noah Harari
Pages: 368
Non Fiction
My recommendation: 10 / 10
Date read: 20th Mar'2019
Brief review: Yuval Noah Harari is a master writer. Every sentence and every word is worth your time to read it. Yuval's viewpoint on various topics covered in the book has a lot of weight. His in-depth knowledge of almost everything is quite visible in his writings. Apart from many issues, he discusses about the possibility of humans attaining immortality, why nuclear weapons may not be used and how artificial intelligence is going to change things in the future. It's thrilling. When I finished the book it felt like something nice has ended. Pick it up right away.
By: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Pages: 202
Non Fiction
My recommendation: 7 / 10
Date read: 5th Oct'2018
Brief review: There are so many myths floating around us. We are believing many of them for ages. Did Einstein failed school? The truth behind low nicotine cigarettes. Is black box really black? The suspense of Bermuda Triangle. Why isn't a quantum leap huge? What 'Cat years' actually mean? The author gives scientific and seemingly justified answers to all this and many more. A good read in your free time.
By: Malcolm Gladwell
Pages: 300
Non Fiction
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 6th June'18
Brief review: The essence of the book is about our inner instinct of knowing something in a flash (blink of an eye) without having to process loads of data about the subject. We make an opinion about something in a moment without knowing why. 'Blink' gives you interesting accounts of how fire fighters make life saving decisions instantly, how army men make their choices without having sufficient information and how someone can decode your life history by just looking at you for a second. Sometimes, our gut feeling is more effective than cautiously made decisions. An interesting book.
By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Pages: 304
Non Fiction
My recommendation: 8 / 10
Date read: 20th May'18
Brief review: Another masterpiece by Taleb. This is the 4th book of Taleb that I have read. A little different than the previous ones. Taleb says 'your actions and advise makes no sense unless you too have skin in the game'. In today's world, most bureaucrats, politicians, financial advisors, nobel prize winners and many other so called intellectuals take decisions and advise people without being negatively affected by the outcome of their actions. You need time and patience to read and understand Taleb. Could be heavy for first time readers but a brilliant read for regulars.
