Book Review of "Animal Farm"

“Animal Farm” is the best political satire I have read in the last few years! Its short, to-the-point & so humorously allegorical that you are left with both a smile on your face & a sinking feeling in your heart as the stark irony of the communist political ideology is brought forth. Recommended!

"All Animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Book Review of "Sultan of Delhi - Ascension"

“But then again, the truth is never what really happens. The truth is what we choose to believe.”

When it comes to Arnab Ray’s blogs and podcasts, I have always been a fan; not so much though when it comes to his books. However, his not-so-latest novel, “Sultan of Delhi” (which is recently turned into a Hotstar TV Show) ended up being sufficiently entertaining and enjoyable - in a way that “Bahubali” and “Singham” type of movies are, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing IMO! 

This is a pure “masala” book - there is a plethora of action, sex, cussing, intrigue, double-crossing and whatever else makes a story “click” as per the analytics of today’s streaming-world. What is a definite welcome change though; especially as compared to Arnab Ray’s previous books; is that “Sultan of Delhi” doesn’t try to be anything more than a masala story - there is no underlying philosophy, no metaphor about life or anything like that (yes, I am looking at you “The Mine” and “The Mahabharata Murders”) - just a straightforward action-packed tale. 

A definite 4/5 to the Sultan of Delhi for remaining true to what it wants to be. One gripe though - the ending is ridiculously abrupt. I understand that this is “Part 1” of a 2-part saga and the author purposefully didn’t want a cliffhanger but the way this book ends is super annoying.

"Arjun felt slightly drunk now, swimming in that nice warm buzz you get if you stop drinking at just the right time, when you lose your inhibitions, but you are still all right. "

Book Review of "Shivaji: India's Great Warrior King"

Author Vaibhav Purandare’s “Shivaji: India’s Great Warrior King” is the kind of historical literature that I thoroughly enjoy. This is a factual, evidence-backed piece of writing with a somewhat dry prose - which might not be everyone’s cup of tea but is right up my alley when it comes to reading history books; especially those focused on the 17th and the 18th century Indian history. What makes this book even better is the complete lack of caste-based jingoism and political undertones. In other words, it tells the history of the great Chhatrapati based on the available verified sources and not a fancily embellished fairytale. Having read quite a few books about the Chhatrapati and the Peshwas, I was pleasantly surprised to still find a few new tidbits here and there about the great king. Definitely recommended if you are a history buff.

Book Review of "What To Expect When You Are Expecting"

Despite countless YouTube channels and Instagram handles giving out useful, relevant and medically backed information about what to expect in a Pregnancy (provided you know which handles to follow and which to ignore), it is the 90s kid in me that was still craving for a “textbook” like information source when my wife began the pregnancy journey.

“What to Expect When You're Expecting” is a super-easy read that squarely answers the many questions soon-to-be parents will doubtless have. Not only was this book useful as an information source to understand the changes my wife was going through but also as a quick “reference” whenever we would stumble on something. The only qualm I have is that the statistics & the overall research data is skewed towards American and western body types and the “averages” mentioned do not always apply to Indian and broadly Asian populace.

Book Review of "The Club"

Being an avid follower of football (no, I am not going to call it Soccer) and specifically the English Premier League (EPL) for quite a few years, the business aspects of EPL - the most successful sports league in the World - have always intrigued me. So what should an EPL fan do for the summer months between the end of the previous season and the start of the new one? Read a book about the EPL of course! 

“Data shows that EPL is the greatest sports entertainment product in the World. In the span of twenty-five years, the league's clubs have increased their combined value by 10,000 percent!”

“The Club” is a fascinating & truly captivating story of anything and everything EPL. Of course, if you are not a fan of EPL, this book is clearly Not for you. The history of EPL’s formation, how a few 30-something investors worked together and competed together to create the most commercially successful sports league is just amazing to read. The original founders might have taken inspiration from the USA’s NFL and the NBA, but they tweaked and tinkered enough things to make EPL uniquely British and still the most Internationally impactful league ever. 

The book has enough new and behind-closed-doors information to fascinate long term fans of English football while the tone and the details are accessible enough for casual fans as well. There are definitely some stories that I would have liked to dig deeper and would have liked to know more, but is not a dealbreaker. 

The book however is not perfect. There are 2 glaring issues. First is that the Audiobook narration is horrible. I switched to the kindle version and never looked back. Secondly, there are unnecessary time jumps that don’t really add any value and are just a nuisance.

Overall though - highly recommend this book if you are an EPL fan and are interested in business aspects of a sports league. 

“The EPL business, ultimately, embodies the challenges of globalization, of the push and pull between expansion and identity, about the universalization of a product that is steeped in decidedly local customs.”

Book Review of "The End of Eternity"

“Any system like Eternity, which allows people to choose their own future, will end by choosing safety and mediocrity, and in such a Reality the stars are out of reach.”

The level of creativity in Isaac Asimov’s ‘The End of Eternity’ is remarkable. What makes it even more fantastic is when you realize that this was published close to 70 years ago! 

But like so many other Asimov novels, this book is dry with absolutely threadbare character development. The factual narrative takes complete center stage - which might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Definitely enjoyable if you know what you are getting into, ⅘ from me.

“Out of danger and restless insecurity comes the force that pushes mankind to newer and loftier conquests.”

Book Review of "Born a Crime"

“Success is an answer, failure is an answer, rejection is also an answer. But regret, regret is just an eternal question you will never have the answer to - ‘What if’ and ‘If only . . .’ “

“Born A Crime” turned out to be funny, entertaining and insightful! I admit I did not expect to get pulled in emotionally into Trevor Noah’s story, but boy was I wrong. The audiobook, narrated by Trevor Noah himself, is a mini emotional rollercoaster ride covering the institutionalized racism that was the Apartheid and the effect it had on a biracial, curious boy growing up in South Africa. 

When it comes to Trevor Noah, I have been through the usual stages of being a fan. Started off being a bit apprehensive and judgy when it was announced that he’ll be replacing John Stewart back in 2015. Then from being pleasantly surprised to slowly becoming a closeted fan of his take on the Daily Show and finally attending his live show and enjoying it thoroughly. 

Give this book a try whether you are a Trevor Noah fan or not, you won’t be disappointed.

“My mother raised me like a white kid—not white culturally, but in the sense of believing that the world was my oyster, that I should speak up for myself, that my ideas and thoughts and decisions mattered.”

Book Review of "The Paper Menagerie"

“Judging was the luxury of those who did not need to survive.”

Before reading “The Paper Menagerie”, I only knew Ken Liu as the guy who translated the Three Body Problem - one of my favorite SciFi novels - from Mandarin to English. It turns out that not only is he a brilliant original story crafter himself, but also has an amazing range as a writer. The stories in “The Paper Menagerie” are beautiful, surreal, deeply moving and range from your typical SciFi stories to surprisingly profound and sometimes even gruesome. Highly recommend it if you are a fan of the genre.

“We have been wrong to be drunk and asleep. We should be drunk and fighting.”

Book Review of "A Brief History of Time"

Even though I found “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking to be fascinating and filled with multiple jaw-dropping “wait what!” moments, it is not an easy book to read. Especially the chapters about string theory and quantum mechanics made my brain wonky and I had to re-read some portions to somewhat wrap my mind around it (and I am sure I have still missed some key points). Full disclosure, don't expect a casual, bed-side read, but definitely enjoyable if you are ready to put in some work. 

Book Review of "Matthew Perry Autobiography - Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing"

“You have to get famous to know that it’s not the answer. And nobody who is not famous will ever truly believe that.”

Be warned - it is not at all a pleasant experience to read (or listen to) this book - it chronicles how horribly Matthew Perry's life has been wrecked countless number of times by addiction to alcohol and opioids.

On one hand, because of being an absolute FRIENDS fanboy (I don’t think I’ll ever stop randomly binging a couple of episodes once in a while) and Chandler being one of my favorite characters - I was looking forward to this book (I remember being sad when I heard that “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” was canceled after the 1st Season). But on the other hand, knowing that this was about Matthew Perry’s addiction and his struggles and his countless rehab stints - I was a little apprehensive too. The usual “never meet your heroes” kind of unease. I went for the audiobook version simply because it is narrated by Matthew Perry himself. But it did not help much - this is a difficult and sobering book to listen to.

Definitely credit to Matthew Perry for being honest and literally bearing it all about his struggles. That being said though, it does get a bit icky in some parts - especially when he repeatedly tries to place the blame on his parents or when he bad mouths the rehab doctors and nurses who were trying to help him to the best of their abilities and also the unnecessary digs at Keanu Reeves. If nothing else, Matthew Perry is smart and not delusional at all about how he is perceived. For example - he clearly admits that he doesn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for someone who was earning upwards of a million dollars per episode for the last 3 seasons of FRIENDS. 

Many of us are guilty of reacting in a judgmental way to an addict’s story. But I like to think that this book has given me some semblance of an idea of how horrendous & terrible a disease addiction really is. And that is credit to Matthew Perry - regardless of how the book is.

“I think you actually have to have all of your dreams come true to realize they are the wrong dreams.”

Book Review of "Ender's Game"

“While they rarely agreed about what the world ought to be, they rarely disagreed about what the world actually was.”

The first thought that came to my mind after reading the Ender’s Game is that I should have read this in my late teens or early twenties. Maybe back then, the whole spiel about ‘that one special gifted kid who can save the World against a generic faceless enemy’ would have seemed thrilling. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed this book - just that I wasn’t swept away by it - at all. Ender’s Game checks off all the things one would expect from a YA somewhat-SciFi novel - ranging from the angsty “no one ever understands me” protagonist to a couple of strict-for-the-greater-good mentors. Overall, it’s ok, don’t take it too seriously and you will enjoy it - 3.5/5.

Book Review of "A Twist in the Tale"

Perfectly adequate is how I would describe Jeffrey Archer’s “A Twist in the Tale”. A collection of 12 stories with varying degrees of “twist” at the end. Akin to his previous story collections, about a third of the stories in this book are superb and the rest are sort of ‘meh’. A definite recommendation if you are already a fan of Jeffrey Archer’s work. If you haven’t read any of his books before, then this should not be the first one you read. Overall a 3.5/5.

Book Review of "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"

“But knowing the future is worse than not knowing. Isn’t it?”

I really wanted to like this book. The author, Gillian McAllister, a once full-time lawyer, who converted her weekend hobby of mystery writing into NYT bestseller books when recovering from a serious illness is truly inspirational. 

Plus the premise of this book is super cool. A 40-something woman witnesses her 18-year-old son stab a stranger in front of their house one night and the mother, for some god-forsaken reason, starts living life in reverse - waking up in the past every time she goes to bed. This mixture of time travel and murder mystery coupled with great reviews overall prompted me to dive in with high expectations. Maybe that was the mistake!

The first 20% or so of the book is - for the lack of a better word - awkward. The writing somehow felt unauthentic to me. The second half gets much better and the overall resolution of the mystery is fairly satisfying. There are a few chapters in the second half written beautifully, pulling you in emotionally - only to be met with dry prose in the very next chapter. Overall a lukewarm 3.5 from me - for the innovative idea and for neatly wrapping up all the loose ends.

Book Review of "Starry Messenger"

“Those who are seen dancing are always thought to be insane by those who can not hear the music.”

Even though I am a fanboy of Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s “StarTalk” radio and the “Cosmic Queries” podcasts, I have always found his books to be a bit dense (or maybe I am too dense to understand the physics completely - Lol!). The “Starry Messenger” though, is a welcome exception! It is simple yet profound, somewhat preachy yet insightful. Dr. Tyson’s enthusiasm, his wittiness, and his humor have come out really well here. 

The book is a collection of essays by Dr. Tyson on various subjects ranging from Politics, Sports, History, Healthcare, the Environment, and so on convincing the reader why and how having a Cosmic and universal perspective would help mitigate a plethora of problems and misunderstandings. This is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read in recent times. All in all, a solid read - not too philosophical but also not popcorn-y (that’s not a word!). Just go for it.

“To deny objective truths is to be scientifically illiterate, not to be ideologically principled.”