The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

This is my third reading of Dan Brown. The other two ones were 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' .

I was really fascinated by these novels of him. And I expected the latest novel to even better. But, now the style of Dan Brown is getting stale. Its only treasure hunt stories he is spinning. And this particular novel is having anticlimax at the end.

Utterly Disappointing novel as per me. I will think 10 times before reading Dan Brown again.

Rising Sun by Michael Crichton

This is the fourth novel by Michael Crichton, which I read.

Actually, it was suggested by one of my friend. And the topic was intriguing. So I picked it asap.

The novel is about, different management styles of Americans and Japanese. The front end of the story is about a murder, but backend is pure management.

Though I worked with Japanese joint venture company for 4 years and thought I knew a lot about their management style. But reading this I felt, there is lot more to learn, digest and understand.

I recommend this novel to anybody and everybody, who is interested in Japanese Management Style.

Many Lives Many Masters

I was recently tempted to read this book, because of one recently launched serial in India viz 'Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka' (Secret of past life).

This book is about reincarnation. It narrates experience of Dr. Brian Weiss with his patient Catherine.

After reading this book I was as confused as ever. There is no proof till now, whether actually there is reincarnation or not.

But, it was interesting and an entertaining read.

2 States by Chetan Bhagat

It is indeed a master piece by Chetan Bhagat after Five Point Someone. The other two novels i.e. One Night @ Call Center & Three Mistakes of My Life, were relatively junk.

First hour of reading, I kept on laughing holding my tummy. Its indeed a hilarious one.

I think that Chetan's real life has more spice than his imagination. So Chetan, dont try to imagine anymore :), just share your real life incidents with readers.

Trinity by Leon Uris

This is the fourth book of Leon Uris, I have read. The other three were Exodus, Mila 18 and Angry Hills.

This book is about the freedom struggle of Ireland against England. It carries the classic style of Leon Uris, as was reflected in his legendary novel Exodus.

After reading this book, I came to understand what is the whole problem in Ireland i.e. between North Ireland and Britain. Between IRA and government.

Its indeed a masterpeice by master. I recommend it to anybody who is interested in history of Ireland.

Aol.com by Kara Swisher

I read this book almost after the decade, it was published. I was apprehensive, whether should I or shouldn't I read this book. But, i went ahead.

This book gives us a snapshot of internet industry in its infancy stage. More over it tells us about the AOL-America On Line- its birth and rise.

I recommend this book to all the netizens as well as to all the brand managers. It gives us a classic case of brand management.

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson

I came to know about this author Niall Ferguson, when one of my close friends told me about the concept 'Chimerica',which is the term indicating the symbiotic relationship between Chinese and American Economy. According to author, this was one of the main drivers behind the recent recession.

Anyway coming back to the book 'The Ascent of Money', it reminded me of the works of Alvin Toffler, especially the 'Third Wave' and 'Future Shock'. This book tells you the financial history of the world, especially about the currency,banking system, bond markets, stock markets, insurance and real estate. I will not be ashamed to claim that I was more than scared after reading this book. I am enlightened as well as confused about money now.

And at the same time, I will say today's schools should include this book in the course, because nobody can't remain untouched by financial market at least in the civilized world today.

A must read.

More articles on author's work can be found here http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/Home.aspx?pageid=1

2 States - The story of my marriage: Chetan Bhagat

Sometimes, I think Chetan Bhagat is writing specially for the generation that I belong to. His debut novel “Five Point Someone” came at a time when I was in the last leg of my engineering and that too in Mechanical Engineering. So, the novel was and still is very close to my heart. Then came “One Night @ Call Center” and “Three Mistakes of My Life” that were again very precisely timed to match the movements in my life. And now, when I’m pursuing my MBA, Chetan has come up with this new novel “2 States” about an IIMA passout who finds his love for life during MBA.

The story of the novel spins around the lives of a Punjabi boy Krish Malhotra and a Tamil girl Ananya Swaminathan. As was written in their Nakshatram, they met over the dining table in IIM-A and fell into love with each other, just because the Punjabi honcho couldn’t stay “just friends” any more. Subsequently, they had made to each other’s beds pretty fast and often during the course of the MBA. But again, as the legend has it, their parents had to disagree with this decision of their children. The refusal was partly due to North India – South India clash and partly due to the generational egos of parents when children select life partners for themselves. And then, it takes the Citibank Relationship Manager, Mr Malhotra and HLL Marketing Manager, Ms Swaminathan, quite a while to bring the two families together.

Chetan has spun the novel nicely around this story and maintained the seriousness of the North India-South India issue along with the fun of reading his novel. The description of intimacies by Chetan Bhagat has been as unmatched as ever before. And some anecdotes like “we don’t use spoons to measure alcohol” made me laugh at the conversation between a Punjabi boyfriend and his prospective Tamilian father-in-law. The description of Punjabi lifestyle and their way of looking at the Tamilians and vice-versa has been interestingly funny. Just like his previous novels, this one is also full of youth and unrealistic idealism at certain points, but that fits in perfectly well. Some twists here and there make it an irresistible read.

On a serious note, there’s one particular incident that left an impression on my mind from the novel. There is a conversation between Krish and a Guruji in Pondicherry’s Aurobindo Asharam where Guruji guides him that forgiving someone doesn’t make him/her right. All it does is to make the forgiver feel lighter and happier.

All-in-all, I found 2 States an interesting novel, worth spending some time to get yourself relaxed.

Arun Sharma

Visit http://am-i-possible.blogspot.com

Book Review: Of Course I Love You..!

Durjoy Dutta and Maanvi Ahuja have nicely presented the tale of the college life of a guy Deb who is an average performer in every field except getting girls to bed. The novel is all about the college life of a loser who doesn’t get to see good grades in his college life but still believes he was an IIT stuff, just dropped in DCE. The story has some characters like Vernita, Tanmay, Deb, Shrey and Avantika who made me feel a left-out from the world and doubt my physical (read sexual) prowess given the fact that I’m 25 year old virgin. Vernita is the only girl in Mechanical Engineering department and hence, pretty obviously scores good marks every time. Tanmay is Vernita’s boyfriend who’s hated by Deb and Shrey because he’s rich, handsome and intelligent. Deb is an average performing guy in studies but scores high on girlfriends and night outs. Shrey is this dream-guy who doesn’t give a shit to the studies and exams and still makes it to a start-up company in Germany. Avantika is the goddess, the most beautiful girl on the earth, the most gorgeous and the sexiest one too. She knows what to do, when to do and how to do, I hope you got it. After struggling hard in the college, when Deb doesn’t get placed in any company, he hooks up in BHEL and finds Amit, his to-be-best friend. He enjoys his life by shaping up a love life for Ami and Astha and hence getting all the office work done by Amit, the studious small-town boy.
The story ends in such a passionate love-making by Deb that I envied him for the same. It’s a nice book, Five Point Someone class. It’s a story about the youth, but it can be frustrating at times, especially when you do not have a girlfriend of your own.


Arun Sharma

State of Fear By Michael Crichton

It is my second reading of Michael Chrichton. First one was TIMELINE.

I sometimes wonder, what sort of research these authors do, to present such a real plot.

This book created all the doubts in my mind regarding Global Warming and all other Environmental Campaigns going on in the world.

I recommend this book to all the good citizens of the planet.

Its indeed an eye opener