Piyush's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:34:57 -0700 60 Piyush's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Metamorphosis and Other Stories]]> 7723 The Metamorphosis,” a story that is both harrowing and amusing, and a landmark of modern literature.

Bringing together some of Kafka’s finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author’s artistry. “The Judgment,” which Kafka considered to be his decisive breakthrough, and “The Stoker,” which became the first chapter of his novel Amerika, are here included. These two, along with “The Metamorphosis,” form a suite of stories Kafka referred to as “The Sons,” and they collectively present a devastating portrait of the modern family.

Also included are “In the Penal Colony,” a story of a torture machine and its operators and victims, and “A Hunger Artist,” about the absurdity of an artist trying to communicate with a misunderstanding public. Kafka’s lucid, succinct writing chronicles the labyrinthine complexities, the futility-laden horror, and the stifling oppressiveness that permeate his vision of modern life.]]> 224 Franz Kafka 1593080298 Piyush 4 4.08 1915 The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
author: Franz Kafka
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at: 2013/03/29
date added: 2024/08/07
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As one of my friends once said, Kafka's writing makes you want to learn German just so that you can read the original text.
]]> <![CDATA[Wandering Significance: An Essay on Conceptual Behaviour]]> 684850 696 Mark Wilson 0199269254 Piyush 0 to-read 4.67 2006 Wandering Significance: An Essay on Conceptual Behaviour
author: Mark Wilson
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[A Garden of Paper Flowers: An American at Oxford]]> 7305629
Anachronistic regulations, inaccesible dons and administrators and absurdly poor resources combine to make learning nearly impossible at Oxford. In frustration, students throw themselves instead into sport, pranks and alcohol, while exclusive societies and an admissions policy which pays little attention to diversity serve to make Oxford a snobbish and socially stratified place.

Through complacency and inefficiency, Rosa Ehrenreich charges, Oxford fails both its students and British society as a whole. She leavens her account with humour and has a foreigner's healthy detachment which results in an acute and provocative account of one of England's most cherished and least understood institutions.]]> 280 Rosa Ehrenreich 0330327941 Piyush 5 3.15 A Garden of Paper Flowers: An American at Oxford
author: Rosa Ehrenreich
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.15
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/12/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Slow Sex: The Art and Craft of the Female Orgasm]]> 10054823
Better sex is about one thing: better orgasm. This life-altering guide teaches men and women how to use the practice of Orgasmic Meditation—or OM—to slow down, connect emotionally, and achieve authentic female sexual satisfaction. The promise: In just fifteen minutes every woman can become orgasmic. And, with the right partner and the right technique, that orgasm could last and last!

For more than a decade, Nicole Daedone has been leading the "slow sex movement," which is devoted to the art and craft of the female orgasm. OM is the act of slowing down, tuning in, and experiencing a deeper spiritual and physical connection during sex. Slow Sex reveals the philosophy and techniques of OM and includes a step-by-step, ten-day OM starter program, as well as OM secrets for achieving ultimate satisfaction. It also includes exercises to help enhance readers' "regular" sex lives, such as Slow Oral for Her, Slow Oral for Him, and Slow Intercourse.

This book is the argument for daily intimacy, and for paying attention as the foundation of pleasure, all with a focus on the female experience.]]> 243 Nicole Daedone 0446567191 Piyush 0 to-read 3.74 2011 Slow Sex: The Art and Craft of the Female Orgasm
author: Nicole Daedone
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/12/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Proofs: A Long-Form Mathematics Textbook (The Long-Form Math Textbook Series)]]> 56895723 511 Jay Cummings Piyush 0 to-read 4.51 Proofs: A Long-Form Mathematics Textbook (The Long-Form Math Textbook Series)
author: Jay Cummings
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science]]> 25942786 504 Culadasa (John Charles Yates) 0990847705 Piyush 0 to-read 4.20 2015 The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science
author: Culadasa (John Charles Yates)
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Discovering : Inventing Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Scientific Knowledge]]> 1525105 544 Robert Root-Bernstein 0674211758 Piyush 0 to-read 4.62 1989 Discovering : Inventing Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Scientific Knowledge
author: Robert Root-Bernstein
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.62
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/16
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]]> <![CDATA[A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)]]> 79766 A Pattern Language is the philosophy that in designing their environments people always rely on certain ‘languages,’ which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate an infinite variety of designs within a formal system which gives them coherence.

This book provides a language of this kind. It will enable making a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. ‘Patterns,’ the units of this language, are answers to design problems: how high should a window sill be?; how many stories should a building have?; how much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees?

More than 250 of the patterns in this language are outlined, each consisting of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution. As the authors say in their introduction, many of the patterns are archetypal, so deeply rooted in the nature of things that it seems likely that they will be a part of human nature and human action as much in five hundred years as they are today.

A Pattern Language is related to Alexander’s other works in the Center for Environmental Structure series: The Timeless Way of Building (introductory volume) and The Oregon Experiment.]]> 1171 Christopher W. Alexander 0195019199 Piyush 0 to-read 4.42 1977 A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
author: Christopher W. Alexander
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]> 21 544 Bill Bryson 076790818X Piyush 0 to-read 4.21 2003 A Short History of Nearly Everything
author: Bill Bryson
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality]]> 19395553 Our Mathematical Universe is a journey to explore the mysteries uncovered by cosmology and to discover the nature of reality. Our Big Bang, our distant future, parallel worlds, the sub-atomic and intergalactic - none of them are what they seem. But there is a way to understand this immense strangeness - mathematics. Seeking an answer to the fundamental puzzle of why our universe seems so mathematical, Tegmark proposes a radical idea: that our physical world not only is described by mathematics, but that it is mathematics. This may offer answers to our deepest questions: How large is reality? What is everything made of? Why is our universe the way it is?

Table of Contents
Preface

1 What Is Reality?
Not What It Seems • What’s the Ultimate Question? • The Journey Begins

Part One: Zooming Out

2 Our Place in Space
Cosmic Questions • How Big Is Space? • The Size of Earth • Distance to the Moon • Distance to the Sun and the Planets • Distance to the Stars • Distance to the Galaxies • What Is Space?

3 Our Place in Time
Where Did Our Solar System Come From? • Where Did the
Galaxies Come From? • Where Did the Mysterious Microwaves
Come From? • Where Did the Atoms Come From?

4 Our Universe by Numbers
Wanted: Precision Cosmology • Precision Microwave-Background Fluctuations • Precision Galaxy Clustering • The Ultimate Map of Our Universe • Where Did Our Big Bang Come From?

5 Our Cosmic Origins
What’s Wrong with Our Big Bang? • How Inflation Works • The Gift That Keeps on Giving • Eternal Inflation

6 Welcome to the Multiverse
The Level I Multiverse • The Level II Multiverse • Multiverse Halftime Roundup

Part Two: Zooming In

7 Cosmic Legos
Atomic Legos • Nuclear Legos • Particle-Physics Legos • Mathematical Legos • Photon Legos • Above the Law? • Quanta and Rainbows • Making Waves • Quantum Weirdness • The Collapse of Consensus • The Weirdness Can’t Be Confined • Quantum Confusion

8 The Level III Multiverse
The Level III Multiverse • The Illusion of Randomness • Quantum Censorship • The Joys of Getting Scooped • Why Your Brain Isn’t a Quantum Computer • Subject, Object and Environment • Quantum Suicide • Quantum Immortality? • Multiverses Unified • Shifting Views: Many Worlds or Many Words?

Part Three: Stepping Back

9 Internal Reality, External Reality and Consensus Reality
External Reality and Internal Reality • The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth • Consensus Reality • Physics: Linking External to Consensus Reality

10 Physical Reality and Mathematical Reality
Math, Math Everywhere! • The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis • What Is a Mathematical Structure?

11 Is Time an Illusion?
How Can Physical Reality Be Mathematical? • What Are You? • Where Are You? (And What Do You Perceive?) • When Are You?

12 The Level IV Multiverse
Why I Believe in the Level IV Multiverse • Exploring the Level IV Multiverse: What’s Out There? • Implications of the Level IV Multiverse • Are We Living in a Simulation? • Relation Between the MUH, the Level IV Multiverse and Other Hypotheses •Testing the Level IV Multiverse

13 Life, Our Universe and Everything
How Big Is Our Physical Reality? • The Future of Physics • The Future of Our Universe—How Will It End? • The Future of Life •The Future of You—Are You Insignificant?

Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index]]> 432 Max Tegmark 1846144760 Piyush 0 to-read 4.20 2012 Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
author: Max Tegmark
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's School]]> 8178541
In Privilege, Shamus Khan returns to his alma mater to provide an inside look at an institution that has been the private realm of the elite for the past 150 years. He shows that St. Paul’s students continue to learn what they always have — how to embody privilege. Yet, while students once leveraged the trappings of upper-class entitlement, family connections, and high culture, current St. Paul’s students learn to succeed in a more diverse environment. To be the future leaders of a more democratic world, they must be at ease with everything from highbrow art to everyday life — from Beowulf to Jaws — and view hierarchies as ladders to scale. Through deft portrayals of the relationships among students, faculty, and staff, Khan shows how members of the new elite face the opening of society while still preserving the advantages that allow them to rule.]]> 248 Shamus Rahman Khan 0691145288 Piyush 0 to-read 3.90 2010 Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's School
author: Shamus Rahman Khan
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Sorrows of Young Werther 16640 149 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 0812969901 Piyush 3 3.71 1774 The Sorrows of Young Werther
author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1774
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/08/24
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]]> The Overcoat 537094 57 Nikolai Gogol 1419176528 Piyush 4 4.17 1842 The Overcoat
author: Nikolai Gogol
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1842
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/06/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism]]> 10238 366 Fritjof Capra 1570625190 Piyush 1
Truth be told, the book neither has literary merit, nor does it present any groundbreakingly profound idea. There is a pretence of the latter, but anyone with some familiarity with the field of philosophy will see right through it. The only merit in the book, if one is to force himself to find one, is to see how an author can paraphrase a simple idea again and again, hiding it under the guise of different metaphors and clothing it in different phrases, and make a whole book out of it. To see this, one would have suspend the idea that the author's intent matters at all, and and then appreciate the fact that Fritjof Capra has produced a tribute to Queneau's Exercises in Style, albeit accidentally.

As a matter of fact, I can reproduce the whole book here - and save you the time and expense. Here it is:

Nature/ environment/ the territory/features of reality/heaven and earth/the universe/material world/matter
IS NOT passive/inert/in static equilibrium/still, BUT IS dancing/dynamic/moves/in vibrating motion with rhythmic patterns/ceaseless motion. Notions of Space and Time are merely constructs of the mind/forms of thought/maps of reality/limited/illusory/relative/ intellectual constructs/moh-maya/exist in relation to our "particularising consciousness"/ belong to the realm of experience. And modern physics agrees.]]> 3.97 1975 The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism
author: Fritjof Capra
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1975
rating: 1
read at: 2013/03/29
date added: 2020/05/04
shelves:
review:
Eastern philosophy is not a singular concept - it consists of many schools of thought; some of which the author has conveniently cherry-picked and force fit to draw parallels with Quantum Physics.

Truth be told, the book neither has literary merit, nor does it present any groundbreakingly profound idea. There is a pretence of the latter, but anyone with some familiarity with the field of philosophy will see right through it. The only merit in the book, if one is to force himself to find one, is to see how an author can paraphrase a simple idea again and again, hiding it under the guise of different metaphors and clothing it in different phrases, and make a whole book out of it. To see this, one would have suspend the idea that the author's intent matters at all, and and then appreciate the fact that Fritjof Capra has produced a tribute to Queneau's Exercises in Style, albeit accidentally.

As a matter of fact, I can reproduce the whole book here - and save you the time and expense. Here it is:

Nature/ environment/ the territory/features of reality/heaven and earth/the universe/material world/matter
IS NOT passive/inert/in static equilibrium/still, BUT IS dancing/dynamic/moves/in vibrating motion with rhythmic patterns/ceaseless motion. Notions of Space and Time are merely constructs of the mind/forms of thought/maps of reality/limited/illusory/relative/ intellectual constructs/moh-maya/exist in relation to our "particularising consciousness"/ belong to the realm of experience. And modern physics agrees.
]]> <![CDATA[The Simoqin Prophecies (GameWorld Trilogy, #1)]]> 676885 512 Samit Basu 0143030434 Piyush 5 4.12 2004 The Simoqin Prophecies (GameWorld Trilogy, #1)
author: Samit Basu
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/02/07
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science]]> 24861842
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don’t work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1,000 full-color images, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.]]> 958 J. Kenji López-Alt 0393081087 Piyush 0 to-read 4.31 2015 The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
author: J. Kenji LĂłpez-Alt
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/11/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food]]> 25770528
Cooking for Geeks is more than just a cookbook. Author and cooking geek Jeff Potter helps you apply curiosity, inspiration, and invention to the food you prepare. Why do we bake some things at 350°F / 175°C and others at 375°F / 190°C? Why is medium-rare steak so popular? And just how quickly does a pizza cook if you “overclock” an oven to 1,000°F / 540°C? This expanded new edition provides in-depth answers, and lets you experiment with several labs and more than 100 recipes— from the sweet (a patent-violating chocolate chip cookie) to the savory (pulled pork under pressure).

When you step into the kitchen, you’re unwittingly turned into a physicist and a chemist. This excellent and intriguing resource is for inquisitive people who want to increase their knowledge and ability to cook.

• Discover what type of cook you are and learn how to think about flavor
• Understand how protein denaturation, Maillard reactions, caramelization, and other
reactions impact the foods we cook
• Gain firsthand insights from interviews with researchers, food scientists, knife experts, chefs, and writers—including science enthusiast Adam Savage, chef Jaques Pépin, and chemist Hervé This]]> 483 Jeff Potter 1491928050 Piyush 0 to-read 4.02 2007 Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food
author: Jeff Potter
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/11/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> House of Leaves 24800
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.]]> 710 Mark Z. Danielewski Piyush 0 to-read 4.11 2000 House of Leaves
author: Mark Z. Danielewski
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life...]]> 4894
Two are mice named Sniff and Scurry. And two are "Littlepeople" — beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Their names are Hem and Haw.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life — whether it's a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind.

And the "Maze" is where you look for what you want — the organisation you work in or the family or community you live in.

In the story, the characters are faced with unexpected change. Eventually, one of them deals with it successfully, and writes what he has learned from his experience on the Maze walls.

When you come to see "The Handwriting on the Wall," you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success (however you define it) in your work and in your life.

Written for all ages, the story takes less than an hour to read, but its unique insights can last for a lifetime.]]> 98 Spencer Johnson 0091883768 Piyush 1 3.88 1999 Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life...
author: Spencer Johnson
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1999
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2019/04/08
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]]> 313605 200 Roger Fisher 0140157352 Piyush 5 3.94 1981 Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
author: Roger Fisher
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/10/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal]]> 28881 Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more—except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala—and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.]]> 444 Christopher Moore 0380813815 Piyush 0 to-read 4.23 2002 Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal
author: Christopher Moore
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/08/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> Man's Search for Meaning 4069 Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.]]> 165 Viktor E. Frankl 080701429X Piyush 0 to-read 4.38 1946 Man's Search for Meaning
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/07/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)]]> 52397
Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.]]> 345 Octavia E. Butler 0446675504 Piyush 0 to-read 4.21 1993 Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/07/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> Kindred 60931 The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now.

Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.]]> 288 Octavia E. Butler 0807083690 Piyush 0 to-read 4.30 1979 Kindred
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/07/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace]]> 616208 Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.]]> 308 Leonard Mlodinow 0684865246 Piyush 0 to-read 3.88 2001 Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
author: Leonard Mlodinow
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/07/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Talent To Annoy 153528 217 Nancy Mitford 1903933439 Piyush 0 to-read 3.85 1955 A Talent To Annoy
author: Nancy Mitford
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/06/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy]]> 153525
Considered one of the most gifted comic writers of her time, Nancy Mitford said she wrote the article about her peers “In order to demonstrate the upper middle class does not merge imperceptibly into the middle class”. She said differences of speech distinguish the members of one social class in England from another.

Unabashedly snobbish and devastatingly witty, Miss Mitford achieved enormous success and popularity as one of Britain's most piercing observers of social manners... Indeed, one of Miss Mitford's pet concerns entered the history of obscure literary debates when, in 1955, she published perhaps her most famous essay on upper-class and non-upper- class forms of speech. The essay sparked such a controversy in Britain, with responses from many major literary figures, that Miss Mitford was compelled a year later to publish this book, "Noblesse Oblige," with her disquisition on the subject as its centerpiece. Her argument, a set-piece even today among literary parlor games, was that euphemisms used for any word is usually the non-upperclass thing to say--or, in Miss Mitford's words, simply non-U. With costars Evelyn Waugh, Christopher Sykes, John Betjeman.]]> 156 Nancy Mitford 0689707045 Piyush 0 to-read 3.71 1956 Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy
author: Nancy Mitford
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/06/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> You Could Look It Up 414324 0 William Safire 0517052296 Piyush 0 to-read 3.57 1988 You Could Look It Up
author: William Safire
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/06/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language]]> 12870068 252 Mark Forsyth Piyush 0 to-read 4.25 2011 The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
author: Mark Forsyth
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/05/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Code of the Woosters (Jeeves, #7)]]> 105986 286 P.G. Wodehouse 1841591009 Piyush 4 ]]> 4.37 1938 The Code of the Woosters (Jeeves, #7)
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/17
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review:
To quote Mr. Hugh Laurie "with the Jeeves stories, Wodehouse created the best of the best. I speak as one whose first love was Blandings, and who later took immense pleasure from Psmith, but Jeeves is the jewel, and anyone who tries to tell you different can be shown the door, the mini-cab, the train station, and Terminal 4 at Heathrow with a clear conscience. The world of Jeeves is complete and integral, every bit as structured, layered, ordered, complex and self-contained as King Lear, and considerably funnier."

]]> <![CDATA[His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)]]> 18116
These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.

Phillip Pullman’s spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers for over twenty years and won acclaim at every turn. It will have you questioning everything you know about your world and wondering what really lies just out of reach.]]> 1088 Philip Pullman 0440238609 Piyush 3
It feels like the writer just grew wary of the story, or just fell out of love with it. The loose threads weren't just left untended, they were frayed into multiple other threads before a tiny one of them was picked up and it was decided that was it - that was the main storyline. And then all the threads were just hastily burned.

It was especially disappointing because I had been so invested in these books. The premise was great, and it was so pregnant with promise and possibilities! The story was so enchanting, the characters were unique, and the puzzles were crafted with just the right amount of intrigue. Lyra's world possessed a medieval retro-futuristic aesthetic which served as a wonderful counterpoint to Will's (our) world. I absolutely loved that we were given Lyra's magical world as a background, as the norm, and our world as a weird, distant parallel universe. And then there was the best magic/science duality I have ever come across. Parallel worlds tied in with the many-worlds hypothesis of quantum mechanics, magic portals became wormholes, Dust became elementary particles. And all the religious allegory crafted with beautiful precision. It was fantasy at its best. The first two books literally had me giddy with excitement.

And then everything falls into an incoherent mess in the third. There was a whole battle scene lasting a few chapters during which it was not clear who was fighting whom, over what, and who won. There was a whole chapter where the young characters suddenly start chanting sonnets to each other - with such cringeworthy lines that one wonders if Mr. Pullman had been ODing on the likes of Backstreet Boys and Taylor Swift. In the end, Nothing that happens to the characters - to Lord Asriel, to Mrs. Coulter, to bloody GOD - makes the slightest sense. Everyone just gets thrown into a pit - LITERALLY (I'm not joking)!

Recommendation: Read the first two books - and leave the third to your imagination.]]> 4.26 2000 His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)
author: Philip Pullman
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/05/17
shelves:
review:
Pfft... What was that? So disappointing. The books started on a rising note, and kept rising and rising, into a crescendo, and then when it was at its peak it seemed to have suddenly lost its wings - swooping in hither and dither, before falling with a big thud.

It feels like the writer just grew wary of the story, or just fell out of love with it. The loose threads weren't just left untended, they were frayed into multiple other threads before a tiny one of them was picked up and it was decided that was it - that was the main storyline. And then all the threads were just hastily burned.

It was especially disappointing because I had been so invested in these books. The premise was great, and it was so pregnant with promise and possibilities! The story was so enchanting, the characters were unique, and the puzzles were crafted with just the right amount of intrigue. Lyra's world possessed a medieval retro-futuristic aesthetic which served as a wonderful counterpoint to Will's (our) world. I absolutely loved that we were given Lyra's magical world as a background, as the norm, and our world as a weird, distant parallel universe. And then there was the best magic/science duality I have ever come across. Parallel worlds tied in with the many-worlds hypothesis of quantum mechanics, magic portals became wormholes, Dust became elementary particles. And all the religious allegory crafted with beautiful precision. It was fantasy at its best. The first two books literally had me giddy with excitement.

And then everything falls into an incoherent mess in the third. There was a whole battle scene lasting a few chapters during which it was not clear who was fighting whom, over what, and who won. There was a whole chapter where the young characters suddenly start chanting sonnets to each other - with such cringeworthy lines that one wonders if Mr. Pullman had been ODing on the likes of Backstreet Boys and Taylor Swift. In the end, Nothing that happens to the characters - to Lord Asriel, to Mrs. Coulter, to bloody GOD - makes the slightest sense. Everyone just gets thrown into a pit - LITERALLY (I'm not joking)!

Recommendation: Read the first two books - and leave the third to your imagination.
]]> <![CDATA[Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage]]> 1060283
This most recent revision also adds much material for comparisons of speech sounds; suggestions for accurate, efficient and conversational ways of combining the sounds into connected utterance; indications that foster a working knowledge of two dialects of speech (General American and what Mrs. Skinner called Good Speech for classic and elevated texts); and beginning material to show application of the principles of Good Speech to well-written texts.

Some important additions to the book are the extensive Glossary and Index, abundant guides to pronunciations, new sections featuring such details as the complete "Ask-List" of words, a program for the elimination of glottal attacks of vowel and dipthong sounds, greatly expanded practice material of phrases and sentences, and an updated Chart showing several levels of phonetic transcription and spelling equivalents in current usage.

Speak With Distinction can be used in several ways: as a primary educational textbook for both the beginning and advanced actor; as a supplementary textbook for teachers and students who have their own methods and agenda for study; and as a reference book for teachers, speech coaches and directors.]]> 416 Edith Skinner 1557830479 Piyush 0 to-read 4.23 1990 Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage
author: Edith Skinner
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey (Volume 45)]]> 17739579
Traveling along four prominent trade routes—the Silk Road, the Frankincense Trail, the Spice Route, and the Camino Real for chiles and chocolate—Nabhan follows the caravans of itinerant spice merchants from the frankincense-gathering grounds and ancient harbors of the Arabian Peninsula, to the port of Zayton on the China Sea, to Santa Fe in the desert Southwest. His stories, recipes, and linguistic analyses of cultural diffusion routes reveal the extent to which aromatics like cumin, cinnamon, saffron, and peppers became adopted worldwide as signature ingredients of diverse cuisines. Cumin, Camels, and Caravans demonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflict—Arabs and Jews—have spent more of their history collaborating in the spice trade and suggests how a more virtuous multicultural but globalized society may be achieved in the future.

Read an excerpt here: ]]> 332 Gary Paul Nabhan 0520267206 Piyush 0 to-read 3.75 2013 Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey (Volume 45)
author: Gary Paul Nabhan
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials)]]> 48019 208 Peter F. Drucker 0060833459 Piyush 0 to-read 4.07 1966 The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials)
author: Peter F. Drucker
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Sit (Mindfulness Essentials, #1)]]> 18342486
The first book in The Mindfulness Essentials series, a back-to-basics collection from world-renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh that introduces everyone to the essentials of mindfulness practice. 

In short, single-paragraph chapters, Nhat Hanh shares detailed instructions, guided breathing exercises and visualizations, as well as his own personal stories and insights. This pocket-sized book is perfect for those brand new to sitting meditation as well as for those looking to deepen their spiritual practice.

With sumi-ink drawings by Jason DeAntonis.]]> 117 Thich Nhat Hanh 1937006581 Piyush 0 to-read 4.31 2014 How to Sit (Mindfulness Essentials, #1)
author: Thich Nhat Hanh
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win]]> 23848190 320 Jocko Willink 1250067057 Piyush 0 to-read 4.23 2015 Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
author: Jocko Willink
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/07/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness]]> 2527900
Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society. Using colorful examples from the most important aspects of life, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful “choice architecture” can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice. Nudge offers a unique new take—from neither the left nor the right—on many hot-button issues, for individuals and governments alike. This is one of the most engaging and provocative books to come along in many years.]]> 293 Richard H. Thaler 0300122233 Piyush 3 3.81 2008 Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
author: Richard H. Thaler
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]> The Luminaries 17333230 The Luminaries is a brilliantly constructed, fiendishly clever ghost story and a gripping page-turner.]]> 848 Eleanor Catton 0316074314 Piyush 2 3.73 2013 The Luminaries
author: Eleanor Catton
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Dorian 138719 288 Will Self 0802140475 Piyush 0 to-read 3.69 2002 Dorian
author: Will Self
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Selected Stories 490596 You Know Me, Al, as well as such familiar favorites as “Alibi Ike,” “Some Like Them Cold,” and “Guillible’s Travels.”]]> 410 Ring Lardner 0141180188 Piyush 0 to-read 3.94 1997 Selected Stories
author: Ring Lardner
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> One Night at the Call Center 105578 Press 2 for broken hearts.
Press 3 if your life has totally crashed. . . .

Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U.S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience–and accent management–they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody’s heart is on the line.

Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka’s domineering mother has arranged for her daughter’s upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha longs to be a model but discovers it’s a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat.

They all try to make it through their shifts–and maintain their sanity–under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything.

Chetan Bhagat’s delicious romantic comedy takes us inside the world of the international call center, where cultural cross-wires come together with perfect pathos, hilarity, and spice.]]> 320 Chetan Bhagat 0345498321 Piyush 1 2.49 2005 One Night at the Call Center
author: Chetan Bhagat
name: Piyush
average rating: 2.49
book published: 2005
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2016/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT]]> 105576
The book starts with a disclaimer, “This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don’t think straight.”

Three hostelmates – Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT – they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters – their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive.

Will they make it? Do under performers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?]]> 267 Chetan Bhagat 8129104598 Piyush 1 3.41 2004 Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT
author: Chetan Bhagat
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2016/08/10
shelves:
review:
Calling it trash would be too polite
]]> <![CDATA[The Unbearable Lightness of Being]]> 9717 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. This magnificent novel juxtaposes geographically distant places, brilliant and playful reflections, and a variety of styles, to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of one of the world’s truly great writers.]]> 314 Milan Kundera 0571224385 Piyush 5 By drawing itself on a vast canvas of metaphors, analogies and various philosophical and political speculations; and referencing the positions of Nietzsche, Oedipus, Kafka, Beethoven, Picasso etc. in the background of the Grand March of Communism, the novel successfully captures the human condition like none other I've ever read.

Still, Kundera's writing is not beyond reproach. His breaking-the-fourth wall approach occasionally paints the disturbing picture of a self-conscious novel very much aware of the reader, and his musings, at these times, assume the shape of pseudo-intellectual jabber.

All in all, a very enriching personal experience.I identified with some particular parts so well, that at times it felt like the author has been reading the drafts of my blog.]]> 4.12 1984 The Unbearable Lightness of Being
author: Milan Kundera
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/08/10
shelves:
review:
Its hard to believe that the characters in the novel hadn't actually lived. Switching back-and-forth between the actual narrative and his own philosophical meanderings, the author lives his characters and at the same time judges them too.
By drawing itself on a vast canvas of metaphors, analogies and various philosophical and political speculations; and referencing the positions of Nietzsche, Oedipus, Kafka, Beethoven, Picasso etc. in the background of the Grand March of Communism, the novel successfully captures the human condition like none other I've ever read.

Still, Kundera's writing is not beyond reproach. His breaking-the-fourth wall approach occasionally paints the disturbing picture of a self-conscious novel very much aware of the reader, and his musings, at these times, assume the shape of pseudo-intellectual jabber.

All in all, a very enriching personal experience.I identified with some particular parts so well, that at times it felt like the author has been reading the drafts of my blog.
]]> <![CDATA[How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles]]> 3284612 256 Carol Davidson Cragoe 0847831124 Piyush 5 3.93 2008 How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles
author: Carol Davidson Cragoe
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[GĂśdel's Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to Its Use and Abuse]]> 12830 172 Torkel FranzĂŠn 1568812388 Piyush 4 3.91 2005 GĂśdel's Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to Its Use and Abuse
author: Torkel FranzĂŠn
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/05/27
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas]]> 87435 The Crooked Timber of Humanity, he argues passionately, eloquently, and subtly, that what he calls 'the Great Goods' of human aspiration - liberty, justice, equality - do not cohere and never can. Pluralism and variety of thought are not avoidable compromises, but the glory of civilisation. In an age of increasing ideological fundamentalism and intolerance we need to listen to Isaiah Berlin more carefully than ever before.]]> 276 Isaiah Berlin 0712606165 Piyush 0 to-read 4.21 1990 The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas
author: Isaiah Berlin
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Maxims 797329 126 François de La Rochefoucauld 014044095X Piyush 0 to-read 4.07 1665 Maxims
author: François de La Rochefoucauld
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1665
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/05/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Little Virtues 71155
Whether she writes of the loss of a friend, Cesare Pavese; or what is inexpugnable of World War II; or the Abruzzi, where she and her first husband lived in forced residence under Fascist rule; or the importance of silence in our society; or her vocation as a writer; or even a pair of worn-out shoes, Ginzburg brings to her reflections the wisdom and grace of a survivor and the spare, wry, and poetically resonant style her readers have come to recognize.]]> 110 Natalia Ginzburg 1559700289 Piyush 0 to-read 4.14 1962 The Little Virtues
author: Natalia Ginzburg
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Life of Salvador DalĂ­]]> 91724 432 Salvador DalĂ­ 0486274543 Piyush 0 to-read 4.14 1942 The Secret Life of Salvador DalĂ­
author: Salvador DalĂ­
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Piyush 5
But the great novels, those which survive the test of time, contain something else, not gold dust, but ambrosia, manna, some immaterial treasure. They capture the holy grail of literature - a common strand of humanity, something that holds across generations, time, cultures and civilizations.

The paradox of a great novel is that they are not often as fiercely cherished by readers as others are. Your most personally cherished novels are those which feel like they were written specifically for you. Since they apply to every human being, and not just to you, the greatness of the great novels lends them an impersonal character.

Or so I used to believe, until I read The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby somehow manages to escape the paradox. It carries the superficial appearance of a period drama (true only for the jazz age), but it is a truly great novel, and one which I will always fiercely, passionately cherish.

]]> 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/24
shelves:
review:
The best novels of a time reveal some unarticulated feeling of a particular generation, culture or society. They capture the consciousness of an age, so to speak. They feel like they are sprinkled with gold dust.

But the great novels, those which survive the test of time, contain something else, not gold dust, but ambrosia, manna, some immaterial treasure. They capture the holy grail of literature - a common strand of humanity, something that holds across generations, time, cultures and civilizations.

The paradox of a great novel is that they are not often as fiercely cherished by readers as others are. Your most personally cherished novels are those which feel like they were written specifically for you. Since they apply to every human being, and not just to you, the greatness of the great novels lends them an impersonal character.

Or so I used to believe, until I read The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby somehow manages to escape the paradox. It carries the superficial appearance of a period drama (true only for the jazz age), but it is a truly great novel, and one which I will always fiercely, passionately cherish.


]]> Without Feathers 35503 224 Woody Allen Piyush 0 to-read 3.95 1975 Without Feathers
author: Woody Allen
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education]]> 250881
Drawing on Socrates and the Stoics, Nussbaum establishes three core values of liberal education--critical self-examination, the ideal of the world citizen, and the development of the narrative imagination. Then, taking us into classrooms and campuses across the nation, including prominent research universities, small independent colleges, and religious institutions, she shows how these values are (and in some instances are not) being embodied in particular courses. She defends such burgeoning subject areas as gender, minority, and gay studies against charges of moral relativism and low standards, and underscores their dynamic and fundamental contribution to critical reasoning and world citizenship.

For Nussbaum, liberal education is alive and well on American campuses in the late twentieth century. It is not only viable, promising, and constructive, but it is essential to a democratic society. Taking up the challenge of conservative critics of academe, she argues persuasively that sustained reform in the aim and content of liberal education is the most vital and invigorating force in higher education today.]]> 328 Martha C. Nussbaum 0674179498 Piyush 0 to-read 3.83 1997 Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education
author: Martha C. Nussbaum
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism]]> 399136
Anderson explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialization of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time. He shows how an originary nationalism born in the Americas was modularly adopted by popular movements in Europe, by the imperialist powers, and by the anti-imperialist resistances in Asia and Africa.

This revised edition includes two new chapters, one of which discusses the complex role of the colonialist state's mindset in the develpment of Third World nationalism, while the other analyses the processes by which, all over the world, nations came to imagine themselves as old.]]> 224 Benedict Anderson 0860915468 Piyush 3 4.13 1983 Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
author: Benedict Anderson
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Gnomes 926908 212 Wil Huygen 0810909650 Piyush 0 to-read 4.05 1976 Gnomes
author: Wil Huygen
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1976
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 50 Funniest American Writers*: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion]]> 11556958 The 50 Funniest American Writers* is an exclusive Who’s Who of the very best American comic writing. Here are Thurber and Perelman, Lenny Bruce and Bruce Jay Friedman, Garrison Keillor, Dave Barry, and Veronica Geng, plus hilarious lesser-known pieces from The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic, National Lampoon, and The Onion. Who does “one of the funniest people in America” (CBS Sunday Morning) read when he needs a laugh?

Contents:

A presidential candidate by Mark Twain
The lecture tickets that were bought but never used by George Ade
The ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
From Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
From Gentlemen prefer blondes by Anita Loos
On conversation by Ring Lardner
Imperial purple by H.L. Mencken
More alarms at night by James Thurber
The waltz by Dorothy Parker
Farewell, my lovely appetizer by S.J. Perelman
Simple prays a prayer by Langston Hughes
The night the old nostalgia burned down by Frank Sullivan
Across the street and into the grill by E.B. White
The house of mirth by Peter De Vries
From The magic Christian by Terry Southern
From How to talk dirty and influence people by Lenny Bruce
The secret vice by Tom Wolfe
The counterfeit secret circle member gets the message, or The asp strikes again by Jean Shepherd
The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved by Hunter S. Thompson
A look at organized crime by Woody Allen
The tax man by Bruce Jay Friedman
Letters to Einstein by Philip Roth
A few words about breasts by Nora Ephron
Our white heritage by Henry Beard, Michael O'Donoghue, George W.S. Trow
Better read than dead : a revised opinion by Fran Lebowitz
Your action line by Charles Portis
In the morning post by Donald Barthleme
Curb Carter policy discord effort threat by Veronica Geng
Vacation '58 by John Hughes
The laws of cartoon motion by Mark O'Donnell
The Tip-Top Club by Garrision Keillor
Rolled in rare Bohemian onyx, then vulcanized by hand by Bruce McCall
Tough as bob war and other stuff by Molly Ivins
Corrections by Calvin Trillin
Tips for women : how to have a relationships with a guy by Dave Barry
Clinton deploys vowels to Bosnia by The Onion
Shiftless little loafers by Susan Orlean
Gothic baseball by Roy Blount Jr.
If I were in charge of the networks by George Carlin
Laws concerning food and drink ; Household principles ; Lamentations of the father by Ian Frazier
The writer's life by David Rakoff
From I ain't scared of you by Bernie Mac
Buddy, can you spare a tie? by David Sedaris
It's so hard by Wanda Sykes
What I'd say to the Martians by Jack Handey
Your three wishes : F.A.Q. by David Owen
Ask the optimist! by George Saunders
Awake by Jenny Allen
The pony problem by Sloane Crosley
If not an apology, at least a "my bad" by Larry Wilmore]]> 461 Andy Borowitz 1598531077 Piyush 0 to-read 3.18 2011 The 50 Funniest American Writers*: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion
author: Andy Borowitz
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 37380 359 Carson McCullers 0618084746 Piyush 0 to-read 3.99 1940 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
author: Carson McCullers
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1940
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Side of the Mountain (Mountain, #1)]]> 41667 Jean Craighead George, author of more than 80 children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves, created another prizewinner with My Side of the Mountain--a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book. Astonishingly, she wrote its sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain, 30 years later, and a decade after that penned the final book in the trilogy, Frightful's Mountain, told from the falcon's point of view. George has no doubt shaped generations of young readers with her outdoor adventures of the mind and spirit. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

]]> 177 Jean Craighead George 0142401110 Piyush 0 to-read 4.10 1959 My Side of the Mountain (Mountain, #1)
author: Jean Craighead George
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction (An Essential Guide for Writers)]]> 15802982
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News ).

Here, combining more than forty years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction.

A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone and immense gift for storytelling, To Show and To Tell reads like a long walk with a favorite professor—refreshing, insightful, and encouraging in often unexpected ways.]]> 240 Phillip Lopate 1451696329 Piyush 0 to-read 3.94 2013 To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction (An Essential Guide for Writers)
author: Phillip Lopate
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Moab Is My Washpot (Memoir, #1)]]> 66857 ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚý
Fry has already given readers a taste of his tumultuous adolescence in his autobiographical first novel, The Liar , and now he reveals the equally tumultuous life that inspired it. Sent to boarding school at the age of seven, he survived beatings, misery, love affairs, carnal violation, expulsion, attempted suicide, criminal conviction and imprisonment to emerge, at the age of eighteen, ready to start over in a world in which he had always felt a stranger. One of very few Cambridge University graduates to have been imprisoned prior to his freshman year, Fry is a brilliantly idiosyncratic character who continues to attract controversy, empathy and real devotion.]]> 366 Stephen Fry 1569472025 Piyush 0 to-read 3.96 1997 Moab Is My Washpot (Memoir, #1)
author: Stephen Fry
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Notes on the Synthesis of Form]]> 320553
In the first part of the book, Christopher Alexander discusses the process by which a form is adapted to the context of human needs and demands that has called it into being. He shows that such an adaptive process will be successful only if it proceeds piecemeal instead of all at once. It is for this reason that forms from traditional un-self-conscious cultures, molded not by designers but by the slow pattern of changes within tradition, are so beautifully organized and adapted. When the designer, in our own self-conscious culture, is called on to create a form that is adapted to its context he is unsuccessful, because the preconceived categories out of which he builds his picture of the problem do not correspond to the inherent components of the problem, and therefore lead only to the arbitrariness, willfulness, and lack of understanding which plague the design of modern buildings and modern cities.

In the second part, Mr. Alexander presents a method by which the designer may bring his full creative imagination into play, and yet avoid the traps of irrelevant preconception. He shows that, whenever a problem is stated, it is possible to ignore existing concepts and to create new concepts, out of the structure of the problem itself, which do correspond correctly to what he calls the subsystems of the adaptive process. By treating each of these subsystems as a separate subproblem, the designer can translate the new concepts into form. The form, because of the process, will be well-adapted to its context, non-arbitrary, and correct.

The mathematics underlying this method, based mainly on set theory, is fully developed in a long appendix. Another appendix demonstrates the application of the method to the design of an Indian village.]]> 224 Christopher W. Alexander 0674627512 Piyush 0 to-read 4.05 1964 Notes on the Synthesis of Form
author: Christopher W. Alexander
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1964
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Natural History of Nonsense]]> 375107 275 Bergen Evans 0394437772 Piyush 0 to-read 4.00 1946 The Natural History of Nonsense
author: Bergen Evans
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1946
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/29
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]]> Marching to Shibboleth 17895887 306 David Ossman 1593936621 Piyush 0 to-read 4.29 2011 Marching to Shibboleth
author: David Ossman
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian]]> 828387 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was bestselling author Marina Lewycka's bestselling debut novel which has sold over one million copies worldwide. Lewycka tells the side-splittingly funny story of two feuding sisters, Vera and Nadezhda, who join forces against their father's new, gold-digging girlfriend.

Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcĂŠe. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside.

Sisters Vera and Nadezhda must set aside a lifetime of feuding to save their ĂŠmigrĂŠ engineer father from voluptuous gold-digger Valentina. With her proclivity for green satin underwear and boil-in-the-bag cuisine, she will stop at nothing in her pursuit of Western wealth.

But the sisters' campaign to oust Valentina unearths family secrets, uncovers fifty years of Europe's darkest history and sends them back to roots they'd much rather forget . . . .]]> 326 Marina Lewycka 0141020520 Piyush 0 to-read 3.44 2005 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
author: Marina Lewycka
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention]]> 262579
Drawing on recent groundbreaking discoveries in modern linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication, giving us fresh insight into how language emerges, evolves, and decays. He traces the evolution of linguistic complexity from an early "Me Tarzan" stage to such elaborate single-word constructions as the Turkish sehirlilestiremediklerimizdensiniz ("you are one of those whom we couldn't turn into a town dweller"). Arguing that destruction and creation in language are intimately entwined, Deutscher shows how these processes are continuously in operation, generating new words, new structures, and new meanings.]]> 368 Guy Deutscher 0805080120 Piyush 0 to-read 4.20 2005 The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention
author: Guy Deutscher
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/26
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]]> <![CDATA[A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form]]> 6232657 140 Paul Lockhart 1934137170 Piyush 5 4.18 2009 A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
author: Paul Lockhart
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/12/09
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]]> The Official Preppy Handbook 120254 224 Lisa Birnbach 0894801406 Piyush 0 to-read 4.19 1980 The Official Preppy Handbook
author: Lisa Birnbach
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1980
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre]]> 306940 Impro lays bare the techniques and exercises used to foster spontaneity and narrative skill for actors. These techniques and exercises were evolved in the actors' studio, when he was Associate Director of the Royal Court and then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers called The Theatre Machine.

Divided into four sections, 'Status', 'Spontaneity', 'Narrative Skills' and 'Masks and Trance', arranged more or less in the order a group might approach them, the book sets out the specific approaches which Johnstone has himself found most useful and most stimulating. The result is a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity.]]> 208 Keith Johnstone 0878301178 Piyush 4 4.23 1979 Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
author: Keith Johnstone
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1979
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/11/22
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]]> Invisible Cities 9809 165 Italo Calvino 0156453800 Piyush 0 to-read 4.16 1972 Invisible Cities
author: Italo Calvino
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1972
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> Become What You Are 60553
It has been said that the highest wisdom consists in detachment—not regretting the past nor fearing the future, letting life take its course without attempting to interfere with its movements and changes, without seeking to prolong pleasant things or hasten the end of unpleasant ones. To do this is to enter time with life and be in complete harmony with its changing melody, which is called enlightenment. In short, it means detaching yourself from both the past and the future and living in the eternal now. Life exists only in this single moment, and it is precisely in this moment that it is infinite and eternal.

Alan Watts is one of the foremost authorities on Eastern wisdom. It was he who, in the middle of the last century, built a bridge between the West and the East, introducing the Western reader to Eastern philosophy and culture. Alan Watts is a scholar of both Zen Buddhism and Indian and Chinese spiritual traditions.]]> 144 Alan W. Watts 1570629404 Piyush 0 to-read 4.06 1955 Become What You Are
author: Alan W. Watts
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/07
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]]> GĂśdel's Proof 6027309
However, few mathematicians of the time were equipped to understand the young scholar's complex proof. Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and accessible explanation to both scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of GĂśdel's discovery. It offers every educated person with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject.]]> 160 Ernest Nagel 0814758371 Piyush 5 4.28 1958 GĂśdel's Proof
author: Ernest Nagel
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1958
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/10/03
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]]> GĂśdel's Proof 695429 Principia Mathematica and Related Systems." This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much research in mathematics and logic. GĂśdel received public recognition of his work in 1951 when he was awarded the first Albert Einstein Award for achievement in the natural sciences--perhaps the highest award of its kind in the United States. The award committee described his work in mathematical logic as "one of the greatest contributions to the sciences in recent times."

However, few mathematicians of the time were equipped to understand the young scholar's complex proof. Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and accessible explanation to both scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of GĂśdel's discovery. It offers every educated person with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject.

New York University Press is proud to publish this special edition of one of its bestselling books. With a new introduction by Douglas R. Hofstadter, this book will appeal to students, scholars, and professionals in the fields of mathematics, computer science, logic and philosophy, and science.]]> 125 Ernest Nagel 0814758169 Piyush 5 4.18 1958 GĂśdel's Proof
author: Ernest Nagel
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1958
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/10/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth]]> 6493321 This graphic novel recounts the spiritual odyssey of philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his agonized search for absolute truth, he crosses paths with thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert & Kurt Gödel, & finds a passionate student in Ludwig Wittgenstein. But his most ambitious goal—to establish unshakable logical foundations of mathematics—continues to loom before him. Thru love & hate, peace & war, he persists in the mission threatening to claim both his career & happiness, finally driving him to the brink of insanity.
This story is at the same time a historical novel & an accessible explication of some of the biggest ideas of mathematics & modern philosophy. With rich characterizations & atmospheric artwork, it spins the pursuit of such ideas into a satisfying tale.
 Probing, layered, the book throws light on Russell’s inner struggles while setting them in the context of the timeless questions he tried to answer. At its heart, Logicomix is a story about the conflict between ideal rationality & the flawed fabric of reality.]]> 347 Apostolos Doxiadis 1596914521 Piyush 5
+ The more i read about Bertrand Russel the more amazed I am. He deservedly won the Nobel Prize of Literature, but his pacifism and anti-nuclear activism in itself deserves a Nobel for Peace. And he came up with the Russel's Paradox and finished the whole of Principia Mathematica before he turned 40, so I would add a Fields Medal to the mix as well.

+ Papadimitrou is sort of a cool polymath in his own right. Apart from this bestseller, he laid the foundations of algorithmic game theory (he came up with price of anarchy), proved that finding Nash Equilibria is computationally hard (PPAD, the complexity class which the problem belongs to, is named after him), and wrote a paper (in combinatorics) with Bill Gates while the latter was an undergrad. ]]> 4.05 2009 Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
author: Apostolos Doxiadis
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/08/02
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What can I say? I cannot believe that I had not read this till now. I was already intimately familiar with the works all the characters, and the author as well, and it added a dimension of appreciation which I have never felt with any other book.

+ The more i read about Bertrand Russel the more amazed I am. He deservedly won the Nobel Prize of Literature, but his pacifism and anti-nuclear activism in itself deserves a Nobel for Peace. And he came up with the Russel's Paradox and finished the whole of Principia Mathematica before he turned 40, so I would add a Fields Medal to the mix as well.

+ Papadimitrou is sort of a cool polymath in his own right. Apart from this bestseller, he laid the foundations of algorithmic game theory (he came up with price of anarchy), proved that finding Nash Equilibria is computationally hard (PPAD, the complexity class which the problem belongs to, is named after him), and wrote a paper (in combinatorics) with Bill Gates while the latter was an undergrad.
]]> The Escape 6338523 336 Adam Thirlwell 0224089110 Piyush 0 to-read 3.03 2009 The Escape
author: Adam Thirlwell
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.03
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/04/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> Pilgrim at Tinker Creek 12527 288 Annie Dillard 0072434171 Piyush 0 to-read 4.08 1974 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
author: Annie Dillard
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/04/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> And Her Soul Out Of Nothing 449323 112 Olena Kalytiak Davis 0299157148 Piyush 0 to-read 4.19 1997 And Her Soul Out Of Nothing
author: Olena Kalytiak Davis
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/04/16
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]]> Geek Love 13872 Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out ― with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes ― to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There's Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious ― and dangerous ― asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.]]> 348 Katherine Dunn 0375713344 Piyush 0 to-read 3.96 1989 Geek Love
author: Katherine Dunn
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/04/16
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]]> Becoming a Writer 76788
With close reference to the great writers of her day--Wolfe, Forster, Wharton and so on--Brande gives practical but inspirational advice about finding the right time of day to write and being very self disciplined about it--"You have decided to write at four o'clock, and at four o'clock you must write." She's strong on confidence building and there's a lot about cheating your unconscious which will constantly try to stop you writing by coming up with excuses. Then there are exercises to help you get into the right frame of mind and to build up writing stamina. She also shows how to harness the unconscious, how to fall into the "artistic coma," then how to re-emerge and be your own critic.

This is Dorothea Brande's legacy to all those who have ever wanted to express their ideas in written form. A sound, practical, inspirational and charming approach to writing, it fulfills on finding "the writer's magic."]]> 192 Dorothea Brande 0874771641 Piyush 4 4.01 1934 Becoming a Writer
author: Dorothea Brande
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1934
rating: 4
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date added: 2015/04/05
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]]> Independent People 77287 Kristin Lavransdatter. And if Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.

Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is simply a masterpiece]]> 482 HalldĂłr Laxness 0679767924 Piyush 0 to-read 4.13 1934 Independent People
author: HalldĂłr Laxness
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1934
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/03/31
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]]> Oxford 100057 304 Jan Morris 0192801368 Piyush 0 to-read 4.11 1965 Oxford
author: Jan Morris
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/01/14
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]]> On the Meaning of Life 1098083 136 John Cottingham 0415248000 Piyush 3 3.02 2002 On the Meaning of Life
author: John Cottingham
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.02
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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date added: 2014/12/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals]]> 739734
This new edition of Kant’s work provides a fresh translation that is uniquely faithful to the German original and more fully annotated than any previous translation. There are also four essays by well-known scholars that discuss Kant’s views and the philosophical issues raised by the Groundwork. J.B. Schneewind defends the continuing interest in Kantian ethics by examining its historical relation both to the ethical thought that preceded it and to its influence on the ethical theories that came after it; Marcia Baron sheds light on Kant’s famous views about moral motivation; and Shelly Kagan and Allen W. Wood advocate contrasting interpretations of Kantian ethics and its practical implications.]]> 194 Immanuel Kant 0300094876 Piyush 4 3.88 1785 Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
author: Immanuel Kant
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1785
rating: 4
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date added: 2014/12/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within]]> 66856 I have a dark and dreadful secret. I write poetry... I believe poetry is a primal impulse within all of us. I believe we are all capable of it and furthermore that a small, often ignored corner of us positively yearns to try it.
—Stephen Fry, The Ode Less Travelled

Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. Many of us have never been taught to read or write poetry and think of it as a mysterious and intimidating form. Or, if we have been taught, we remember uncomfortable silence when an English teacher invited the class to "respond" to a poem. In The Ode Less Travelled, Fry sets out to correct this problem by giving aspiring poets the tools and confidence they need to write poetry for pleasure.

Fry is a wonderfully engaging teacher and writer of poetry himself, and he explains the various elements of poetry in simple terms, without condescension. His enjoyable exercises and witty insights introduce the concepts of Metre, Rhyme, Form, Diction, and Poetics. Aspiring poets will learn to write a sonnet, on ode, a villanelle, a ballad, and a haiku, among others. Along the way, he introduces us to poets we've heard of, but never read. The Ode Less Travelled is a lively celebration of poetry that makes even the most reluctant reader want to pick up a pencil and give it a try. BACKCOVER: Advanced Praise:
“Delightfully erudite, charming and soundly pedagogical guide to poetic form… Fry has created an invaluable and highly enjoyable reference book.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A smart, sane and entertaining return to the basics… If you like Fry’s comic manner… this book has a lot of charm… People entirely fresh to the subject could do worse than stick with his cheerful leadership.”
—The Telegraph (UK)

“…intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed.”
—Observer (UK)

"If you learn how to write a sonnet, and Fry shows you how, you may or may not make a poem. But you will unlock the stored wisdom of the form itself."
—Grey Gowrie, The Spectator (UK)

“…intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed.”
—Observer (UK)

]]> 384 Stephen Fry 1592402488 Piyush 5 4.05 2005 The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within
author: Stephen Fry
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/09/23
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]]> Jill 111890
"Jill is, in a sense, a kind of cryptic manifesto. It is a novel about writing, about discovering a literary personality, and about the sorts of consolation that art can provide." -Andrew Motion]]> 230 Philip Larkin Piyush 0 to-read 3.56 1946 Jill
author: Philip Larkin
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1946
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/04/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence]]> 857333 265 Josh Waitzkin 0743277457 Piyush 2 4.01 2007 The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
author: Josh Waitzkin
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2007
rating: 2
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date added: 2014/04/06
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It gives the illusion of being very profound while actually saying very little. Liberally sprinkled with appealing metaphors which describe our psychological lives.
]]> <![CDATA[The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #9)]]> 162823 'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'

In this, the final collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures, the intrepid detective and his faithful companion Dr Watson examine and solve twelve cases that puzzle clients, baffle the police and provide readers with the thrill of the chase.

These mysteries - involving an illustrious client and a Sussex vampire; the problems of Thor Bridge and of the Lions Mane; a creeping man and the three-gabled house - all test the bravery of Dr Watson and the brilliant mind of Mr Sherlock Homes, the greatest detective we have ever known.

Contains 12 stories published 1921–1927.
* "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" (1921)
* "The Problem of Thor Bridge" (1922)
* "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" (1923)
* "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" (1924)
* "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" (1924)
* "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" (1924)
* "The Adventure of the Three Gables" (1926)
* "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (1926)
* "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (1926)
* "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" (1926)
* "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" (1927)
* "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (1927)]]> 303 Arthur Conan Doyle 1904633684 Piyush 3 4.15 1927 The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #9)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1927
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/10/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science]]> 33293 Naked Economics makes up for all of those Econ 101 lectures you slept through (or avoided) in college, demystifying key concepts, laying bare the truths behind the numbers, and answering those questions you have always been too embarrassed to ask. For all the discussion of Alan Greenspan in the media, does anyone know what the Fed actually does? And what about those blackouts in California? Were they a conspiracy on the part of the power companies? Economics is life. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's no reason to fear this highly relevant subject. With the commonsensical examples and brilliantly acerbic commentary we've come to associate with The Economist, Wheelan brings economics to life. Amazingly, he does so with nary a chart, graph, or mathematical equation in sight—certainly a feat to be witnessed firsthand.


Economics is a crucial subject. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's also no reason to fear it.]]> 260 Charles Wheelan 0393324869 Piyush 4 3.96 2002 Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science
author: Charles Wheelan
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/09/17
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]]> Sweet Tooth 13562049 In this stunning new novel, Ian McEwan's first female protagonist since Atonement is about to learn that espionage is the ultimate seduction.

Cambridge student Serena Frome's beauty and intelligence make her the ideal recruit for MI5. The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. England's legendary intelligence agency is determined to manipulate the cultural conversation by funding writers whose politics align with those of the government. The operation is code named "Sweet Tooth."

Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the literary circle of a promising young writer named Tom Haley. At first, she loves his stories. Then she begins to love the man. How long can she conceal her undercover life? To answer that question, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage: trust no one.

Once again, Ian McEwan's mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love and the invented self.]]> 320 Ian McEwan Piyush 2 3.41 2012 Sweet Tooth
author: Ian McEwan
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2012
rating: 2
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date added: 2013/09/17
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]]> The God Delusion 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]> 374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 Piyush 5 3.89 2006 The God Delusion
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2013/09/14
date added: 2013/09/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3)]]> 8694
“Wild satire . . . The feckless protagonist, Arthur Dent, is reminiscent of Vonnegut heroes.”— Chicago Tribune

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads—so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation.

They are Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered space and time traveler who tries to learn how to fly by throwing himself at the ground and missing; Ford Prefect, his best friend, who decides to go insane to see if he likes it; Slartibartfast, the indomitable vice president of the Campaign for Real Time, who travels in a ship powered by irrational behavior; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-president of the galaxy; and Trillian, the sexy space cadet who is torn between a persistent Thunder God and a very depressed Beeblebrox.

How will it all end? Will it end? Only this stalwart crew knows as they try to avert “universal” Armageddon and save life as we know it—and don’t know it!

“Adams is one of those rare an author who, one senses, has as much fun writing as one has reading.”— Arizona Daily Star]]> 224 Douglas Adams 0345418905 Piyush 0 4.20 1982 Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/03/29
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]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Piyush 5 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/03/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature]]> 373969 New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate, have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important and popular science writers.

Now, in The Stuff of Thought, Pinker marries two of the subjects he knows best: language and human nature. The result is a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. What does swearing reveal about our emotions? Why does innuendo disclose something about relationships? Pinker reveals how our use of prepositions and tenses taps into peculiarly human concepts of space and time, and how our nouns and verbs speak to our notions of matter. Even the names we give our babies have important things to say about our relations to our children and to society.

With his signature wit and style, Pinker takes on scientific questions like whether language affects thought, as well as forays into everyday life: why is bulk e-mail called spam and how do romantic comedies get such mileage out of the ambiguities of dating? The Stuff of Thought is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of readers of everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.]]> 499 Steven Pinker 0670063274 Piyush 5 3.91 2007 The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
author: Steven Pinker
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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]]> The Complete Sherlock Holmes 188572
The sign of four --

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : A scandal in Bohemia ; The red-headed league ; A case of identity ; The Boscombe Valley mystery ; The five orange pips ; The man with the twisted lip ; The adventure of the blue carbuncle ; The adventure of the speckled band ; The adventure of the engineer's thumb ; The adventure of the noble bachelor ; The adventure of the beryl coronet ; The adventure of the copper beeches --

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes : Silver blaze ; The yellow face ; The stock-broker's clerk ; The "Gloria Scott" ; The Musgrave ritual ; The Reigate puzzle ; The crooked man ; The resident patient ; The Greek interpreter ; The naval treaty ; The final problem --

The return of Sherlock Holmes : The adventure of the empty house ; The adventure of the Norwood builder ; The adventure of the dancing men ; The adventure of the solitary cyclist ; The adventure of the priory school ; The adventure of Black Peter ; The adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ; The adventure of the six Napoleons ; The adventure of the three students ; The adventure of the golden pince-nez ; The adventure of the missing three-quarter ; The adventure of the abbey grange ; The adventure of the second stain.

Volume 2. Introduction / by Loren D. Estleman --

The hound of the Baskervilles --

The valley of fear --

His last bow : The adventure of Wisteria Lodge : The singular experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles ; The tiger of San Pedro ; The adventure of the cardboard box ; The adventure of the red circle ; The adventure of the Bruce-Partington plans ; The adventure of the dying detective ; The disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax ; The adventure of the devil's foot ; His last bow --

The case-book of Sherlock Holmes : The adventure of the illustrious client ; The adventure of the blanched soldier ; The adventure of the Mazarin stone ; The adventure of the three gables ; The adventure of the Sussex vampire ; The adventure of the three Garridebs ; The problem of Thor Bridge ; The adventure of the creeping man ; The adventure of the lion's mane ; The adventure of the veiled lodger ; The adventure of Shoscombe old place ; The adventure of the retired colourman.]]> 1796 Arthur Conan Doyle Piyush 3 4.50 1927 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1927
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/03/09
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]]> <![CDATA[GĂśdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid]]> 24113 777 Douglas R. Hofstadter 0465026567 Piyush 5 currently-reading 4.29 1979 GĂśdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
author: Douglas R. Hofstadter
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1979
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]> 1618 226 Mark Haddon 1400032717 Piyush 5 3.89 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
author: Mark Haddon
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Laughter and Forgetting]]> 240976 The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the novel that brought Milan Kundera his first big international success in the late 1970's. Like all his work, it is valuable for far more than just its historical implications. In seven wonderfully integrated parts, different aspects of human existence are magnified and reduced, reordered and emphasized, newly examined, analyzed and experienced.]]> 313 Milan Kundera 0060932147 Piyush 3 4.01 1979 The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
author: Milan Kundera
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1979
rating: 3
read at: 2013/03/09
date added: 2013/03/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable]]> 242472
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.

Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.”

For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. In this revelatory book, Taleb will change the way you look at the world, and this second edition features a new philosophical and empirical essay, “On Robustness and Fragility,” which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world.

Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan is a landmark book—itself a black swan.]]> 480 Nassim Nicholas Taleb 1400063515 Piyush 5 3.96 2007 The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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]]> The Philosopher's Joke 11799312 16 Jerome K. Jerome Piyush 4 "Let age fend for itself and leave youth to its own instincts."

Not so much for writing style as for content, and Not so much for the actual content itself as for the introspection it might trigger in unsuspecting readers. ]]> 3.53 1905 The Philosopher's Joke
author: Jerome K. Jerome
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1905
rating: 4
read at: 2012/10/01
date added: 2012/10/17
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"Let age fend for itself and leave youth to its own instincts."

Not so much for writing style as for content, and Not so much for the actual content itself as for the introspection it might trigger in unsuspecting readers.
]]> <![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]> 1842
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race.

In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology, government, and organized religion—as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war—and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal]]> 498 Jared Diamond 0739467352 Piyush 4 4.04 1997 Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
author: Jared Diamond
name: Piyush
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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date added: 2012/07/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Universe in a Handkerchief]]> 856378 This book contains scores of intriguing puzzles and paradoxes from Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, whose interests ranged from inventing new games like Arithmetical Croquet to important problems in symbolic logic and propositional calculus. Written by Carroll expert and well-known mathematics author Martin Gardner, this tour through Carroll's inventions is both fun and informative.]]> 168 Martin Gardner 038794673X Piyush 2 3.60 1996 The Universe in a Handkerchief
author: Martin Gardner
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1996
rating: 2
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date added: 2012/07/25
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]]> An Equal Music 50366 A Suitable Boy returns with a powerful and deeply romantic tale of two gifted musicians. Michael Holme is a violinist, a member of the successful Maggiore Quartet. He has long been haunted, though, by memories of the pianist he loved and left ten years earlier, Julia McNicholl. Now Julia, married and the mother of a small child, unexpectedly reenters his life and the romance flares up once more.

Against the magical backdrop of Venice and Vienna, the two lovers confront the truth about themselves and their love, about the music that both unites and divides them, and about a devastating secret that Julia must finally reveal. With poetic, evocative writing and a brilliant portrait of the international music scene, An Equal Music confirms Vikram Seth as one of the world's finest and most enticing writers.]]> 383 Vikram Seth 037570924X Piyush 3 3.81 1999 An Equal Music
author: Vikram Seth
name: Piyush
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2012/06/16
date added: 2012/06/16
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]]>