Quick look at a few books

BOOK PEEK

Contents of Book Peek - November 15, 2012

Reviews

1) ‘Impatient Optimist: Bill Gates in his own words’ - Edited by Lisa Rogak

(Harper)

2) ‘Swaraj’ by Arvind Kejriwal (Harper)

3) ‘Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of marginalisation’ - Edited by

Laurent Gayer & Christophe Jaffrelot (Harper)

4) ‘My Decade in the Premier League’ by Wayne Rooney (Harper)

Video links

Rajesh Setty, Author, 'Upbeat', US (www.rajeshshetty.com)

Short snatches

1) ‘The Thinking Life’ by P. M. Forni (Pan Macmillan)

2) ‘Media, Communication and Development’ by Linje Manyozo – Sage

3) ‘The world of Fatwas or the Shariah in action’ by Arun Shourie – Harper

4) ‘The Rich Investor: How to avoid common investing mistakes and build

wealth’ by Arjun Parthasarathy – Vision

5) ‘But Ira Said’ by Shreya Mathur – Harper

6) ‘Tso and La: A journey in Ladakh’ by Vikramajit Ram – Harper

7) ‘Pantheon’ by Sam Bourne - Harper

Plus: Readers’ Reads, and nuggets from forthcoming book, ‘The Wisdom of

Ants: A Short History of Economics’ by Shankar Jaganathan.

(Subscriptions: http://www.magzter.com/IN/Shrinikethan/Book-Peek/Business/)

Rajesh Setty

Author of 'Upbeat', US

(www.rajeshshetty.com)

ThinkBook

This is a business book embedded in a

notebook

People buy books but don’t read them

Rack is full of books but they need

knowledge

Knowledge packaged in a different format

Series of ThinkBooks on various topics

planned

Author: Rajesh Setty

Rajesh Setty

Author of 'Upbeat', US

(www.rajeshshetty.com)

Success of entrepreneur

Predetermined, before becoming an

entrepreneur

You need an oversupply of good help

Such as introductions and feedback

Help a lot of people way before you

become an entrepreneur

It is like good karma, help comes back to

you

Author: Rajesh Setty

Synchronous faith

“I am currently reading ‘SynchroDestiny’ by Deepak Chopra.

This is the third time I’m reading the book. Each time I pick

up this book I discover something new. The book reveals

the beautiful sync in the universe and the power of

intention. Its simple, clear explanations of quantum physics

and nonlocal intelligence help me understand balance, energy and peace. These principles not only apply to my

personal life but also to how I manage my company and my

team. I believe that my team’s synchronous faith, passion

and dedication in our work manifest in the growth and success we achieve project after

project.” (Shubhra Bharadwaj, Founder & Director, Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

Twitter: shubhra54321)

Timeless challenges

“Recently, I reread ‘Fallen Dragon’ by Peter Hamilton. I had

picked it up when I saw a card in a bookstore saying that

those who liked Arthur Clarke liked Peter Hamilton. A happy

experiment. After the glory years of the ‘50s most science fiction had turned gloomy and pessimistic in the ‘70s and

‘80s. Hamilton is one the writers who brought edge, mystery

and creativity back to the genre. In this story, which spans an

entire galaxy, he explores timeless human challenges and a

search for meaning, while extrapolating on known science. He

writes, like Richard Morgan, by extending known science and forecasting where it will go next. Clarke once said that there is science fiction and fictional science. Hamilton might not

write about what science can do now, but definitely makes a plausible case for what it can

do in the future. Definitely worth a reread.” (Alagu Balaraman, Partner & MD, India

Operations, CGN & Associates. LinkedIn: http://in.linkedin.com/in/alagu. Twitter:

alagu_b)

Human god

“I finished reading ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ by Amish

Tripathi. It is a refreshing and nouvelle attempt to

humanise our revered God - Lord Shiva. The book

describes Lord Shiva as a leader of a Tibetan tribe who is

as flesh and blood like any other human being punctuated with human emotions, love, passion and

angst. Tripathi treads a simple narrative to describe the

Hindu Varnasram as simple professional description of

one’s occupation; a society driven by merit and not

inheritance. It breathtakingly captures the adventures of Shiva from a marijuana-savouring tribal warrior to Lord Neelkanth - the diplomat and destroyer of evil. Shiva’s passionate and

somewhat battle-based romance with Sati, the princess of Meluha, is heart-warming and

exhilarating. Daksha, the Emperor of Meluha and father of princess Sati provides a bit of

amusing relief with his impulsive demeanour and his royal encouragement in the divine

romance. This book portrays the making of Lord Shiva, the divine Neelkanth to Godly

status through pure good karma, dharma, blood, sweat, endurance, compassion and intellect - which are the pillars of humanity not only in the Indian subcontinent but across

all human civilisations in this planet.” (Somnath Pal, CEO, Citrus Check Inns. LinkedIn:

http://in.linkedin.com/pub/somnath-pal/14/536/731. Twitter: palsomnath)

Readers’ Reads

Nuggets from ‘The Wisdom of Ants: A Short History of Economics’

The increasing influence of Economics in many spheres of human life is not a fringe phenomenon, and has slowly but surely influenced mainstream thinking. Stemming

from this is the widespread support for ideas that place the market as the primary

decision-making apparatus in society.

The three main concepts - private property, social sanction for self-centred individualism, and a materialistic outlook - are marked as the key features that elevated

Economics to its current dominant status.

In the four prominent civilisations - Greek, Indian, Chinese and Islamic - where Economics never emerged as a distinct discipline, economic issues were closely examined.

The economic crisis of 2008 has revived the hopes of many socialists. This book discusses the relevance of socialism in current times and tries to explore its potential

manifestations.

Between the two extremes of Communism, which negates private property, and capitalism, which celebrates it, there are other experiments we can learn from. It

appears that the answers do not lie in extremes - they rarely do.

Launch details: Venue: St Joseph's College of Commerce Auditorium, #163, Brigade Road, Bangalore 560 025. Date: November 23, 2012 (Fri), 6-8 pm.

Shankar Jaganathan is also author of 'Corporate Disclosures: The Origin of Financial and Business Reporting 1553-2007 AD' (Routledge, 2009)

Forthcoming

Short snatches

Published by: Shrinikethan, Chennai http://bit.ly/ShriMap

Edited by: D. Murali http://bit.ly/dMurali http://bit.ly/TopTalk

November 15, 2012