Books I have read and loved

"One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time." – Carl Sagan. I have read a lot of books in my life and I have loved most of them. Here are some of the books that I have read and loved.

Non Fiction

  • "Surely You`re Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character

    -Richard Feynman

    It is one of the most amazing books I have read! Very inspiring collection of life stories from Mr. Feynman`s adventurous life! I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in science, physics, or just wants to know more about the life of a genius.

  • Debt: The First 5,000 Years

    -David Graeber

    Took many sessions spread over months, but quite a tour of history! Learned a lot of interesting historical facts across different civilizations across time and geographies around treatment of money, credit and the general roots of origin of these concepts. Generally the ones in power end up determining what will go around as the medium of exchange and how usually in peace time societies go from fungible coinage to credit based exchange of goods & services. With all the context laid out I feel this is a great read to get a perspective of evolution of money or in more general terms a view of how medium of exchange has evolved through time. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, economics, or just wants to know more about the evolution of money.

  • Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

    -Colin Bryar, Bill Carr

    Quite enjoyed the first part of the book on how Amazon arrived at some of their best practices with iterations. In my head it sort of humanised all the best practices heard from Amazon from a stroke of genius to good old discipline and iterative learning with the personalised perspective the authors gave. The later parts might feel repetitive if you have already read Amazon Unbound and The Everything Store. :) But overall good read for understanding with context of some of the best practices to run a world class business especially operationally.

Science Fiction

  • Stories of Your Life and Others

    -Ted Chiang

    Quite enjoyed reading the different stories. Picked this up after The Arrival movie based on Stories of You short story I here. But all the other ones are quite interesting too. What happens when angels visit your local malls? What happens when beauty can be turned off? What happens when maths can prove to be an illusion? Very nice thought provoking stories that make you think about the world around you and the possibilities of the future!

  • Dune

    -Frank Herbert

    Amazing book. Reread it after college. It's one of the most amazing science fiction stories that builds up quite a diverse universe with a complex interplay of politics and philosophies of a spread out human civilisation in the universe. And great quote like: 'Fear is the mind killer' and 'Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration'.

  • Project Hail Mary

    -Andy Weir

    Quite enjoyed reading this one! Felt quite close to The Martian playfulness along with "sciencing" out the solutions of problems in space with a bit of humour. The story is quite interesting and the ending is quite satisfying. And of course the friendship angle was quite interestingly played out too.

  • Dark Matter

    -Blake Crouch

    Dark Matter is a very interesting book! It is a love story entangled across multiple universes. The book is quite interestingly written and the story is quite engaging. The story keeps you hooked and the ending is quite satisfying. I would definitely recommend this book to sci-fi fans!

  • Recursion

    -Blake Crouch

    Recursion is a very interesting followup to Dark Matter! Similar storyline of a love story entangled across multiple timelines, but it was still quite an enjoyable read as it was sufficiently different as it was similar to Dark Matter. The ending was quite interesting and satisfying. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Dark Matter!

  • Leviathan Falls

    -James S.A. Corey

    The Expanse series comes to an end. One of the best modern sci-fi books set in a future where humans have colonised the solar system and are now exploring the galaxy in search of new resources. Was again quite the page turner. Could hardly put this one down. Had a somewhat Neon Evangelion like choices of humanity being collection of individuals vs a hive mind to be able to fight against a mysterious enemy of enormous power that decides whether humanity survives and in what state… James Holden doing what he does with help from an old detective friend. Quite Satisfied with the ending. The whole series was one of the best sci-fi series. Hope the last three books get an anime at least if not the new seasons 🤞

  • Death's End

    -Cixin Liu

    The third book in the Remembrance of Earth`s Past trilogy or popularly known as the Three Body Problem trilogy. Quite an end to the trilogy. The scale just kept expanding through the books! Dismal view of how humanity would evolve and I kept thinking of similarity with a few Japanese Manga future scenarios of humanity I have seen. But perhaps that cynicism is more common with a lot of other science fiction futures panning out in other books. I guess we might all revert to our base nature once we get out exploring and get trapped in the suboptimal corner of the game theoretic scenarios of survival. Overall, just a word of caution, the book can leave one fairly depressed by the end but still definitely worth a read. One of the best hard science fiction books I have read in a while!

Design Thinking

  • Thinking in Systems: A Primer

    -Donella H. Meadows, Diana Wright

    In her book, "Thinking in Systems", Donella Meadows takes a systems-thinking approach to sustainability, which can be applied to any problem in order to find lasting solutions. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the interconnectedness of all parts of a system, and how even small changes can create ripple effects. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand complex problems and find lasting solutions.

  • The Design of Everyday Things

    -Don Norman

    The Design of Everyday Things is a classic book on human-centered design. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how to design products that people love to use. The book is full of practical examples and illustrations that make it easy to understand the concepts. It is a great book for anyone who wants to learn about design thinking. It is a well-written book that discusses the importance of design in our lives. The author has made an effort to revise the book recently, due to the massive change in the domain and scope of design.