Review: The Paris Library

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: Based on the true events of the librarians of the American Library in Paris who weathered the Nazi occupation of Paris with the power of hope that books can only bring.

Always had a soft spot for historical fiction and this doesn't disappoint as the narrative alternates between a young Ordelie in '39 France and an older one in the 80's as she lives her life - sibling bonds, uncommon friendships, unexpected love and other regular things all in the backdrop of an impending World War and subsequent invasion.

Wonderfully summarised in the mission statement of ALP - “After the darkness of war, the light of books.” Books and the love for it stay a common thread through the flashbacks whilst the modern timeline focuses on Odelies young neighbour Lilly as she learns to deal with struggles in her life and a chance encounter with Odelie and the ensuing friendship for standing her ground allows for a role model / mentor / friend for Lilly as she deals with coming of age and associated challenges.

Lilly's story is an add on akin to loitering off the garden path but you tend to not stray too far away wanting to figure where the main path leads to - life under occupation for the regular staff and subscribers at the American Library in Paris. The Library protector made for an interesting character in the mix where you'd want to paint him as a villain at first shot.

There is a dash of French romance which makes for a cute story trying to balance the stark and dark reality under which it is blossoming to balance the book out. For me the celebration of books is the nicest takeaway from this book.



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Review: Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: An exiled Greek Goddess , daughter of Helios the Sun God, deals with patriarchy on her own terms.

Remove the Greek mythology aspect and she could be any single woman dealing with the world and the gift wrapped patriarchy that comes along. Being odd in all ways - not pretty , mortal like voice, affection and empathy towards others especially mortals and blindly trusting - Circe goes through numerous failures but soon learns to deal with it all as she grows through the book. From a singled out kid to a singled out woman to a singled out single mother, she faces different challenges and deals with them differently.

In parallel track, the author introduces a lot of Greek mythology characters I had studied about back in school which hit the nostalgia for me having answered all those 3 mark and 5 mark questions on Minotaurs and Paris and Odysseus and it all made sense as it added more layers to the stories I had read from an exam perspective.

There are aspects where it stretches like a soap opera down a predictable path and you want to hit the fast forward button but if you can get through those, it makes for an interesting read on the multi layered approach that the author takes us through.

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Review: Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest

Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest by Vijay Gokhale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: First hand account of the protests at Tiananmen Square and the run up to it.

Vijay Gokhale, ex Foreign Secretary was in China during that eventful period of 1989 which has defined most Western views of the struggle for democracy. Vijay breaks that myth and explains why the Western version of events has a lot of generalisations, exaggerations to the actual events that played out. It wasn't so much as a protest for democracy as it was a power struggle between factions of the China Communist party - often painted as a giant well oiled singular monolith think tank to the outside world. He provides the run up to it from the 70s highlighting the key players and their struggles in the battle between political dominance and economic upheaval and the different thoughts on how to achieve the same. The book felt super dry and tough to trawl through initially making me wonder if I was prepping for UPSC but he warms up to his narrating style as he closes in on the actual events rather than a politico who's who biography of all the players.

If you are interested in Chinese political history and want a quick refresher on the players and the groups in the 80s primarily , this forms a good concise read on the same from the perspective of a former ambassador and an expert on China from an Indian perspective.


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Review: The Bombay Prince

The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: India's only woman solicitor braves it out in a man's world in pre Independence Mumbai this time around dealing with a murder, a political conspiracy and the revolution.

Stand alone, this might not have been the best Sujata Massey book I have read so far but having read through the first two, I feel heavily invested in the growth of Perveen Mistry's career over the books and from that perspective, Sujata doesn't disappoint building on a la Agatha Christie style on a strong woman protagonist finding her way in the world.

Against the backdrop of the visit of the Prince to India - a historical event, a young Parsi girl is found dead - suicide / murder / accident ? As Perveen tries to unravel the various characters involved whilst dealing with the day to day patriarchy makes for an interesting read into the history of a living and breathing Mumbai from the lens of the upper middle class specifically the Parsi community. Mohd Ali Jinnah makes a guest appearance too in this book courtesy the circles our protagonist is a part of.

As a whodunnit, I find the plot underwhelming but if you mix up the character growth, a historical lens, social commentary of the 1920s era , Sujata Massey continues to impress.

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Review: The Henna Artist

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A strong independent single woman navigating a newly independent India tiptoeing between tradition and modernity - an ageless struggle.

Strong female protagonists are rare to come by and Alka starts on the front foot with that. Using henna as a common thread often associated with numerous occasions in the traditional Indian household -Lakshmi is able to swing in from home to home capturing a glimpse of various Indias of that time. Fending for herself after a disastrous marriage at 15, Lakshmi has done well for herself till her ex husband turns up with her sister she didn't know existed. Turning into a maternal figure dealing with a teenager was never easy , even tougher when it is thrust upon you. The interplay of her growth as an individual , the colorful mosaic of a changing India around royalty, caste system and westernization around her make for an interesting read.

The book is targeted at the non-Indian audience that wants a fast food take out version of the exotic India filled with its stereotypes coupled with the recipes of rabri and dal batti and also henna. There is a deeper story to each of the characters which we probably may get to see in the future but are left wanting in this edition. That said, it does feel like a heartfelt ode to the author's mom - a life the author imagines for her if she hadn't married so early to which I agree - this is a beautiful in depth journey of a woman figuring her place out in a superficially set up evolving India.

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Review: The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: The true story of a double agent in the KGB working for Britain for over a decade.

Riveting to say the very least as Ben paces this book looking into in the life of Oleg Gordievsky as a KGB agent and his transformation into a double agent and the cat and mouse game that ensues. The day to day challenges on a professional front, personal front and his alter ego make for a good read and the close calls he has through out whilst providing insights into the inner workings of the KGB and the techniques and tricks used by surveillance and counter surveillance agents and the interplay between multiple countries and their secret services is a great eye opener to this world which is hidden in plain sight. To date, he continues to be one of the highest ranked double agents almost running the entire country's operations. The tough decisions he has to make time and again between personal and professional make him human. No doubt the book is biased towards making him a hero. As a biography, Ben makes it a fast paced spy thriller as good as fiction.

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Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A scary philosophical humorous drama that shows childhood innocence in hindsight

A mix of drama, a pinch of horror, few drops of mythology all of it in a flashback as a man attends a funeral in his childhood hometown and reminisces his childhood and the madness around it. A mix of dark and light only Gaiman could do.

A novella at best , this makes for a breezy read that captures a lot of emotions and feelings. Ursula and the hunger birds add to the ickiness along with the supernatural elements mashed up with realities for children that adults have forgotten. This is a young adult fiction aimed at adults probably but probably would have enjoyed it more when I was devouring R L Stine and the types.

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Review: Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography

Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography by Neena Gupta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: An authentic and honest take on her own life journey

Neena Gupta's life has been condensed to the Vivian Richards and Masaba Gupta in popular media and her autobiography spares a couple of pages to that episode and focuses on all the other aspects that make Neena the respected role model that she is for so many Indians. She starts off really well as the Delhi girl , bhenji stereotype to as she moves on to Mumbai after her NSD stint.

Then it does get repetitive and she does highlight the same about her naivety as she is taken advantage of or left gullible in love, career and life. She talks about the struggles, the casting couch and her brush with film festivals in bite sized chapters with a very simple writing style.

The editing could have been way more crisper removing some of the repetitive material littered through the book and the end chapters fall into a timeline of shows and movies she has done - a slightly extended filmography.

It is an easy read with an authentic and honest take that Neena Gupta takes for herself focusing on the challenges any middle class individual would go through in a typical Indian city irrespective of career or industry.

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Review: Buri Nazar

Buri Nazar by Madhuri Shekar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A little too perfect a potential son in law can also be a cause of concern.

A short story by Madhuri Shekar adapted into Hindi by Noopur Sinha over 6 episodes of about 30 minutes each - I am a big fan of Sayani Gupta and Supriya Pathak with the medium of voice are able to create such a relatable mother-daughter relationship through the light moments to the dark moments. Supriya as the mom is always worried even when things are going too perfect which gets her daughter's goat for all the worrying her mom had done for things not going good. While the dad plays a supporting role without being overbearing, the potential son in law tries real hard to create the goosebumps that his character is supposed to evince in all of us.

The light hearted to dark sinister mode happens very rapidly and that timing felt a bit off for me but just for the chemistry of Sayani and Supriya, The build up to the supernatural thriller that this is supposed to be is good, maybe setting expectations too high worth nevertheless worth a listen.

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Review: My Indian Odyssey

My Indian Odyssey by Vincent Ebrahim
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A Third Culture Kid tries tracing his grandfather's journey experiencing his roots on the way

As a podcast, Vincent does a lovely job of capturing the sounds of India through the 8 episodes as he visits Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Agra, McLeodganj, Darjeeling, Kolkata and experiences different aspects of each of the cities and the multitude of cultures that India offers, all whilst he tries to figure what his grand dad went through back in 1899 when he sailed out to South Africa. Whilst it feels like another standard foreigner visiting India and meeting a very tiny sample set of Indian community and adding broad scopes based on the same, I liked how he did capture some aspects of India purely though an audio podcast. I could relive some of the places based on the descriptions he shared mingled with the background noises whether it is the train journey, walking through Chandni Chowk or dining at some fancy places especially the "dress code" which even colonial Britain no longer follows.

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Review: Jungle Nama: A Story of the Sunderban

Jungle Nama: A Story of the Sunderban by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A mythological folklore in the form of dwipodi-poyer (metering in couplets)

Amitav Ghosh tries the art of writing verse metering in about 24 syllables per couplet or roughly 12 per line. Technically challenging no doubt and you have to appreciate him for that attempt. Getting over the technicalities, this is a spin off from his "Hungry Tide" about the legend of Bon Bibi and Dokkhin Rai - a fable that has a lot of history associated around Sunderbans and is a local legend lasting over centuries and generations through oral history.

With the illustrations and easy flowing language, this easily falls under the genre of children's books considering it's petite size too with a moral to end the fable with.

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Review: The Stationery Shop of Tehran

The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: A love story against the backdrop of political turmoil

Reading the hooter, you'd think that sounds like every romance book ever. If you were brought up on a diet of Bollywood movies in the 80s and early 90s to an extent, this story line won't catch you off guard. What does is how beautifully Marjan pours romance into each of her characters from Roya the 17 year old protagonist, Bahram - her love interest, Fakhri the stationery shop owner where the both meet for the first time under the backdrop of Iran in the 1950s trying to find it's feet on the political spectrum. The way politics percolates everyday life, this book could have been set in 2021 and still feel in play. How macro politics impact everyday lives and decisions of common people far removed from the politics is what this book captures whilst peeling off more layers through all the backstories by walking though all the back alleys of 1950s Tehran - the traditions, the food, the clash of cultures around the protagonist's teenage love story. Whilst it isnt a historical romance novel, the history is beautifully intertwined in the story. The book starts with 2013 and ends with 2013 and captures the journey in between.

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Review: The Code Breaker

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A biography of CRISPR and the field of gene editing along with the players involved.

This is a part biography, part biochemistry deep dive, part philosophy on scientific thinking and ethics and part rest of it all. Whilst it starts off with Jennifer Doudna, the book evolves into all the major players involved around CRISPR, the competitive races in the scientific publishing community, discussion around passion and goals, the eccentricities of the very smart , a lot of heavy biochemistry deep dive and how it all ties into current affairs with the race to first identify corona virus and then the work towards the vaccine. I liked how "history" is in a timeline I have lived through around the 90s and 2000s. Walter does justice to bring in a gender perspective to field of Science giving Rosalind Franklin her time in the sun along with focusing on Jennifer and her former co worker and fellow Nobel Prize winner Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier having to fight sexism to get their due. Science may be objective, the pursuit of it and the accolades are very subjective as highlighted in this and many other books on science and it's history.

Whilst you do get a sense of the world of sciences, compared to other books , this gets too in depth with the science and maybe repetitive to an extent for a non doctorate like me unless Walter was trying to structure his book similar to CRISPR and the repeating structures. The world of gene editing, bio hackers, importance of scientific rigour, ethical dilemma, possibilities of the future if we can edit our own genes and the recent battles against covid provide a mix of a lot and clearly an attempt at something different. Though I do wonder if Walter wasn't treating this subject, would the book have been even worse and it is his sheer talent that I could stay hooked even to the extent that I did.

In summary, I guess the book could have been CRISPR.

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Review: Murder at the Mushaira

Murder at the Mushaira by Raza Mir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A period drama masquerading as a murder mystery

The biggest highlight of the book is the protagonist - the poet laureate Mirza Ghalib double hatting himself as a detective. A beautiful period drama in the world of mehfils and mushairas, a Delhi of a different era as Bahadur Shah Zafar now considered a titular head in hindsight but doubts being raised in present tense and how these foreign traders had brought in military might and seemed to be taking over the country. Playing around that macro narrative, the book captures the back stories of the main characters and how convoluted their relationships are. The author adds couplets at the start of every chapter that make for an interesting read though not necessarily related to the chapter ahead. So Kirorimal - the newly appointed Chandni Chowk kotwal has a murder at a mushaira where a poet is murdered , the British seemed very flustered about it and want him to solve it quick. He enlists the help of Mirza who goes about his wits and ego to unearth something much bigger than a murder over a petty issue but could resonate across a nation. This is where the entire premise of the murder mystery gets thrown out of the window for the grander scheme of things. But the grander scheme of things come too late in the game to etch memories for you. It becomes the buffet meal where you walk away with a fully tummy but none of the dishes leave a mark in your memory. But remembering my own walk to Mirza Ghalib's house in Delhi and the way the author has painted that era, I feel he does truly manage to transport you to that era but lurches you back to reality before any of your other senses can take in that era.

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Review: Think Like a Spy

Think Like a Spy by LaRae Qua
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: A ex Military, ex CIA and ex FBI agent share tips for the real world

The entire set up was extremely promising with individuals from 3 different spheres sharing their experiences and learning to bring back into the civilian world but either due to the nature of declassification or keeping it generic, turns into a regular self help session which is very robotic and rehearsed. The key takeaways are things you probably already knew like self discipline, confidence, digital footprint can easily be tracked. Some of the stories felt retrofitted for the use case. Like when they want to flip a foreign asset and party super hard to win him over whilst telling him we dont want to party hard with you because you dont want to flip or the case where a random sighting of a seemingly lost asset in a newspaper clipping became a story of perseverance and not losing hope. Felt very trite.

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Review: First Person Singular: Stories

First Person Singular: Stories by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A bunch of oddball short stories in first person by Murakami

Not sure how Murakami does it but he makes everyday scenes so philosophical and dream like whilst being grounded in reality - sort of like the camera work of Dev D. A melacholic aloofness, a rhythmic pattern to the chaos around us wonderfully defined around him - the protagonist in all the short stories that follow. A calming pace in each story set in the past as he goes down nostalgia lane and captures a lot of metaphorical statements through his stories. The poetry around his love for baseball probably might be a lot more lyrical in Japanese than the translated works but the rest of the stories are translated wonderfully.

If you haven't had the appetite to jump into Murakami long form, this might be your short cut to some of his distinct style in bite sized stories though I think his true form is in the long novel format and these are just trailers to his style that stop too soon. Though I would highlight his writing is primarily from the 80s and he is misogynistic more often than not and that always leaves a jarring note to his otherwise fluid metaphysical writing.

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

Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A senior leadership insight into the Amazonian way of success from a culture and best practices perspective

For two senior leaders of Amazon who saw it all happen up close next to Jeff provides for interesting insights into how Amazon tackled everyday challenges in their way right from growing problems that any start up would face - how do you keep culture consistent when you scale up and senior most leadership loses the direct touch into all day to day aspects. There is background to the things that worked and didnt work and how some of the gospels of Amazon's business practices were work in progress and transformed over the years and not overnight brainwaves that revolutionised their world. It goes back to the adage of success is to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. The emphasis on client focus, working backwards, the PR-FAQ, the bar raiser , the narrative are all concepts under different names are becoming industry standards and the history of how they evolved make for an interesting insight.

Amazonians probably have this part of drinking their own kool-aid but this makes for good reading for people in leadership roles to understand the thought process behind some of the practices that they could leverage in their organisations beyond the frameworks that are now common place. Very practical a setup with some case studies about AWS, Kindle, Prime as some game changer innovations in their own right.

Single threaded leadership made for a good read - the best way to fail at inventing something is to make it someone's part time job. A rich mix of business insights with real life anecdotes making it for a smooth reading as a business book.

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Review: The Story of China: A Portrait of a Civilisation and Its People

The Story of China: A Portrait of a Civilisation and Its People by Michael Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: Four thousand years of Chinese history eloquently summarized in one volume.

The quote "History may not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme" doesn't ring any more true than reading this capsule of Chinese history oscillating between military strife and golden renaissance of unified empire through it's history as dynasties and kingdoms change but the struggles, the rise and the fall follow a similar pattern. Starting with Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing to the CCP ending with a footnote on Xi Jinping. I personally wasn't aware of these many kingdoms and their varying diversities.

The beauty of this historical rendition is how Michael Wood intersperses historical facts with stories of individuals from various economic strata of society sharing their perspectives of paramount changes in their society. This information had been gleaned from letters , edicts and other archaeological finds that were discovered. The idea that printing presses and the written word have existed for centuries in this part of the world make it for a lot more colorful a picture across the centuries.

I presume since the author needs the good offices of the current government, the last century of the Chinese party seems to get a very watered down treatment when you compare to the kaleidoscopic depth of the historical dynasties.

The other interesting aspect is how he brings out the women poets through the ages who were the exceptions in otherwise a pretty chauvinistic society and recounted their experiences and journeys in scope of the eras they lived in. Their commentary adds color to the life of the people.

Though surprisingly Great Wall gets a passing mention which I was keen to understand the dynamics around that phase. Yuan dynasty run by non Chinese i.e. Mongols make for an interesting phase of Chinese history and the author tends to explain how that put the seeds of the inward looking philosophies that form the basis of current templates. An interesting fact was the string of pearls strategy has been a philosophy followed for centuries and not a recent phenomenon.


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Review: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: As the book blurb says - presenting our present through Yuval's perspective

He no doubt blew us all away with Homo Sapiens and Homo Deus, but maybe third time isn't always the charm. His writing style, his thought process is still wonderful backed with research but somehow it feels like he is crossing over to the self help genre with this.

The book is a great crash course on what defines our current world - why a handful of casualties in terrorism create more fear than thousands lost to military warfare or even road accidents, will Artificial Intelligence take our jobs and a lot more things we all are anxious about. He shares reasons to why we probably think in a certain way on these topics and suggests a few recommendations - the biggest one being aware of mindfulness.

Religion probably gets itself the most focus in this book and repeatedly makes appearances every few pages cutting across all the lessons we hear from Yuval.

The topic on immigration was new for me and he asks some great pointed questions there on is immigration countries should provide as a offering or should be demanded off and hence should there be a criteria. Obviously multiple schools of thought there that could make for a book in itself.

I think this book gets the conversation started and unfortunately for me, it stops there.

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Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A young girl in the Victorian era entering a fantasy land wilder than her imagination

I took a moment to write that hooter! Alice in Wonderland is so ingrained in popular culture that she needs no introduction nor the suspense ending that the book has. The irony with classics is most of us read them in our childhood often missing the finer nuances of why these are masterpieces. Going through it again, I realised the amount of wit Lewis Carroll had doused this book in and could appreciate it a lot more. That said, there was more nostalgia involved than any contemporary appreciation as the book has aged and maybe still makes for wonderful children's reading pushing the boundaries of imagination and to think Lewis made this all up on a boat trip for a friend's daughter.

The Cheshire cat, the mad hatter and alll the wonderful characters are well dramatised in this audiobook rendition making it a lot more interesting to hear the same.

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Review: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A spy goes for that one last mission before retirement or does he...

There is a reason why this falls under classic section and makes Ian Fleming writings the "maasss movie" genre whilst this feels really close to the reality - it's dirty all over, there are no heroes in this business. No one is running around with fancy gadgets and vehicles but slowly and steadily and wittily playing the long game. There is an ageing factor to the book as it is based in the Cold War and all that tension isn't the most relatable in 2021 but as a gritty no -nonsense agent or agent agent or agent agent agent - Alec Leamus is the protagonist in this as he takes on his nemesis Mundt of the East German Intelligence for the one last time. A mission gone bad, sent back to London with a boring job till he is called into Germany to possibly defect for all his experiences. On the outer layer, this is a simple spy tale but the greyness of decisions and relationships makes it a lot more complicated and interesting. Tempted to watch the 1960s movie version of this to check if there are any nuances on the screen between this and the Bond franchise and if the wittiness carries over.



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Review: The Neon God: A Novel

The Neon God: A Novel by Ben D'Alessio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: Got this book from the author and Booktasters in exchange for a honest review

Time Travel or juxtaposing modern characters landing in the past and vice versa has been a common trope in the creative world of books and movies. In this case you have the Greek God Dionysus lands up in modern day New Orleans. He bumps into local girl Zibby and these are our two major protagonists. To be honest, I did learn quite a bit about Dionysus and Greek mythology in this book but his plot line gets repetitive and monotonous with wine and sex and the baggage he carries. IN that manner Zibby's arc makes for a lot more interesting reading as a law school student going about her life whilst owning her own bookstore.

This can be a travelogue for New Orleans tourism as a very colorful, living and breathing depiction of the city is painted all through and you want to reach out to the soul of New Orleans through this book.

Smart, witty writing with a lot of pop cult references probably too American for me but made for an interest read all around. Probably some sharper editing in the middle would have made this a faster paced thrill ride to the dark side.

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Review: Bombay Balchao

Bombay Balchao by Jane Borges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A community of stories from a Goan wadi in the corner of Mumbai as colorful as its occupants

The book gets a lot of things right. An assortment of stories and relationships you'd expect in a closely placed community if not close knit. It mirrors with the colonies, chawls of yesteryear which formed the entire definition of city life for its occupants - rarely did you step away from that 5km radius in your lifetime. The feelings of love, envy, bitterness, pain over years are mixed dressing like that of the balchao pickle across each of the short stories around this corner of Mumbai , Goans had made home christening it Cavel. Through the stories, there are nuggets of history and tussles of the Catholics in Mumbai, the great dock fires in the 1940s, the water struggles and so much more that make it relatable to everyone yet unique to the inhabitants of Cavel. It took me a while to realize the recurring characters across each of the stories and how they made appearances in each other's tales as side actors in some and heroes in the next and you felt you could imagine the on goings of the Bosco mansion as people age. The mixed timelines made it confusing and it did take a while to settle into the rhythm of life here and the eccentricity of all its inhabitants.

As for the individual stories, some made for interesting reading like the "twain shall never meet" love track between Ellena Gomes and Michael Coutinho, the water pipeline story when the Braganzas moved in, the sketch Mario made of his dad, his cruciverbalist days while some went down a cliched path like the exorcism of Michael, Benji's death.

The book is like a walk through the corridor of a Mumbai chawl - you overhear enough to get a glimpse of the occupants' life styles but not their life stories.

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Review: Fall of Giants

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: A look into life in the midst of World War One from aristocratic homes, mining towns, battlefields and factories from all the countries directly involved.

Ken Follett writes humongous epics (this one is sub 1000 pages) but they make for quick reads as they are fast paced and capture so many perspectives. He manages to get you invested in all the characters who have a 1% probability of crossing paths and yet they do time and again in very fortuitous yet believable circumstances. He instills life into fictional characters against the backdrop of history often quoting real life incidents as a close up spectator and throwing in a few real individuals for good measure. This is the baseline of good historical fiction.

Fall of Giants traces its origin from a covert get together in a tiny Welsh town of highly placed diplomats who soon find their countries at odds with the beginning of World War I. Our history textbooks make WWI seem like a blink of an eye event, here I realize how the years passed by. Key protagonists involves families that are American, English, Welsh, Russian and German across various classes and backgrounds capturing elements of women suffragette, Russian revolution, World War I, Parliamentary drama, Americans entering and of course a lot of battlefield sequences from Russian , German, English and American vantage points. Interspersed with all of these historical events are the growth journeys of Grigori who is selfless, his brother Lev who is selfish, Maud who is a rebel amongst aristocrats who bonds with Ethel a rebel amongst the common folk yet the class divide finally does separate them. The tension is high amongst families along varying issues of morality and ethics , new versus old and all of this makes for a fine epic.

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Review: My Gita

My Gita by Devdutt Pattanaik
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: The author's interpretation of the Gita

Divided into 18 chapters to correlate with the 18 chapters of Gita though not following the order to create a non-linear narrative, I felt this book was built for folks dealing with ADHD. A series of short excerpts that go thematically as per the author but feels all over or probably him stretching thin across all themes. I guess when you are taking a relatively nuanced and heavy topic and trying to create a series of 1 mark answers on them, you can't really get too far and that shows in this context. I probably say this makes for a trailer to a trilogy or beyond.

It is filled with conversations between Arjuna and Krishna taking a concept and then explaining dharma, adharma and numerous other concepts like moving towards a higher being and human being the closest to that level with a lot of examples from Ramayana too.

So if you want a tiktok video representation of the Gita, this book does it's best to capture the same in that context. For those serious about interpreting the original Gita, move on for this book only scratches the surface.

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Review: Extraordinary Leadership

Extraordinary Leadership by Robin S. Sharma
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: Some positive reiteration of leadership principles by Robin Sharma

An extremely short book, rather a podcast I would call it where Robin shares / reiterates a couple of pointers on leadership with a positive outlook. Comes free with audible and its good to hear these self help gurus speak themselves considering most have made careers of motivational speaking.

Great pointers for anyone new to the world of understanding the difference between leadership and management.

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Review: The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A bookstore owner's boy tries to unravel the mystery behind a rare book he finds and even more mysterious author who wrote it.

This is a beautifully written book filled with melodrama we often associate with the classics - I totally see a Phantom of the opera-esque Broadway show on this plot line. A library of forgotten books where the boy stumbles onto a book whose author has an even more mysterious past. Each character has a storied past as the boy gets to know more whilst he deals with his adolescence and puberty. The book has a gripping format with the romance of the bygone Spanish era sprinkled all over - the aristocratic age. There is a bit of Oliver Twist, Phantom of the Opera, Count of Monte Cristo that you feel a sense of. But weighed down by it's own beauty , I feel the ending goes down a predictable path as the author tries to tie up all the loose ends without wanting to rush through.

The book tugs at a bibliophile . Here are a sprinkling of quotes :

“In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend."

“Books are mirrors - you only see in them what you already have inside you.”

"the art of reading is slowly dying, it's an intimate ritual, a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.”

Zafon even translated has shown mastery of prose and this book makes you love it just for being a bibliophile apart from being a historical fiction mystery drama.

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Review: Hit Refresh

Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: Satya Nadella's view of Microsoft journey from his perspective in the driving seat looking forward.

While the initial part tracks Satya's personal journey from India to the US, his family and the mixed feelings an immigrant can have moving about, it then moves into him taking reins of Microsoft and the thought process behind the decisions he took. This could be an extremely long memo for Microsoft employees wondering why certain things are happening in a certain way, gives some insights on what defines Microsoft culture from Satya's perspective and some fire fighting examples.

He does try to share his thinking process on why he decided to steer course for the company - hoping to justify it to the reader and the wider public. It doesn't try to inspire, doesnt deep dive into a technical vision but meanders in between with leadership challenges, regulatory hurdles and dealing with trust issues.

This book is a glimpse into his thought process and pretty much that. Maybe a better read for Microsoft employees. Though the title finally makes it at the end as he gives takeaways asking everyone to hit refresh and take bigger strides just like how he has managed to bring MIcrosoft back into the big leagues from the pessimism of its future around the time he got onboard as CEO.

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Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Life through the eyes of a fifteen year old with Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism

Done from a first person perspective, the entire story structure is hence different from the norm as Christopher shares about himself, his surroundings and his love for math. Ignorant of social protocols, he logically breaks down problems in front of him triggered by the murder of the neighbour's dog as he goes about investigating. Turns out that isn't the focal point of the story but Christopher is dealing with day to day from his own perspective. Christopher could totally have been Young Sheldon from Big Bang Theory in terms of his love for logic and math, even justifying illogical traits through ingenious logic like defining a good day and bad day by the colored cars he sees on his way to school.

There is so much math geekery on display with monty hall problem making an appearance and all the chapters numbered as prime numbers. Never once in the book is the syndrome mentioned except in the blurb. He can figure everything out like his idol Sherlock Holmes and specifically not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but has trouble understanding human emotions.

This book is probably more Young Adult than mainstream but nonetheless makes for a good read. Not a murder mystery as marketed but understanding the mysterious ways of our society through a completely different perspectice.

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Review: Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: An audio dramatization of Mowgli and the Jungle Book

A lot of us have grown up with "Jungle jungle baat chali hai pata chala hai ki chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai" or the Doodarshan TV mornings with Jungle book in hindi. That obviously has created a certain image of Jungle book. The recent Disney movie adaptation added a visual dimension to it but this audio series was a good refresher with some great vocal variety.

This is also a pretty quick one - about 140 minutes of good drama and energy, The story no doubt is well etched in everyone's mind about a man cub growing up with the pack of wolves taught by a panther Bagheera and a bear Baloo with a strong friend in a python called Kaa as he deals with his nemesis Sher Khan and the irritating Bander log.

I rated this higher primarily for the nostalgia component along with some great audio production which doesn't try to go over the top or stereotype accents and voices.

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Review: The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Stories of how empowering women can truly change the world through Melinda Gates Foundation's perspective.

The book follows three threads - the evolution of Melinda Gates as a person, Melinda Gates foundation and fifty percent of this world. While there has been a lot of awareness around gender diversity since this book was published, this is a great insight into some of the innovative initiatives around the world that the foundation has helped with in empowering women across various life events - pregnancy, safety, marriage, education and the corporate world.

Maybe because it is dated or maybe the audience is folks in ivory towers the way Melinda talks about extreme poverty as if it is a novelty did feel odd but sharing the reality of how many obstacles face women in day to day life even up to the level of legalese and corporate sexism with examples is a good reality check for folks who feel it doesnt exist.

"Love is the most powerful and underused force for change in the world. ... For me, love is the effort to help others flourish — and it often begins with lifting up a person's self image."

She looks at this intersectionality of challenges from various lenses and prisms and that's what I liked about the diversity she includes on one theme and totally resonate with her aim towards equality for every human being.






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Review: The Real Sherlock

The Real Sherlock by Lucinda Hawksley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Hooter: A series of conversations to understand Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Talking to various individuals who have studied or interacted with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to recreate his thought process and journey beyond his journals and his writings. While there are some interesting facts about the esteemed company he had in school and later in life, his wonderful journey to the Arctic on a whim and his near death experiences add some color to an otherwise monotonous rendition filled with ample repetition of thoughts and interviewers.

Honestly, it doesn't do enough to whet my appetite about Arthur Conan Doyle or his inspirations behind Sherlock and it's journey. If you are a hard core ACD fan, you might get through this to ensure you can fill up some checklist somewhere.

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Review: Operation Black Thunder: An Eyewitness Account Of Terrorism In Punjab

Operation Black Thunder: An Eyewitness Account Of Terrorism In Punjab by Sarab Jit Singh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: A first hand account of the Amritsar DC handling militancy in Punjab right after Operation Blue Star in the 80s and 90s.

Sarabjit Singh shares a first hand perspective of the climate during his tenure, the events prior that led to that situation and all the players involved. He focuses on the operational aspects of Operation Black Thunder, the tantamount tension and pressure from various stakeholders in a very charged environment, dealing with probabilities at every step. He also talks of the political set up amongst the panthic committees, the central government playing its role, a series of public disappointments and how a potpourri of all of this led to the rise of militancy. He breaks out the various groups that had their own motives and how it all played out.

The book is a collection of his thoughts so isn't very fluid and does come back with repetition at times but rather than aiming for a Pulitzer, this book does well to document one of the darkest phases Punjab has had to see in it's recent history and what was the thinking behind the government machinery in trying to tackle the same.

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Review: Anxious People

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A witty tale of a bank robbery turning into a hostage situation with a motley crew of hostages.

I been doing quite a bit of Fredrik Backman and I think this one takes the cake in terms of wit and smart writing (smart translation I guess). A bumbling bank robber ends up taking an apartment viewing session into a hostage crisis and comes across a very interesting set of people. The bank robber then vanishes into thin air. The rest of the story follows the police investigation and interviews interspersed with back stories of each individual and also flashbacks into the hostage crisis.

Fredrik leverages a very unique structure to his writing in this novel, sort of prodding the mind to work harder as the structure isn't the linear storytelling narrative you'd expect. He captures such heavy subjects such as depression, loneliness, disappointment in a very thought provoking but light manner. This would make a perfect sitcom as he so wonderfully depicted the quirkiness of each of the characters involved adding flesh to all of them through the book whilst bordering at the edge of absurdity.

A nice fun feel good read with some twists and turns and a lot of quirkiness all packaged in a smartly written piece.

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Review: Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: Yet another book on cognitive biases and behavioural economics by a former poker champion

There are some wonderful insights shared by Annie who puts on her poker game experiences to capture statistical analysis and behavioural outcomes. "Life is more poker than chess" does make a lot of sense and how the quality of a decision shouldn't be decided by the outcome. Whilst she uses a superbowl example, we could very much relate it in cricketing terms. This leads to resulting.

Also probability of something happening 4% doesn't mean you predicted wrong when it does happen. Long shots do play out.

The second half of the book talks about tips and ways to get to smarter decisions like having decision making groups, especially ones that have diversity. If this is your first time in this topic, the book makes for a good introduction, if you have read this topic before, this book doesn't add any new insights.

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Review: Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the Corporate World

Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the Corporate World by Donald R. Katz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A journalist's version of the rise of Nike as the father of Sports marketing and the enigma of Phil Knight

Whilst Shoe Dog is all about Phil Knight, Just Do it is all about the larger than life celebrities revolving in the Nike universe, many of whom Nike helped build their image starting with Michael Jordan. This book was written in 1994, so a lot of the current stuff in the book is already a few decades old and that shows. The book starts with a high with how Nike seems to get all its dice rolling up to 6 everytime and how they change the whole sports marketing space which was so prevalent already by the time I could make sense of the world around me that I assumed it was the norm since time immemorial only to realise it was all Nike's doing starting in the 80s where every inch of real estate (and now every pixel ) had a price to it. The Olympics controversy makes for good reading so do the initial drafts and the inner workings of Phil Knight and how he was perceived by Ekins (Nike freshers).

Another interesting reading is how everyone in Nike would breath the Just Do It phenomenon and the campus lifestyle. The book then brings in characters probably pivotal to Nike ethos but don't add value to the casual reader who isn't writing a thesis on Nike. I am sure for folks working in Nike, the evolution of the culture and key stakeholders makes for great reading.

The history and how the various competitors came into play along with how Nike literally stormed the world of sports one step at a time make for interesting nuggets and insights.

Overall an interesting first half and a middling second half almost similar to Nike's journey.

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Review: The Presidential Years: 2012–2017

The Presidential Years: 2012–2017 by Pranab Mukherjee
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: A personal journal through his presidential years as President of India

The two non politically correct opinions Pranab shared and went viral is pretty much the only bit in the entire book that feels heartfelt. Kinda like the movie whose best parts are in the trailer. The rest feels heavily edited with emotions pulled out of it. He talks about how he maintained his constitutional neutrality every time they was an issue in Congress and you could feel that he had taken to heart how he had been shunted from being a probable Prime Minister to a ceremonial President. The book captures some of the duties he performed as the President continuing to open up the veil of mystique in the office of the President to the common man. I guess it was the pain of a man who knew he could have beaten any contender in the boxing ring whilst he was made to sit ringside.

The most interesting part of the book is the collection of photographs he shares with the whose who from over the years part of his official engagements.

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Review: The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money Power

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money Power by Daniel Yergin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: If Oil was narcissistic and believed it was the centre of the world. Oh wait...

A very well researched 800 pages of the rise of commodity oil and how a lot of geo-political events across the past century and more can be traced to the single quest of oil. Rockefeller, Nobels, Rothschild and so many brand names had a play in this space and Daniel does a wonderful job of keeping the flow interesting in a potentially very dry topic and thesis this could have turned out to be.

The detailed overview of World War I and World War II strategies centred around oil make for interesting perspectives that I wasn't aware of. How the red line defined Middle East politics, the rise of ARAMCO and BAPCO - both household names from my childhood and how the Middle east was pissed that instead of water, this black liquid was popping up. The way commodity oil has changed the world and in current times when oil prices are something households keep track of, this book makes for interesting reading of how oil indeed become the centre of the current world and how petrodollars still speak high volumes of its power.

Heads up! You may need stamina to get through this big book with small print but if the economics of history interest you, this is a good informative read worth the hours poured in.

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Review: A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs

A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs by Ben Garrod
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: An extremely novel concept of talking about things we found cool as kids and never followed up - dinosaurs in this case.

I really liked the concept of the series, providing a layman overview of concepts we read in our science textbooks or fascinated about in our childhood and then sorta forgot about it. In this case, it is dinosaurs. I remember I knew a lot more dinosaurs than T-Rex, Diplodocus , steganosaurus etc as a kid but don't really remember too many now. Then again, I had trump cards pack on dinoasaurs as a kid. This series gets a number of paleontologists to share their insights on dinosaurs and how we have been building our knowledge on them through available pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and various technologies revolving around building a picture of the past. The potential of birds being the successors of dinosaurs also makes sense based on some of the details they share of how evolution could have led to the same. A very scientific approach to a topic we probably enjoyed but didn't grasp as kids with parts on how they grew so big, how do we really visualise them considering we only have a few skeletons and no images of their flesh and density and how'd mammals coexist with them if they did.

There are a lot more questions I'd have loved to get answered and that void is probably why I leave this as a three owls hooter.

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Review: Putin: Prisoner of Power

Putin: Prisoner of Power by Russell Finch
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: When you want a quick refresher on Russian politics and want it to be as serious as a buzzfeed article.

Russian politics in the past 2 decades at the highest echelon has revolved around one man and this takes a look at some instances of his journey from the clearly unsavvy media engagement at the start to how he controls the global narrative. How probably placed in as a nobody to keep the seat warm or a puppet with strings but he cut off those strings and choked (figuratively) the very people who had attached the strings. It also captures the tussles internally and externally with Crimea and Ukraine getting their spotlight.

This is a very short and extremely lightweight one so you probably will get a superficial look at the players, the general mood in certain sections of society and a quick capsule of the two plus decades of Putin and how will he play out his power plays as his Presidency officially comes to an end as per constitutional decree.

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Review: The Perfect Swing

The Perfect Swing by James McGirk
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: An analysis of the baseball swing between technically correct DiMaggio and the unorthodox Ted Williams - both greats in their own rights

This is marked as a bedtime story under Audible with Nick Jonas narrating it. I wasn't sure why till I heard Nick narrate. He manages to get you to want to doze off with the lullaby tone and speed he uses. For baseball fans, this is a nice quick look into the technical differences in their swing styles and the framework of a good swing and James McGirk does a good job in being able to make the reader/listener visualise the swing but it pretty much stops at that.

Being a very short one, you get through fine, any more and you'd feel like you are sitting in the Baseball theory 101 class.

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Review: Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey

Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey by Ronnie Screwvala
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Lessons from an entrepreneur with a start up even before the term start up had made it to India.

Ronnie Screwvala and UTV are household names we were born with with almost every other TV serial content created by them, his theatre innings, then them spanning across the various media spectrum and into movies with duds but also blockbusters like Rang De Basanti and Swades. In between there is a stint with manufacturing toothbrushes which I wasn't aware of.

Ronnie shares a heartfelt look back his journey, owning up to failures more than successes and repeatedly using we in his stint at UTV signifying the importance that he lays to his team. This is an interesting insight into the journey he has gone through in the media industry of the 90s and beyond.

I share his penchant for theatre and how it relates to various situations in real life like the board room meeting with Murdoch's team and him being alone being equivalent to being on stage with entire audience staring down at you.

There are or aren't learnings you'd take away from this book. gets a bit repetitive at times with his philosophies which could have done with some crisp editing but provides some interesting nuggets of behind the scenes media - the Rang De Basanti screening to the army fraternity before getting censor board certificate, watching SRk, SLB , MD and ARB at Cannes making a bold desi statement to the run ins with international media houses like NewsCorp, Fox and Disney.

If you are interested in hearing Ronnie Screwvala's entrepreneurial story - this book gives you exactly that.

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Review: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A brief history of humankind as the title suggests sums up the content with a lot of thought provoking insights.

Yuval takes a very heavy subject that could span volumes and manages to do certain level of justice to share a series of thought provoking insights on us - the homo sapiens relative to our ancestors and we have evolved over centuries yet probably account for a blip in our own timelines.

His take on the evolution of gossip forming the basis of community to shared beliefs like religion allowing for us to grow as a society makes for an interesting story arc. Wheat domesticated man and not the other way around as we moved from nomads to settling down to farm over centuries.

The role of gender from women being a property of their menfolk to the battle for gender equity in today's day and age also is another arc he tries to share through the evolution of society.

Similarly how capitalism, communism meet the criteria / definition of religion if looked from a particular lens. The interactions with Homo Erectus and other variations that would have co existed and maybe even inter species copulation make for interesting reading. Along with how genetics might have a neanderthal come to life potentially, Yuval captures and provokes a lot of thoughts around our evolution and at what cost to the rest of the planet if not just humankind.

By focusing purely on humans from a social order perspective, he keeps the flow directed without it going all over. Makes for an interesting read loaded with numerous anecdotes from all over the world and some strong hypothesis to push you think beyond the construct we lazily fall back onto.

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Review: Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day

Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: Imbibing learnings from the monk way of life and implementing them into our regular lives.

Jay Shetty is a social media influencer in the modern sense and tries to share all his learnings into a book. I picked up his audio book on a friend's recommendation - again narrated by the author himself after having spent 3 years as a monk in an ashram and figuring how he could practice those learnings in the real material world.

Like all self help books ever written, most of it is common sense or at least traditional Indian common sense since a lot of it culturally resonates like meditation, breathing techniques and philosophies like seva etc. But it never hurts to get those concepts reiterated through various books to help you focus. This is that refresher course you can read up on as it reiterates the goals you need to set for yourself in life and the discipline you need to imbibe to get the most of life.

His story of finding his meaning in life after having a conventionally successful career makes for decent reading but couldn't really connect with it all. I'd say if you needed a refresher on mindfulness, being grateful and some common anecdotes on the same in one place, you could get through this book.

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Review: Becoming

Becoming by Michelle Obama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: The memoirs of Michelle Obama from her childhood through the two terms of Barack's presidency.

Having heard an audiobook by her husband, it seemed like an interesting experiment to hear Michelle's memoir in her voice. Comparisons are to be drawn but what I loved was her authenticity and honest perspectives of her struggles all through from her childhood dreams , being clueless at times, struggling at others but pushing herself and reaching out. Her first impressions of Barack to an insider perspective of the life of a public figure foisted to the limelight from a common man background makes for interesting insights.

Having read the Promised Land, it also provided a second person account of the some similar situations Barack spoke off in first hand and both make you feel you were right there when these moments occurred. She adds a very personal touch to all the ongoings around her and everyone in her family and friends. How she vets whether Barack is the one for her and the framework she lays to deciding that and her career along with dealing with the changes it meant for her kids , Michelle highlights what a lot of women go through in terms of thinking about multiple aspects of every decision and how it would impact everyone around her in the family. She makes it a relatable tale for everyone hearing her out.

While I'd be biased towards her husband's narration style and command over the proceedings, Michelle is equally engaging and a lot more raw and heartfelt a narrator.

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Review: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: An almost 8 year old goes about saying sorry on behalf of her dead grandmother and building relationships with her family and neighbors as an adventure only a nearly 8 year old could think of.

Backman leverages a very light vein to real human issues and only when you double take do you realize how depressing reality could be, only for his writing perspective that adds a halo of positivity to it. Our protagonist Elsa is a loner in school, bullied by the kids. Her parents are divorced, she has a step father and a step brother halfie is on his way. Granny is her only friend in the world and Granny decides to move on. There are a motley crew in her apartment and each one outwardly as despicable a neighbour as the other. Not till Elsa realises apart from the make believe fantasy world she and granny had, her granny had also prepared a treasure hunt for Elsa to come in terms with life and leverage the people around her. As she delivers letters of her granny being sorry for each person, she gets to know more about the disasters that life has thrown at each one and how they have survived life rather than cruise through it. Heart wrenching yet kept light since all of it is from a kid's perspective ( no matter how mature she is for her age).

The fairy land felt like an interesting premise that could go somewhere but didn't really except act like a filler to switch over between chapters. Not all superhero wear capes and not all books filled with nuggets of wisdom have to be heavy reading. Backman proves it with this book of an eccentric granny and her wise 7 year old granddaughter.

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Review: The Psychology of Money

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A Layman overview of Financial Literacy and the softer aspects behind it

You aren't going to walk out as a financial whizkid reading this book but there really isn't a whizkid but lot of other factors around financial literacy and planning for oneself. Packed with wisdom and examples on why the author suggests something taking extreme examples to highlight his point. The book focuses more on the thought process for you as an individual rather than the actual process of investing.

Some key takeaways:
1) Freedom with your own time is the highest dividend money pays.
2) Saving is the gap between your ego and your income.
3) Defining "enough"
4) Noone is impressed with you and your possession as much as you are.
5) Every investor has a different timeframe and a goal in mind
6) You can be wrong half the time but still make a fortune.

For someone beginning their journey, for someone who needs a refresher in 2021, this book acts as a quick easy read. The brevity and the ease of structure of the narrative makes it an easy, insightful read. I'd recommend as a good handy book to question some of the thought process behind blindly investing especially based on time tested experiences of a prior generation.

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Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: British wit captured through a series of letters and notes based correspondence post World War.

A random letter from someone who found their details from a book kicks off a series of letters that bring about the motley group of Guernsey residents part of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. How did they come up with the name? A concocted story in a whim when approached by officers for a group breaking a curfew brings the group to life filled with wit all over. You get a flavour of British way of life under occupation. Delightfully funny in a British way, the book is fun read though the format does get a bit repetitive.

I have heard the movie is a good watch, so will check it out to figure if movie adaptation has done justice to the book.

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Review: A Promised Land

A Promised Land by Barack Obama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: The first hand account of Obama's first term as President and the path to it.

I was trying out audible and was wondering which audio book to try and it just made sense to go with Oscar winning Barack Obama narrating his own memoir of his first term of Presidency and the run up to it. The Five stars aren't for Obama and what he has done as President but purely for the memoir and how it has been structured and narrated. The man really knows the power of communication and leverages it to make for a very engaging and witty long hear. Whilst it is chronological and a lot of facts, he is able to add emotion, drama without being over the top making you feel you are sitting right there with him in Air Force One or the Oval Office dealing with one disaster to another facepalming one moment or giggling the next.

He clearly mentions how if the problems he was being asked to solve had a precedent, was black or white or had a rule book, some one in the chain of command would have already solved it leading him to deal with probabilities and varying shades of grey. His attention to detail, background to certain conversations, the political climate - overall a well rounded insight into the world of one of the most powerful positions in the world. He makes all those names you read in the newspapers along the political landscape human, adds flesh and character to each of them as they deal with bad news which clearly doesn't follow a cycle and the balancing act of managing political capital.

I probably would have read the book faster than hearing it which is one of the drawbacks of audiobooks but I think this particular book deserves a listen rather than a read purely because of Obama.

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Review: In Other Words

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A series of journal entries in a foreign language that Jhumpa tries to make her own.

This is Jhumpa releasing her journal entries as she tackles with trying to tackle a new language and make her own. Whilst she wrote the entries in Italian, this is a translation of it and you can see the rudimentary flow adding a touch of authenticity of a nascent attempt at writing in a language. Though the set of entries focus on her longing to make Italian her own and the vulnerabilities she faces dealing with a strange language and land. It is an introspection exercise she has taken for herself.

There is a freshness to see an established writer share their desperation and vulnerabilities but it becomes a journal entry too many where she tries to share the same emotions from different perspectives. The obsession and the hard work she goes through to master Italian is a good reminder of the struggles.

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