Review: Into the Leopard's Den: A Bangalore Detectives Club Mystery

Into the Leopard's Den: A Bangalore Detectives Club Mystery by Harini Nagendra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: An ecological whodunnit

As Kaveri continues to blossom into a full-fledged detective, this series is slowly picking up on its mystery genre too. Compared to the previous ones, I felt this focused more on the mystery and less on the history. This time time our protagonist lands up in Coorg in the 1920s India and whilst we get a glimpse of the historical setting - we do get a lot more angles and unknowns at play. We also see a lot more characters getting involved which helps move the story along in different arcs versus the Kaveri centric ones initially. Harini brings in one of her favourite elements into the story this time - nature at its finest.

A murder in Bengaluru of an old lady who had a photo of Kaveri as her dying wish leads our detective to hunt for more clues - all the way in Coorg and lands up with multiple other mysteries to solve including a threat to her life.

This also introduces Kaveri as an expecting mother and how she balances it with solving the mystery and ends with her attaining motherhood (oh! and solving the mystery) so not really a spoiler alert there. It'll be interesting to see how the next one gets set up - does a young mother get into action or will we fast forward a bit. She does have a brilliant support system in terms of a family and extended family to pull this off even if its the conservative 1920s at play. Then again - one other forte of Harini's writing has been highlighting gender inequality and the trailblazers each of her women characters have been irrespective of which generation and which social strata they are part of in the given timeline.

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Review: My Friends

My Friends by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: “A story that doesn’t just ask who we are to others, but who we dare to be with ourselves."

My Friends is the kind of novel that asks for patience, but rewards you with honesty. It doesn’t glamorize friendship; instead, it shows it in all its contradictions- the tenderness, the silence, the disappointments, and the loyalty that refuses to let go. The writing is quiet but piercing, the kind that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. By the end, you don’t just understand the characters - you feel like you’ve lived alongside them. This is no doubt signature Fredrik Backman style that picks a regular storyline - situations so relatable to you and me yet adds a perspective that is wittier yet heart wrenching at the same time.

My Friends is about how one summer of friendship can shape an entire lifetime. It follows Louisa, a grieving eighteen year old who stumbles across a painting of three kids on a pier and sets out to discovr the story behind it. Along the way, she meets Ted, now an older man, who shares the memories of that summer with her- the friendships, the secrets, and the art that captured it all.

"All children are born with wings,” she had whispered. “It’s just that the world is full of people who try to tear them off. Unfortunately they succeed with almost everyone, sooner or later. Only a few children escape. But those children? They rise up to the skies!

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Review: The Mistress of Bhatia House

The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A 1920s Mumbai period drama with a dash of murder mystery.

Sujata Massey once again draws us into the world of Perveen Mistry, India’s first woman solicitor navigating a man’s world. This time, the spotlight is firmly on the rich historical and cultural backdrop of pre-Independence Bombay. We get to see the city’s many layers- its services, its social divides, and the unspoken equations between different economic groups. The murder mystery itself lingers quietly in the background for most of the book, only stepping forward in the final stretch when closure becomes necessary.

As a period drama, Sujata strikes that perfect balance of educating and entertaining. The pace is lively, and Perveen continues to face misogyny in all its everyday forms while also trying to unravel a mystery the book almost playfully disguises. Compared to the earlier books, this one really leans into character-building; showing us the world of wealthy business families, civil servants, royal entourages, domestic staff, and the upper echelons of law and bureaucracy.

Interestingly, Perveen also spends more time at home here, strengthening her bonds with her brother, sister-in-law (and friend), niece, parents, and even the household staff. The Gulnaz angle felt a little over the top and didn’t quite lead anywhere, but it was still heartwarming to watch the family rally around little Khushy and her care.

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Review: The Naga Warriors 1: Battle of Gokul Vol 1

The Naga Warriors 1: Battle of Gokul Vol 1 by Akshat Gupta
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: If the movie 300 was made in an Indian context

The legendary Naga Warriors make a stand to protect the hamlet of Gokul against a massive army of Sardar Khan who wants to let to waste everything that comes his way. The story is shared as a backstory when a hiker is saved by a Naga Sadhu in the Himalayas and he shares the story.

The story will span multiple books as showcased by the ending. There is great creative liberty leveraged by the author to tie in various aspects of Shiva and his contemporaries by symbollically adding into the storyline. I would love it if he also hired an editor as there are a lot of grammatical mistakes (eg: sat on his thrown instead of throne) which felt jarring for me especially when a publisher like Penguin is involved here.

It is an interesting premise, written in a pretty simple and breezy way but won't hold a candle to some of the magnum opuses we have seen including Amish Tripathi.

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Review: There Are Rivers in the Sky

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: Water remembers; it’s humans who forget.

Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky is one of those rare books that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page. She uses water- rivers, raindrops, tides- not just as a backdrop, but as a living, breathing presence that ties together memory, history, and human connection.

The story opens in ancient Mesopotamia, with a droplet of water falling on King Ashurbanipal’s beard- the last great Assyrian king and the man behind the famed library of Nineveh. From there, we jump across time and place, following three seemingly unrelated lives: Arthur, an archaeologist in 1840s London, born in poverty but obsessed with decoding Assyrian clay tablets; Narin, a Yazidi girl in 2014, grappling with the trauma of ISIS persecution and the weight of her Assyrian ancestry; and Zaleekah, a modern-day hydrologist in Britain, navigating identity, science, and memory.

What’s incredible is how their stories flow into each other- sometimes subtly, sometimes powerfully- always connected by water. Shafak doesn’t just build characters, she builds worlds. Each one feels rich, layered, and heartbreakingly real.

For me, the book was more than just historical fiction- it was a lens into forgotten empires and the cyclical nature of human suffering and resilience. It also made me reflect on how knowledge, like water, can be both preserved and lost over time.

Elif Shafak has fast become one of my favourite authors. Her storytelling is intelligent, emotional, and deeply human. This book made me care about Assyrian history, rethink how we preserve memory, and reminded me how interconnected we all really are- through time, through trauma, and yes, through water.

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Review: Truck de India!: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Hindustan

Truck de India!: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Hindustan by Rajat Ubhaykar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A View into India That Is Bharat- in a Unique Travelogue Format

The author chronicles his hitchhiking journey across India aboard trucks - a bold and unusual expedition. First, one admires the audacity to plan such a trip, then the effort to document it, and finally, the ease and honesty with which it’s written, transporting the reader into the dust-laden heart of rural highways.

He vividly captures the sights, sounds, and stories of each truck driver, humanizing them and their struggles. This isn’t just a travelogue- it’s a portrait of a hidden India, untouched by urbanization and technology. It is also interesting how he talks to artists of truck art, the builders of trucks and even the middle men / agents at various Transport nagars to capture a holistic view of the ecosystem.

Truckers form a vital lifeline of the Indian economy- navigating the white, black, and grey shades of the system. They endure punishing hours, overloaded trailers, potholed roads, and ever-present bribes to keep moving. Survival, for many, depends on addiction- to music, alcohol, drugs, religion, or some mix of it all.

India is a country where every 50 km sees changes in food and culture and Rajat shows us this contrast through the eyes of truckers who cover almost 1500+ km at times on single trips.

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Review: The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told

The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told by Rita Kothari
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Selection of translated Gujarati works covering abject poverty to unsatiated lovemaking.

I have heard of these authors from parents and relatives through the journals and periodicals where their short stories have been published. To find a translated anthropology is a goldmine to start with. I am not sure if these stories haven't aged well or lost in translation - a lot of them feel like empty shells devoid of character or emotion or maybe the color is in the vernacular.

There are a few that do capture the essence even in the translation like Sowbhagyavati ( the untold violence of marital sex) , Maajo ( the fleeting nature of external beauty), Jumo Bhisti ( the unconditional love of a pet parent and pet) and the light hearted Vaadki ( the missing bowl unravelling mysteries of the society)

That said - Rita had managed to capture a diversity of topics treading across caste, gender, open defecation, loyalty, economic inequality, friendship and infidelity and captures the wider diaspora of Gujarat beyond certain stereotypes that mainstream media have propagated.

An honest attempt at curating these short stories - some shine and some have lost their lustre in the translation.

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Review: The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told

The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told by Rita Kothari
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Selection of translated Gujarati works covering abject poverty to unsatiated lovemaking.

I have heard of these authors from parents and relatives through the journals and periodicals where their short stories have been published. To find a translated anthropology is a goldmine to start with. I am not sure if these stories haven't aged well or lost in translation - a lot of them feel like empty shells devoid of character or emotion or maybe the color is in the vernacular.

There are a few that do capture the essence even in the translation like Sowbhagyavati ( the untold violence of marital sex) , Maajo ( the fleeting nature of external beauty), Jumo Bhisti ( the unconditional love of a pet parent and pet) and the light hearted Vaadki ( the missing bowl unravelling mysteries of the society)

That said - Rita had managed to capture a diversity of topics treading across caste, gender, open defecation, loyalty, economic inequality, friendship and infidelity and captures the wider diaspora of Gujarat beyond certain stereotypes that mainstream media have propagated.

An honest attempt at curating these short stories - some shine and some have lost their lustre in the translation.

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Review: Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities

Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities by Harini Nagendra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Know Thy Neighbour(hood Trees), Love Thy Neighbour(hood Trees)

A brave topic and an interesting attempt to explore it- learning about local trees, their cultural significance, medicinal uses, and origin stories. The book captures numerous anecdotes about trees in our neighbourhoods, making for a fun and enlightening read. That said, it occasionally veers into academic territory, and the lack of visuals leaves it feeling somewhat incomplete. Including images of trees and leaves could have made it more interactive- even turning it into an activity to engage broader audiences, which seems to have been the book’s original intent.

Having read Nature in the City, I had set my expectations higher for this one. Still, it has its moments- from banyan trees capturing the imagination of even Ancient Greeks, with Alexander the Great’s army awestruck by their sheer presence, to the iconic banyan trees in almost every Indian city today, silent witnesses to history- if only we could speak their language, or they ours.

Eucalyptus gets notable attention as an exotic alien that has made India its home over the past century. The aesthetic palm tree appears too- courtesy of Silicon Valley vibes, and little else.

Trees like peepuls, neems, jamuns, and drumsticks all make an appearance. Yet at times, the narrative feels like it’s checking boxes rather than delving into the rich background stories each of them holds. I give it a 3- for taking on such a unique and deserving topic in a world where local varieties are fast disappearing in a globalised landscape.

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Review: Lords of the Deccan : Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas

Lords of the Deccan : Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas by Anirudh Kanisetti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: Game of Thrones set in the Deccan Plateau

Our history; both in school and in public discourse; has long been painted in black and white, perhaps to avoid confronting its complexity. Most Indians are familiar with the mighty Gupta Empire and later the Mughals in the North. In recent years, the Cholas have finally received some attention in the national consciousness, an attempt to balance the scales. Yet even calling this the tip of the iceberg feels like an understatement.

What Anirudh Kanisetti achieves in Lords of the Deccan is akin to peeling back just a few layers of an onion that has many more to reveal. His focus on the Deccan uncovers empires so rich and powerful they built some of the most iconic wonders of medieval India- structures that still stand today, even as their creators have largely vanished from our history textbooks. Through the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Pallavas, and ending with the Cholas, the book spans over 500 years of history that shaped the India we know- from the birth of Telugu and Kannada as living languages, to early forms of feudalism and self-governance, to rich religious literature and monumental architecture.

From Pulakeshin II (6th century CE) of the Chalukyas of Badami, to Amoghavarsha I (8th century CE) of the Rashtrakutas, to Rajadhiraja Chola, these rulers were the architects of much of India's cultural foundation. The book reminds us that human history is, in many ways, a never-ending soap opera; empires rise, fall, and are reborn; yet each leaves an indelible mark on the course of civilization.

Kanisetti also teases the fascinating but often overlooked naval expansion of the Cholas into Southeast Asia, a chapter of history that rarely gets the spotlight it deserves. To provide global context: as Pulakeshin II was establishing the Chalukya dynasty, Prophet Muhammad was laying the foundations of the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East. When Amoghavarsha I was celebrated as one of the four great kings of the world, his contemporaries included Emperor Tang Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, Caliph Al-Ma'mun of the Abbasid Caliphate, and Emperor Theophilos of the Byzantine Empire. Even the Vikings were active during the height of the Chola Empire.

This is a thoroughly researched book that not only tells the stories of great men- but also the women who helped shape Deccan's destiny. History has not forgotten Lokamahadevi of the Chalukyas, who ruled in her own right; Trailokyamalla, wife of Amoghavarsha I, who signed joint edicts and was active in religious patronage; and Akkadevi, a warrior queen and administrator in her own right. Many others, as consorts, regents, or patrons, played pivotal roles in shaping the region’s legacy.

Despite the fragmentary and sometimes scarce historical material, Anirudh paints a vivid, articulate, and ambitious tapestry of the Deccan- before it fades completely into the sands of time. His work is a bold effort to give this complex, layered history the voice it has long deserved.

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Review: Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: The science behind sleep and why it's important!

The book can give you "rock a bye baby" vibes and that is something the author is proud of because it gets you to where he wants you to be at. We all know about sleep and vaguely important - this book helps drill the message home on why its one of the cornerstones of our health - physical and mental. In the hustle culture of burning the midnight oil, this book is an anti-thesis of it all.

I finally have scientific evidence to why I should continue to sleep for 8 hours a day. Also catching up on sleep is not a net zero game. Just like energy conversion cannot be 100% efficient, lost sleep is lost forever. The catch up is a short term reliever.

The explaination of REM and non-REM and why they aren't 50-50 was an eye opener and make a lot more sense to how irregular sleep patterns impact us in a skewed manner for REM and non-REM. The circadian rhythm being independent of this was another relevation for me. Honestly the science of sleep was an area I completely have been sleep walking into and this book woke me up with a bang.

The today you might not like me for recommending this book but 30 years down the line - you probably will. Teenagers will love his proposal of starting school later because they need that sleep and he correlates how sleep and laziness don't actually go hand in hand depending on your age.

If you can't read the book - the key takeaways are there is NO replacement to consistent routine to 8 hour sleep for one's overall health , there are no alternatices and substitutes for the same. Keep away from heavy dinners, alcohol and caffeine later in the day along with digital screens atleast an hour before you sleep. Whilst he believes the afternoon siesta is healthier for the human body - capitalism has shut that door on us.

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Review: Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan

Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: Afghan jalebi - in a book form

There is a reason why it is known as the graveyard of empires and that moniker stays true even in contemporary history with the recent most US withdrawal. Going back in history - Afghanistan in its eerily beautiful yet fragmented terrain is a patchwork of tribes that owe allegiance and loyalty to self. Anyone governing over the region has usually paid for the honor of ruling over these tribes and those who haven't , have paid the price of that.

One of the biggest debacles of the British army part of the Great Game is documented here as Shah Shuja, Dost Mohammed Khan and Ranjit Singh become some of the biggest players in this Central Asia drama as Britain tries to protect its golden goose India from Russian interests. From British spies to gruesome Afghani sibling rivalry, the book introduces a lot of characters through the pages of history. A Britisher's affair with an Afghan woman was enough to turn a country to hate the British and change the tidings of war. This is one piece of literature that does give Ranjit Singh some limelight in the annals of history.

William Dalrymple continues to impress with his research and attention to detail covering the storied history of this region. He has tapped into Shah Shuja's autobiography, Indian, Russian, British and Afghani archives to provide a multi nodal viewpoint of the conflicts in the region and hence you'd see changing shades of characterisation of the main players through the journey of the book.

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Review: Pugmarks and Carbon Footprints

Pugmarks and Carbon Footprints by Rohan Chakravarty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: "Drawing" attention to world around us

In a sharp, witty style of cartoon strips that rely heavily on word play and incisor sharp insights, Rohan Chakravarty makes this an extremely informative collection of flora and fauna around us whilst touching upon relevant current affairs that look to endanger these fellow survivors on our planet.

Highly critical of the government at times, highly informational on the types of Indian fauna we have at play in the country makes for a light and easy read. If I could temper down the political messaging and some PG18 jokes, this would have been a brilliant way to engage kids on the climate change and other relevant issues they should be aware about as they inherit this planet from us.

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Review: Principles: Life and Work

Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: Organisational Leadership 101

Ray Dalio built one of the esteemed Financial institutions in the world - Bridgewater and he breaks the book into three parts - his journey , his principles at an individual level and then at an organisational level.

His journey is no doubt interesting, the principles at individual level are regular things you read in self help books these days. What added uniqueness for me was my firest read at organisational principles from someone who built an otganisation from scratch. Upto 70 employees, he knew them on first name basis and interviewed and hired - beyond that he had to build a structure. Jeff Bezos had a similar set up having interviewed upto 200 folks personally in Amazon and then had to codify his principles for the organisation to scale.

From getting people right, culture right and allow it to evolve, being radically open minded from a personal angle to understanding people are wired differently are couple of the extremely high level pointers in the book. He drills down to what he means and how to navigate . Key areas such as how do you effectively disagree and take a decision, how to not tolerate a problem, set goals and work towards them. There is a wide array of topics he covers and form a basic grounding for someone learning the 101 of leadership in an large organisational setting especially.

Tough love as a leader , building meaningful relationships focused on company culture whilst - consistently evaluating the system one has built to measure up in a dynamic environment, there are a lot of practical pointers he shares that would resonate. I did love the baseball cards analogy of having individuals come up with their 3 traits that can help team members know each other better and perform better in a team by syncing up and complementing their strengths.

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Review: Playing to Win

Playing to Win by Saina Nehwal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A chatty wikipedia page on Saina by Saina

For someone as straight talking and straight forward as Saina having met her (* adds flex *) , I can see how this book resonates with her. Focusses more on the chronological journey she went through and her thoughts along those moments - both high and low. There isn't any "what you can learn from my life motivational stories or anecdotes" trying to break the fourth wall here. It makes her more human and likeable beyond the media press releases we glimpse her personality through.

This is nowhere a literary genius neither is it meant to be but tiny gems like her mom wanted to fashion her around Steffi Graf , her love for ice cream and winning mindset to get through all obstacles - mental and physical, this is a quick breezy read for aimed at Saina fans.



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Review: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Sri Lankan politics through a dead man's eyes.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a darkly comedic and thought-provoking novel by Shehan Karunatilaka. It follows the ghost of a photographer, Maali Almeida, who navigates the afterlife and tries to uncover the truth behind his murder. The book delves into Sri Lanka's political turmoil, exploring themes of love, loss, and corruption. The narrative blends mystery, satire, and the supernatural with a unique narrative voice. It's a gripping, multi-layered story that explores both personal and societal struggles. The book was originally titled conversations with the dead and then renamed to this to signify the seven moons before Maali moves on and how he goes about investigating his own death and opens up a spectrum of views into the island nation.

It does get a bit tedious with the violence but also hits hard because of the same.

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Review: Designing Data-Intensive Applications

Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A foundational view into building big data based applications

This is what you would call an academic approach to Data Engineering - not a corporate cookbook to apply hacks but actually get your fundamental bearings right. Taking the key tenets of data engineering and showcasing the key similarities and differences with each approach, Martin takes you through the structured way of thinking about designing applications that are data heavy.

The clear summary is there is no one technology that is the messiah of all problems, but instead understanding their strengths and weaknesses help identify what combination would work for an end to end business outcome. A good foundational read for individuals looking to build their data engineering careers.

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Review: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: If a children's book started adulting, it'd be this.

A picture book would be mis-stating the depth of what the book has to offer. Light in weight, heavy in content is how I'd summarise the book. In concise and crisp manner, leveraging a few words or a sentence , the author tackles a lot of inspirational points that deem to motivate wherever in your journey you are.

The hand drawn sketches tend not to distract but also complement the otherwise void the book would leave you with.

From "the biggest waste of time being to compare yourself with others" to "the bravest thing to ever say is help", there are numerous quotes that leave you thought provoking prompts to measure up with your life.

Its a cup of hot chocolate on a gloomy, downcast day in your life.

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Review: Normal People

Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: If the facebook status "It's complicated" was a book

Raw, painful with a silver lining - are they truly normal people? The protagonists Connell and Marianne literally orbit around each other as life happens around them. From Connell's mom working as a cleaner at Marianne's house - he being popular in school and she the misfit to college having them swap those roles. Whilst you could call them friends with benefits by definition, their relationship is formed at an intellectual and mental level and the physical is a distraction. As they slip in and out of relationships with others, they navigate their own relationship around what life throws at them.

Being teenage love, there is clearly a lot of physical satiation at play that gets thrown around the other oddities life throws at them but there is a bittersweet innocence of those romances beyond the superficial that tugs at the reader. Wish life was like the book as it fast forwards to consequential and pivotal moments in their life skipping the mundane in between.

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Review: Maktub

Maktub by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A collection of mildly insightful to deeply insightful thoughts from his column

Maktub or loosely translated to "has been written" like fate / destiny / edict is a collection of various pieces Paulo has been writing in his columns and translated into a compilation. This is a breeze as most pieces are half a page whilst a couple linger over to another page or two. He could had converted this into a series of insta reels / posts and the book could have been the account (maybe there is one).

The collection includes his personal experiences and things he has read from other scriptures and cultures and hence I do find a few I have read before - the bamboo and the fern amplifying we all grow at our own pace and shouldn't compare with others. Similarly the caterpillar not understanding the bigger picture of its journey till he breaks out of the cocoon of its own making.

Key messages from all the stories I caught were
1) Live in the present / moment.
2) Believing in oneself and destiny to an extent to find your bigger purpose.
3) Love in terms of self love and meaningful relationships.
4) Wisdom of simplicity


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Review: Malibu Rising

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: The high life of the rich and famous in Malibu - a soap opera

I had shortlisted this book because it won the historical fiction award in GoodReads. It was a historical fiction but wasn't my cup of tea as it was a tedious round robin of relationships and break ups and the Page 3 shenanigans.

A family of 4 siblings using surfing instead of getting therapy to process the maddening world around them with broken relationships. The format Taylor applies is a good one switching between times and the key characters building up on their background stories as we progress but a build up to nothing that was of interest to me. Might as well have watched a soap opera or Dubai Bling. Maybe Malibu Bling has a premise to work on dished out through this book.

A lot of fiction set in a time gone by is the technical definition by which this book can be called a historical fiction. Otherwise Malibu's got latent is all I can say.

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Review: Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A look at how information has shaped and can shape humanity

Yuval does it again with picking up information as a topic and deep diving through history on how it has shaped humanity. Setting that baseline, he gets into the hypothetical - which is almost real or is steps away from being reality on how that could play out.

From how the written word tried to standardise data and its interpretations, it introduced new challenges of the writer's perspective and then the interpreter's perspective especially in religious texts. Similarly access to information and the delivery channels play a big role. in themselves. Tying this up to how AI today can generate and deliver information - there are so many scenarios where this could go south if not done in a controlled manner and we are probably past the stage where we can try to control. Yuval always leave you away with a deep thought provoking open ended question that lingers after you are done with the book.

Whether you agree or disagree with his points, he atleast sets you up for a debate on the topic .

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Review: After Dark

After Dark by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: If a photographer's artistic view of a night in Tokyo was converted into a book.

Murakami has a way with taking the usual and the mundane and explain it in a very artistic and compelling manner. After Dark is a novella - focused on a night in Japan where two characters learn more about each other whilst the world around them waltzes by. A 19 year old Mari comes face to face with various actors that make up the night life in Tokyo - from love hotels to midnight diners, the yakuza, prostitution, upcoming music bands and so on.

Murakami's style of viewing these, adding existential questions and philosophies into the mundane make for an interesting reading as always. Chance encounters of strangers and how they awkwardly befriend and unravel each other's mysteries make for an interesting technique to character development which has been a common pattern in his writing.

Considering the big books he has written earlier, for folks want to get a taste of his style with a novella, this is a good one to go with as you can pull a night outer to get through a night in Tokyo

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Review: The Perfumist of Paris

The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Adding closure amongst the plethora of vivid scents in this journey called life.

Alka Joshi's trilogy ties up the ends with the Perfumist of Paris focusing this time on the younger sister Radha who is married to a Frenchman in France along with her two daughters. Starting off with regular NRI struggles of keeping the kids true to their cultural origins to the struggles of ambition versus family a lot of women have to contend with - life takes a turn as her dream job as a perfumist gets her an opportunity to design her own signature scent for a client which involves traveling down memory lane back to the multi-sensory world of India.

Reconnecting with characters from the prior books, Alka Joshi continues to build a vivid tapestry of characters - a strength she leans on. You can visualise the settings our protagonists are in with the rich prose Alka uses along with the conflicts that society throws onto our main protagonists. Since Radha has been my least favourite character in the series and this being her swansong made me less enthusiastic of this book compared to the rest so far but having invested in the trilogy, it felt good to get closure in Alka Joshi's signature style.

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Review: Funny Story

Funny Story by Emily Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: The book version of Rihanna's we found love in a hopeless place.

I rarely do RomComs but hey, I do get out of my comfort zone once in a while and GoodReads win bolstered this book's ranking on my "Light reads" list. The ending is cliched but that's with all romcoms - the predictability of that cliche is why the genre survives. The dopamine hit of a feel good ending has to be contrasted with the trials and tribulations prior to that for that heightened sense of an enjoyable ending.

Emily takes an interesting premise of our main protagonist Daphne who is about to marry her fiance Peter- a Greek God of the modern dating world till he drops the bombshell that he has decided to marry his childhood best friend Petra instead. Daphne moves in with Miles - Petra's ex boyfriend and is the exact opposite of Daphne. Being complete opposites yet united by a common tragedy, they learn more about each other and in that journey learn more about themselves. There was a phase of intense lovemaking that carried on for pages which felt a tad overboard in the scheme of the entire book.

Emily creates extremely flawed yet loveable characters (except the villains of this story Peter and Petra) making their challenges in dealing with family and life relatable and makes for a fun(ny) read.

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Review: Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering

Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A study on how small insignificant events can bring about a large change

Malcom Gladwell's sequel titled the Revenge of the Tipping Point focuses on numerous anecdotes backed with his research on how something insignificant can reach a tipping point and change the momentum across.

Using examples from how a TV mini series like Holocaust brought about a lot more awareness even amongst the Jewish communities of US apart from the broader world and led to a slew of museums across the world correlating with that timing.

How the spread of virus correlates to the concept of super spreaders with everything else even targeted sales rather than just blanket coverage. He introduces the concept of "A Magic Third" - an imaginary number that tends to be the tipping point to bring about any change - like a third of women members on a board , a third of minority population in schools to bring about effect for affirmative action in education and so on.

He reiterates how these forces can bring about unintended changes like triplication of presciptions in pharma reducing the opiod crisis in some states and the reverse in others. Or the privileged sports quota in premier universities create a back door.

Gladwell continues to pick compelling narratives and correlations in the complex world we delve in but compared to his prior books - this one felt a tougher one to trudge through from a writing style.

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