The books we read...

Here is a rare personal-ish post on The Indic View. Personally I would like to see it as the exception that proves the rule!

The Nanopolitan Abi book-tagged me, and the above disclaimer notwithstanding I am glad to respond!

Total number of books I own: Though I read a lot, it is mostly magazines and newspapers - both online and paper versions. Still I do have some 100 books, and it is a mixed collection. Technical books related to my field of work, technical books not related to my field of work, books on the financial markets, novels and general non-fiction.

Last book I bought: Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

Last book I read: The third book in Asimov's Foundation series - Second Foundation. Yes this is the third book, because Prelude to Foundation was added later, and I think that was Asimov's first bestseller too. Anyway, the Foundation was Asimov's self-professed Roman Empire on a galactic scale (he was a history fan too).

Books that mean a lot to me: I will take that to mean books that stand out.

First there is City of Joy. Dominique Lapierre takes you through the filth and destitution of Calcutta, touching upon every gory and gruesome detail, and yet even as feel yourself all covered with slime and dirt, argues with irrefutable logic as to why Calcutta is still the City of Joy.

Any of Asimov's collection of essays on science. He had this amazing gift of making the most complicated and boring of scientific concepts sound so logical and simple. Well that was in large part because he would approach it from the beginning, mentioning all the tiny achievements that went into getting to the monumental achievement in the manner of a historian telling a story.

Who Moved My Cheese - that's an easy one!

Rogue Trader, by Nick Leeson. A hair raising account of how one man, Nick Leeson himself, brought down the Barings Bank, which was almost a British icon at one time. Nick makes some very hard-hitting points, which are arrived at through some hard experiences in life.

Tag some bloggers: While I am not critical of this book-tagging effort, I do not as a rule participate in chain-mailing or chain-posting. Still, any and all my readers are welcome to consider themselves tagged!