Book List

This is something i wanted to do from a long time. What i will try doing here is to make a note of all the books i read in the past few years. These will be only books i read and wrote about on my blog. I know i have read a lot many more in this time period but a lot of them didn’t make it to my blog as my blogging is sporadic. Esp in 2007-10 period it was barely alive. 2006-07 period i was young and stupid so though i read a lot i didn’t make a note of what i read.

2012

1. Lewis Mumford’s “The Myth of the Machine – Vol 1″ (In Progress)
2. సురవరం ప్రతాప రెడ్డి “ఆంధ్రుల సాంఘిక చరిత్ర” (In Progress)
3. Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History by V.Savarkar (In Progress)
4. The myth of the lazy native ( In Progress. Another one from the Multiversity stable)
5. George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier (In Progress)
6. Theodore Kaczynski’s “The Road to Revolution” (In Progress. The revolution continues)
7. Theodore Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its future (Scary Rebel stuff!.. Except for the revolution part everything is very gandhian.. very schumacherian.. very neo-luddite like)
8. జిడ్డు కృష్ణముర్తి : జీవన దర్శనము( A peek into the world of Jiddu Krishnamurthi)
9. R.K.Narayan’s Waiting for the Mahatma (Went off like a breeze.. As always!)
10. Plato’s Republic – A Biography by Simon Blackburn (Very Enlightening.. hope i read the original some day!)
11. Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order ( At times too simplistic and at times too complex)
12. George Orwell’s Animal Farm (Absolute brilliance!)
13. Decolonising the Mind- The politics of language in african literature by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Hard hitting!)
14. Synthetic Culture and Development by Renato Constantino (Typical Multi-versity library stuff!)
15. Moved By Love by Marjori Sykes (Memoirs of Vinobha Bhave. Up Close and Personal style of narration)
16. Lokmanya Tilak by Prof.A.K.Bhagwat and Prof. G.P. Pradhan ( Very well written)
17. M J Akbar’s Tindexbox : The past and future of pakistan (Very rich narration)
18. Lights Out!: Ten Myths about (and Real Solutions To) America’s Energy Crisis (In Progress)
    
19. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-6 (As always.. make you think a lot)
20. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-5 (Lots of letters. Very Interesting!)
21. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-4 (There is something about this man!)
    
22. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-3 (Must read for the Urban English Speaking Hindu! )
23. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-2 (Pure Awesomeness! )
24. Swami Vivekananda Complete Works Vol-1 (Must Read !)
25. రాజశేఖర చరిత్రము by Kandukuri Veeresalingam (First Telugu Novel)
26. గాథా వాహిని by Indraganti Srikanta Sharma ( Based on Hala’s 1st century A.D work Gatha Saptasati)
27. రాదారి బంగళా by Aarudra (88 page drama.. went off like a breeze.. Perfect!)
28. గిరీశం లెక్చర్లు by Mullapudi Venkata Ramana (Hilarious!)
29. రామచంద్ర విజయము by చిలకమర్తి లక్ష్మి నరసింహం(1894 telugu novel!)
30. Taapi Dharma Rao’s “దేవాలయాల మీద బూతు బొమ్మలెందుకు?” (This in 1936 .. Shud’ve been quite a sensation!!)
31. Taapi Dharma Rao’s “ పెళ్లి – దాని పుట్టు పూర్వోత్తరాలు” (Okie-ish)
32. “వసిష్ఠ గీత” (Condensed version of Yoga Vasishtam in Telugu)
33. “ప్రాచీన గాథాలహరి” by P Ganapati Sastri ( Inspired by Kalhana’s Rajatarangini)
34. Dan Brown’s “The lost symbol” (His best one to date?)
35. Jack Welch “Winning” ( NOT like those typical management books)
36. “I have a dream” – Rashmi Bansal (Very much like her other books. Good inspiring stories)
37. “Bapu Kuti” – “Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi” by Rajni Bakshi (Rediscovery of Gandhi.. Indeed! )
38. E.F.Schumacher’s “A guide for the perplexed” (Pure awesomeness)
39. “Indian Food – A Historical Companion” by K.T.Achaya (A mouth watering book! :))
40. “Great Speeches of Modern India” Edited by Rudrangshu Mukherjee (Very very captivating)
41. Akash Chopra’s “Out of the Blue” (One of the best cricket books of recent times)

2011

1. “White Paradise Hell for Africa?” by Nsekuye Bizimana (Rwandan perspective to Colonialisation – Euro hegemony etc)
2. Amartya Sen’s “Development as Freedom” (Very scholarly? Very much liked some chapters related to Culture-Tradition and similar debates)
3. “Integral Humanism” by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (Surprisingly similar to “Hind Swaraj”)
4. “Inhuman Rights” by Winin Pereira (Dark and depressing take on abuse of human rights)
5. Louis Kelso’s “Capitalist Manifesto ( Very very well written about the “Third way”)
6. Yuganta by Iravati Karve ( A unique perspective on Mahabharatha)
7. Galielo by Brecht ( A very powerful play)
8. Beyond the last blue mountain ( Not worth the hype. But a good read)
9. Science, Development and Violence – The revolt against modernity by Claude Alvares ( Must read to know about India)
10. Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich (A gem of a book)
11. Four Arguments for the elimination of television by Jerry Mander ( Must read very rebel like)
12. Asking the earth – The spread of unsustainable development by Wenin Pereira (Must read, Deep)
13. Economy of permanence by J C Kumarappa ( Glimpses of Indian economics)
14. Why the Village Movemeny by J C Kumarappa ( Gandhian economics)
15. Philosophy of Village Movement by J C Kumarappa (Gandhian economics again)
16. In Gandhi’s footsteps – Life and times of Jamnalal Bajaj by B R Nanda (What a man!)
17. Siddartha by Herman Hesse (Good for a non-indian or anglicised indian to realise the richness of the orient)
18. Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Don’t know why it became such a big hit. Such a bore)
19. M N Roy’s New Humanism (Brilliant!)
20. Sociology of Indian Society by S Chand group (Brought this during UPSC stint. Good textbook)
21. Sociology by Harlambos (Brought this during UPSC stint. Good textbook)
22. Bazaars Conversations and Freedom by Rajni Bakshi (Brilliant! Must read!)
23. Small is Beautiful by E.F.Schumacher (Brilliant! Must read! – Economics as if people mattered indeed!)
24. Red Orleanders by Tagore (Tough read. But interesting premise)
25. Bertrand Russel’s In Praise of Idleness  and other essays (I repent not reading this before)
26. The Makers of Modern India by Ramachandra Guha (Typical Guha)
27. One Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse (Shall read again)
28. Social Change in Modern India by M.N.Srinivas (Thought of this during UPSC stint. Good book)
29. Mana Telugu by Bhamidipati Kameshwara Rao (Funny!)
30. Learning to pray in the age of technique by Goncalo M Tavares (Not worth the hype. But goodone nevertheless)
31. Tagore’s Samavayaniti or The co-operative Principle (Brilliant! Take a bow tagoreji!)
32. Super Freakonomics (So so.Okie dokie)
33. The Idler and The Rambler by Samuel Johnson (Interesting in parts)
34. Unto this last( Yet another re-read. Charming book)
35. Grit, Guts and Gumption: Driving Change in a State Owned Giant (SBI rox)
36. Chanakya’s Chant by Ashwin Sanghi (Chethan bhagat types)
37. Boy and Going Solo by Roald Dahl (Not very engaging)
38. The fresh brew (IIM Lucknow entrepreneurs story)
39. Walt disney: The triump of the american imagination (Pretty Neat!)
40. 1984 by George Orwell (Gem!)
41. Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna(I like the way they narrate stories)
42. Peter Robinson’s Snapshots from hell (Hilarious!)
43. Management mistakes by Robert F Hartley (Read and forgot also)
44. The Goal by Goldratt (Operations MBA)
45. The Prince by Machiavelli ( Got bored! But decent book obvly i don’t understand the greatness)

2010

1. The Mammaries of the Welfare state by Upamanyu Chatterjee (Don’t even remember what i read :()
2. Veerappa Moily’s The Edge of Time (It’s good. I read only because it was by Moily though)
3. Maharani- Memoirs of a rebellious princess (Fascinating read)
4. When Good Companies do Bad things by Peter schwartz and Blair Gibb (Scary)
5. Marketing communication : Entrepreneurial case studies (Read and Forgot)
6. It’s Only Business – India’s corporate social responsiveness in a globalized world by Meera Mitra (Typical CSR Stuff)
7. More than money : Questions that every MBA needs to answer by Mark Albion (Very Disturbing)
8. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Not as creative as the title but good)
9. Iacocca an Autobiography (Well now i know why its famous)
10. Made in Japan by Akio Morita ( Well now i know why its famous)
11. The Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohd.Hanif (Very “new” indo-pak story)
12. May i hebb your attention pliss by Arnab Ray (Boring. Cliched)
13. I will survive- comeback stories of a corporate warrior by Sunil Robert (Liked the Hyderabad link)
14. Eragon by Christopher Paolini(Bliss!)
15. Eldest by Christopher Paolini(Bliss!)
16. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini(Bliss!)
17. Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (More Bliss!)
18. Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (More Bliss!)
19. Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (More Bliss!)

2009

1. The Ripped Chest : Public Policy and the Poor in India by Harsh Mander( Deep. Must read)
2. A Search in Secret India by Paul brunton (One of those mystic mystic types)
3. Thoughts on Education by Acharya Vinoba Bhave (Translated by Marjori Sykes) ( Gandhi’s Nai Talim)

2008

1. Sankar’s Chowringhee (Some good lines here and there)
2. India’s Politics [A view from the backbench] by Bimal Jalan (His experience shows)
3. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish by Rashmi Bansal (Good compilation)
4. Binoo K John’s Entry From Backside Only – a book on the ‘hazaar fundas’ of Indian English (Fun!)
5. Three cups of tea (About the mountaineer who started schools.. later heard that he might be a fraud)
6. Midnight’s Children by Rushdie (I can never finish this book)
7. The Secret by Rhoda Byrne (Why did i even buy this one)
8. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Refreshing)
9. Opening Up: My Autobiography by Michael Atherton (Must read for cricket fans)
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hoseini(Very Engaging)
11. Everybody loves a Good Drought by P Sainath (Gem of a book)

2007

1. Anita Desai’s Voices in the city (Lyrical Richness)
2. Banker to the poor by Mohammad Younus (Very interesting)
3. One hundred years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Couldn’t finish :( )
4. Tagore Omnibus (Well, Tagore rox!)
5. Orhan Pamuk’s Snow (Couldn’t finish :( )
6. Feluda by Satyajit Ray (God Level!)
7. How to Change the World by David Bornstein (Inspiring!)
8. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by Sisir Kumar Bose (Interesting)
9. India’s Ancient Past by R.S. Sharma (History textbook)
10. Maidanam by Gudipati Venkata Chalam (Psychology boook)
11. The art of innovation by Tom Kelley (A book on innovation)
12. Veyi Padagalu by Vishwanatha Satyanarayana (Tough read. But a gem of a book)
13. Q&A by Vikas Swarup ( Slumdog Millionaire!)
14. Nenu , naa desam by Darisi Chenchaiah (Unheard of story on indian freedom struggle)
15. Police Chamatkaralu by Pervaram Ramulu

2006

1. Amaravathi Kathalu by Satyam Shankaramanchi (Malgudi-ish)
2. Speeches and letters of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (Respect !)
3. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad’s India Wins Freedom (Good.Must read)
4. Hyderabad – A Biography by Narendra Luther (Hyderabad \m/)
5. My Life as Emperor by Su Tong(Don’t remember)
6. The Great Belzoni: The Circus Strongman Who Discovered Egypt’s Ancient Treasures (Don’t remember)
7. The Dawn of a New Science by Gopikrishna (Don’t remember)
8. One man’s bible by Gao Xingjian (Don’t remember)
9. Golobalisation and its discontents by Stiglitz (Awesome)
10. The truth about markets by John Kay (Don’t remember)
11. Pakistan by Mary Anne Weaver (Don’t remember)
12. The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins (Amazing book)
13. Gulag by Anne Applebaum (Very disturbing)
14. Red Night by Duanmu Hongliang (Chinatown!)
15. Ayn Rand’s Anthem ( Awesome)
16. Kaalarekhalu by Ampasayya Naveen (One of the few telugu books i read and actually loved reading)
17. Watan A collection of muslim short stories (I still remember a cricket based story from this book after 5 years of reading)