The Sound of Thunder

Writer: Wilbur Smith

Genre: Fiction

Sean Courtney has decided to return from wilderness into civilization, but his ideas go for a toss when Boers wage a war against the whites and Sean is caught right in the middle of the war. He however decides to pursue his path and go home to Ladyburg. On his way he meets a woman named Ruth and falls for her. However she leaves him and returns to her husband, but destiny are to bring them together.

After dropping of Dirk to the safety of his mother he joins the war as a soldier and this time his path crosses again with his brother- turned- foe, Garrick. Garry is no mood to relent and Sean's efforts of reconciliation falls on deaf ears. However, owing to his courage he soon becomes a popular soldier and a dear friend to Saul, Ruth's husband. Saul dies in action and soon the war ends. Sean marries Ruth and gets her home and starts his own business at Ladyburg. His war heroics have gained him enough fame and fortune and he soon turns his eyes towards politics. Michael, his first born , however raised by Garry, soon becomes enchanted with his Uncle Sean and decides to work for him. Just when he thinks he has everything a man would ask for, his son, Dirk decides to leave him because he has become too jealous for his father. 

The book ends once again on a sad note with Dirk leaving his father. However Sean has been accepted by Garrick and the brothers look forward to a better life.

It's a little difficult to explain my fascination with the Courtney books. However after this second book in the First Courtney sequence, I think of all his characters....Monsoon and Tom Courtney still are the best....Sean comes in at the second place only.  One more book to go to finish this first sequence ;)

When the Lion Feeds

Writer: Wilbur Smith
Genre: Fiction

Sean and Garrick Courtney are twin brothers but they couldn't be more different. Sean is the proverbial trouble maker while Garry always seems to follow Sean. On a childhood expedition Sean accidently shoots Garrick in the leg owing to which is leg is amputated. The memory of the event haunts Sean throughout the book. The kids grow up and are soon enlisted to join a war. Both of them survive the war but lose their brotherly love for each other all thanks to Garry's new wife Anna.

Sean embarks on a wild journey to wilderness and manages to strike rich with a gold mine in Johannesburg . Just when he thought he was powerful enough, he loses all his fortune to a stupid move in the exchange. Again he decides to leave the place and travel somewhere else taking with him his loyal friend Duff and his Zulu servants. He loses Duff to a disease and marries a Boer woman, Katrina who gives birth to Dirk.
The book ends in melancholy after Katrina commits suicide for reasons unknown to Sean. He again sets off to wilderness to handle the excruciating pain.

The Upside of Irrationality

Writer: Dan Ariely
Genre: Human Behaviour

I did not have anything else to read and this one was the only available book at home. I had not liked the genre but the synopsis told me it could be a good read. I started it with vengeance almost kept it down and then picked up again with vigour.

Dan Ariely explores the most common human traits like revenge, vindictiveness, anger, adaptation, empathy, etc. thru experiments and states before us why, at times, irrational behaviour can be helpful for humans. One of my favourite examples in the book is about Thomas Edison turning a blind eye to his associate, Tesla's discovery of AC (Alternate Current) just because he had discovered DC(Direct Current). The writer calls this syndrome as 'not-invented-here' bias which I think most of us suffer from. There are many such anecdotes that make the book a lively read.

Great books to catch up with even for first timers but you need to be a little patient in the beginning lest you keep it down like I almost did ;)

The Emerging Mind

Writer: Vilayanur Ramachandran
Genre: Non Fiction / Science

What would you call a person who sees some numbers colored always? And what about someone who cannot see [although he has perfect vision] anything to his left? What about someone who starts laughing when in pain?
The answer to all the above from a commoner would be - Mad!

After a disastrous fiction book, an absolute wow book that had me hooked. How does our brain work? I am sure each one of us has had that question many a times. That reason alone is enough for people to pick up this book. And yes, not to forget that the writer has written the book in a style that will endear it to readers who may have no background in science. It’s just pure pleasure to understand his explanations even after subtracting the technical aspects.

The writer picks some famous mental disorders like Phantom Limbs, color-graphemic synesthesia(seeing colored numbers) and explains them in a very tactful manner. He uses all the terminologies but yet keeps the explanation easy enough for people who would like to just understand the reason behind the disorder. The book is filled with such disorders and their explanations in a very lucid fashion.

Grab the book; you won't regret even a single page!

Oh Shit Not Again!

Writer: Mandar Kokate
Genre: Fiction

Skip it!

Its Not About The Bike: My journey Back to Life

Writer: Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

Genre: Autobiography

Do a Google search on Lance Armstrong and you will know why everyone should read this book. Armstrong's determination is so human that you get inspired too.

Winning world famous cycling championships Armstrong was all set for the Grand Slam of cycling races - the Tour De France when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and a brain tumour. He underwent chemo, brain surgery and returned back to win the 1999 Tour De France. The media suggested that his chemo was probably acting as a doping agent in his win. The man however has silenced all his critics because he has won the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, which in itself is a record.

  

The book covers this journey in an extremely inspirational and human way. He has no qualms in accepting his aggressiveness before being diagnosed and neither is he ashamed to admit that he was scared and almost quit cycling. his almost fatherless childhood is stated in a matter-of-fact manner and that’s something that I really liked.

It’s fabulous and an uncomplicated read. Grab a copy whenever you feel down, this book sure motivates you to keep trying harder

Update: Oct 2012
Lance Armstrong has been disqualified from all his results since 1998 after the doping allegations against him were found to be true. He has chosen to not contest the findings.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Writer: Robert Pirsig

Genre: Philosophy

Do not let the genre be a turn off! A fabulous book that I caught hold of after a long long time. By the way it has got nothing to do either with Zen or motorcycle maintenance as such, but maintenance of motorcycles seems to serve as a good analogy for the author for explaining his point of view.    

The book is a first person narration of a motorcycle journey of the author with his son, Chris and family friends from Minnesota to California. The book jumps between 2 characters - the author in his present state and a state in which he identifies himself as Phaedrus. Phaedrus, a rhetoric teacher and becomes engaged in identifying what is it that makes something better than something else. In short, he wants to define Quality. His pursuit of Quality drives him insane and the mental asylum changes his personality completely.

It’s almost impossible to explain the contents of this book without sounding insane yourself. It is class apart and you have to read it, understand it and accept it to understand its beauty. But yes, it’s not an easy read. You need patience and my idea is that if you love the book in the first 100 pages you will read it till the end or else keep it down immediately.

This one is going to be on my favourite list!

Some excellent quotes from the book:

"The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling."

"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion."

"For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses. "

Q:"Is it hard?

A: 'Not if you have the right attitudes. Its having the right attitudes thats hard."

..................and my personal favourite

"The law of gravity and gravity itself did not exist before Isaac Newton."

...and what that means is that that law of gravity exists nowhere except in people's heads! It 's a ghost!"

Mind has no matter or energy but they cant escape its predominance over everything they do. Logic exists in the mind. Numbers exist only in the mind. I don't get upset when scientists say that ghosts exist in the mind. Science is in your mind too, it s just that that doesn’t make it bad. Or ghosts either."

Laws of nature are human inventions, like ghosts. Law of logic, of mathematics are also human inventions, like ghosts."

Conversations with myself

Writer: Nelson Mandela

Genre: Collection of Letters, etc.

Picked up this book by mistake and was too stupid as to not verify its contents. I was actually scouting for his autobiography and bought this instead.  It’s a collection of letters, conversations, and written notes from the man himself - Nelson Mandela. Much of the data is from the days when he was imprisoned at Robin Island.

Decent read but not exciting enough and yeah the price is a little too steep for its contents! My take, skip it.

Money for Nothing

Writer: P G Wodehouse
Genre: Classic/ Humour/Fiction

Another perfect one from the master himself!  I am thoroughly enjoying my second stint with Wodehouse and I intend to read his entire collection again. During times when the going is not good, Wodehouse is the man for you.  Someone who can seriously make you smile with those smart one liners and comic but simple situations.

Lester Carmody and his old pal, Col. Wyvern are no longer on talking terms because of a silly feud and this has given poor Johnnie sleepless nights. Why? Because he, Lester's nephew, is in love with  Pat, Wyvern's daughter. He proposes her but Pat can never accept Johnnie as a lover because he is not the dashing kinds. When the American millionaire, Molloy and his daughter pay a visit to Mr. Carmody there is more to them than what meets the eye. 
Mr. Molloy's daughter seems to be interested in Johnnie and this makes Pat jealous.

All hell breaks loose when the Molloy's along with Lester Carmody and the local fitness man, Dr. Twist fake a burglary of the Carmody's ancestral heirloom. Johnnie decides to investigate and ends up as a prisoner at Twist's health resort.

How he manages the situation and finally wins Pat's heart makes for some real good reading.

The story is uncomplicated and carries a Wodehouse stamp all along. A must read for British English lovers and pick it up if you need some smiles as you turn the pages.

Much Obliged Jeeves

Writer: P G Wodehouse
Genre: Fiction/ Humour

Bertie Wooster, on insistence of his aunt Dahlia decides to help an old chum, Ginger Winship, in winning the House of Commons by-election. However, when he reaches Brinkley he is in for surprises. Florence Craye, his ex-fiancé is now engaged to Ginger. Spode and Madeline are in Brinkley too to help Ginger.

Bertie's butler, Jeeves who is a member of Junior Ganymede club tells him about a book that exists in his club where every employee writes about his employer. He also explains that book consists of some explosive material for Ginger. Unfortunately the book has been stolen by Bingley and he threatens to expose Ginger's past.

A simple situation and a fabulous British English narration. It’s a classic Wodehouse, something that’s short, sweet and extremely humorous. Go for it!