[whitewing]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/0446530883/
...

Written is the same style and pace as Freedom At Midnight, makes a riveting, grim read. This books gives a good insight into how our the Indian bureaucracy & politicians work.
Rather unfortunate that paper back editions are not available at reasonable prices, The same was the case with "Spies In The Himalayas".

If I recollect correctly, the sale proceeds would go to the rehabilitation of the gas affected victims, if they either had a kindle version or a reasonably priced one, for sure the sales would be higher.

[devilking]

Just finished reading 'The Wrong Enemy - America in Afghanistan' by Carlotta Gall, an ex-NYT journalist and Pulitzer prize winner who was posted in Afghanistan earlier.

Very well written and quite relevant considering the recent events.

[RiderZone]

Books related to Motorcycles: The Good and the Bad

These are my suggestions for motorcycle related books based on my experiences. I listen to books almost exclusively on Audible, find it much easier than reading.

Good, in decreasing order of goodness (my opinion):

1. Road Racer by Michael Dunlop:

One hell of a book, punches you straight in the nose from page 1 with emotion and intensity. Can be considered to be a short history of road racing, since the Dunlop family has been such an important part of it for so long. Highly recommended read.

2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson:

Not completely a motorcycle related book, but by gawd could this man write. A beautiful, hilarious, creepy story that makes you consider a career in drugs, and maybe writing.

3. Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon:

Extremely popular, and for good reason. Written in stereotypically understated British style, it is probably the most "normal" book in this list. The story begins in India, which is a bonus.

4. 5. 6. 7. Into Africa, Under Asian Skies, Distant Suns, Tortillas to Totems by Sam Manicom

The man can write, and ride. I doubt there's any corner of the world he hasn't been to. These 4 books are full of lovely stories, but the main reason I like his stuff is because he narrates his own books. There's a special charm in that, and it's quite rare.

8. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

A weird mixture of philosophy, mechanics, and touring, interspaced by silly words like "chautauquas" said over and over again. I don't know why people like it, I don't know why I liked it myself, I guess you gotta read it to find out.

9. Built for Speed by John McGuinness:

The rare book that I read in print. I was lucky enough to be at the 2017 Isle of Man TT, and there John McGuinness himself signed my copy. It's a great book, with many situations that I as an Indian dude found very strange.

10. Guy Martin by Guy Martin:

It's a good book, but the problem is that Guy Martin has risen so far above the level of a normal human being, that it's difficult to relate to him. Sure he says that he's just a truck mechanic, but the life experiences he has had till now are just so far out of a normal person's capabilities that by the end of the book I just felt jealous and puny. Not Guy's fault of course, but the dude has just too much goddamn energy.

11. Conquering the Iron Giant by Graham Jarvis:

Relatively rare book about life in the off-road world, Graham Jarvis is a legend, and I was expecting a bit more from the book. But in the end, as Graham himself points out quite often, he's just a very introverted guy who rarely got into any sort of trouble. It's a lovely read in any case, especially if you want to get into serious off-road riding. Just not comparable to some of the other more exciting stuff out there.

12. In Search of Greener Grass by Graham Field:

When I was on Facebook, Graham Field was one of my friends there. It's a weird feeling to be friends with a published author, at least for me, so I read it. It's good, but somehow I never connected with it, perhaps because he's a music festival kinda guy and I'm not.

Bad:

1. Never Say Never by Nick Harris:

Anyone into MotoGP would know who Nick Harris is, the legendary commentator who was the voice of MotoGP for years. I had expected some inside stories, fun stuff from a man who was deep within the sport for so many years, especially because it says so on the cover. However, this book is perhaps the most boring piece of "literature" I've ever read. I didn't even make it past the halfway mark, the man just drones on and on about each individual race result from freaking 1949 or something all the way till today. Why in hell would I want to know who won the Assen TT in 1959? Huge, spectacular disappointment.

2. Hell's Angel by Sonny Barger:

Buying this was my mistake. I had expected that the man who started Hell's Angel would be cool, self-aware, might even be funny. I had not expected that he takes his own stupid slogans and patches and idiocy quite seriously. It's the story of an illiterate, delusional, silly little manchild who believes his own propaganda, and genuinely thinks that riding a motorcycle with a horde of other like-minded idiots somehow makes him a superior human being. He's what would happen if "I was born in a middle-class family. My Bullet made me Royal" was a person. Avoid like the plague.

If anyone has suggestions of their own for motorcycle related books, let me know!

P.S. I have read Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara, but didn't include it in this list because it's too much of a cliché by this point. Everybody's read it in any case.

[GTO]

Vijaypat Singhania's autobiography - An Incomplete Life - has been in the news lately. Don't buy it! What a boring, snooze fest from such an interesting and dynamic man. I literally got done with it in a handful of hours. He's quite candid in the book about himself and his relationships, but it's not enough.

Rating 1 / 5 stars. Thumbs down.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

Vijaypat Singhania's autobiography - An Incomplete Life...Don't buy it! What a boring, snooze fest from such an interesting and dynamic man.

I'm sure half this planet knows this VVIP!! The only motivation for reading this book was Ashley Vance's biography on Elon Musk. But this book can be perfectly categorizable under the above statement!! After this I'm giving up reading anyone's biography despite my next book was Long Walk to Freedom.

[adisan]

"A Champion's Mind" by Pete Sampras.

In his own words, his journey from being a promising player to a champion. It also includes his comments on some of his key matches.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Vijaypat Singhania's autobiography - An Incomplete Life - has been in the news lately. Don't buy it! What a boring, snooze fest from such an interesting and dynamic man. I literally got done with it in a handful of hours. He's quite candid in the book about himself and his relationships, but it's not enough.

Rating 1 / 5 stars. Thumbs down.

That is going on since 2018 when Gautam filed a case against him and the publishers in a civil court for the book being defamatory. Its a good 200+ pages and you read it all in few hours? Whats your reading speed?

One suggestion from my end: Read the 'The Runaway Wife' by Dee Macdonald. Feel good novel with lots of humour. Easy and wise, both at the same time.

[altoman]

The Biography of a Failed Venture : Prashant Desai (4/5)

Having celebrities like Anil Kumble, Hardik Pandya, Farhan Akhtar, etc. cannot guarantee success in business venture. Makes interesting read for all.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by ritzy

I, like many here, absolutely loved Sapiens. Although I have not yet read Homo Deus, I would rather first read about his take on current times in this new book, before moving on to Homo Deus, which anyways talks about future.

Originally Posted by pnredkar

Completely agree with your review. Can't wait to read his next book - "Homo Deus: A brief history of tomorrow", the name itself being an oxymoron!

Post reading Sapiens a few years back, finally started on Homo Deus.
The writing style is as as engaging as the first book although it misses out on the near in person narrative of the Sapiens.

I'm not yet mid way through, and the author has brought in a strong argument against animal husbandry in its current form and a his diagnosis for unhappiness.

[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by whitewing

Post reading Sapiens a few years back, finally started on Homo Deus.
The writing style is as as engaging as the first book although it misses out on the near in person narrative of the Sapiens.

I'm not yet mid way through, and the author has brought in a strong argument against animal husbandry in its current form and a his diagnosis for unhappiness.

Sapiens was a great work and very engaging indeed. What's new is that Sapiens has now been re-published in the form of a Comic Book / Graphic Novel for kids. And it's quite engaging and entertaining as well.

Now I'm on to Homo Deus and it's a fitting sequel. The animal husbandry argument about animals having feelings and then being exploited at an industrial level, in abysmal conditions, to rear them for food is very valid. In fact it's our preference for meat as a species that leads to industrial scale rearing of animals internationally. This is amply illustrated by Jonathan Safran Foer in his book " We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast", and extracts of which I've written about in this posthttps://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5077318 (Could humans really destroy all life on our planet?).


Next in line : 21 Lessons For the 21st Century, again by Yuval Noah Harari.

Cheers !

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Ironhide

Sapiens was a great work and very engaging indeed. What's new is that Sapiens has now been re-published in the form of a Comic Book / Graphic Novel for kids. And it's quite engaging and entertaining as well.

Ordered it for my kid. Hope it is as engaging from a high school kid's perspective.

Originally Posted by Ironhide

Jonathan Safran Foer in his book " We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast", and extracts of which I've written about in this posthttps://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5077318 (Could humans really destroy all life on our planet?).

You have posted a very detailed summary. It was like reading a book summary from https://www.getabstract.com/ ! That summary actully took away the incentive to read the book :-)

Thank on both counts.

[kozhissery]

I recently read the book "A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence" by "Jeff Hawkins". The first two parts ("The theory of how brain works" and "Future of AI") are well put.
I would rate 4/5 stars.

[IamNikhil]

I am a sucker for political memoirs and biographies. Currently reading an account of Bill Clinton's presidency by veteran journalist John Harris of the Washington Post.

[Saanil]

Book: Billion Dollar Loser

This book tells the dramatic rise and fall of WeWork, a start up which offers co-working spaces at competitive prices all around the world. The book is written by Reeves Wiedeman who is a writer at the New York Magazine. The writing is crisp and entertaining especially for people who like business related books. It was fascinating to know that at one point, WeWork was the second largest private company in the world (Uber was #1) with a valuation of US$47bn. Based on several interviews with WeWork’s employees, the book attempts to throw light on the leadership style of Adam Neumann (co-founder of WeWork) and the company’s growth strategy.

This book is definitely worth reading once.

[AjinkyaP]

Night by Eli Wiesel



27 Jan 2022 marked 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration and extermination camp.

I decided to start with The Night trilogy.Night is Elie Wiesel's memoir about his experiences during the Holocaust.Harrowing and chilling struggle for survival ,makes you feel enraged and depressed.

A book everyone should read.

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”