Bookstrapping – storyboard18

Bookstrapping: A conversation with Zahaan Bharmal of ‘The Art of Physics: Eight Elegant Ideas to Make Sense of Almost Anything’

“I'm not an expert but I believe that the number of people studying the subject, at least in the UK, has seen positive momentum. In the 1990s, when I was a student, the UK physics departments faced declining student numbers, with some even contemplating shutting down courses. The 2000s saw a resurgence," Zahaan Bharmal highlighted in a conversation with Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image Source: Curious Minds and Amazon)

Zahaan Bharmal in a conversation with Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta explains that Physics can make sense of very human problems. Though he cannot assure that physics holds all the answers to life, the universe and everything, but it does teach one to embrace the questions.

Bookstrapping: Tech Savvy but what about depth?

Long form reading of books is known to enhance both working memory and episodic memory. However, scrolling mindlessly and skimming digital environments for sensational news, exceeds our cognitive capacity, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image Source: LinkedIn)

Scrolling, skimming – as opposed to long form reading – may lead to shallow processing and forming convenient conclusions. This is the barrier to deep productive work that identifies and solves the problems of the world, states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: SERVE by B.S. Nagesh & Ritu D Ferrao

"The book says that they ‘had to do one week in housekeeping, one week in toilet cleaning, one week in security, one week guarding outside the store, one week in the storehouse, one week in the warehouse and thereafter they had to work in other functions within the business like accounting, administration, sale and merchandising.’ These experiences grounded each person and gave birth to several leaders who went on to become CEOs of retail companies in India," stated the book SERVE. (Image Source: Crossword)

This is a book for those who want to understand the business principles behind the ‘cultural and process orientation’ that is needed to deliver exceptional customer service, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: A conversation with author Deepak Jayaraman of ‘Play to Potential’

(Image Source: Amazon & Website)

Deepak Jayaraman says to reviewer Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta that this is a book for leaders who seek work-life balance. “The seed of this book and the classification of people into Type 1 and Type 2 was inspired from ‘Give and Take’ by Adam Grant,” he adds.

Bookstrapping: Think Like a Minimalist by Chirag Gander and Sahil Vaidya

Authors of the marketing book ‘Think Like a Minimalist’, Chirag Gander and Sahil Vaidya are your classic Forbes 30 under 30 achievers.

The authors outline four steps to achieve minimalism and add that ‘if the designer has to explain his work, probably something is wrong with it!’ states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: Commercial books – the ‘not so literary’ cousins of highbrow literature

Barbara taylor Bradford's 1979 novel, ‘A Woman of Substance,’ is one of the best-selling novels of all time. The protagonist of this book - the first in a series of eight - was a self-made retail tycoon named Emma Harte - and the multi-generational series revolves around her rags to riches story. (Image Source: National Literacy Trust)

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in this week’s Bookstrapping touched upon British American novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote till the ripe age of 90, sold a billion books, was a celebrated commercial writer, where her heroines tasted success due to their own intelligence and hard work. Gupta further credits commercial writers in keeping the reading habit alive and instilling value in that.

Bookstrapping: Restoring our Sanity Online by Mark Weinstein

Research suggests that it takes only four data points, specifically dates and times of purchases to determine someone's real identity online. This leads to the inference that since all social media is on the block chain, any entity can access it and target the user, stated Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review. (Image Source: Amazon)

Restoring our Sanity Online by Mark Weinstein is a book about specific steps to a non-addictive life on social media; and if and how Government and Big Tech can champion this reboot, stated Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: Versifying with Nadir Godrej

Last week saw the 11th edition of the Hurun India philanthropy list come out. From Shiv Nadar who topped the list to the Bajaj family who are tenth on it, education seemed to be on top of every list. This connected to Nadir Godrej’s poem, ‘Good & Green’, stated Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: wbcsd)

The power of poetry lies in the fact that like humor, it is eminently powerful in talking about complex issues. Nadir Godrej’s poems raise questions in the nicest, most human way possible, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Alok Sama’s ‘The Money Trap’ and Benjamin Graham’s ‘The Intelligent Investor’

Warren Buffet has repeatedly credited Benjamin Graham with being his inspiration. Graham earned returns during the most difficult times including the Great Depression- he beat the market by an average of roughly 5 percentage points- between 1936 and 1956, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

The Intelligent Investors’ timeless grasp of investing is miles apart from The Money Traps’ world of espionage, threats, sharp suited lawyers and honey traps, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: War By Bob Woodward

After fifty years of reporting on American politics, Woodward has trained his expert lens on the 3 years from 2021 to 2024. He has tremendous access and makes full use of it to give a ringside view of US Foreign policy and how that defines the character of its Presidents. (Image source: Simon & Schuster)

Bob Woodward is famous for his Donald Trump trilogy, the books Fear (2018) Rage (2020) and Peril (2021). Woodward is a two time Pulitzer winner, first in 1973 for the coverage of the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein and second in 2003 as the lead reporter for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.