Bookstrapping – Page 2

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.

Bookstrapping – The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris

“Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work.”, stated Kamala Harris in The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. (Image source: Amazon)

Kamala Harris wears her middle class upbringing proudly and understands justice and makes it the core of her identity, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: The Illusion of Choice by Richard Shotton

In the 16 1/2 chapters, Richard Shotton in ‘The Illusion of Choice’ questions factors which influence one’s choices and further also shares the psychological quirks which govern the choices, states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping: Travellers in the golden realm by Lubaaba Al Azami

Al Azami says that India's reputation as an early paradise was built on the abundance of glinting gold and precious gemstones in her bountiful mines, even as India's spices were fabled as a fountain of youth, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

One of the bookstrapping insights by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta highlighted that in the 16th and 17 centuries, there were three leading Islamic Empires in the world- the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the Persian Safavid empire and the Indian Mughal empire. However, only in India did the rulers govern as a religious minority.

Bookstrapping: 101 years too little?

Visvesvaraya was a well-travelled man. He travelled to Japan in the 1890s, returning thoroughly impressed by its electric tramways and electric lighting, its education system and its modern economy, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

In this week’s bookstrapping, Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta reviews ‘Engineering a Nation’ by Aparajith Ramnath, which is on Bharat Ratna awardee and one of the early architect’s of India, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya or Sir Visvesvaraya.