Books I Read In 2021

We are yet again — at the end of the beautifully challenging year 2021. And ready to welcome the new year 2022 with all the hopes, positivity, love and light.

Personally, the first half of the year was excruciatingly painful but the second half eased me a bit and made me feel like a winner and again proved that Time Is The Mightiest.

I am back with a “Books I Read” revisit series started last year on my blog and would be continuing eternally!

Having read 13 books last year I had set a goal of reading at least 20 books in 2021.

Here’s the list of Books I Read In 2021.

One Arranged Murder — Chetan Bhagat

A typical masala novel by the great CB who has cracked writing novels that can be adapted in a Bollywood film. AAM is about a family whose daughter dies by falling from the terrace while waiting to break a karwa Chauth fast for her boyfriend. The fast-paced story turns out to be a complex family drama with enough twists and turns to keep your page-turning. And CB ends it in his signature you won’t be able to guess who was the real killer.

Purchased this book because I had not read a Chetan Bhagat book after Half Girlfriend.

Greenlights — Matthew McConaughey

Don’t know what triggered me to buy this book, most probably because I heard the title song of True Detective some days back. And I am glad that I picked it.

After reading the book I feel Matthew Mc Conaughey is a better storyteller than an actor. He sums up his life and achievements along with great wisdom and lessons learnt in his life and career. It’s a must-read for people in the showbiz/film industry be it Bollywood, Hollywood or peps working in any industry. He talks about how every single thing in Hollywood is business; the hugs, kisses, love you’s, heart emoji, public appreciation and everything. He tells the audience how he unbranded and re-branded himself from the rom-com guy and did films that challenged him as an actor by intentionally taking a two-year hiatus and rejected so many rom-com offers that could have made him filthy rich. He talks about his parents who divorced twice and married thrice and emphasised the importance of family and fatherhood.

The shared wisdom is splendid. I repeat not only film peps but everyone should read this book.

Words from a man of no words — Osho:

The book offers a radically different approach to life and to seeing the world. Short excerpts from Osho are selected to inspire, provoke, and trigger a self-reflection that leads to change. It is easy to read but perhaps difficult to digest . . . in essence, it is a meditation book!

“The truth that you will find — you will be surprised — is nowhere written, cannot be written. It is impossible to write it. It has never been uttered by anybody and it is not going to be uttered by anybody.”

The Inside story of our body’s most underrated organ — Gut — Giulia Enders — Incomplete

A cheeky up-close and personal guide to the secrets and science of our digestive system.

Coffee Can Investing —Pranab Uniyal, Rakshit Ranjan, and Saurabh Mukherjea:

Most people invest in the usual assets: real estate, gold, mutual funds, fixed deposits and stock markets. It’s always the same four or five instruments. All they end up making is a measly 8 to 12 per cent per annum. Those who are exceptionally unfortunate get stuck in the middle of a crash and end up losing a lot of money. What if there was another way? What if you could make not 10 not 15 but 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) on your investments? What if there was a way to grow your money four to five times whilst taking half the risk compared to the overall market? Bestselling author of Gurus of Chaos and The Unusual Billionaires, Saurabh Mukherjea puts his money where his mouth is. Saurabh follows the Coffee Can approach high-quality, low-risk investing. His firm, Ambit Capital, is one the largest wealth managers in India which invests with this approach and delivers stupendous returns. In Coffee Can Investing, Saurabh will show you how to go about low-risk investments that generate great returns. By Far The Best Book On Stocks (Indian Market)

Gunning The Godman — Ajay Lamba:

Notorious godman Asaram Bapu, aka Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, serves life imprisonment in the Central Jail Jodhpur. He was convicted for the rape of a minor and also has murder charges against him. Gunning for the Godman is the no-holds-barred, first-hand account of how Ajay Lamba, then DCP Jodhpur (West), landed the case and got a team of dedicated officers together. It is the story of how, foiling the Baba’s many attempts to get away scot-free, they arrested him in a matter of only ten days, and how they assiduously saw the victim and her family through a four-year-long trial. This, despite the countless threats to not only the girl and her family but also to DCP Lamba’s own family and team. A testimony to unrelenting courage, this story of a dynamic police officer’s pursuit of justice is a lesson for these troubled times.

Ikigai —Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia:

According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai — a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai — the place where passion, mission, vocation, and profession intersect — means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy because they’ve found a real purpose in life — the happiness of always being busy.

Beyond Good and Evil — Nietzsche

Beyond Good and Evil confirmed Nietzsche’s position as the towering European philosopher of his age. The work dramatically rejects the tradition of Western thought with its notions of truth and God, good and evil. Nietzsche demonstrates that the Christian world is steeped in false piety and infected with a ‘slave morality. With wit and energy, he turns from this critique to a philosophy that celebrates the present and demands that the individual imposes their own ‘will to power upon the world.

Stocks To Riches — Parag Parikh:

Investing in the stock market is challenging, as the market dynamics are unpredictable. Analysts, brokers and retail investors realise to their dismay that investments do well, but investors don’t do well. What could be the reasons behind this? What’s goes on in an investor’s mind? What makes a stock market bubble? How does it burst? How does one find the right strategy for investing? Intrigued by these pertinent questions, Parag Parikh, a seasoned broker and expert, took up the daunting task of understanding and demystifying investing in the stock market. Stocks to Riches is a distillate of his experience. It simplifies investing in stocks and provides key perspectives for a lay investor venturing into the market. And at the end of the day, Stocks to Riches helps the retail investor make money by following the time-tested and proven guidelines provided in the book. A must-read for brokers, analysts and retail investors.

Poetics — Aristotle:

Aristotle’s Poetics is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.[3] In this text, Aristotle offers an account of ποιητική, which refers to poetry or more literally “the poetic art,” deriving from the term for “poet; author; maker,” ποιητής. Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse drama (to include comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play), lyric poetry, and epic. The genres all share the function of mimesis or imitation of life, but differ in three ways that Aristotle describes a) Differences in music rhythm, harmony, meter and melody b) Difference of goodness in the characters and The difference in how the narrative is presented: telling a story or acting it out.

Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati — Ajay Bose:

This extensive book examines Mayawati’s record as chief minister since 2007. It pinpoints the reasons behind the BSP’s poor performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, her return to the Dalit agenda before the 2012 assembly elections, as well as its surprising results. Also scrutinized is Mayawati’s performance as a Dalit leader and administrator, besides the rampant corruption and failure of her social engineering project during these years. Though no longer likely to become prime minister, the author sees Mayawati playing a pivotal role in UP, and, indeed, Indian politics post the 2014 elections.

Indistractable — Nir Eyal:

Read this book if you want to reclaim your Focus and Attention. This is a great and most importantly practical book that helps you understand why you get distracted and what you can do about it. In today’s world, everyone is using technology in some way or form. The problem people have is that Technology ends up using them. Nir Eyal knows how technology can be used to capture people’s attention.

The Art of War — Sun Tzu:

The Art Of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (“Master Sun”, also spelt Sunzi), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills (or “art”) related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years it was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare[1] and has influenced both Far Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, lifestyles and beyond.

Save The Cat — Blake Synder:

“Save the Cat” is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, including The four elements of every winning logline The seven immutable laws of screenplay physics The 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by — and why they’re important to your script Why your Hero must serve your Idea Mastering the 15 Beats Creating the “Perfect Beast” by using The Board to map 40 scenes with conflict and emotional change How to get back on track with proven rules for script repair This ultimate insider’s guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a showbiz veteran who’s proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat.

Working Backwards — Bill Carr and Colin Bryar:

Working Backwards is an insider’s breakdown of Amazon’s approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives.

So — The count is 15 books in 2021. Missed out on the goal of reading 20 books. Nevertheless — read two extra books than last year. So — yeah! Let’s look at the brighter side.

Parting Thoughts? — Well, what else than wishing you a very Happy New Year 2022.

For me — 2022 is going to be huge in all aspects of life. Let’s already call it a life-changing breakthrough year!

See, you all next year!

Cheers!

P:S. The details about the book have been copied from the Internet. Yeah — I can act lazy at times too.:P