The Happiness of Pursuit - the book I ordered

Received the book The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau today. I already have his "100$startup" and recently picked "The art of non-confirmity" from the office library. Very inspiring man he is!

White Fang - Book I ordered

Received the book "The call of the Wild, White Fang, and other stories" by Jack London today.

Rearranged books alphabetical order

Rearranged books today..favorite pastime and ny destress mechanism

Bangalore Book Festival 2013

[Updated 29.11.2013 7.35 pm]  This event has been called off by the organizers.
[Updated 07.12.2013 10:05 pm] Book Fest may be held in Jan (link)
You may want to follow Facebook Link

My Original Post:
The much awaited Bangalore Book Festival 2013 will start from 29th November.  The grand event is scheduled at Tripura Vasani, Palace Grounds, Bangalore.
The exhibition is between 29th Nov - 8th Dec.
This will be the much awaited event of the year for the book lovers and bibliophiles. The event normally starts in the October and also spread for more than 2 weeks.  However, this time it happens only for 10 days.  The public will get two weekends to visit this book exhibition.
Approximately under 300 stalls, the books are expected to be in English and all Indian languages. Usually, the book stalls give a discount of 20% - this is far lesser than online shopping.  But I personally encourage buying from stores regularly to support the publishing community.
I wish the book exhibition differentiates itself beyond regular and popular books. We also would like to see rare books, unique ones. Also, bibliophiles would love to see bookshelves.  Self Publishing companies and City Libraries also should make their presence wide.
I am looking forward for the event.

[ADDED] Some more personal links:
My daughter Diya at Bangalore Book Festival 2010
Diya exploring the stage in Bangalore Book Festival 2008 (she was 2 years then)

Great Men in My Hall

I woke up one day only to realize that I have some of the greatest men that history produced, have assembled in my hall. You guessed it - the books on / written by great men. This is not a standard statement. But when I look at the books on Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Fredrich Nietzsche, Hellen Keller etc., I knew these are radiating special energy on my floor. Not because they are popular, but they are great people of our times.
On top of it, the books by my virtual mentor Anthony Robbins continue to guide me on everyday life. I am bibliophile, and I am feeling very responsible when I stand in front of my bookshelf.  I do not get fascinated by gold, house property, technology gadgets but the very sight of books make me a different person.
There are several great authors who have produced both best sellers and not best-selling ones. Though I can give several examples for best sellers, there are few non-best-selling books that fascinate me a lot: (1) Secret Life of Plants (2) Secret of the Soil  and few books I picked from British Library - Eating The Sun (Oliver Morton), Waste (by Tristram Stuart), Seasons of Life.
By NOT having read several good books, I know this world is immeasurable. I feel humbled at this very thought.

Bookmarks in style

Bookmarks at Crossword

Bookmarks at Crossword

Bookmarks are essential part of reading.  People who do not care for books, use dog ear folds (folding the corner of the page for a bookmark).   Bookmarks are fun.  Some come with message, some come with fun dose.
The recent collection I saw in Crossword are cute but expensive (Rs.400/-).  I bought one to encourage reading habit of my daughter.
I want to gift trendy bookmarks and travel lights for my dear ones on special occasions. If you find a place where I can get them cheaper, please let me know.

Bookshops Roundup

This is a bookshops roundup. While I am more than regular on Flipkart.com, I also visit bookshops looking for fresh and variety books.  Most of the bookshops that I visit are based on the proximity to my living place.

Crossword
@JP Nagar 3rd Phase - I was so excited when this bookshop opened about a couple of years back.  Has good collections. The staff are friendly but less knowledgeable about books. I met many of my friends their in this shop. There were sofas to sit and read the books but the management decided to remove them. There are less children magazines, and more adult (yes!) magazines. The bookshop collects feedback often but does not implement any.  I used to take my daughter and nephews to the shop during summer. The shop runs offer sales throughout the year but items are less exciting.  They used to invite book authors - I met Tony Buzan here. 
@Koramangala - This one was a surprise when I first visited the Medimix group's hotel Cholayil Sanjeevanam and FabIndia.  Most of the comments above are applicable.
Sapna Bookhouse, Jayanagar
This shop must be everyone's favourite. It has everything like stationery, latest books, text books etc. Always crowded. The books for children are cheaper.  One of the few shops that has regional (Kannada only) books. I have once met Robin Sharma and got his book autographed here.


Landmark, Forum Mall
One of my favourite desitnation for books. If I visit Forum, its either for PVR or Landmark. Until four months back, they had two floors. When I visited yesterday, the shop has only one floor. The one at Level 1 is occupied by WestSide which again has a new avatar.  The new renewed Landmark shop has new look and feel but for the book lovers, the space is obviously reduced. The home items have vanished and is replaced by sports and fitness items.
@Garuda Mall - There was one and I used to frequent. Suddenly the showroom was closed.
@Gopalan Mall - The Gopalan Mall at Bannerghatta Road website keeps displaying Landmark Bookstore as one of the shops, but I could ever find one.


Reliance Timeout, JP Nagar
This shop was never creative, always wore a deserted look despite seasonal offers. When I visited last week, the 2nd floor is permanently closed. Death of a bookshop!

Gangarams

The ad that made me glad yesterday

When I moved into Bangalore 15 years back, this was my favourite. I used to spend time in Gangarams, Higginbothams, Planet Music, Food World, and Hotel Brindavan in the weekends (before getting married).
Was sad to learn that bookshop was vanishing due to Metro work at MG Road. But yesterday's ad came as a welcome news.  I should go and explore in the coming weekends.
Higginbothams
During the academic project days and job search days, I used to visit Higginbothams at Anna Salai, Chennai. I first saw my hero Tony Robbins's books there only.  I often prayed that this bookshop in Railway stations opens 24 x 7 - they don't. I visited the Chennai branch last year - I feel the legacy is lost. The Bangalore branch at MG Road - I would say instead of Gangarams, it would have been nice if Higginbothams is gone. They dont deserve a place anymore. The lustre is lost!

Prism Book Shop
This one is opposite to the Cool Joint, Jayanagar 4th block - I dont understand what is the theme and uniqueness this bookshop has. Never crowded, No attraction.

Motilal Banarsidass
@Jayanagar 3rd Block - This one is a good bookshop for the religiously and spiritually inclined. Sad thing is they are closed on Sundays.

My general concern is that these bookshops should not die. I visit to buy books even if the sales are not there. All the online sites of these bookshops do offer discount but do not anything different to attract the visitors. They should do something very different to attract new readers.  I hate seeing in displays all the popular and hot books - the old and rare books should also be promoted enough.

Recent books purchase on Linguistics

I ordered these books on Linguistics from Flipkart recently -

Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication  and  Linguistics for Dummies.

Both are very good books for beginners.  The Linguistics book is also co-authored by Ann K Farmer, Information Engineer at Google.  I also bought the book A Linguistics Workbook, which is a companion to Linguistics book.  I feel this will be a great start to understand Linguistics and do justice for my new found love for Linguistics.

Floored by books

What a magic world is that of books!
Being a bibliophile, I found myself rearranging my bookshelf to put them in some order.
And I had an opportunity to spend time in front of my best friend Dr.Shankar's bookshelf (read bookshelves) with vast collection of books from diversified topics.  Dr.Shankar introduced me to various authors, characters and subjects. Overnight, I chose to sleep at the feet of the huge bookshelf so that I can flip through all the books the next day (today's) early morning. 
Recently I have developed a lot of interest in Linguistics and constantly pursuing topics on health.  I ordered Manhood of Humanity: The Science and Art of Human Engineering by Alfred Korzybski; and Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Fuhrman Joel.  The Eat to Live is on the Top 10 on Amazon and the once-obese-readers have been sharing exciting feedback.
Today, I ordered some more books - some of the books are influenced by Dr.Shankar and some by Bill Gates blog -

• The Elephant Whisperer by Graham Spence
• Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky
• Abundance: The Future is better than you think by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler
• The Better Angels of our nature by Steven Pinker
• Linguistics for Dummies

If the world has produced so many books on various topics, they have been published because someone wrote it, bothered to write about something.  But this world has not produced enough books yet - as there are several men and women have not shared their stories yet.

I am literally floored by the world of books. 

Bookmarks for Bibliophiles

I made these bookmarks for all the bibliophiles. Hope you all like it.  You may want to get them photo-printed and cut them as individual bookmarks or just use them as posters. 

If you have any good quotes on book reading, or on bibliophiles, please share in the comments section. 

Books on Body Safety by Uma Kasi

My sister introduced me to two books on body safety written by Uma Kasi.  One book is written for the kids "Red Light Green Light Body Safety Rules". Another book is meant for the parents serving as a guide. I read these books and started appreciating the content and approach. Its just few pages of material but has a lot of important messages for everyone.

My sister said that the school where her kid studies, distributed these books to the children. Also, there is a teacher in the school who regularly creates awareness on these topics.


I also visited this Hindu article about the author. Here are some highlights.

• She teaches three magic words: No, Run and Tell (easy to remember for kids on body safety from abusers)
• She teamed up with her son's teacher Elizabeth Becker to write books for parents and children on body safety.
• She says if kids feel "mad, sad, scared and embarrassed", its time to act.
• She has tied up with schools for the body safety programme.
  

I am impressed, and I ordered a few copies of the book from India Plaza. The book is very low cost Rs.92/-. You buy Red Light Green Light book and you get the parent guide book free.

Books on Body Safety by Uma Kasi

My sister introduced me to two books on body safety written by Uma Kasi.  One book is written for the kids "Red Light Green Light Body Safety Rules". Another book is meant for the parents serving as a guide. I read these books and started appreciating the content and approach. Its just few pages of material but has a lot of important messages for everyone.

My sister said that the school where her kid studies, distributed these books to the children. Also, there is a teacher in the school who regularly creates awareness on these topics.

I also visited this Hindu article about the author. Here are some highlights.

• She teaches three magic words: No, Run and Tell (easy to remember for kids on body safety from abusers)
• She teamed up with her son's teacher Elizabeth Becker to write books for parents and children on body safety.
• She says if kids feel "mad, sad, scared and embarrassed", its time to act.
• She has tied up with schools for the body safety programme.

I am impressed, and I ordered a few copies of the book from India Plaza. The book is very low cost Rs.92/-. You buy Red Light Green Light book and you get the parent guide book free.

1001 events that shaped the world

Here is a little secrete of mine. During my schooling, I scored 98 in social studies.  (until my friend quips in to say that he scored 101; yes the total marks were for 200; and I just scored 49%).   History and Geography books used to be very dry accounts of people, place, and events and I always wondered why all these happened.  Be it the printing of the book, or the context of the text, lack of pictures (most of them were hand drawing or black and white faded images) and appeared more like a law book.  There was no sufficient material for me to think that I am proud of this country's history.

These days, having been exposed to a lot of new age books and popular historian authors, History is really a fascinating subject for me.  It made me pick several books on history accounts and I really did read them all.

The recent pick being 1001 events that shaped the world. A voluminous, encyclopedia kind of book, it has sequence of events narrated starting with BC and until recent '80s.  With a One Page - One Event concept, its really easy reading and a great compilation. Unlike other history books, there is nothing to memorize here. Almost every page has a suitable picture. Where photographs are not available, the oil paintings and art pictures are presented. But mind you, most of the oil pictures had nudity, violence, massacres, murders - not really disturbing but unless you make up your mind that this is our history and this was how the pictures were drawn.  One odd finding was that Gandhi's death was in colour photo - I am wondering if it was taken from the movie. The Index that appears at the beginning of the book is another wonderful listing countrywise.

I recommend this book to nourish your general knowledge. Its expensive. But its not just a coffee table kind; it truly has the essentials.

Tags: Books, History

Flipkart's customer friendly service

Image: Namas Bhojani for Forbes India

I always find Flipkart to be very customer friendly.  All my online purchases have been through Flipkart for the past few years.



Some recent positive experiences:



a) I ordered a 16 GB sd card along with a mobile as a gift for my family.  However, upon receiving the Kingston sd card was bent. Since it was a gift, I did not have the bill and order no. handy.  I called up Flipkart Helpline and asked for SD card replacement.  After understanding my problem thoroughly, they agreed to replace.

b) If we  have ordered a book to your office address and if the delivery date falls on Saturday, they call up to check if we are available at Saturday. Obviously you dont :-).  SMS your house address, you get your order delivered at home.

c) This is the big highlight - I had ordered a gift for my daughter whose birthday falls on 4th July.  The committed delivery timeline was 7th July.  I requested Flipkart to consider delivering on 4th July - they really did the magic - the gift was delivered at 9 am!



There are few news I hear recently from my known circles - a colleague got a product over priced than MRP;  another friend got to know his order cancelled without intimation; another said an empty box was delivered.  And a very loud mouthed open letter to Flipkart's CEO on poor services.  I am only wondering its just happening after Junglee's entry.

What Gates reads this summer...

Bill Gates has posted his current summer reading. Please visit this link: http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/Great-Summer-Reading?WT.mc_id=7_5_2012_summerreading_tw&WT.tsrc=Twitter



Also, its a wow feeling to see what he reads: 

http://www.thegatesnotes.com/All?search=Books&view=preview

Things to get better in 2012

Every year that passes by special in some way. And to me 2011 is very satisfactory year. I chose it to be.



For 2012, I see it as a year of getting things better.  Year end is a physical demarcation and provides a mental one to all of us.  But I believe, we should start anywhere anytime if we truly decided without waiting for the next year to come.



What would I get better at in 2012?




Health:  I was telling my friends that everyone plans to fall sick. I feel sad sometimes whether people take conscious steps towards health or not, they take conscious steps towards bad health patterns. What if one day all the doctors tell, we can treat only three times in your lifetime for any kind of ailment?  Wont the world be the craziest place where health is sought after, instead of gold?  



Language:  I recently fell in love with Kannada language for two reasons.  The Jyothiyali song from the movie Geetha.  And another reason is a "Geetha".  Geetha madam, a very senior teacher, whom I met recently in Chikamagalore and she spoke on stage a very beautiful literary Kannada rich in style.  By next year, my library will find me filling Kannada books. or you may end up reading my Kannada blog.



Relationships: I know me very well. I got better at relationships in the past ten years. I know my patterns, strengths and limits when it comes to relationships. Relationships are very subtle things; as human being we relate each others in some way.  Its part of the survival of the human race.  I will still get better at this and be a better person.  A quote that I read "Before you heal others, heal yourself".



Wealth:  I really have a love-hate relationship with wealth. If wealth were a woman, we like each other, we seek each other but we donot seem to get along :-)



Book:  Not of reading but of writing one. 



Neuroscience for you and me:  After NLP for the past ten years, it was the brain science that became my recent obsession. The book Evolve Your Brain, The Buddha's brain and few other titles, find prominent place in my new bookshelf.  I was thinking that I should create something called Neuroscience for Kids and explain the power of Brain to the young generation in a more effective way.





And there are some more!  I am sculpting my life, only to get better.  The Buddha in me, smiles.



 

GCoffee Bookshelf

My new bookshelf is here.  Its very exciting to have all the books under one place.

I have made 3 racks each measuring 2 feet width and 6 inch depth. Made of good quality wood and with Teakwood beading. To make the bookshelf more interesting, the books have been arranged based on the colours.

டாக்டர் கலாம் - புத்தகம் படிக்கும் பழக்கம் பற்றி

புத்தகம் படிக்கும் பழக்கம் பற்றி டாக்டர் கலாம் அவர்கள்  "விழிவேள்வி"  புத்தக முன்னுரையில் சொல்லியிருப்பதாவது:

"...மாணவர்களை நான் ஏற்க வாய்த்த உறுதி மொழி எனக்கு நினவு வருகிறது 

1. என்னுடைய வீட்டில் பூஜை அறை அல்லது பிரார்த்தனை செய்யும் இடத்துக்கு அருகில், 20 நல்ல புத்தகங்களுடன் ஒரு சிறு வீட்டு நூலகத்தை ஆரம்பிபேன்.



2. என்னுடிய வளர்ந்த மகன் மற்றும் மகள் 2௦ புத்தக நூலகத்தை, 2௦௦ புத்தக நூலகமாக மாற்ற எடுக்கும் முயற்சிக்கு உறுதுணையாக இருப்பேன்.



3. என்னுடைய வளர்ந்த பேரன் மற்றும் பேத்திகள் 2௦௦ புத்தக நூலகத்தை, 2௦௦௦ புத்தக நூலகமாக மாற்ற எங்கள் குடும்பம் உறுதுணையாக இருக்கும்.



4. தினமும் ஒரு மணி நேரம், நானும் எங்கள் குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்கள் அனைவரும், எங்கள் வீட்டு நூலகத்தைப பயன்படுத்திப் படிக்கும் பழக்கத்தை இன்று முதல் தொடர்ந்து செயல்ப்படுத்துவோம். 



5.எங்கள் வீட்டு நூலகம் தான் எங்கள் வீட்டுப் பரம்பரைச் சொத்து; எங்கள் வீட்டு அறிவுக் களஞ்சியம்.



6. இந்த முயற்சிதான் நாட்டில் ஏற்படப்போகும் அறிவ்வு புரடிசிக்கு அடிப்படி ஆதாரம்."

எத்தனை வளமான சிந்தனை இவை!

Tamil Books

Nothing beats the great feeling of shopping!  But I enjoy the best when I buy books. Very few souls can understand buying books is an investment!



These are the tamil books I bought in the Bangalore Book Exhibition

Two Indian Books

I broke the convention of buying similar topics books today.



I bought two books by Indian authors in Crossword taking advantage of the Penguin Fest offer. Got a 25% offer.



One is Middle Man by Sankar (yet to find the online review)

Another is Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian. (Read amazon review here)



Looks like Middle man was later became a movie by Satyajitray