My First 300 Book Reviews: Links for 176-200

176. The Bookshop

177. The Devil's Advocate

178. Atomic Habits

179. Born to Run

180. Sophie's World

181. Catch 22

182. The Godfather

183. Don Quixote

184. The Day of the Jackal

185. The Count of Monte Cristo

186. Tom Brown's Schooldays

187. Hard Times

188. The Power Of Starting Something Stupid

189. Me Talk Pretty One Day

190. Tuesdays with Morrie

191. Of Mice and Men

192. Veerappan: Chasing The Brigand

193. Next

194. Daddy-Long-Legs

195. The Chemistry Book

196. Black Beauty 

197. The Call of the Wild

198. Lord of the Flies

199. Brave New World

200. The India They Saw

The Buyerarchy Of Needs

Photo credit: Sarah Lazarovic

A couple of years back, a famous illustrative hierarchy on the trends and needs of consumers, and the consumer behaviour, was created by Canadian illustrator Sarah Lazarovic, who is also a creative director and a visual journalist specializing in info-graphics and illustrations. 

Sara Lazarovic's The Buyerarchy of Needs is a creative twist to Abraham Maslow's famous "Hierarchy of Needs". Maslow created a pyramidal classification on the necessities of survival when he found some necessities taking precedence over other necessities.  He laid out five levels of needs:  the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the self- and the levels are arranged in the order that pushes the instincts, with psychological needs placed at the base and self-actualization at the top of the pyramid.

Lazarovic's innovative twist in this pyramid gives a similiar structure for consumers buying goods, the ultimate aim being to save money and use it when needed. The 'buyerarchy' moves from using what you have at the base to borrowing, swapping, buying in thrifts, making as levels through the alternate intermediate layers (in that order), and finally buying at the apex of the pyramid. This hierarchy of levels, when kept in mind while buying, not only help save money, but also help save the environment. 

It is important to utilize resources judiciously, and help create a sustainable change. The illustrative Buyerarchy of Needs is a beautiful way to capture the essence of saving both money and natural resources. Its levels reinforce that the panacea to all environment ills is to use the well known principle of 5 R's- refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot! 

It is an inspiring and creative illustration, and so is its illustrator! It is such a pleasure to discover the mind behind creativity, and where such ideas are inspired from. Next time you spot an interesting picture/photograph/illustration/quote/any artistic expression that catches your attention, and makes you pause and think, take that little effort to find out who is behind it! I'm sure we'll all have a lot more to learn and gain that way!

5 Fun Reading Lists With Something For Each Of Us

Have you already read all the books on your list? Looking for good resources to fill up your reading list again? Check out some of these brilliant reading lists that can get you going for the next few months. Also, most of these resource links have further links inside them to guide you to several more interesting reading lists on their website! 

1. For those who love the solved and unsolved mysteries of Science, and the men and machines behind it, check out this wonder list of The Greatest Science Books of 2016, a treasure compilation by none other than our favourite brainpicker! Popova writes in her introduction to the list:

"The question of what makes a great book of any kind is, of course, a slippery one, but I recently endeavored to synthesize my intuitive system for assessing science books that write up to the reader in a taxonomy of explanation, elucidation, and enchantment."

The books in this list seem very interesting, and are essentially a part of my to-read list. Hope I can get to them soon, covering a few of them before college reopens!

 

 2. For the authors, writers, and all those who love the craft of literary expression: how about Hemingway's list of essential books for aspiring writers? Because, Hemingway believed and said:

"As a writer you should not judge. You should understand."

Writers can also check out this list of 24 books that shaped one of the greatest writers, Gabriel Garcia Márquez. This list looked so wholesome and endearing that I had to include it all in my own to-read lists!

 

3. Are you in the a-book-a-day-keeps-the-gloom-away phase? The Reader's Digest list on 18 classic books that you can read in a day is absolutely wonderful. This is a list I can endorse, having read some of the brilliant classics in the list such as The Little Prince, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, The Great Gatsby, and many more!

4. Are you curious what other authors are themselves reading? I came across NY magazine's article- 23 Authors on 26 Books They’re Reading to Escape the Present Moment- a list that was chosen during these tough times to read, and escape to the better world among books, and also part of an "ongoing effort to provide productive distractions from what’s happening outside of your windows and on your screen" from the magazine! Do check them out, there are some very interesting titles from Hemingway to Austen to Phyllis Grant, and so many more! It's a fresh list, and something you should definitely check out.

5. Do you have young kids, brother or sisters around you? Do you want good books they can read during this lockdown? You can check out my reading lists where you'll also find a review for each book. You can also see my post on Literature For Young Girls, my all time favourite books, and other reading lists.

Check these links out in leisure, and do follow my blog to keep getting new suggestions and book reviews! Happy reading!

Engrossing Plots, And Your Hunch

Ask any heavy reader- they'd probably have had several bad postures. When you are reading The Godfather, it's simply unputdownable. You cannot leave the story and that means you stretch along hours without moving beyond the four by four feet of space that you settle in. But, we usually toss, and turn, and lie down and sit up, and do some half-up-half-down postures, all within the same the square of area. 

I have sat for hours in the same hunched up position, a book in my hand, neck bent down towards the book in a posture as unhealthy as possible, looking down for hours together immersed in the world of fiction with just the fingers turning one page after another, without realizing the strain that it's putting on my neck and spine. All that is left would be a satisfying read and a stiff neck. Bad posture- it's a perennial issue if not consciously rectified. 

My mom has always been the one to correct me on my posture while reading, and make sure I sit well and comfortable. Nowadays, I try to be self-conscious and settle down in a position where I won't be slumped in a baleful posture for hours. It is a very important thing. As much as it is fun to relate to memes that show the different postures of bookworms, it  is nothing to be proud of. Sitting erect and comfortable without straining any part of your body is absolutely necessary to avoid unpleasant effects of it in future.

So, next time you sit down to read, make yourself comfortable and ensure that you are in a good posture. This actually applies to anything you do, not just reading! Sit straight, and don't slump. Keep your hunches limited to your guesswork on the plot, don't extend it to your posture.

Happy reading!

Chimes With Tinkle

The month's copy of Tinkle arrives, and there is frantic page turning till the one-page Suppandi jokes are read, re-read as you double up with laughter, the happiness reaching your heart and eyes, and then you go to your Mom, Dad, brother and everyone else and share the joke, and they laugh too.

Tinkle is never read in a definite order by anyone. We all had our favourite picks and we went to those stories first. We couldn't help ourselves from getting to our favourite ones before we read the rest of it! So, here's my list of constant, evergreen, lovable superstars who gave most of us such a wonderful childhood with beaming eyes and riotous laughs!

1. Suppandi. There is not a single person who has read Tinkle and doesn't like Suppandi! His stupidity is just too adorable. And, baby Suppandi stories were just too, too cute and funny. Best, and the one that gets the first attention when a Tinkle copy arrives. 

2. Pyarelal and Lajo. These two kind-hearted village couple from Hastipur were my most favourite. I just loved the Pyarelal stories too much. And, Pyarelal to me was way too pyaara. I would love the way Lajo, fond for Lajiwanti, Pyarelal's wife, used to make him his favourite Jackfruit curry with so much zest, and I loved the way Pyarelal always talked to his wife about all the problems and they solved it together, and also how he always made small gifts for her like swings and garden. These characters were too genuine and innocently beautiful for me to not fall in love with!

3. Shikari Shambu. Dream of snoring away to glory, and hitting jackpot of luck, rewards and praise? That's Shikari Shambu for you. A sleepy and scared misfit forest officer always finds himself being praised and lauded while the wild animals he was supposed to trap keep running into self made traps as he sleeps before them. What's not to love about a good Shambu story!

4. Tantri the Mantri. Raja Hooja, the naive and laddu-loving desi king, and his sinsiter mantri Tantri is all that is necessary for a good entertainment. Seeing every planned plotting of Tantri to dethrone Raja Hooja backfire beautifully for reasons the crop up from nowhere was the best feeling ever! This was one hilariously fun series!

These were the absolute favourites, but I also used to like Nasruddid Hodja, Ina, Mina, Mynah, Mo, and Defective Detectives a lot. There were also many favourites from the stand-alone single stories that featured every month. The only comic series that I never liked, for some reason that I never figured out what, was Janoo and Wooly Woo. 

Tinkle was doubtlessly one of the best things we have grown up with! Have an old Tinkle at home? Pick it up, and read them again! If not, check out Tinkle Online!

My First 300 Book Reviews: Links for 151-175

151. Shoe Dog
152. The Trial
153. The Vicar Of Wakefield 
154. The Son
155. Gods, Demons, And Others
156. The Testament
157. On Balance: An Autobiography
158. Know Your English
159. One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
160. Fahrenheit 451
161. North and South
162. The Palace of Illusions
163. How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
164. Moonlight Marauders
165. A Time To Kill
166. So Many Books, So Little Time
167. Eats, Shoots & Leaves
168. Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind
169. From Doon With Death
170. Seabiscuit
171. Animal Farm
172. Opening Pandora's Box
173. Presumed Innocent
174. The Land Of The Rising Yen
175. The Mezzanine

Slow Shift: From Paperback to E-books

Credits: art by Mom

The physical presence of the book in our hand, the scent of the time-tested old copy wafting to our senses as we caress the worn out jacket with so many creases, which seems like the copy wants a crease for every fond reader who read it, the tinted print paper with words crafted in Garamond, an old-school appeal of the paperback and hard-bound: we all love it. 

Or, for some of them, a fresh, crisp copy- with no scribbles, no creases, no bent pages, the fresh scent of new print where the ink can still be smelt, a copy that's theirs and only theirs- is something to be loved, adored, and cherished. 

Nothing can replace it. Agreed. Yet, we have to slowly shift to the world where we buy more e-books than physical copies. Why? Here are three good reasons.

1. Save paper. The more you are willing to buy, the more they are willing to print. And, tens of thousands of people buy it, and they print tens of thousands of more copies. And, that's a whole lot of paper, there. The world is inching towards less and less resources every single day, and you can do your bit to reduce such wastage. When you think from this angle, even the most ardent fan of physical copies tend to pause and think for a moment. Do that: pause, and think a bit.

2. You never have to give away your books. You'll have them with you, and you don't have to think about a space for them. It's definitely more efficient in terms of how you can manage your books! No more do you have to worry and bother about your books not fitting within you air baggage allowance, voila!

3. Notes, Highlights, Quotes- the three best features of e-books. You can save all of them in a manner that you just need to do a key-word search to get them out in a jiffy. This can be really useful to those of us who write regularly. Vaguely remember a quote from The Little Prince on life? You'll have it ready. This is such a beautiful thing, and I really enjoy looking through these highlights and notes of the e-books I read. Amazon Kindle is great, and it neatly arranges the highlights and notes under a tab for each book. I also really like how Google Play Books creates a drive folder, and makes all the highlights and notes in a document, with each book having a different document. Such arrangement is a huge repository of wonderful, ready insights and key-points when you need them!

We are all human, and we all love to flaunt. If you sit in the class reading an Anthony Powell, it is sure to attract eyes and amp up your social image, while reading the same as an e-book won't really bring that much attention. We all love that attention, even if we aren't reading the book because of the attention. Even otherwise, we love to collect, display what we read, have a wall full of books, and all that- but times change, and the need of the world changes, and we must change, too. 

Buy from a sale of old-stock of books, but try avoiding a fresh copy. If your grand-dad has a great library, that's wonderful! Keep it. But, try to shift slowly into more e-books when you plan to buy something anyway. The supply will go down if the demand does, and that's definitely in your hands. If you still want a physical copy of something, get it, but don't make it a habit. 

I have started reading more through e-books now, and I have actually grown a liking to it. Take your time, shift slowly, but shift- because it definitely helps!

5 Really Wonderful Newsletters To Subscribe To

One of my friends recently asked me what are the good newsletters to follow. I didn't have many, but some of the ones that I did were subscriptions I really liked. So I thought I'll put a list of them up here from what I follow, and also regularly read. Do add to the list with your own favorite newsletters that we can all discover!

1. Braipickings - A beautiful collection of articles "across art, science, philosophy, creativity, children's books, and other strands of our search for truth, beauty, and meaning" as Maria Popova puts it.

2. Literary Hub - This newsletter is something that is very useful for readers, bringing out a treasure of information on fiction, poetry, podcasts, crime novels, and also gives you regular reading lists!

3. London Review of Books - Another wonderful newsletter that brings to your inbox many interesting thoughts on books, history, classics, philosophy, law and life!

4. Farnam St. - "No spam. No politics. No BS." This is similar to brainpickings, yet offers it in a fresh and different package, and in little doses of all-round subjects!

5. 1440 Daily digest - Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and more - all in a 5-minute read. It is more like broad update on what's happening around the world in general. It's a nice one to keep a general tab on things. 

Also, if you enjoy reading my blog, you can subscribe here to read in your inbox! If you have a newsletter that you enjoy reading, then add to the list in the comments below! Have a great weekend, and happy reading!