"Micro" by Michael Crichton (author of "Jurassic Park") is the story of a group of research students who get miniaturized by a company when they get interested in a murder's leads. Does the team survive the world where even insects appear like giants and against time when their bodies succumb …

What image would the word 'sailor' invoke for you? For me it would be Haddock from Tintin, an alcoholic captain who mouths expletives when sober but a damn good seafarer. But after reading the "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, it has changed to Charles Marlow.

Set in the early …

Steve Krug is renowned user experience professional and is the author of several popular books in this area. "Don't make me think!" is his most widely read book. I was recommended this book by a designer in response to my query on designing better online experiences.

I picked up the …

If you've ever harboured thoughts of retiring to the country side and living off your own small farm, Walden is a book for you. Henry Thoreau, an American philosopher documents his experiences of living in solitude at the Walden lake.

The book lacks a structure but generally discusses a lot …

What does being in one's 'element' mean? How does one get to that state of mind? Before answering these questions, I saw Ken Robinson's TED talk on "Do schools kill creativity?" and resolved to read atleast one book by him to learn more about his ideas.

Now to the question …

This was my first VS Naipaul novel and I picked it up with a lot of reluctance especially over his chauvinistic views. But boy, this book lived up to it's expectations as a super comedy.

This book describes the first election at Trinidad. The electorate is multi-cultural with Hindus, Muslims …

Can innovation be successfully instilled and nurtured within a company? Scott Anthony pulls out quite a few case studies from his career as an "Innovation Expert" and analyzes them for the reader.

This is a book from the HBR stable and is a passable read. The main reason for this …

Another classic Frederick Forsyth novel that is set during the First Persian Gulf war. A British secret agent is sent into Iraq to locate and destroy a nuclear weapon codenamed "The Fist of God".

He needs to contact an Iraqi insider who is willing to provide this top-secret information for …

Siddhartha is a contemporary of Gautama Buddha and the protagonist of the German novel by the same name written by Herman Hess. Siddhartha renounces familial life to achieve enlightenment. He is accompanied on this journey by his friend, Govinda. They hear of Buddha's teachings and approach him with answers to …

I picked up this novel thinking it would be in the same genre as "Don Quixote" but boy was I mistaken! The Prince by Machiavelli is analogous to Chanakya's Arthashastra. Machiavelli documents the political situation in Italy in the 1600s and writes about the various initiatives that a prince must …