Have you ever wondered why the American Indians (natives) didn't cross the Atlantic and colonize Europe or why the Aborigines in Australia could not successfully resist a European colonization?

Jared Diamond answers these questions and more on how and why society is today shaped through the events in history. A …

Why do we sleep? To rest the body and brain? Or does it have any other function? Matthew Walker, a sleep researcher has written this book to answer the question.

The author starts off with an explosive statement that sleep deprivation is the largest undiagnosed global epidemic. He then describes …

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen is a beautiful novel which one can read just for it's style. Mr. Bennet has 5 daughters of marriageable age. A rich and eligible bachelor moves into town. Mr. Bingley hosts a ball to acquaint himself with his new townsmen and here takes a …

"Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking" is a a non-fiction book authored by Susan Cain. The purpose of the book is to correct the view that introverts are a bane to the society.

The author starts off with how we got to this stage …

Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" can essentially be distilled into a single question - "Is suicide ethical?". This question has divided philosophers for centuries.

To answer the question, Camus builds upon the arguments of Kierkegaard and Nietzche and comes up with the philosophy of the "absurd". This philosophy states that …

Imagine you were on an year-long space mission to Mars and you got stranded. And your next chance of being rescued is a few years away. How would you survive?

"The Martian" by Andy Weir is based on that premise. Mark Watney gets blown away in a Martian storm while …

Disclaimer: I know the author personally and have read early drafts.

Why does a livelihood practised over generations disappear? Can "Nine Rupees an Hour" be considered a fair wage for the exquisite skill of the Pattamadai Pai weavers? Would society be richer by the loss of such livelihoods?

Aparna Karthikeyan …

Charles de Gaulle is the French President, loved by some but also hated by a few. The few feel he betrayed their cause and want him bumped off. They are hounded out of the country after a failed assassination attempt. Fearing a mole within their ranks, the rebels decide to …

Science can be hard to write and harder to read. But once in a while a scientist comes along and explains science in an understandable manner. Stephen Hawking is one such scientist. A Brief History of Time is the biography of the universe. It starts with how our idea of …

This is the first book in my life for which I had to build and constantly keep referring to a family tree. With so many characters (most with the same name!), the book gets confusing and inter-breeding and incest only adds to the disgust.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is …