The Shining

Sat 13 February 2021 by Thejaswi Puthraya

"The Shining" by Stephen King was a difficult novel to read. Not because of the writing but from the disturbing recollections of events by Danny, a central character in the book who is gifted with clairvoyance, a trait referred to as "The Shining".

Jack, his wife Wendy and Danny their …

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Plassey

Thu 11 February 2021 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Mir Jaffer, a name that I kept hearing a lot during the West Bengal elections this year. It was a name connected to Bengal and Indian history but one that I had hardly heard of while at school. And serendipitously I would run into that name again through a book …

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Masala Lab

Sun 10 January 2021 by Thejaswi Puthraya

I had heard of Nathan Myhrvold's "Modernist Cuisine", a book which merged science and cooking. So when I was gifted "Masala Lab: The science of Indian cooking", it piqued my interest. Krish Ashok does a good job of explaining some Indian cooking processes while providing tips on taking it to …

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The Calculus Story

Fri 01 January 2021 by Thejaswi Puthraya

"The Calculus Story: A Mathematical Adventure" by David Acheson is a gentle introduction to Calculus. It is light on formulae and mathematics as it's intended audience is supposed to be beginners who wish to get into calculus.

It starts with a brief history of the feud between Newton and Leibniz …

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Unaccustomed Earth

Tue 22 December 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. Most stories deal with Indian immigrants or their descendants in the US. The stories tug the whole gamut of emotions - from jealousy to disconnectedness; from sympathy to grief.

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How Not to be Wrong

Mon 07 December 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Mathematics is everywhere! Jordan Ellenberg reminds us that it is behind every aspect of our life and it helps make our life better if we understand it.

This book is divided into 6 chapters and each chapter picks one real world scenario and teaches how mathematics influences it. This book …

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Punjab: From Aurangzeb to Mountbatten

Mon 30 November 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

It's a well known fact in India that Punjab was the eastern-most province of India that had to be protected from external aggressions lie from the time of Alexander to Nadir Shah.

But very little is known of Punjab after the decay of the Mughal empire. This book by Rajmohan …

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The Man who knew Infinity

Sat 14 November 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

A shipping clerk put India on the mathematical map in the early 1900s. His work is still being decoded to this day and his genius is still as mysterious.

Srinivasa Ramanujan had an ordinary life until his letter to the famous English mathematician, GH Hardy brought him to England to …

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Pachinko

Sun 25 October 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Pachinko is a multi-generational story written by Min Jin Lee. Sunja, the daughter of a Korean fisherman falls in love with a trader only to realise that he is already married. She refuses to be his paramour and by curious turn of fate gets married to a parish minister only …

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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Sun 11 October 2020 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Walter Isaacson is a brilliant biographer. He brings out a balanced biography and doesn't get carried with the weight of the personality. Benjamin Franklin's biography is no different!

Known as one of the founding fathers of America, the biography covers all aspects of his life - a publisher, satirist, author, scientist …

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