Some Books I've Read in the Past
- Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson Audiobook. The narration was okay. Loved the story. A bit slow at times, but that is true with all of Neal Stephenson's books. Especially loved the part where the author compares religion to a mind virus. Resonates a lot with my views on the matter; Stephenson is obviously way more eloquent on the matter. I've heard this same old argument about how religion is a way for people to be happier and at peace at times of hardships and undertainity. But I think people don't realize that what really makes you feel good or at peace is not religion or god itself, but the community and the people around you. Institutionized religion has just hijacked the human need for community and love. You go to a temple every week and make your friends there, build a whole community and lifestyle around it, and then conflate the feelings of love and community (or even god!) with the religion itself. It ends up creating a powerful institution that sucks from those very people in the end.
- The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman Audiobook. Production quality was excellent. I would have probably enjoyed the graphic novel a lot more, but I have been trying not to read so much outside working hours to avoid eye strain.
- Death's End, by Cixin Liu (Author); Ken Liu (Translator) Audiobook. I loved all 3 of these books, and would recommend reading. But the book 2 is definitely a favourite. Parts of the story in this one go too far, in my opinion.
- The Dark Forest, by Cixin Liu (Author); Joel Martinsen (Translator) Audiobook. Beautiful story, amazing translation, amazing narration. The world (and I mean the universe, or the galaxy) would be a pretty sad place if the dark forest theory were true; I would rather live in a world where there is easy exchange of ideas and culture. I don't think that it's true. If I were in a dark forest, I would definitely attempt communication and negotiation with those around me. But maybe I'm too naive. Luo Ji was certainly an interesting character. Another very interesting part about the book was the evolution of language, culture and people over the centuries. I was obcessed and hooked on to the audiobook, spent 3 days doing nothing except listen to books 2 and 3 of the triology. I'll definitely read a paperback at some point.
- Termination Shock, by Neal Stephenson Audiobook.
- Dune, by Frank Herbert Audiobook.
- Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang He is definitely one of my favourite Sci-Fi authors of all time. A must read.
- Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson Really don't know how to rate this. It is a slow read, a bit boring at times. Or maybe I'm just not that into biographies. It is very well written, and I did enjoy it. Time well spent, and I'd do it again.
- The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie
- The Mystery of the Blue Train, by Agatha Christie
- The Secret Adversary, by Agatha Christie
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie
- Poirot Investigates, by Agatha Christie
- Secret of Chimneys, by Agatha Christie Recently discovered audiobooks, and I'm hooked.
- The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics, by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky Really comprehensive, beginner friendly, easy read.
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman What a brilliant man. Must read.
- In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems, by Giorgio Parisi
- Nietzsche for Beginners, by Marc Sautet Cute little graphic novel. Hard to understand for beginners.
- SuperFreakonomics, by Steven Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
- The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry Gifted to me by Prof. Nazia Akhtar, IIIT Hyderabad.
- Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture, by Apostolos Doxiadis Unexpectedly haunting and beautiful.
- How the World Works, by Noam Chomsky
- Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah Gifted to me by Shayna Arora and Ashish Gupta (My wonderful manager at my short stint in the industry).
- Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick
- Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality, by Eliezer Yudkowsky
- Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos (Art), Annie Di Donna (Colour) The illustrations. Each frame is a work of art. The colours are so fucking beautiful. Enjoyed every page of this book. Must read.
- The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu (Author), Ken Liu (Translator)
- Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
- Desire (Short story collection), by Haruki Murakami
- The Summer That Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel
- Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
- Men Without Women (Short story collection), by Haruki Murakami
- 1Q84 Triology, by Haruki Murakami
- Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, by Michael Lewis
- Principles, by Ray Dalio
- The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
- Exhalation, by Ted Chiang
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
- Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present, by Yanis Varoufakis
- The Beginning of Infinity, by David Deutsch
- Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley, by Antonio García Martínez
- Tell Me Your Dreams, by Sydney Sheldon
- The Plague, by Albert Camus
- Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
- Poor Economics, by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
- Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson
- Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
- Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan
- The Lightning Thief (2005)
- The Sea of Monsters (2006)
- The Titan's Curse (2007)
- The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
- The Last Olympian (2009)
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, by Rick Riordan
- The Sword of Summer (2015)
- The Hammer of Thor (2016)
- The Ship of the Dead (2017)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by
- The Devotion of Suspect X, by
- And The Mountains Echoed, by
- Kite Runner, by
- 1984, by
- Animal Farm, by
- Norwegian Wood, by
- Poirot, by Agatha Christie
- The ABC Murders
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- Murder on the Orient Express
- And Then There Were None, by
- The Book Thief, by
- The Lord of the Rings, by
- Art of War, by
- Sapiens, by
- Talk Like Ted, by
- A briefer history of time, by
- Steve jobs iCon, by
- Alchemist, by
- The Spy, by
- Veroninka decides to die, by
- Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli, by
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