Crisp Reviews of Books On My Nightstand

Thought provoking seven Short stories from best-selling author of "The Reader" exhibit the most humane aspects of our inner inhibitions, our desires and the willingness to go distance to satisfy our deep down insecurities.  Psychologically, the cold winter months cause people to have Seasonal affective disorder with less positive mood but the Spring/Summer months bring the exposure to bright light which in turn increases the Brain hormone Serotonin which elevates our mood. The aptly named book contemplates the human tendencies transforming from dark, grey emotional downside into bright revelation which is not necessarily happy. But the revelation is definitely more clear and open to all kinds of possibilities. All the stories start with an emotional turmoil that journeys through the difficult decisions and are all left open ended for readers imagination for the possible closure of the story.   This 240 pages book is a collection of 7 short stories are unrelated ...

An overwhelming story that touched me to the core 

A plot inspired by a true story for a woman who provided us a peek into the life of indigenous people of Papua New Guinea and the human emotions at their best even while facing so many adversities in life. Three anthropologists who embarked on separate missions somehow ended up together on a journey that they would not have planned to go this way. The female protagonist who believed in the true spirit of humans, her husband who was chasing only glory and a stranger who was searching for meaning of life itself, all brought in circumstances that would challenge their basic human instincts to survive emotionally and physically. A journey that started in the search of knowledge ends in a bitter place where none is winner. Because as said in The Bhagavad Gita,  "For the senses wander, and when one lets the mind follow them, it carries wisdom away like a windblown ship on the waters." And that's how those three end up at their destinies as we finish ...

A small village blessed with the epitome of both the beauty and harshness of nature, people living with basic needs of human life but surreptitiously craving the joys of the city life and a circle of day and night that keeps only one promise that nothing will change in the mundane life of that small town. And one day, the devil arrives to the town to test the integrity of the humane emotions of the people of this town.  One more Must-read book from Paulo Coelho that reveals the secret of human emotions and the internal struggle to dare the dream, face the fear of unknown and live the life truly. 224 pages book that takes you through a week in the life of a coward crowd that is ready to sacrifice a single for the betterment of large, a girl who dares to dream a life beyond the regular and a stranger who is testing the life to sort his own struggle between inherent goodness or evil in human mind. Quotes from the book: "Anyone who loves in the expectation of bein...

Inspiration is just a feeling that is ignited in your mind when you see someone like you have achieved what you had dreamt for. The dream is now achievable to you but the hardest part is to convince your own self that this is reachable to you too. The distance between ‘I can’ and ‘I will’ takes further thousand steps. Inspiration can convert in action only when you feel yourself reaching the dream. Most people spend their life inspired by the stories of successful persons but never feel that they too have to ability to do the same. Only thing missing is faith that they are special too and they can reach the dream too. ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’, yet another beautiful book by Richard Bach, brings the same essence through a story of a gull that thinks beyond simply eating and surviving, and seeks higher purpose in life to become the best at what he loves. This is a story of people who dare to follow their dreams and make their own rules; even if they run contrary to the no...

There is a quote in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita in Sanskrit which says “Jatasya Maranam Dhruvam”. It literally means that the star called Dhruv which rise in night has to set but the implied meaning of the saying is “That which is born shall die”. We know that our life is not eternal and there is an end for our life too, but we don’t want to think about our end or even the journey called life. We keep ourselves too busy in our goals and fight so hard to reach those goals that we forget to give time to the most important things in life.  Here is a story by Mitch Albom where he shares the lessons of life he learnt from his long-lost professor. In his last days, Professor Morrie, or what he would like to be called ‘Coach’, would act as a mentor for the writer and answer the questions which were bothering writer from long time. The questions which our generation doesn’t want to think about, may be because we are too scared to know the answer. The writer and his professor takes us ...

Human life is marked with a process of continuous learning through our surroundings. But there is a little difference in the way we learn things as we grow up. When we are young we tend to believe in whatever is taught to us by the closed ones who look after us but as we grow older, we learn to synthesize the information gathered and make our own beliefs.  Here is a tale of an Indian boy from   Pondicherry with wondrous story of how he got his name ‘Pi’, who explores issues of   spirituality   and practicality from an early age. His curiosity about various religions and their followers leads him to meet preachers of various religions. Being a non-orthodox family, his family appreciates his gesture and allows him to pursue his faith in all religions. His family-owned zoo in Pondicherry also has been a learning source for him. They decide to move to Canada with all the animals but unfortunately their ship meets with an accident on the way. Only survivors of...