en-US Mon, 21 Apr 2025 03:44:32 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 7696135 How the world's leading innovators push their ideas to fruition again and again

Edison famously said that genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration. Ideas for new businesses, solutions to the world's problems, and artistic breakthroughs are common, but great execution is rare.

According to Scott Belsky, the capacity to make ideas happen can be developed by anyone willing to develop their organizational habits and leadership capability. That's why he founded Behance, a company that helps creative people and teams across industries develop these skills.

Belsky has spent six years studying the habits of creative people and teams that are especially productive-the ones who make their ideas happen time and time again. After interviewing hundreds of successful creatives, he has compiled their most powerful-and often counterintuitive-practices, such as:

•Generate ideas in moderation and kill ideas liberally
•Prioritize through nagging
•Encourage fighting within your team

While many of us obsess about discovering great new ideas, Belsky shows why it's better to develop the capacity to make ideas happen-a capacity that endures over time.]]> 256 Scott Belsky 159184312X Vignesh 0 to-read 4.08 2010
author: Scott Belsky
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.08
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]]> 9479238
Andrei Danilovich Komiaga is fast asleep. A scream, a moan, and a death rattle slowly pull him out of his drunken stupor—but wait, that’s just his ring tone. And so begins another day in the life of an oprichnik, one of the czar’s most trusted courtiers—and one of the country’s most feared men.

Welcome to the new New Russia, where futuristic technology and the draconian codes of Ivan the Terrible are in perfect synergy. Corporal punishment is back, as is a divine monarch, but these days everyone gets information from high-tech news bubbles, and the elite get high on hallucinogenic, genetically modified fish.

Over the course of one day, Andrei Komiaga will bear witness to—and participate in—brutal executions; extravagant parties; meetings with ballerinas, soothsayers, and even the czarina. He will rape and pillage, and he will be moved to tears by the sweetly sung songs of his homeland. He will consume an arsenal of drugs and denounce threats to his great nation’s morals. And he will fall in love—perhaps even with a number of his colleagues.

Vladimir Sorokin, the man described by Keith Gessen (in The New York Review of Books ) as “[the] only real prose writer, and resident genius�� of late-Soviet fiction, has imagined a near future both too disturbing to contemplate and too realistic to dismiss. But like all of his best work, Sorokin’s new novel explodes with invention and dark humor. A startling, relentless portrait of a troubled and troubling empire, Day of the Oprichnik is at once a richly imagined vision of the future and a razor-sharp diagnosis of a country in crisis.]]> 191 Vladimir Sorokin 0374134758 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.68 2006
author: Vladimir Sorokin
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.68
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]]> 138612 apparatchik. But, at the age of 56, his perfect life is suddenly disintegrating. Buried dreams return to haunt him. New political alignments threaten to undo him.

Vaulting effortlessly from the real to the surreal and from privilege to paranoia, The Dream Life of Sukhanov is a darkly funny, demonically entertaining novel.]]> 368 Olga Grushin 0143038400 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.90 2005
author: Olga Grushin
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2005
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]]> 55778016
"To not spend time and money on books that you should not waste resources on, please first read this book. This is a great book for those who quickly want to familiarize themselves with the concept of ergodicity. The author goes to great lengths to explain the concept in easily understandable terms. He also offers several practical implications for navigating non-ergodic environments. Highly recommended!" �� Auke Hunneman

The book has been featured on the EconTalk podcast

What is ergodicity, and why does it matter?

"The Most Important Property to Understand in Probability, in Life, in Anything." �� Nassim Nicholas Taleb on ergodicity.

"I think the most underrated idea is ergodicity." �� David Perell, author.

Is ergodicity the most important concept in decision-making and behavioral sciences? (Yes.)
Is it relevant for you in your daily life? (Yes.)
Is it possible to explain it so simply that a grandma or a high-schooler can understand it? (Yes.)
Even if they know nothing about maths? (Yes.)

That's because ergodicity is an essential idea with so many practical applications. Sadly, most books describe it in a very technical way, making it inaccessible to most people.
In this short book, 6-times author Luca Dellanna describes ergodicity as simply as possible. You will read stories about how not knowing about it destroyed his cousin’s career as a skier, or how misunderstanding it caused additional deaths during the pandemic. You will learn how to spot situations where ergodicity matters and the three strategies to react appropriately.

The book is approximately 169 pages long, of which 143 are pure content and the rest are tables of content, etc.

Who is this book for?

This book is for readers interested in growing themselves, their career, or their businesses and who want to learn about ergodicity and its practical applications without having to understand its mathematical foundation. No mathematical knowledge is required, only a high-school-level understanding of English.

Readers who want to master the theory and mathematical foundation of ergodicity are better off reading a more formal manuscript. This book is not a substitute for it but a complement.

About the author

Luca Dellanna is the author of 9 books. He is a researcher in complexity science and emergent behaviors, and an operational excellence consultant. He spoke at Nudgestock, appeared on EconTalk, and regularly teaches risk management at Genoa University.]]> 169 Luca Dellanna Vignesh 0 to-read 4.14
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]]> 7235533 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.]]> 1007 Brandon Sanderson 0765326353 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.66 2010
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.66
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]]> 654904
This book has become essential reading and an indispensable reference book for both the interested layman and the scholar of history and religion.]]> 1408 Benzion Netanyahu 0940322390 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.30 1995
author: Benzion Netanyahu
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.30
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]]> 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas�� epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.29 1846
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.29
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]]> 762134 501 Naguib Mahfouz 0385264666 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.09 1956
author: Naguib Mahfouz
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1956
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]]> 212294438 'I cannot think of a better time for a book like Shift or a better author to write it' - Angela Duckworth

In Shift, renowned neuroscientist and bestselling author Dr Ethan Kross opens up his lab to reveal the mechanics of emotions, why we have them and how we can manage them effectively. Essential tools are hidden in plain sight - in our senses, our attention and ability to shift perspective, in our relationships with other people and the physical and cultural spaces we occupy.

Through compelling stories and an exploration of the latest science in emotion research, Dr Kross shows how you can master emotional decision-making for a happier, healthier and more productive life.

'A rare double threat. His academic research is world-class... and don't we all need help regulating our emotions?' - Dan Pink]]> 288 Ethan Kross 0593444418 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.86
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average rating: 3.86
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]]> 199348906 Andrew Wilkinson, touted as the Warren Buffett of tech, pulls back the curtain on the lives of the ultra-rich in this memoir outlining Wilkinson’s rapid rise from barista to successful entrepreneur.

Readers will get fresh insights into building a successful business and a surprising, first-person account of what it’s actually like to become a billionaire.

By the age of thirty-five, Andrew Wilkinson had built a business worth over a billion dollars, but his path to success was anything but a straight line. Never Enough shares both the lessons Wilkinson has learned as well as the many mistakes made on the road to wealth—some of which cost him money, happiness, and important relationships.

Taking a “no secrets�� approach to the story billionaires rarely tell, Wilkinson is unwaveringly honest about some of the unexpected downsides of wealth. Money’s toxic effect on personal relationships, how the lifestyles of the rich and famous aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, and how competition with peers leaves everyone—even billionaires—feeling like they never have enough.

In this rare and deeply honest glimpse into the life of a billionaire, Wilkinson examines not only his journey to nine zeros but also what comes after that pinnacled number—something, as Wilkinson has come to realize, that money can’t buy.]]> 288 Andrew Wilkinson 1637744765 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.35
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]]> 213344681
The advice why you don’t have to win every argument, how to live your life as a documentary, why it’s good to change your mind, how luck is not real, and why today is practice for tomorrow.]]> 187 Anthony Pompliano 0857199935 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.19
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]]> 214399103 'George Raveling is a legend on sports, business, and the great game of life' TIM FERRISS
'I'm proud to call George a mentor and a friend' MICHAEL JORDAN
'George Raveling is the mentor you wish you had' RICH ROLL
'This is a must-read book' CHARLES BARKLEY

Game-changing wisdom from pioneering coach and Nike executive George Raveling, coauthored by bestselling author Ryan Holiday - with a foreword by basketball legend Michael Jordan

George Raveling knows all about beating the odds. A living legend, he has been a game-changing basketball coach, stood at the side of Martin Luther King Jr, mentored Michael Jordan and shaped the world of sports as a Director at Nike. But his life began in the shadow of segregation, death and mental illness.

Here, he teams up with bestselling author Ryan Holiday to share the lessons drawn from his extraordinary life and career. This is not a memoir, but a blueprint for anyone who wants to overcome obstacles and achieve success on their own terms. You'll find strategies for discovering purpose, insights on how to keep evolving and growing, advice for building meaningful connections, and tactics to compound daily victories into your greatest achievements. From finding a mentor to building a legacy, this book provides tools to not just navigate life, but to live it with intention and impact. And it all starts with the what are you made for?]]> 222 George Raveling 1805224034 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.33
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]]> 211399779 Why is it so hard to stand up to authority even when we know something’s wrong?

Many of us comply much more than we realize. How many times have you wanted to object, disagree, or opt out of something but ended up swallowing your words, shaking your head, and just going along? Analyzing cases ranging from corporate corruption and sexual abuse to everyday acquiescence at work, the doctor’s office, and in our personal lives, award-winning organizational psychologist Dr. Sunita Sah delves into why the pressure to comply is a corrosive and often invisible force in our society.

With her own revelatory research, she radically transforms our idea of defiance from a misunderstood negative trait into a crucial, positive force for personal and societal change. Taking us through her "five stages of defiance," Dr. Sah equips readers with simple tools to make decisions that align with their values. Defy is the essential playbook for how to speak up and act when it matters most.]]> 242 Sunita Sah 0593445775 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.17 2025
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name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.17
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]]> 216351768
If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words��Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins��New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.

Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things—at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals—and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other peopleBreak free from fear and self-doubtRelease the grip of people's expectationsBuild the best friendships of your lifeCreate the love you deservePursue what truly matters to you with confidenceBuild resilience against everyday stressors and distractionsDefine your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment. . . and so much more.

The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential.

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words.]]> 311 Mel Robbins 1401971377 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.17 2024
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]]> 214151475 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments comes a revolutionary guide to fixing what’s not working—in systems and processes, organizations and companies, and even in our daily lives—by identifying leverage points and concentrating resources to achieve our goals.

Changing how we work can feel overwhelming. Like trying to budge an enormous boulder. We’re stifled by the gravity of the way we’ve always done things. And we spend so much time fighting fires—and fighting colleagues—that we lack the energy to shift direction.

But with the right strategy, we can move the boulder. In Reset, Heath explores a framework for getting unstuck and making the changes that matter. The secret is to find “leverage points��: places where a little bit of effort can yield a disproportionate return. Then, we can thoughtfully rearrange our resources to push on those points.

Heath weaves together fascinating examples, ranging from a freakishly effective fast-food drive-thru to a simple trick from couples therapy to an inspirational campaign that saved a million cats.

In Reset, you’ll
-Why the feeling of progress can be your secret weapon in accelerating change
-How leaders can uncover and stop wasteful activities
-Why your team’s motivation is often squandered—and how to avoid that mistake
-How you can jumpstart your change efforts by beginning with a “burst��

The book investigates Why the middle is the roughest part of a change effort. Why inefficiency can sometimes accelerate progress. Why getting “buy-in�� is the wrong way to think about change.

What if we could unlock forward movement—achieving progress on what matters most—without the need for more resources? The same people, the same assets…but dramatically better results. Yesterday, we were stuck. Today, we reset.]]> 288 Dan Heath 1668062097 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.17
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]]> 60523287 “While writing about writing is often deadly, Lewis is as delightful as he is wise.�� —The New York Times

A definitive collection of wisdom on every style of writing and a celebration of the transformative power of the written word from one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the modern age, C. S. Lewis, the beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and other revered classics.

Featuring over one hundred excerpts—some short and some essay length—drawn from his wide body of letters, books, and essays, On Writing (and Writers) brings together C. S. Lewis’s reflections on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to writing.

Writers and devoted readers will be enriched and inspired by Lewis’s commentary on a range of genres,

On Good WritingOn Writing FictionOn Writing PoetryOn Writing for ChildrenOn Writing Science FictionOn Christian WritingOn Writing PersuasivelyOn Other WritersWise and practical, On Writing (and Writers) reveals Lewis’s thoughts on both mechanics and style, including choosing adjectives, the art of expression, how to connect with readers, and the core principles of clear, impactful writing.

A window into the mind of one of the greatest public intellectuals of the twentieth century—a gifted writer whose influence and insights remain relevant six decades after his death—this engaging collection reveals not only why Lewis loved the written word, but what it means to “gladly teach�� the art of writing, so that wise readers can “gladly learn.”]]> 208 C.S. Lewis 0063276453 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.13
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]]> 201751300 An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see those stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life—and why we still need them.]]> 416 Evan Friss 0593299922 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.92 2024
author: Evan Friss
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.92
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]]> 211004856 New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues to bring us the origin story of Martin Hench and the most powerful new tool for crime ever the personal computer.

The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco. Here, Martin Hench will invent the forensic accountant--what a bounty hunter is to people, he is to money--but for now he's an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever, one we now take completely for granted.

When Marty finds himself hired by Silicon Valley PC startup the Three Wise Men to investigate a group of disgruntled ex-employees who've founded a competitor startup, he quickly realizes he's on the wrong side. Marty ditches the greasy old guys running Three Wise Men without a second thought, utterly infatuated with the electric atmosphere of Magenta Women's Enterprise. Located in the heart of the Mission, this group of brilliant young women found themselves exhausted by the predatory business practices of Three Wise Men and set out to beat them at their own game, making better computers and driving Three Wise Men out of business. But this optimistic startup, fueled by young love and California-style burritos, has no idea the depth of the evil they're seeking to unroot or the risks they run.

In this company-eat-company city, Martin and his friends will be lucky to escape with their lives.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 400 Cory Doctorow 1250865905 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.18 2025
author: Cory Doctorow
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average rating: 4.18
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]]> 147369131 A behind-the-scenes look into the creation and legacy of��The West Wing�� as told by cast members Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, with compelling insights from��cast and crew��exploring��what made the show what it was and how its impassioned commitment to service has made the��series and relationships behind it endure.

Step back inside the world of President Jed Bartlet’s Oval Office with Fitzgerald and McCormack as they reunite the West Wing cast and crew in a lively and colorful “backstage pass�� to the timeless series. This intimate, in-depth reflection reveals how The West Wing was conceived, and spotlights the army of people it took to produce it, the lifelong friendships it forged, and the service it inspired.

From cast member origin stories to the collective cathartic farewell on the show’s final night of filming, What’s Next will delight readers with on-set and off-camera anecdotes that even West Wing superfans have never heard. Meanwhile, a deeper analysis of the show’s legacy through American culture, service, government, and civic life underscores how the series envisaged an American politics of decency and honor, creating an aspirational White House beyond the bounds of fictional television.

What’s Next revisits beloved episodes with fresh, untold commentary; compiles poignant and hilarious stories from the show’s production; highlights initiatives supported by the cast, crew, and creators; and makes a powerful case for competent, empathetic leadership, hope, and optimism for whatever lies ahead.]]> 608 Melissa Fitzgerald 0593184548 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.39 2024
author: Melissa Fitzgerald
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.39
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]]> 208430671 The definitive book on the TV show Ted Lasso, written by New York Times journalist and editor Jeremy Egner, celebrating the show’s improbable rise and cultural impact while never losing sight of the heart, friendship, and passion that have made it an enduring favorite for the ages When Ted Lasso first aired in 2020, nobody—including those who had worked on it—knew how a show inspired by an ad, centered around soccer, filled mostly with unknown actors, and led by a wondrously mustached “nice guy�� would be received. Now, eleven Emmys and one Peabody Award later, it’s safe to say that the show’s status as a pop culture phenomenon is secure. And, for the first time, New York Times television editor Jeremy Egner explores the creation, production, and potent legacy of Ted Lasso. Drawing on dozens of interviews from key cast, creators, and more, Believe takes readers from the very first, silly NBC Premier League commercial to the pitch to Apple executives, then into the show’s writer’s room, through the brilliant international casting, and on to the unforgettable set and locations of the show itself. �� Egner approaches his reporting as a journalist and as a cultural��critic, but also with an affection and admiration fans will appreciate,��carefully and humorously telling Ted Lasso’s story of teamwork, of hidden talent, of a group of friends looking around at the world’s��increasingly nasty discourse and deciding that maybe simple decency still had the power to bring us together—a story about what happens when you dare to believe.]]> 368 Jeremy Egner 0593476069 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.96 2024
author: Jeremy Egner
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
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]]> 103489691 ��
Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal. From his dramatic overhaul of Roman law, to his lavish building projects, to his fierce persecution of dissenters from Orthodox Christianity, Justinian’s vigorous statecraft—and his energetic efforts at self-glorification—not only set the course of Byzantium but also laid the foundations for the world of the Middle Ages.����
��
Even as Justinian sought to recapture Rome’s past greatness, he paved the way for what would follow. ��]]> 544 Peter Sarris 1541601335 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.33
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]]> 198493964 ��
In House of Lilies , historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today.

Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetian kings became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages and established the foundations of a shared French culture. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house to adopt the fleur-de-lys, displaying this lily emblem to signify their divine favor and legitimate their rule. The Capetians played a part in some of the most dramatic and far-reaching episodes in European history, including the Crusades, bloody waves of religious persecution, and a series of wars with England. The Capetian age saw the emergence of Gothic architecture, the romantic ideals of chivalry and courtly love, and the Church’s role at the center of daily life.

Evocatively interweaving these pivotal developments with the human stories of the rulers who drove them, House of Lilies is the definitive history of the dynasty that forged France—and Europe—as we know it.]]> 448 Justine Firnhaber-Baker 154160475X Vignesh 0 to-read 4.20 2024
author: Justine Firnhaber-Baker
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.20
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]]> 204640542
For Dan Jones, Henry V is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down. He was a hardened, sometimes brutal warrior, yet he was also creative and artistic, with a bookish temperament. He was a leader who made many mistakes, who misjudged his friends and family, but he always seemed to triumph when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from economic ruin, put down rebellions, and secured England’s borders; in foreign diplomacy, he made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for three generations of calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry V is a historical titan whose legacy has become a complicated one. To understand the man behind the legend, Jones first examines Henry’s years of apprenticeship, when he saw the downfall of one king and the turbulent reign of another. Upon his accession in 1413, he had already been politically and militarily active for years, and his extraordinary achievements as king would come shortly after, earning him an unparalleled historical reputation. Writing with his characteristic wit and style, Jones delivers a thrilling and unmissable life of England’s greatest king.]]> 432 Dan Jones 0593652738 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.40 2024
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]]> 212806663 “A wise, tremendously moving exploration of what it means to seek companionship and understanding, in books and in life.”—Hua Hsu, author of Stay True

“A must for the obsessive reader.”—Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot

Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners��.

Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. But Sarah had always lived through her books, seeking escape, self-definition, and rules for living. She built her life around reading, wrote criticism, and taught literature at an Ivy League University. Then she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question. Could we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?

Bibliophobia is an alternately searing and darkly humorous story of breakdown and survival told through books. Delving into texts such as Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, The Last Samurai, Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the intoxicating, sometimes painful, ways books push back on those who love them.]]> 240 Sarah Chihaya 059359472X Vignesh 0 to-read 3.73 2025
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]]> 148014534 The first history of the notebook, a simple invention that changed the way the world thinks.

We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did this simple invention come from? How did they revolutionise our lives, and why are they such powerful tools for creativity? And how can using a notebook help you change the way you think?

In this wide-ranging story, Roland Allen reveals all the answers. Ranging from the bustling markets of medieval Florence to the quiet studies of our greatest thinkers, he follows a trail of dazzling ideas, revealing how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of artists like Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, scientists from Isaac Newton to Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James. We watch Darwin developing his theory of evolution in tiny pocketbooks, see Agatha Christie plotting a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books, and learn how Bruce Chatwin unwittingly inspired the creation of the Moleskine.

On the way we meet a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers and mathematicians, who all used their notebooks as a space for thinking and to shape the modern world.

In an age of AI and digital overload, the humble notebook is more relevant than ever.

Allen shows how bullet points can combat ADHD, journals can ease PTSD, and patient diaries soften the trauma of reawakening from coma. The everyday act of moving a pen across paper can have profound consequences, changing the way we think and making us more creative, more productive -- and happier.]]> 416 Roland Allen 1782839151 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.36 2023
author: Roland Allen
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.36
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]]> 200003642
In his 2013 bestseller Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk showed the world how to create winning content for underpriced attention channels. But since then, new platforms have emerged, others have become less relevant, and algorithms are incentivizing new styles of content. New skills are necessary to create advertising that builds brand and sales.

In his latest book, Vaynerchuk argues that today’s fast-growing businesses, brands, content creators, and influencers have one thing in common: They mastered storytelling in areas of underpriced attention, which predominantly exists across a handful of social media platforms. Informed by 20+ years of business and marketing success, he contends that the biggest transformation and opportunity is the “TikTokification of Social Media.�� Increasingly, platforms are distributing content based on what users are interested in, rather than who they follow.

Small businesses, large corporations, and creators can take advantage of this trend to develop brand and grow sales by producing relevant, strategic content, even if they don’t have an audience. But how does one make relevant content? What should advertisements look like, in this new world?

In this book, Vaynerchuk provides detailed answers to these questions and more, revealing the tactics to master modern advertising with strategies you can apply to the moment you’re currently living in.]]> 272 Gary Vaynerchuk 0063317591 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.19
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]]> 199334305 In his New York Times bestselling book, Discipline Is Destiny, Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a life of self-discipline. In this much-anticipated third installment in the Stoic Virtues series, he argues for the necessity of doing what’s right �� even when it isn’t easy

For the ancients, everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice—or one’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must begin with justice.�� The influence of the modern world often tells us that acting justly is optional. Holiday argues that that’s simply untrue—and the fact that so few people today have the strength to stand by their convictions explains much about why we’re so unhappy.

In Right Thing. Right Now., Holiday draws on fascinating stories of historical figures such as Marcus Aurelius, Florence Nightingale, Jimmy Carter, Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass, whose examples of kindness, honesty, integrity, and loyalty we can emulate as pillars of upright living. Through the lives of these role models, readers learn the transformational power of living by a moral code and, through the cautionary tales of unjust leaders, the consequences of an ill-formed conscience.

The Stoics never claimed that living justly was easy, only that it was necessary. And that the alternative—sacrificing our principles for something lesser—was considered only by cowards and fools. Right Thing. Right Now. is a powerful antidote to the moral failures of our modern age, and a manual for living virtuously.]]> 365 Ryan Holiday 0593191722 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.15 2024
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average rating: 4.15
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]]> 211399655 From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreat

Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats over the past three decades to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He’s not a Christian—or a member of any religious group—but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. That silence reminds him of what is essential and awakens a joy that nothing can efface. It’s not just freedom from distraction and noise and it’s a reminder of some deeper truths he misplaced along the way.

In Aflame, Iyer connects with inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant a house burns down, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other nonmonastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. And most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship. In so doing, he offers a unique outsider’s view of monastic life—and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there’s a space for quiet and recollection that’s open to us all.

Radiant, intimate, and gripping, Aflame offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love, and, ultimately, how to die.]]> 234 Pico Iyer 0593420306 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.87
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]]> 205363955 Meditations for Mortals takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life �� one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves.

Addressing the fundamental questions about how to live, it offers a powerful new way to take action on what counts: a guiding philosophy of life Oliver Burkeman calls ‘imperfectionism��. How can we embrace our non-negotiable limitations? Or make good decisions when there’s always too much to do? What if purposeful productivity were often about letting things happen, not making them happen?

Reflecting on ideas drawn from philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores practical tools and shifts in perspective. The result is a bracing challenge to much familiar advice, and a profound yet entertaining crash course in living more fully.

To be read either as a four-week ‘retreat of the mind�� or devoured in one or two sittings, Meditations for Mortals will be a source of solace and inspiration, and an aid to a saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life. In anxiety-inducing times, it is rich in truths we have never needed more.]]> 208 Oliver Burkeman 0374611998 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.26 2024
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]]> 212806718 A groundbreaking guide to rejecting the default path and designing your dream life—a life centered around The 5 Types of Wealth. Launch your journey to fulfillment with this transformative system from inspirational writer, speaker, and entrepreneur Sahil Bloom.

Harsh You’ve been lied to. Throughout your life, you’ve been slowly indoctrinated to believe that money is the only type of wealth. The Your wealthy life may involve money, but in the end, it will be defined by everything else.

In The 5 Types of Wealth, Sahil Bloom offers a transformative guide for redesigning your life around five types of wealth—Time Wealth, Social Wealth, Mental Wealth, Physical Wealth, and Financial Wealth—that will lead to a durable satisfaction and happiness you can build and maintain across the seasons of your life.
��
Whether you are a recent college graduate, mid-life warrior, or a retiree, this playbook will unlock new levels of freedom and fulfillment,

�� Control over how you spend your time
•��Depth of connection with those around you
•��Clarity of purpose, presence, and decision making
•��Improved health and vitality
•��Simple pathways to financial independence
��
Bloom’s unique blend of storytelling, questions, and actionable insights enables readers to make immediate positive change and build the joyful, balanced lives they’d previously only dreamed of.]]> 400 Sahil Bloom 059372318X Vignesh 0 to-read 4.24
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]]> 36198932 182 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.13
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
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average rating: 4.13
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]]> 36172060 198 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.33
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
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average rating: 4.33
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]]> 63318993 The Art of Gig is a two-volume guide to the modern gig economy, with particular emphasis on independent consulting. It is intended to serve as a philosophical companion for a life of free agency and help you develop a sensibility of work attuned to both the poetry and practicalities of life beyond paychecks. The essays included in these volumes were originally published over two years in a weekly email newsletter. They have been carefully updated, sequenced, and structured for this compilation. This first volume, Foundations, comprises thirty-two essays that aim to help you develop a solid grasp of the fundamentals of surviving and thriving in the gig economy. Topics getting oriented, bootstrapping, managing perceptions, mental fitness, and sparring with executives.

The second volume, Superstructures, covers themes that become salient once strong foundations are in place.]]> 309 Venkatesh G. Rao 1959228021 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.52
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
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average rating: 4.52
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]]> 36198931 242 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.33
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.33
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]]> 36163128 178 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.26
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
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average rating: 4.26
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]]> 35673227 251 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.01
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
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average rating: 4.01
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]]> 26097555 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 4.15 2015
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.15
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]]> 10984768 176 Venkatesh G. Rao Vignesh 0 to-read 3.63 2011
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.63
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]]> 18581676 231 Venkatesh G. Rao 098270304X Vignesh 0 to-read 3.74 2013
author: Venkatesh G. Rao
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2013
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]]> 216396083 About the Book
THE STORY OF AMRUT DISTILLERIES, THE BANGALORE-BASED COMPANY THAT CRAFTED AWARD-WINNING WHISKIES.
One fine day in Ooty, Bangalore-based businessman Neelakanta Rao Jagdale mixed single malt whisky with peated whisky, both crafted in his family-owned distillery. This blend would put Amrut on the world map, succeeding beyond Jagdale’s wildest dreams. He had crafted nectar fit for the gods, much like the one that rose out of the great churn of the Puranas, a whisky that would captivate connoisseurs worldwide—Amrut Fusion.
India is a land of whisky-drinkers—of the sort made from molasses, yes, but also premium Scotch. For the latter lot, anything Indian was anathema. Jagdale, a visionary, dared to dream beyond the molasses-based whiskies that India was known for. His strategy was for Indian whisky to be acceptable to Indians, it would first have to be accepted by the Scots. And thus began the journey of Amrut Whisky and its many expressions, the most popular of which remains the Amrut Fusion.
Business storyteller Sriram Devatha follows this exhilarating story, from Newcastle bars, where Rakshit Jagdale conducted blind whisky tastings, to UK sales head and chief distiller Ashok Chokalingam’s travels across the UK trying to sell Amrut. The book covers a lot of ground—Amrut’s branding strategies, alcohol regulation in India, the dynamics of a family business, the Western bias against Indian whisky in the early days, the economic imperative towards premiumisation and, most importantly, the science and creativity that goes into distilling world-class whisky.
Amrut—the Great The Global Story of India’s First Single Malt is the tale of how a home-grown brand attained international cult status. But it is also more than the story of an India that not just consumes global products, but makes for the world—a tale of resilience, innovation and the pursuit of excellence.

About the Author
Sriram loves telling brand stories across mediums, from an Instagram reel to a 200-page volume of narrative non-fiction. His writing is influenced by his learnings as a senior brand manager at a start-up, visiting faculty teaching storytelling for entrepreneurs and even delivering lectures on German grammar and audio engineering. As Consulting Editor at YourStory, he probes the nuances of crafting memorable brands through conversations with founders. In his downtime, Sriram enjoys swimming with his children, teaching them to bubble and even count for their plunges into the pool. He lives in Bangalore.]]> 267 Sriram Devatha Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.77
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]]> 25196583
If you’ve ever had an impactful, disruptive product or business idea, been curious about owning your own business, or have already taken the first steps on your entrepreneurial journey, this is the book for you.

If you’ve been running your own company for the last seven-odd years, and scale, brand and value-creation are some of the crossroads for you now, keep reading.

If you think your parents or family would freak out if you dared to suggest ditching your safe haven—your professional job—to pursue your dreams of owning your own business, relax. Better yet, share this book with them.

If you’re an experienced professional ready to take the plunge into starting your own business or committed to growing into an effective leader in the company you work for, read on. This book hopes to demystify failure, inspire success, raise ambitions and help you think big.

Dream With Your Eyes Open shares failures and triumphs, thoughts and anecdotes in a simple narrative that could help you gain better insights into entrepreneurship and give you a fighting chance when it comes to realizing your dreams in a David-versus-Goliath world. Only then will we succeed in harnessing the country’s enormous entrepreneurial potential with the most energetic and passionate people in the world, alive with fresh mindsets, optimism and hope.

This book is about ‘it can be done��, not ‘I did it��. It’s all possible. Just dream your own dream—and when you do, dream with your eyes open.]]> 185 Ronnie Screwvala Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.81 2015
author: Ronnie Screwvala
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2015
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]]> 204260233 The Scrapper's Way will take you through life's many crossroads and teach you the art of making sensible personal choices both at work and in personal life, and above all purpose to enrich every aspect of it. One part in every story as a behind-the-scenes memoir, the other part as the fuel to make you think; this book will lay out your own path to success in an unequal world.]]> 278 Damodar Padhi 9356999872 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.58
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name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.58
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]]> 50905267 344 N. Chandrasekaran 067009336X Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.86
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]]> 28779670 194 M.S. Ashokan Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.16
author: M.S. Ashokan
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.16
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]]> 61796681 The story of how Victoria’s Secret skyrocketed from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak—all while defining an impossible beauty standard for generations of American women—before the brand’s tight grip on the industry finally slipped

Victoria’s Secret is one of the most influential and polarizing brands to ever infiltrate the psyche of the American consumer. Almost right at its start in the late 1970s, the company developed a cult following for its glamorous catalogs. Back then, shoppers had few alternatives to the stodgy department stores that sold most of the nation’s intimate apparel. By 1982, the founders of Victoria’s Secret avoided bankruptcy by selling to Les Wexner, the fast-fashion pioneer behind the Limited, whose empire of mall brands would go on to dominate American retail for forty years.

Wexner turned Victoria’s Secret into a multibillion-dollar business, and the brand’s cultural influence soared thanks to its airbrushed advertisements and annual televised fashion show, which drew millions of viewers each year. Its supermodel spokeswomen, the sweet but sultry Angels, personified a new American beauty standard.

But as our definition of beauty expanded, Victoria’s Secret failed to evolve and reached a crisis point. Meanwhile, Wexner became increasingly known for his complicated relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, his former financial adviser and confidant.

Selling Sexy expertly draws from sources within Victoria’s Secret and across the industry to examine the unprecedented rise of one of the most innovative brands in retail history—a brand that today, under new ownership, is desperately trying to seduce shoppers again.]]> 320 Lauren Sherman 1250850967 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.71 2024
author: Lauren Sherman
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.71
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]]> 53404261 The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon—what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world.


The book’s twelve chapters illuminate different aspects of Hitchcock’s life and work: “The Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up��; “The Murderer��; “The Auteur��; “The Womanizer��; “The Fat Man��; “The Dandy��; “The Family Man��; “The Voyeur��; “The Entertainer��; “The Pioneer��; “The Londoner��; “The Man of God.�� Each of these angles reveals something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived but also the various versions of himself that he projected, and those projected on his behalf.


From Hitchcock’s early work in England to his most celebrated films, White astutely analyzes Hitchcock’s oeuvre and provides new interpretations. He also delves into Hitchcock’s ideas about gender; his complicated relationships with “his women”—not only Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren but also his female audiences—as well as leading men such as Cary Grant, and writes movingly of Hitchcock’s devotion to his wife and lifelong companion, Alma, who made vital contributions to numerous classic Hitchcock films, and burnished his mythology. And White is trenchant in his assessment of the Hitchcock persona, so carefully created that Hitchcock became not only a figurehead for his own industry but nothing less than a cultural icon.


Ultimately, White’s portrayal illuminates a vital truth: Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist, and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.]]> 380 Edward White 1324002395 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.88 2021
author: Edward White
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.88
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]]> 35224286 Twin Peaks and writer and director of groundbreaking films like Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive - opens up about a lifetime of extraordinary creativity, the friendships he has made along the way and the struggles he has faced - sometimes successful, sometimes not - to bring his projects to fruition.

Part-memoir, part-biography, Room to Dream interweaves Lynch's own reflections on his life with the story of those times, as told by Kristine McKenna, drawing from extensive and explosive interviews with ninety of Lynch's friends, family members, actors, agents, musicians and collaborators. Lynch responds to each recollection and reveals the inner story of the life behind the art.]]> 496 David Lynch 1782118381 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.37 2018
author: David Lynch
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2018
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]]> 174156154
The myth of the 60s depends on the 1950s being the before times of conformity, segregation, straightness—The Lonely Crowd and The Organization Man. This all carries some truth, but it does nothing to explain how, in 1959, the great indigenous art form, jazz, reached the height of its power and popularity, led there by a number of Black geniuses so iconic they go by one name—Monk, Mingus, Rollins, Coltrane, and above all, Miles. 1959 saw Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles’s sextet come together to record what is widely considered the greatest jazz album of all time, and certainly the Kind of Blue .


3 Shades of Blue is James Kaplan’s magnificent account of the paths of the three giants Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and their path on from there. It’s a book about music, and business, and race, and heroin, and the towns that gave jazz its home, from New York and LA to Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City. It’s an astonishing meditation on creativity and the strange hothouses that can produce its full flowering. It’s a book about the great forebears of this golden age, particularly Charlie Parker, and the people, like Ornette Coleman, who would take the music down strange new paths. And it’s about why this period has never been replicated, why the world of jazz most people visit is a museum to it.


But above all this is a book about three very different men—their struggles, their choices, their tragedies, their greatness. Bill Evans had a gruesome downward spiral, John Coltrane took the mystic’s path into a space far away from mainstream concerns. Miles had three or four sea changes in him before the end. The tapestry of their lives is, in Kaplan’s hands, an American Odyssey, with no direction home. It is also a masterpiece, a book about jazz that is as big as America.]]> 496 James Kaplan 0525561005 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.34 2024
author: James Kaplan
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.34
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]]> 65650231
You asked whether Siskel & Ebert had given it “two thumbs up.��

On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before they’d ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for the Chicago Tribune . Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prize—the first ever awarded to a film critic—for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times. To say they despised each other was an understatement.

When they reluctantly agreed to collaborate on a new movie review show with PBS, there was at least as much sparring off-camera as on. No decision—from which films to cover to who would read the lead review to how to pronounce foreign titles—was made without conflict, but their often-antagonistic partnership (which later transformed into genuine friendship) made for great television. In the years that followed, their signature “Two thumbs up!�� would become the most trusted critical brand in Hollywood.

In Opposable Thumbs , award-winning editor and film critic Matt Singer eavesdrops on their iconic balcony set, detailing their rise from making a few hundred dollars a week on local Chicago PBS to securing multimillion-dollar contracts for a syndicated series (a move that convinced a young local host named Oprah Winfrey to do the same). Their partnership was cut short when Gene Siskel passed away in February of 1999 after a battle with brain cancer that he’d kept secret from everyone outside his immediate family—including Roger Ebert, who never got to say goodbye to his longtime partner. But their influence on in the way we talk about (and think about) movies continues to this day.]]> 352 Matt Singer 0593540158 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.03 2023
author: Matt Singer
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.03
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]]> 128713508 400 Daniel de Visé 0802160980 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.17 2024
author: Daniel de Visé
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.17
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]]> 35297381
Regarded as a masterpiece today, 2001: A Space Odyssey received mixed reviews on its 1968 release. Despite the success of Dr. Strangelove, director Stanley Kubrick wasn’t yet recognized as a great filmmaker, and 2001 was radically innovative, with little dialogue and no strong central character. Although some leading critics slammed the film as incomprehensible and self-indulgent, the public lined up to see it. 2001 ’s resounding commercial success launched the genre of big-budget science fiction spectaculars. Such directors as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron have acknowledged its profound influence.

Author Michael Benson explains how 2001 was made, telling the story primarily through the two people most responsible for the film, Kubrick and science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke. Benson interviewed Clarke many times, and has also spoken at length with Kubrick’s widow, Christiane; with visual effects supervisor Doug Trumbull; with Dan Richter, who played 2001 ’s leading man-ape; and many others.

A colorful nonfiction narrative packed with memorable characters and remarkable incidents, Space Odyssey provides a 360-degree view of this extraordinary work, tracking the film from Kubrick and Clarke’s first meeting in New York in 1964 through its UK production from 1965-1968, during which some of the most complex sets ever made were merged with visual effects so innovative that they scarcely seem dated today. A concluding chapter examines the film’s legacy as it grew into it current justifiably exalted status.]]> 512 Michael Benson 1501163930 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.38 2018
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]]> 179922986
The enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years.

Stanley An Odyssey fills that gap. This definitive book is based on access to the latest research, especially Kubrick's archive at the University of the Arts, London, as well as other private papers plus new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick’s personal, private, public, and working life. Stanley An Odyssey investigates not only the making of Kubrick's films, but also about those he wanted (but failed) to make like Burning Secret , Napoleon , Aryan Papers , and A.I.

Revealingly, this immersive biography will puncture the controversial myths about the reclusive filmmaker who created some of the most important works of art of the twentieth century]]> 656 Robert P. Kolker 1639366245 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.19 2023
author: Robert P. Kolker
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.19
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]]> 207567853 'Randy Newman is our great master of American song and storytelling' Bruce Springsteen

'At last, the biography that Randy Newman has long deserved. The emotional precision, the humour and sweep, the truths and secrets behind his remarkable body of work . . . it's all here in Robert Hilburn's heartfelt and indispensable account of America's finest songwriter. Leave it to Hilburn to pull back the curtain on the incredible life of Newman, a shy genius who clearly trusted him enough to point him in all the right directions. It's more than a great read, it's an invitation to re-visit Randy Newman's work with renewed appreciation for the man who uniquely defined the American Experience just when we needed it most' Cameron Crowe

Randy Newman is widely hailed as one of America's all-time greatest songwriters, equally skilled in the sophisticated melodies and lyrics of the Gershwin-Porter era and the cultural commentary of his own generation, with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon among his most ardent admirers. While tens of millions around the world can hum 'You've Got a Friend in Me', his disarming centrepiece for Toy Story, most of them would be astonished to learn that the heart of Newman's legacy is in the dozens of brilliant songs that detail the injustices, from racism to class inequality, that have contributed to the division of our nation. Rolling Stone declared that a single Newman song, 'Sail Away', tells us more about America than 'The Star-Spangled Banner'. And yet, his legacy remains largely undocumented in book form - until now.

In A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY, veteran music journalist Robert Hilburn presents the definitive portrait of an American legend. Hilburn has known Newman since his club debut at the Troubadour in 1970, and the two have maintained a connection in the decades since, conversing over the course of times good and bad. Though Newman has long refused to talk with potential biographers, he now gives Hilburn unprecedented access not only to himself but also to his archives, as well as his family, friends, and collaborators. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Chuck D, James Taylor, and New York Times' Pulitzer-winning columnists, Thomas Friedman and Wesley Morris, among others, contributed to the book. In addition to exploring Newman's prolific career and the evolution of his songwriting, A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY also dives into his childhood and early influences, his musical family that ruled Hollywood movie scores for decades, the relationships that have provided inspiration for his songs, and so much more.

As thought-provoking and thorough as it is tender, this book is an overdue tribute to the legendary songwriter whose music has long reflected and challenged the America we know today.]]> 544 Robert Hilburn 0306834693 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.89
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]]> 16395913
In Leonard's first original e-book, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (featured in Pronto and Riding the Rap) returns to the Eastern Kentucky coal-mining country of his youth. When Boyd Crowder, a mail-order-ordained minister who doesn't believe in paying his income taxes, decides to blow up the IRS building in Cincinnati, Givens is asked by the local marshal to intervene.

This sets up an inevitable confrontation between two men on opposite sides of the law who still have a lingering respect for each other. Throw into the mix Boyd's sister-in-law, Ava, who carries a torch for Raylan along with a deer rifle, and you've got a funny, adrenaline-charged novella only Leonard could have written.]]> 240 Elmore Leonard 5551096602 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.95 2001
author: Elmore Leonard
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.95
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]]> 204593688 Journey��with award-winning documentarian and author Laurent Bouzereau through acclaimed director Brian De Palma’s renowned—and controversial—horror and thriller films that redefined cinema in the 1970s and early 80s with new interviews and fresh takes. �� Among a crop of fresh filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola in the 70s, Brian De Palma—a director from Philadelphia with a few small comedies under his belt—charted a cinematic path unlike any of his peers. ��At times he was unfairly dismissed as a Hitchcock copycat; other times he was misunderstood for his peculiar mix of sexuality, humor, music, and violence. But, over the course of ten years, he created a new cinematic language, melding his signature themes with specific filmmaking techniques that are now synonymous with his name. �� Drawing from his lifelong love of De Palma, years of research, and new interviews, acclaimed documentarian Laurent Bouzereau explores the seven films that came to define The De Palma Decade—Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Carrie, The Fury, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out. He combines film analysis, detailed history of the films�� productions, and interviews with De Palma himself, his casts, and collaborators to present the definitive record on this unrivaled period of cinematic creativity and the emergence of an auteur who would continue to influence filmmaking in the decades that followed. ��]]> 320 Laurent Bouzereau 0762485574 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.61
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]]> 62329959
Instead of focusing on one service, like HBO, Pandora’s Box asks, “What did HBO do besides give us The Sopranos?�� The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth to maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.

Since the creative and business sides of TV are thoroughly entwined, Biskind examines both, and the interplay between them. Through frank and shockingly intimate interviews with creators and executives, Pandora’s Box investigates the dynamic interplay of commerce and art through the lens the game-changing shows they aired—not only old warhorses like The Sopranos, but recent shows like The White Lotus, Succession, and Yellow- (both -stone and -jackets)—as windows into the byzantine practices of the players as they use money and guile to destroy their competitors. With its long view and short takes—riveting snapshots of behind-the-scenes mischief��Pandora’s Box is the only book you’ll need to read to understand what’s on your small screen and how it got there.]]> 0 Peter Biskind 0241443903 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.49
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]]> 207567691 From the acclaimed author of��American Comics��and��Jewish Comedy��comes a sweeping and entertaining narrative that details the rise and enduring grip of horror in��American literature, cinema, and, ultimately, culture—from the taut, terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe to the grisly, lingering films of Jordan Peele

America is held captive by horror stories. They flicker on the screen of a darkened movie theater and are shared around the campfire. They blare out in tabloid true-crime headlines, and in the worried voices of local news anchors. They are consumed, virally, on the phones in each of our pockets. Like the victims in any slasher worth its salt, we can’t escape the thrall of scary stories.

In American Scary, noted cultural historian and Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes the reader to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, drawing a surprising through-line between the lingering influence of the European Gothic, the enslaved insurrection tales propagated by slaveholders, and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans, among many others.

These foundational narratives give rise to and are influenced by the body of work we more closely associate with the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft, the lingering stories of Shirley Jackson, the unsettling films of Alfred Hitchcock, the up-all-night tales of Stephen King, and the gripping critiques of Jordan Peele. From “The Tell-Tale Heart�� to M3gan, we begin to see why the horror genre is the perfect prism through which to view America’s past and present.

With the extraordinary historical breadth and dexterous weave of insight and style that has made him twice a finalist for the National Jewish Book, Dauber makes the haunting case that horror reveals the true depths of the American mind.
��
Featuring cameos
Shirley Jackson �� The Sixth Sense �� ��Edgar Allan Poe �� Nathaniel Hawthorne �� Anne Radcliffe �� Charles Brockden Brown �� Los Espookys �� Washington Irving �� Nat Turner �� ��Night of the Living Dead �� H.P. Lovecraft �� Alien �� Mary Heaton Vorse �� Edith Wharton �� Norman Bates �� Lon Chaney �� Frankenstein �� Dracula �� H.G. Wells �� William Faulkner �� Dashiell Hammett �� Tananarive Due �� Twilight Zone �� The Handmaid’s Tale �� Ray Bradbury �� I Am Legend �� Elia Kazan �� Psycho �� Ralph Ellison �� The Blair Witch Project �� Stanley Kubrick �� Helter Skelter �� Jordan Peele �� The Walking Dead �� H.H. Holmes �� Harriet Beecher Stowe]]> 480 Jeremy Dauber 1643753568 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.60 2024
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]]> 58725001
In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names―altering the art of movie-making to this day.

In The Future Was Now, Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist, a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success of Alien, tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner �� a box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing. Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels.

Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema, The Future Was Now is a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever.]]> 304 Chris Nashawaty 1250827051 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.08 2024
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average rating: 4.08
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]]> 214918704 Box Office Poison tells an alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops.

Freaks, Land of the Pharaohs, Dune, Speed 2, Catwoman, what can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public's appetite -- or lack of it -- and the circumstances that saw such box office disasters actually made? Away from the canon, here is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.]]> 387 Tim Robey 0571381227 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.61 2024
author: Tim Robey
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.61
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]]> 214151728 With unprecedented access and unsparing analysis, this is the definitive investigation into Spotify, weaving interviews with incisive cultural criticism, and illuminating how streaming has reshaped music for listeners and artists alike.

Flush with testimony from over a hundred industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, Mood Machine takes us into the inner workings of the highly consolidated modern music business and how it has become personalized, playlisted, autoplayed, and algorithmic.

With an expert’s eye, music journalist Liz Pelly reveals how Spotify’s two-sided marketplace—the listeners who pay with their dollars and data, and the musicians who provide the material powering it all—has changed music media forever. She also explores how musicians and listeners are coming together to fight this era of musical individualism and advocate for artists�� futures.

Amazon Unbound and Weapons of Math Destruction for the music industry, Mood Machine is a timely and unputdownable exploration of a company that has become synonymous with music.]]> 288 Liz Pelly 1668083507 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.95 2025
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]]> 209499400 From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full. To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force. But Pacino was in his mid-thirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference.]]> 384 Al Pacino 0593655117 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.98 2024
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]]> 216662304 The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down

Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists to finally agree that the Covid pandemic was caused by an airborne virus.

In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air, and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections, only to die in obscurity.

Air-Borne chronicles the dark side of aerobiology with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Air-Borne also leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes—as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind.

Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on Covid and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.]]> 496 Carl Zimmer 0593473590 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.11 2025
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]]> 219158874 Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain

Ron Chernow, the highly lauded biographer of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Ulysses S. Grant, brings his considerable powers to bear on America’s first, and most influential, literary celebrity, Mark Twain. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, under Halley’s Comet, the rambunctious Twain was an early teller of tall tales. He left his home in Missouri at an early age, piloted steamboats on the Mississippi, and arrived in the Nevada Territory during the silver-mining boom. Before long, he had accepted a job at the local newspaper, where he barged into vigorous discourse and debate, hoaxes and hijinks. After moving to San Francisco, he published stories that attracted national attention for their brashness and humor, writing under a pen name soon to be immortalized.

Chernow draws a richly nuanced portrait of the man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune and crafted his celebrity persona with meticulous care. Twain eventually settled with his wife and three daughters in Hartford, where he wrote some of his most well-known works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earning him further acclaim. He threw himself into American politics, emerging as the nation’s most notable pundit. While his talents as a writer and speaker flourished, his madcap business ventures eventually forced him into bankruptcy; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play.

Drawing on Twain’s bountiful archives, including his fifty notebooks, thousands of letters, and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures a man whose career reflected the country’s westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars. No other white author of his generation grappled so fully with the legacy of slavery after the Civil War or showed such keen interest in African American culture. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain’s writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer’s talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.]]> 1200 Ron Chernow 0525561722 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.16 2025
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]]> 206728658 In this intimate and open account—nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read—Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate.

Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,�� but never “Eddie��), written while still mourning his untimely death.

In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers�� childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother—the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit�� no matter how famous they became—a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love.

"I was with him from day one,�� Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime."��

There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.��

Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author’s private archives.]]> 240 Alex Van Halen 0063265729 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.06 2024
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name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.06
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]]> 57727826
Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early ��70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life.

Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange.

When the album, Back in Black, was released in July—a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band—it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour. It has been declared “the biggest selling hard rock album ever made�� and “the best-selling heavy-metal album in history.��

The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music—and Brian Johnson’s life—forever.]]> 320 Brian Johnson 0063046385 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.47
author: Brian Johnson
name: Vignesh
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]]> 24819468
Creedence Clearwater Revival is one of the most important and beloved bands in the history of rock, and John Fogerty wrote, sang, and produced their instantly recognizable "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Born on the Bayou," and more. Now he reveals how he brought CCR to number one in the world, eclipsing even the Beatles in 1969. By the next year, though, Creedence was falling apart; their amazing, enduring success exploded and faded in just a few short years.

Fortunate Son takes readers from Fogerty's Northern California roots, through Creedence's success and the retreat from music and public life, to his hard-won revival as a solo artist who finally found love.]]> 406 John Fogerty 0316244570 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.70 2015
author: John Fogerty
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2015
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]]> 38122401 The frontman of one of the greatest bands of all time tells the story of his rise from nothing to rock 'n' roll megastar, and his wild journey as the voice of The Who.

“It’s taken me three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday,�� says Roger Daltrey, the powerhouse vocalist of The Who. The result of this introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America.

Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961. In Daltrey’s voice, the familiar stories—how they got into smashing up their kit, the infighting, Keith Moon’s antics—take on a new, intimate life. Also here is the creative journey through the unforgettable hits including My Generation, Substitute, Pinball Wizard, and the great albums, Who’s Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. Amidst all the music and mayhem, the drugs, the premature deaths, the ruined hotel rooms, Roger is our perfect narrator, remaining sober (relatively) and observant and determined to make The Who bigger and bigger. Not only his personal story, this is the definitive biography of The Who.]]> 259 Roger Daltrey 125029603X Vignesh 0 to-read 3.97 2018
author: Roger Daltrey
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
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]]> 63184326 The long-awaited memoir, generously illustrated with never-before-seen photos, from the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Rush bassist, and bestselling author of Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass.

Geddy Lee is one of rock and roll's most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band.

Long before Rush accumulated more consecutive gold and platinum records than any rock band after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, before the seven Grammy nominations or the countless electrifying live performances across the globe, Geddy Lee was Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, after his grandfather murdered in the Holocaust.

As he recounts the transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II.

He talks candidly about his childhood and the pursuit of music that led him to drop out of high school.

He tracks the history of Rush which, after early struggles, exploded into one of the most beloved bands of all time.

He shares intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart—deeply mourning Peart’s recent passing—and reveals his obsessions in music and beyond.

This rich brew of honesty, humor, and loss makes for a uniquely poignant memoir.]]> 512 Geddy Lee 0063159414 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.54 2023
author: Geddy Lee
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.54
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]]> 18081400 "After forty-six years of being on the road, this is the right time to look back in a way I've never done before: now and then. This is the story of my life in rock and roll -- and how the band that has meant everything to me came to define me. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you."

Mick Fleetwood has been a member of the ever-evolving Fleetwood Mac, one of the world's most successful and adored bands, for over four decades. Here he tells the full and candid story of his life as one of music's greatest drummers and bandleaders, the cofounder of the deeply loved supergroup that bears his name and that of his bandmate and lifelong friend John McVie.

In this intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Fleetwood vividly recalls his upbringing tapping along to every song playing on the radio, his experiences as a musician in '60s London, and the earliest permutation of the band featuring Peter Green.

Play On sheds new light on Fleetwood Mac's raucous history, describing the highs and lows of being in the band that Fleetwood was determined to keep together. Here he reflects on the creation of landmark albums such as Rumours and Tusk, the great loves of his life, and the many incredible and outrageous moments of recording, touring, and living with Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood describes these moments with honesty and immediacy, taking us to the very heart of this multilayered journey that has always been anchored in music.

Through it all, from intense love to plaintive heartaches, from collaborations to confrontations, it's been the drive to play on that has prevailed. Now, then, and always, it's Fleetwood Mac.]]> 344 Mick Fleetwood 0316403423 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.75 2014
author: Mick Fleetwood
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
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]]> 13609867 538 Pete Townshend Vignesh 0 to-read 3.70 2012
author: Pete Townshend
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2012
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]]> 28686968 Not Dead Yet, he tells the story of his epic career, with an auspicious debut at age 11 in a crowd shot from the Beatles�� legendary film A Hard Day’s Night. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on the job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Soon, he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel and begin to stockpile the songs that would rocket him to international fame with the release of Face Value and In the Air Tonight. Whether he’s recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, or writing the music for Disney’s smash-hit animated Tarzan, Collins’s storytelling chops never waver. And of course he answers the pressing question on everyone’s mind: just what does Sussudio mean? Not Dead Yet is Phil Collins’s candid, witty, unvarnished story of the songs and shows, the hits and pans, his marriages and divorces, the ascents to the top of the charts and into the tabloid headlines. As one of only three musicians to sell 100 million records both in a group and as a solo artist, Collins breathes rare air, but has never lost his touch at crafting songs from the heart that touch listeners around the globe. That same touch is on magnificent display here, especially as he unfolds his harrowing descent into darkness after his “official�� retirement in 2007, and the profound, enduring love that helped save him. This is Phil Collins as you’ve always known him, but also as you’ve never heard him before.']]> 371 Phil Collins 1101907479 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.00 2016
author: Phil Collins
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> 55711716 320 Richard Marx 1982169427 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.04 2021
author: Richard Marx
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> 60803565 Enjoy the stories behind Kenny Loggins' legendary five-decade career as a celebrated songwriter, chart-topping collaborator, and “The Soundtrack King�� with this pop icon’s intimate and entertaining music memoir.

In a remarkable career, Kenny Loggins has rocked stages worldwide, released ten platinum albums, and landed hits all over the��Billboard��charts. His place in music history is marked by a unique gift for collaboration combined with the vision to evolve, adapt, and persevere in an industry that loves to eat its own. Loggins served as a pivotal figure in the folk-rock movement of the early ��70s when he paired with former Buffalo Springfield member Jim Messina, recruited Stevie Nicks for the classic duet “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend,’�� then pivoted to smooth rock in teaming up with Michael McDonald on their back-to-back Grammy-winning hits “What a Fool Believes�� and “This Is It�� (a seminal moment in the history of what would come to be known as yacht rock). In the ��80s, Loggins became the king of soundtracks with hit recordings for��Caddyshack,��Footloose, and��Top Gun; and a bona fide global superstar singing alongside Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson on “We Are the World.��
��
In��Still Alright, Kenny Loggins gives fans a candid and entertaining perspective on his life and career as one of the most noteworthy musicians of the 1970s and ��80s. He provides an abundance of compelling, insightful, and terrifically amusing behind-the-scenes tales. Loggins draws readers back to the musical eras they’ve loved, as well as addressing the challenges and obstacles of his life and work—including two marriages that ended in divorce, a difficult but motivating relationship with the older brother for which “Danny’s Song�� is named, struggles with his addiction to benzodiazepines, and the revelations of turning seventy and looking back at everything that has shaped his music—and coming to terms with his rock-star persona and his true self.]]> 305 Kenny Loggins 0306925370 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.11 2022
author: Kenny Loggins
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> 203426608 The hilarious and controversial host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher has written his funniest, most opinionated, and most necessary book ever—a brilliantly astute and acerbically funny vivisection of American life, politics, and culture.

Some of the smartest commentary about what’s happening in America is coming from a comedian—this comedian being Bill Maher. If you want to understand what’s wrong with this country, it turns out that one of the best-informed and most thought-provoking analysts is this very funny pothead.

The book was inspired by the “editorial�� Bill delivers at the end of each episode of Real Time. These editorials are direct-to-camera sermons about culture, politics, and what’s happening in the world. To put this book together, Maher reviewed more than a decade of his editorials, rewriting, reimagining, and updating them, and adding new material to speak exactly to the moment we’re in. Free speech, cops, drugs, race, religion, the generations, cancel culture, the parties, the media, show biz, romance, health—Maher covers it all. The result is a hugely entertaining work of commentary about American culture in the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and H. L. Mencken.]]> 400 Bill Maher 1668051354 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.14
author: Bill Maher
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.14
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]]> 201339849 The man who brought the kavorka to the Seinfeld show through one of the most remarkable and beloved television characters ever invented, Kramer, shares the extraordinary life of a comedy genius—the way he came into himself as an artist, the ups and downs as a human being, the road he has traveled in search of understanding.“The hair, so essential, symbolizes the irrational that was and is and always will be the underlying feature not only of Kramer but of comedy itself. This seemingly senseless spirit has been coursing through me since childhood. I’ve been under its almighty influence since the day I came into this world. I felt it all within myself, especially the physical comedy, the body movements, so freakish and undignified, where I bumped into things, knocked stuff down, messed up situations, and often ended up on my ass. “This book is a hymn to the irrational, the senseless spirit that breaks the whole into pieces, a reflection on the seemingly absurd difficulties that intrude upon us all. It’s Harpo Marx turning us about, shaking up my plans, throwing me for a loop. Upset and turmoil is with us all the time. It’s at the basis of comedy. It’s the pratfall we all take. It’s the unavoidable mistake we didn’t expect. It’s everywhere I go. It’s in the way that I am, both light and dark, good and not-so-good. It’s my life.�� —Michael Richards, from Entrances and Exits]]> 425 Michael Richards 1637589131 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.01
author: Michael Richards
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.01
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]]> 197449267 A sweeping and evocative memoir from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award–winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award–nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.

Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan. Chart topping soloist. Across a half-century of American music, Michael McDonald’s unmistakably smooth baritone voice defined an era of rock and R&B with hit records like “What A Fool Believes,�� “Takin�� It to the Streets,�� “I Keep Forgettin��,�� “Peg,�� “It Keeps You Running,�� “You Belong to Me,�� and “Yah Mo B There.��

In his candid, freewheeling memoir, written with his friend, the Emmy Award-nominated actor and comedian Paul Reiser, Michael tells the story of his life and music. A high school dropout from Ferguson, Missouri, Michael chased his dreams in 1970’s California, a heady moment of rock opportunity and excess. As a rising session musician and backing vocalist, a series of encounters would send him on a wild ride around the world and to the heights of rock stardom—from joining Steely Dan and becoming a defining member of The Doobie Brothers to forging a path as a breakout solo R&B artist.

Interwoven with the unforgettable tales of the music, Michael tells a deeply affecting story of losing and finding himself as a man. He reckons with the unshakeable insecurities that drove him, the drug and alcohol addictions that plagued him, and the highs and lows of popularity. Along the way he relays the lessons he’s learned, and that if he’s learned anything at all it’s that there’s often little correlation between what you get and what you deserve.

Filled with unbelievable stories and a matchless cast of music greats including James Taylor, Ray Charles, Carly Simon, and Quincy Jones, What a Fool Believes is a moving and entertaining memoir that is sure to be a classic.]]> 336 Michael McDonald 0063357569 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.96 2024
author: Michael McDonald
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 61980307 The saying goes that "God only gives you what you can handle." Well God didn't grow up in my atheist, Wiccan, fame-laden, oversexed, teetotalling, drug-free, cloistered, chaotic, non-communicative, workaholic, feral-feeling house.'

For Moon Unit, daughter of musician Frank Zappa and his 'manager', Gail, processing a life so unique, so punctuated by the whims of creative urges, the tastes of popular culture and the calculus of celebrity, has at times been eviscerating. But it is her deep sense of humour and unshakeable humility that keeps her - and this memoir - pinned to the ground.

A child-star at age 14 after her accidental international hit single (recorded with her father), 'Valley Girl', turned her into a reluctant celebrity, Moon Unit Zappa's life has been utterly extraordinary from her birth in 1967 into a family that was already blessed/cursed as music royalty thanks to the acknowledged genius of Frank. But what are the consequences of growing up in a family who spend most of their time naked arguing about sexual/extra-marital liaisons and practising white magic in a free-for-all state of nonconformist, virtuoso abandon?

Earth to Moon is a reckoning with self-esteem, the ghosts of the past and a mother and a father who, in the process of leaving their mark upon on the world, scarred their first daughter on home soil. Brutally self-deprecating and funny as hell, it belies a rose-tinted perspective on the 70s and 80s west coast American scene, from within the belly of the beast of the rock and roll world.]]> 351 Moon Unit Zappa 0063113341 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.16 2024
author: Moon Unit Zappa
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
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]]> 203578958 In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.

Eric Roberts grew up in Georgia, spending most of his teens away from his mother and sisters, Lisa and Julia, and instead stayed with his controlling father, a grifter jealous of his early success. At age 17, Eric moved to New York to pursue acting, where he worked and partied with future legends like Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams.

His big break came when he was cast in King of the Gypsies. Eric became one of the hottest stars of the era, starting an affair with actress Sandy Dennis, working with Bob Fosse on the critically acclaimed Star 80, and earning an Oscar nomination for Runaway Train. But for Eric, Hollywood came with a dark side—an ocean of cocaine that nearly swept him away, culminating in a car accident that almost cost him his life.

Eric is open about the seriousness of his addictions and their devastating effect on his career. He reveals the reasons behind his complicated relationship with his sister, Julia, and his daughter, Emma, a successful actress in her own right. Now, happily married to casting director Eliza Roberts, who helped him confront his demons, he is revered among his peers as the ultimate actor’s actor.

Written with New York Times bestselling author, for years a Vanity Fair contributing editor, and current Air Mail writer-at-large Sam Kashner, this is a powerful memoir of a Hollywood legend.]]> 304 Eric Roberts 1250275326 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.53 2024
author: Eric Roberts
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
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]]> 199793680
Weaving a latticework of different strands, moving back and forth through time, Josh Brolin captures a life marked by curiosity, pain, devotion, kindness, humor.��He recounts an unconventional childhood far from Hollywood.��Raised on a ranch in Paso Robles, California, he was surrounded as a child by the wolves, cougars, and other wild animals gathered by his fearless and explosive mother, Jane Agee Brolin. Her tragic, early death haunts this book, and the force of her unforgettable personality is felt throughout. Brolin also brings to life his career in the film industry—from his breakout role in��The Goonies��to the set of��No Country for Old Men—and the professional and personal ups and downs in between and since.��With unflinching honesty but also great humor, he shares insights into relationships, addiction, love, and fatherhood, while letting the white space in between words speak for itself.��Grappling with the mysteries of life and death in a way that will catch readers by surprise, From Under the Truck is an audacious and riveting memoir from a born writer.]]> 240 Josh Brolin 0063382180 Vignesh 0 to-read 3.20 2024
author: Josh Brolin
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2024
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]]> 216818681
Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered, inimitable, and bewildering presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi�� (Tracy Morgan), the “great and powerful Oz�� (Kate McKinnon), or “some kind of very distant, strange comedy god�� (Bob Odenkirk).

Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever.

Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd��Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life—and have a profound impact on American culture.]]> 656 Susan Morrison 0812988876 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.20 2025
author: Susan Morrison
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
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]]> 216247552 An incendiary, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America’s oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies—from award-winning investigative journalist Gardiner Harris

One day in 2004, Gardiner Harris, early for a flight, sat down at an airport bar and started talking to the woman on the bar stool beside him. She was a drug sales rep for Johnson & Johnson, and her horrific story about unethical sales practices and the devastating impact they’d had on her family fundamentally changed the nature of how Harris covered the company—and the entire pharmaceutical industry—for The New York Times. His subsequent investigations and ongoing research since that conversation led to new federal laws and ultimately to No More Tears, a blistering exposé of a trusted American institution and the largest healthcare conglomerate in the world.

Harris takes us light years away from the company’s image as the child-friendly “baby company�� as he uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions. He covers multiple disasters: lies and cover-ups regarding baby powder’s link to cancer; the surprising dangers of Tylenol; a criminal campaign to sell dangerous anti-psychotics to children; a popular drug for cancer patients that increases the risk of tumor growth. Deceptive marketing efforts that accelerated opioid addictions rival even those of the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma. All told, Johnson & Johnson's products have helped cause drug crises that have contributed to the deaths of as many as two million people and counting.

Filled with shocking, infuriating, but utterly necessary revelations, No More Tears is a landmark work of investigative journalism that lays bare the deeply rooted corruption behind the image of babies bathing with a smile.]]> 464 Gardiner Harris 059322986X Vignesh 0 to-read 4.36 2025
author: Gardiner Harris
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2025
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]]> 211004838 John Lennon and Paul McCartney knew each other for twenty-three years, from 1957 to 1980. This book is the myth-shattering biography of a relationship that changed the cultural history of the world.

The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960’s and, to this day, remain an active ingredient in our cultural bloodstream, as new generations fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John and Paul. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship.

John and Paul’s relationship was defined by its complexity: compulsive, tender and tempestuous; full of longing, riven by jealousy. Like the band, their relationship was always in motion, never in equilibrium for long. John and Paul traces its twists and turns and reveals how these shifts manifested themselves in the music. Yoko Ono remarked on the resemblance of their friendship to a romantic relationship and suggested that at some point that’s what John wanted it to be. The two of them shared a private language, rooted in the stories, comedy and songs they both loved as teenagers, and later, in the lyrics of Beatles songs.

In John and Paul, acclaimed writer on human psychology and creativity Ian Leslie traces the shared journey of these men before, during and after The Beatles, offering us both a new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration, and human intimacy.]]> 424 Ian Leslie 1250869544 Vignesh 0 to-read 4.53 2025
author: Ian Leslie
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2025
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]]> 219551344 Who works for the government and what do they do? A timely and absorbing civics lessons from an all-star team of writers and storytellers.

The government is a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.

��������Michael Lewis invited his favorite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.

��������Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these workers are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. The vivid profiles in On Duty blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. They show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.]]> 272 Michael Lewis Vignesh 0 to-read 4.22 2025
author: Michael Lewis
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
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]]> 222392482 Seasoned entrepreneur and investor Mukesh Bansal delivers a masterclass on the art of building successful start-ups

Building a company from scratch is a risky business, with a very high chance of failure. But it is also one of the most rewarding life experiences, with an incredibly high learning curve. Mukesh Bansal draws on over two decades of first-hand experience to reveal the hard-won lessons that turn ambitious ideas into thriving enterprises. Through riveting stories and real-world case studies, he demystifies the entrepreneurial journey, guiding readers from the initial spark of inspiration to scaling a high-growth business.

In this book, discover your ‘why', the importance of achieving product-market fit and how to foster a resilient company culture. Learn to navigate the complexities of funding, execution and growth strategies while gaining candid insights into why many start-ups fail. In the treacherous landscape of building a business, one has to survive the inevitable challenges, and Bansal confronts this harsh reality, while offering readers a method to the madness.

The Start-Up Code is more than just a guide—it’s your road map to transforming bold ideas into enduring success. Whether you’re a fledgling entrepreneur or a corporate leader aiming to ignite innovation within your organization, Bansal’s practical frameworks and proven strategies will empower you to dramatically improve your odds of success.]]> 417 Mukesh Bansal 9367906226 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.29
author: Mukesh Bansal
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> 84828127
But here's one simple truth: good health impacts every aspect of life, be it productivity at work, interpersonal relationships or a balanced family life. In Hacking Health, Mukesh Bansal takes on the mammoth task of demystifying the science, simplifying the research and tracing the story of our relationship with our body. Through a combination of personal experience and cutting-edge science, this is a book that draws from ancient wisdom and also debunks unscientific myths to help you make smart choices in pursuit of good health. From nutrition and fitness to sleep and immunity, weight management and mental health to ageing and longevity, this book delves into the breadth and depth of holistic health and helps you navigate the lines between science and pseudoscience.

Can we use science to hack the human body's functioning and be our most efficient, fittest and happiest selves? Hacking Health takes a 360-degree approach to answer this very question and help you unlock your body's potential.]]> 320 Mukesh Bansal 0670097136 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.01
author: Mukesh Bansal
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.01
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]]> 50363045 373 Mukesh Bansal Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.23
author: Mukesh Bansal
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> 88546098
In The TCS Story and Beyond , S. Ramadorai, one of the country's most respected business leaders, recounts the steps to the extraordinary success of Tata Consultancy Services, one of the world's largest IT software and services companies, and outlines a vision for the future where the quality initiatives he undertook can be applied to a larger national framework.

Eight Modern Stories from a Timeless Institution provides readers with an insider's glimpse of the challenges faced by the Tata companies and how they rose above it all and carved a name for themselves.]]> 856 R.M. Lala 0143459252 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 0.0 1982
author: R.M. Lala
name: Vignesh
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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review:

]]> 12237614 224 R.M. Lala 0670082686 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.64 2009
author: R.M. Lala
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> 3125460 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780140250640

For six decades J.R.D. Tata headed India's largest industrial conglomerate with uncommon success. This was only one aspect of his life. He was also a man of great sensitivity who suffered at the loss of friends and was pained by the poverty he saw around him: a philanthropist who wanted India to be 'a happy country' and did all that he could to make it so: a man with a passion for literature, fast cars, skiing and, of course, flying. This book, by the author of the best-selling The Last Blue Mountain, records JRD's thoughts on a variety of subjects. In these pages he speaks of the House of Tatas and his style of management, about how he nearly joined the freedom struggle in the early 1940s, about the 'thrill of living a little dangerously', his love of music and wine, and the writers he likes to read. He speaks also, with striking candour and insight, about the failures of socialism, the future of India and his association with stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru. Jayaprakash Narayan, Vallabbhai Patel, Indira Gandhi and Henry Kissinger. Towards the end of the book, in the final year of his life, we see him come to terms with death, God and the afterlife. '...A spellbinding book.' motivation of one of the giants of Indian industry.' --Financial Times, London 'Few tributes have so movingly or so appositely refracted the spirit of a colossus who, though born to the proverbial bold and beautiful lifestyle, was to leave an indelible imprint on so many aspects of contemporary India.' --The Pioneer]]> 194 R.M. Lala Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.24 2000
author: R.M. Lala
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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]]> 7678681
In these as in other projects he undertook, Jamsetji revealed the unerring instinct of a man who knew what it would take to restore the pride of a subjugated nation and help it prepare for a place among the leading nations of the world once it came into its own. The scale of the projects required abilities of a high order. In some cases it was sheer perseverance that paid off "as with finding a suitable site for the steel project. In others, such as the Indian Institute of Science, it was his exceptional persuasive skills and patience that finally got him the approval of a reluctant viceroy, Lord Curzon.

In For the Love of India, R.M. Lala has drawn upon fresh material from the India Office Library in London and other archives, as also Jamsetji's letters, to portray the man and his age. It is an absorbing account that makes clear how remarkable Jamsetji's achievement truly was, and why, even now, one hundred years after his death, he seems like a man well ahead of the times.]]> 240 R.M. Lala 0670057827 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.16 2004
author: R.M. Lala
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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review:

]]> 61226241 608 Thomas Mathew 1400240085 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.06
author: Thomas Mathew
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> 23212441
This brief history of the Tatas charts the contribution of every Tata chairman—from Jamsetji Tata, who set up the company in 1868, to Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry—and explores the values at the heart of the Tata Group, as well as the role played in its development by the philanthropic trusts that own two-thirds of the company.

For anyone curious about this Indian company that has become a leading global player, this book is the perfect introduction.]]> 228 Peter Casey 0670087688 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.51 2014
author: Peter Casey
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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review:

]]> 58927785 235 Peter Casey 935305737X Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.14
author: Peter Casey
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> 215544838 From Empress Mills to the Iron and Steel Plant, from the establishment of IISc to the building of the Taj Mahal Hotel, Jamsetji’s vision made India stand tall. In this carefully researched account, R. Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat provide insights into the entrepreneurial principles of Jamsetji that helped created such a successful and enduring enterprise.
The even more important contribution by him and his successors has been the institutionalization of Tata values. Over the decades, through hard work, determination, and a consistent vision, he and his successors embedded these values in the organization, which has stood the test of time by consistently contributing to the country’s industrial development. The book takes readers into the heart of this amazing story and what has made it possible.
Interwoven with engaging real-life stories and interesting anecdotes that went into the making of India’s popular brands such as Tata Tea, Tata Motors, Titan and Tanishq, this unique account brings alive the vision of Jamsetji Tata and what we can learn from it.]]> 256 Harish Bhat 0670098078 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.40
author: Harish Bhat
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.40
book published:
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]]> 36586720 29 Harish Bhat 9351182991 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.03 2013
author: Harish Bhat
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> 17259942
TATAlog
Log (English) = Record-keeping device
Log (Hindi) = People

From steel to beverages and from supercomputers to automobiles, TATA companies have broken new ground and set new standards of excellence over the past two decades. TATAlog presents eight riveting and hitherto untold stories about the strategic and operational challenges that TATA companies have faced, and the forward thinking and determination that have raised the brand to new heights.

Among the engaging and inspiring stories told here are those of Tata Indica, the first completely Indian car that succeeded in the face of widespread cynicism; the jewellery brand Tanishq that has transformed one of Indias largest industries; and Tata Finance, which underwent several tribulations yet demonstrated the principles which Tata stands for.

Written by a TATA insider, TATAlog reveals the DNA of every TATA enterprisea combination of the virtues of being pioneering, purposive, principled and not perfect, along with tremendous human effort.]]> 200 Harish Bhat 0670086673 Vignesh 0 building-bharat, to-read 3.71 2012
author: Harish Bhat
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: building-bharat, to-read
review:

]]> 44081821 211 Harish Bhat 9353052696 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.20
author: Harish Bhat
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read, building-bharat
review:

]]> 12516842 320 S. Ramadorai 0670084905 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 3.63 2011
author: S. Ramadorai
name: Vignesh
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read, building-bharat
review:

]]> 60063510 380 Arun Tiwari 0670095729 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.43
author: Arun Tiwari
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read, building-bharat
review:

]]> 60399584
In this book, the current chairman T.T. Jagannathan, along with Sandhya Mendonca, takes us through the journey of this extraordinary company which fought off bankruptcy and rose like a phoenix to become a highly profitable, successful entity.

Like a phoenix, the group and its constituent companies, have risen from the ashes, many times over, to stand tall and proud. This is the story of a journey that began with early success and experienced catastrophic disasters, and set about turning its fortunes around in stunning comebacks, time and again.

With invaluable business lessons, decades of experience and innovation distilled in these pages, Disrupt and Conquer is a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs, executives and business leaders.]]> 232 T Jagannathan 0143457225 Vignesh 0 to-read, building-bharat 4.00
author: T Jagannathan
name: Vignesh
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read, building-bharat
review:

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