Abhisek's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 01 Jun 2023 18:03:38 -0700 60 Abhisek's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline]]> 39322175

Finish What You Start is a unique deep dive into the psychology and science of accomplishment, productivity, and getting things done. It takes a thorough look why we are sometimes stuck, and gives detailed, step by step solutions you can start using today. Every phase of finishing and following through is covered, and even productivity pros will be able to learn something new.

Above all else, this is a guide to understanding your brain and instincts better for optimal results.


Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with dozens of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience.


•The surprising motivations that push us past obstacles.
� How daily rules and a manifesto can help you achieve.
•Valuable and insightful mindsets to view productivity from entirely new lights.


•The science and tactics to beating procrastination easily.
� Focus and willpower pitfalls you are probably committing at this very moment.
•How to beat distractions, remain focused, stay on task, and get to what matters - consistently.


You only have 24 hours in the day, but so does everyone else. You can be among those who make the most and accomplish exactly what they want. The ability to finish and follow through parallels your ability to be happy and fulfilled. Your life is in your hands, so make the most of it!]]>
98 Peter Hollins Abhisek 0 3.57 2018 Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline
author: Peter Hollins
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention]]> 40389418 Creativity is about capturing those moments that make life worth living. The author's objective is to offer an understanding of what leads to these moments, be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab, so that knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives. Drawing on 100 interviews with exceptional people, from biologists and physicists to politicians and business leaders, poets and artists, as well as his 30 years of research on the subject, Csikszentmihalyi uses his famous theory to explore the creative process. He discusses such ideas as why creative individuals are often seen as selfish and arrogant, and why the tortured genius is largely a myth. Most important, he clearly explains why creativity needs to be cultivated and is necessary for the future of our country, if not the world.

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466 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 0061844039 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.06 1996 Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience]]> 66354 303 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 0060920432 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.11 1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein]]> 282459
Running through the book is a completely non-scientific biography (identified in the table of contents by italic type) including many letters which appear in English for the first time, as well as other information not published before.

Throughout the preparation of this book, Pais has had complete access to the Einstein Archives (now in the possession of the Hebrew University) and the invaluable guidance of the late Helen Dukas--formerly Einstein's private secretary.]]>
584 Abraham Pais 0192806726 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.33 1982 Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein
author: Abraham Pais
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/08/08
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<![CDATA[The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality]]> 22435 The fabric of the cosmos 569 Brian Greene 0965900584 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.12 2004 The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
author: Brian Greene
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
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<![CDATA[The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science and What Comes Next]]> 108939
"The Trouble with Physics" is a groundbreaking account of the state of modern physics: of how we got from Einstein and Relativity through quantum mechanics to the strange and bizarre predictions of string theory, full of unseen dimensions and multiple universes.

Lee Smolin not only provides a brilliant layman's overview of current research as we attempt to build a "theory of everything," but also questions many of the assumptions that lie behind string theory. In doing so, he describes some of the daring, outlandish ideas that will propel research in years to come.]]>
392 Lee Smolin 0618551050 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.05 2006 The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science and What Comes Next
author: Lee Smolin
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality]]> 8229029
In the past few years, a handful of scientists have been in a race to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only 4 percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every planet, star, and galaxy. The rest�96 percent of the universe—is completely unknown.  

Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of how scientists reached this conclusion, and what they’re doing to find this "dark" matter and an even more bizarre substance called dark energy. Based on in-depth, on-site reporting and hundreds of interviews—with everyone from Berkeley’s feisty Saul Perlmutter and Johns Hopkins’s meticulous Adam Riess to the quietly revolutionary Vera Rubin—the book offers an intimate portrait of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have fueled their search, redefined science, and reinvented the universe.]]>
297 Richard Panek 0618982442 Abhisek 1 3.94 2010 The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality
author: Richard Panek
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 1
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Totally clickbait title. More talks about the researchers than the research itself. Also incorrect information about Kepler’s laws. Not sure whether to trust anything at all from the book.
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Cosmos 55030
The book also explores spacecraft missions of discovery of the nearby planets, the research in the Library of ancient Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the origin of life, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies and the origins of matter, suns and worlds.

Sagan retraces the fifteen billion years of cos-mic evolution that have transformed matter into life and consciousness, enabling the Cosmos to wonder about itself. He considers the latest findings on life elsewhere and how we might communicate with the beings of other worlds.

Cosmos is the story of our long journey of discovery and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huy-gens, Champollion, Lowell and Humason. Sagan looks at our planet from an extra-terrestrial vantage point and sees a blue jewel-like world, inhabited by a lifeform that is just beginning to discover its own unity and to ven-ture into the vast ocean of space.]]>
384 Carl Sagan 0375508325 Abhisek 0 currently-reading 4.39 1980 Cosmos
author: Carl Sagan
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1980
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<![CDATA[Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions]]> 68013
Warped Passages is a brilliantly readable and altogether exhilarating journey that tracks the arc of discovery from early twentieth-century physics to the razor's edge of modern scientific theory. One of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Lisa Randall provides astonishing scientific possibilities that, until recently, were restricted to the realm of science fiction. Unraveling the twisted threads of the most current debates on relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravity, she explores some of the most fundamental questions posed by Nature—taking us into the warped, hidden dimensions underpinning the universe we live in, demystifying the science of the myriad worlds that may exist just beyond our own.]]>
499 Lisa Randall 0060531096 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.94 2005 Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
author: Lisa Randall
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
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<![CDATA[Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe]]> 24805680 Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven's Door and one of today's most influential and highly cited theoretical physicists, Professor Lisa Randall once again effortlessly delivers fascinating science to the general reader. Weaving together the cosmos' history and our own in an expanding intellectual adventure story, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs takes us from the mysteries of dark matter and our cosmic environment to the conditions for life on Earth.

Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city descended from space to crash into Earth, creating a cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the other species on the planet. What was its origin? Randall proposes it was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter that is embedded in the plane of the Milky Way. Her research challenges the usual assumptions about the simple nature of dark matter and demonstrates how scientists formulate and establish new ideas. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs.

With her unique and wide-ranging perspective, Randall connects dark matter to the history of the world in the broadest terms. Bringing in pop culture and social and political viewpoints, she shares with us the latest findings—established and speculative—regarding dark matter, the cosmos, the galaxy, asteroids, comets, and impacts, as well as life's development and extinctions. Randall makes clear how connected the planet is to the makeup of the Universe, but also how fragile our place in the Universe, which evolved over billions of years, might be.

In this brilliant and fresh exploration of our cosmic environment, Professor Randall explains the underlying science of our world in the breathtaking tale of a Universe in which the small and the large, the visible and the hidden are intimately related. Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs illuminates the deep relationships that are critical to our world as well as the astonishing beauty of the structures and connections that surround us. It's impossible to read this book and look at either Earth or sky again in the same way.]]>
432 Lisa Randall 0062328514 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.64 2015 Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe
author: Lisa Randall
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2015
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The End of Eternity 509784 192 Isaac Asimov 0449016196 Abhisek 4 4.22 1955 The End of Eternity
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1955
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster]]> 357486 Written by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occurred in Chernobyl and contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of the tragedy. Journalist Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown—from innocent citizens to firefighters to those called in to clean up the disaster—and their stories reveal the fear, anger, and uncertainty with which they still live. Composed of interviews in monologue form, Voices from Chernobyl is a crucially important work of immense force, unforgettable in its emotional power and honesty.]]>
236 Svetlana Alexievich 0312425848 Abhisek 5 4.39 1997 Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
author: Svetlana Alexievich
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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Einstein’s Dreams 14376 Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar.

Now translated into thirty languages, Einstein's Dreams has inspired playwrights, dancers, musicians, and painters all over the world. In poetic vignettes, it explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.]]>
140 Alan Lightman 140007780X Abhisek 0 4.08 1993 Einstein’s Dreams
author: Alan Lightman
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1993
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Godel's Proof 9206915 129 Ernest Nagel 0203406613 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.17 1958 Godel's Proof
author: Ernest Nagel
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe]]> 81884 208 Martin J. Rees 0465036732 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.98 1999 Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe
author: Martin J. Rees
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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Chaos: Making a New Science 64582 Chaos introduces a whole new readership to chaos theory, one of the most significant waves of scientific knowledge in our time. From Edward Lorenz’s discovery of the Butterfly Effect, to Mitchell Feigenbaum’s calculation of a universal constant, to Benoit Mandelbrot’s concept of fractals, which created a new geometry of nature, Gleick’s engaging narrative focuses on the key figures whose genius converged to chart an innovative direction for science. In Chaos, Gleick makes the story of chaos theory not only fascinating but also accessible to beginners, and opens our eyes to a surprising new view of the universe.]]> 352 James Gleick 0140092501 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.04 1987 Chaos: Making a New Science
author: James Gleick
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1987
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/07/13
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<![CDATA[Relativity: The Special and General Theory w/Figures & Formulas]]> 10548599 126 Albert Einstein Abhisek 0 to-read 4.21 1916 Relativity: The Special and General Theory w/Figures & Formulas
author: Albert Einstein
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1916
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/07/12
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<![CDATA[The Lost City of the Monkey God]]> 40873920 A five-hundred-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world's densest jungle.

Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location.

Three quarters of a century later, author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease.]]>
326 Douglas Preston Abhisek 0 to-read 3.95 2017 The Lost City of the Monkey God
author: Douglas Preston
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
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The E-myth Revisited 81948 Small business coaching. 269 Michael E. Gerber 0887307280 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.06 1985 The E-myth Revisited
author: Michael E. Gerber
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/06/30
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<![CDATA[24 Assets: Create a digital, scalable, valuable and fun business that will thrive in a fast changing world]]> 35214497 210 Daniel Priestley 1781332576 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.17 24 Assets: Create a digital, scalable, valuable and fun business that will thrive in a fast changing world
author: Daniel Priestley
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.17
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<![CDATA[The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life]]> 28257707 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited�"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.]]>
212 Mark Manson Abhisek 3 self-help 3.87 2016 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
author: Mark Manson
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 3
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date added: 2019/06/25
shelves: self-help
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Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]>
499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
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date added: 2019/06/08
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<![CDATA[The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It]]> 10865206 The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, McGonigal created a course called "The Science of Willpower" for Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. The course was an instant hit and spawned the hugely successful Psychology Today blog with the same name.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, McGonigal's book explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. Readers will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep. People who have better control of their attention, emotions, and actions are healthier, happier, have more satisfying relationships, and make more money. Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health. Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, and that the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help readers with goals ranging from a healthier life to more patient parenting, from greater productivity at work to finally finishing the basement.]]>
275 Kelly McGonigal 1583334386 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.11 2011 The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It
author: Kelly McGonigal
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
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<![CDATA[Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World]]> 25744928 One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.]]>
296 Cal Newport 1455586692 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.16 2016 Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
author: Cal Newport
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
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<![CDATA[How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius]]> 39863499 The life-changing principles of Stoicism taught through the story of its most famous proponent.

Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was the final famous Stoic philosopher of the ancient world. The Meditations, his personal journal, survives to this day as one of the most loved self-help and spiritual classics of all time. In How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, cognitive psychotherapist Donald Robertson weaves the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius together seamlessly to provide a compelling modern-day guide to the Stoic wisdom followed by countless individuals throughout the centuries as a path to achieving greater fulfillment and emotional resilience.

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor takes readers on a transformative journey along with Marcus, following his progress from a young noble at the court of Hadrian—taken under the wing of some of the finest philosophers of his day—through to his reign as emperor of Rome at the height of its power. Robertson shows how Marcus used philosophical doctrines and therapeutic practices to build emotional resilience and endure tremendous adversity, and guides readers through applying the same methods to their own lives.

Combining remarkable stories from Marcus’s life with insights from modern psychology and the enduring wisdom of his philosophy, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor puts a human face on Stoicism and offers a timeless and essential guide to handling the ethical and psychological challenges we face today.]]>
304 Donald J. Robertson Abhisek 0 to-read 4.34 2019 How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius
author: Donald J. Robertson
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
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date added: 2019/06/02
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<![CDATA[American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road]]> 31920777 The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom—and almost got away with it.

In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything—drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons—free of the government’s watchful eye.

It wasn’t long before the media got wind of the new Web site where anyone—not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers—could buy and sell contraband detection-free. Spurred by a public outcry, the federal government launched an epic two-year manhunt for the site’s elusive proprietor, with no leads, no witnesses, and no clear jurisdiction. All the investigators knew was that whoever was running the site called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.

The Silk Road quickly ballooned into $1.2 billion enterprise, and Ross embraced his new role as kingpin. He enlisted a loyal crew of allies in high and low places, all as addicted to the danger and thrill of running an illegal marketplace as their customers were to the heroin they sold. Through his network he got wind of the target on his back and took drastic steps to protect himself—including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the Feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren’t sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet.

Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, Vanity Fair correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks and unbelievable close calls. It’s a story of the boy next door’s ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralized Web advocates and the old world of government control, order, and the rule of law. Filled with unforgettable characters and capped by an astonishing climax, American Kingpin might be dismissed as too outrageous for fiction. But it’s all too real.]]>
328 Nick Bilton 1591848148 Abhisek 0 currently-reading 4.39 2017 American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
author: Nick Bilton
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/04/06
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<![CDATA[Einstein's Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes]]> 35167706 304 Chris Impey 1324000937 Abhisek 4 4.12 2018 Einstein's Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes
author: Chris Impey
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
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<![CDATA[I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life]]> 27213168
Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are. The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. Those in cows and termites digest the plants they eat. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squids with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people.

I Contain Multitudes is the story of these extraordinary partnerships, between the creatures we are familiar with and those we are not. It reveals how we humans are disrupting these partnerships and how we might manipulate them for our own good. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it.]]>
368 Ed Yong 0062368591 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.16 2016 I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
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average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
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<![CDATA[Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ]]> 23013953
For too long, the gut has been the body’s most ignored and least appreciated organ, but it turns out that it’s responsible for more than just dirty work: our gut is at the core of who we are. Gut, an international bestseller, gives the alimentary canal its long-overdue moment in the spotlight. With quirky charm, rising science star Giulia Enders explains the gut’s magic, answering questions like: Why does acid reflux happen? What’s really up with gluten and lactose intolerance? How does the gut affect obesity and mood? Communication between the gut and the brain is one of the fastest-growing areas of medical research—on par with stem-cell research. Our gut reactions, we learn, are intimately connected with our physical and mental well-being. Enders’s beguiling manifesto will make you finally listen to those butterflies in your stomach: they’re trying to tell you something important.]]>
273 Giulia Enders 1771641495 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.04 2014 Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
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A Universe from Nothing 13250737 “WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM? WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE IT? WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING? AND FINALLY, WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?�

Lawrence Krauss’s provocative answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture now on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of religious and philosophical debates about the existence of God, and it’s the supposed counterargument to anyone who questions the need for God. As Krauss argues, scientists have, however, historically focused on other, more pressing issues—such as figuring out how the universe actually functions, which can ultimately help us to improve the quality of our lives.

Now, in a cosmological story that rivets as it enlightens, pioneering theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss explains the groundbreaking new scientific advances that turn the most basic philosophical questions on their heads. One of the few prominent scientists today to have actively crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss reveals that modern science is addressing the question of why there is something rather than nothing, with surprising and fascinating results. The staggeringly beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending new theories are all described accessibly in A Universe from Nothing, and they suggest that not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing.

With his characteristic wry humor and wonderfully clear explanations, Krauss takes us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting the most recent evidence for how our universe evolved—and the implications for how it’s going to end. It will provoke, challenge, and delight readers as it looks at the most basic underpinnings of existence in a whole new way. And this knowledge that our universe will be quite different in the future from today has profound implications and directly affects how we live in the present. As Richard Dawkins has described This could potentially be the most important scientific book with implications for supernaturalism since Darwin.

A fascinating antidote to outmoded philosophical and religious thinking, A Universe from Nothing is a provocative, game-changing entry into the debate about the existence of God and everything that exists. “Forget Jesus,� Krauss has argued, “the stars died so you could be born.�

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256 Lawrence M. Krauss 1451624476 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.09 2012 A Universe from Nothing
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<![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> 12609433 375 Charles Duhigg 1400069289 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.13 2012 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
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average rating: 4.13
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রঙরŕ§ŕ¦� 30300063 দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ŕ¦° পটভূমিতে উপমহাদেশীয়-অল কোয়ায়েŕ¦� অন দ্ŕ¦� ওয়েস্টার্ŕ¦� ফ্রণ্ট হিসেবে বিখ্যাŕ¦� ŕ¦� প্রশংসিত একটা মহাকাব্যিক উপন্যাস।

â€ŕ¦°ŕ¦Č¨¦°ŕ§ŕ¦źâ€� কথাটŕ¦� এসেছŕ§� ইংরেজি রিক্রŕ§ŕ¦� থেকে, রিক্রŕ§ŕ¦źŕ¦‡ ফৌজি জিহ্বাতে বিকŕ§ŕ¦� হয়ে রঙরŕ§ŕ¦źŕ§‡ রূপান্তরিতŕĄ� হিটলার-স্টালিনেŕ¦� ŕ§§ŕ§Żŕ§©ŕ§Ż-ŕ¦� সম্পন্ŕ¦� মŕ§ŕ¦¤ŕ§Ťŕ¦°ŕ§€ চŕ§ŕ¦•্তি ভেঙে ŕ§§ŕ§Żŕ§Şŕ§§-ŕ¦� জার্মানিŕ¦� রাশিয়ŕ¦� আক্রমণ আর পয়লŕ¦� ডিসেম্বর জাপানেŕ¦� আমেরিকার পার্ŕ¦� হারবারŕ§� বোমাবর্ষণেŕ¦� ŕ¦ŕ¦źŕ¦¨ŕ¦ľ থেকে â€ŕ¦°ŕ¦Č¨¦°ŕ§ŕ¦źâ€�-এর শŕ§ŕ¦°ŕ§ŕĄ� একদিকে তখŕ¦� জাতীয় কংগ্রেŕ¦� যŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ ভারতীয়দেŕ¦� যোŕ¦� দিতে বারণ করছে, কারণ যŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ যোŕ¦� দেওয়া বা সŕ§ŕ¦¨ŕ§Ťŕ¦Żŕ¦¬ŕ¦ľŕ¦ąŕ¦żŕ¦¨ŕ§€ŕ¦¤ŕ§‡ নাŕ¦� লেখানো মানে ব্রিটিŕ¦� শাসনকে শক্তŕ¦� জোগানো, অন্যদিকে কমিউনিস্ŕ¦� পার্টি ডাŕ¦� দিচ্ছে ফ্যাসিস্ŕ¦�-নাৎসিদের অক্ষশক্তির বিরŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ লড়বার জন্য মিত্ŕ¦� বাহিনীতে তথŕ¦� জনযŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ যোŕ¦� দেওয়াŕ¦� জন্যে। এই দŕ§ŕ¦� বিপরীতমŕ§ŕ¦–ŕ§€ আকর্ষণŕ§� দীর্ŕ¦� হতŕ§� হতŕ§� â€ŕ¦°ŕ¦Č¨¦°ŕ§ŕ¦źâ€�-এর নায়ŕ¦� অমŕ¦� বেকারত্বের জন্য বাড়ির গঞ্জনা সহ্য করতে না পেরে, যŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ŕ¦� বাজারে মওকা বŕ§ŕ¦ťŕ§‡ দাŕ¦ŕ¦“ মারাŕ¦� পথŕ§� যাওয়াŕ¦� সŕ§ŕ¦Żŕ§‹ŕ¦� ছেড়ŕ§�, শেŕ¦� পর্যন্ŕ¦� ব্রিটিŕ¦� ভারতের সেনাবাহিনীতেŕ¦� যোŕ¦� দেয়ŕĄ�

অনেক নাটকীয় ŕ¦ŕ¦źŕ¦¨ŕ¦ľ, বিচিত্ŕ¦� বিভিন্ŕ¦� চরিত্রের কŕ§ŕ¦¶ŕ§€ŕ¦˛ŕ¦¬, কাহিনিস্রোতে প্রচŕ§ŕ¦° মোড়-মোচডŕ¦� ১৯৫০-ŕ¦� প্রকাশিত এই উপন্যাসেŕĄ� অভিজ্ঞতাŕ¦� অভিনবত্বŕ§�, ŕ¦ŕ¦źŕ¦¨ŕ¦ľŕ¦� ŕ¦ŕ¦¨ŕ¦ŕ¦źŕ¦ľŕ¦Żŕ¦�, পটভূমিŕ¦� বিশালতাযŕ¦�, চরিত্রের প্রাচŕ§ŕ¦°ŕ§Ťŕ¦Żŕ§‡ ŕ¦� বর্ণাঢ্যতায়, যŕ§ŕ¦¦ŕ§Ťŕ¦§ŕ§‡ŕ¦� বিরোধিতায় ŕ¦� শান্তিŕ¦� সমাচারŕ§� â€ŕ¦°ŕ¦Č¨¦°ŕ§ŕ¦źâ€� পেয়েছŕ§� এক মহাকাব্যিক উচ্চতা।]]>
296 Baren Basu Abhisek 0 to-read 4.25 1950 রঙরŕ§ŕ¦ź
author: Baren Basu
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1950
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne, #1)]]> 7869 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Who is Jason Bourne? Is he an assassin, a terrorist, a thief? Why has he got four million dollars in a Swiss bank account? Why has someone tried to murder him?...

Jason Bourne does not know the answer to any of these questions. Suffering from amnesia, he does not even know that he is Jason Bourne. What manner of man is he? What are his secrets? Who has he killed?]]>
566 Robert Ludlum 0752864327 Abhisek 4 4.06 1980 The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne, #1)
author: Robert Ludlum
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/04
date added: 2018/10/29
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The Quest (Ancient Egypt, #4) 820396
Egypt is struck by a series of terrible plagues that cripple the Kingdom, and then the ultimate disaster follows. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up. Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa from where the mighty river springs. In desperation Pharoah sends for Taita, the only man who might be able to win through to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. None of them can have any idea of what a terrible enemy lies in ambush for The Warlock in those mysterious lands at the end of their world.]]>
718 Wilbur Smith 1405005807 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.84 2007 The Quest (Ancient Egypt, #4)
author: Wilbur Smith
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/10/19
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<![CDATA[The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (George Smiley, #3)]]> 19494 212 John Le Carré Abhisek 0 to-read 4.07 1963 The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (George Smiley, #3)
author: John Le Carré
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1963
rating: 0
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Norwegian Wood 11297
A magnificent blending of the music, the mood, and the ethos that was the sixties with the story of one college student's romantic coming of age, Norwegian Wood brilliantly recaptures a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.]]>
296 Haruki Murakami 0375704027 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.01 1987 Norwegian Wood
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1987
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Kafka on the Shore 4929 Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.]]> 467 Haruki Murakami 1400079276 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.14 2002 Kafka on the Shore
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average rating: 4.14
book published: 2002
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<![CDATA[The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature]]> 27486 The Mating Mind marks the arrival of a prescient and provocative new science writer. Psychologist Geoffrey Miller offers the most convincing-and radical-explanation for how and why the human mind evolved.

Consciousness, morality, creativity, language, and art: these are the traits that make us human. Scientists have traditionally explained these qualities as merely a side effect of surplus brain size, but Miller argues that they were sexual attractors, not side effects. He bases his argument on Darwin's theory of sexual selection, which until now has played second fiddle to Darwin's theory of natural selection, and draws on ideas and research from a wide range of fields, including psychology, economics, history, and pop culture. Witty, powerfully argued, and continually thought-provoking, The Mating Mind is a landmark in our understanding of our own species.]]>
528 Geoffrey Miller 038549517X Abhisek 0 to-read 4.10 2000 The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature
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average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
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<![CDATA[The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are - The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology]]> 681941 496 Robert Wright 0679763996 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.08 1994 The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are - The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
author: Robert Wright
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1994
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<![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]> 1842
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race.

In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology, government, and organized religion—as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war—and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal]]>
498 Jared Diamond 0739467352 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.04 1997 Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
author: Jared Diamond
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1997
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A Brief History of Time 3869
Told in language we all can understand, A Brief History of Time plunges into the exotic realms of black holes and quarks, of antimatter and “arrows of time,� of the big bang and a bigger God—where the possibilities are wondrous and unexpected. With exciting images and profound imagination, Stephen Hawking brings us closer to the ultimate secrets at the very heart of creation.]]>
226 Stephen Hawking 0553380168 Abhisek 4 4.22 1988 A Brief History of Time
author: Stephen Hawking
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1988
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/06/13
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<![CDATA[QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter]]> 5552
The focus, as the title suggests, is quantum electrodynamics (QED), the part of the quantum theory of fields that describes the interactions of the quanta of the electromagnetic field-light, X rays, gamma rays--with matter and those of charged particles with one another. By extending the formalism developed by Dirac in 1933, which related quantum and classical descriptions of the motion of particles, Feynman revolutionized the quantum mechanical understanding of the nature of particles and waves. And, by incorporating his own readily visualizable formulation of quantum mechanics, Feynman created a diagrammatic version of QED that made calculations much simpler and also provided visual insights into the mechanisms of quantum electrodynamic processes.

In this book, using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams" instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman successfully provides a definitive introduction to QED for a lay readership without any distortion of the basic science. Characterized by Feynman's famously original clarity and humor, this popular book on QED has not been equaled since its publication.]]>
176 Richard P. Feynman 0691024170 Abhisek 0 currently-reading 4.26 1985 QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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Those Days | Sei Somoy 1940633
The story centers around the life of Nabinkumar (character based on Kaliprasanna Singha), along with legendary historical figures including Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the reformer; Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the poet; the father and son duo of Dwarkanath Tagore and Debendranath Tagore; Harish Mukherjee, the journalist; Keshab Chandra Sen, the Brahmo Samaj radical; David Hare and John Bethune, the English educationists; Dinabandhu Mitra, the playwright; Radhanath Sikdar, the mathematician; Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, the novelist; and others.

Yugantar, an Indian television series that aired on DD National in the 1980s, was based on Sei Somoy. The novel was translated into Gujarati by Uma Randeria as Nava Yugnu Parodh (2002).]]>
588 Sunil Gangopadhyay 0140268529 Abhisek 0 currently-reading 4.46 1981 Those Days | Sei Somoy
author: Sunil Gangopadhyay
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1981
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Mother Night 9592 Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.]]>
282 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385334141 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.23 1961 Mother Night
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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Selected Stories 14281 Selected Stories, Alice Munro makes lives that seem small unfold until they are revealed to be as spacious as prairies and locates the moments of love and betrayal, desire and forgiveness, that change those lives forever. To read these stories--about a traveling salesman and his children on an impromptu journey; an abandoned woman choosing between seduction and solitude--is to succumb to the spell of a writer who enchants her readers utterly even as she restores them to their truest selves.

Walker brothers cowboy --
Dance of the happy shades --
Postcard --
Images --
Something I've been meaning to tell you --
The Ottawa Valley --
Material --
Royal beatings --
Wild swans --
The beggar maid --
Simon's luck --
Chaddeleys and Flemings --
Dulse --
The turkey season --
Labor Day dinner --
The moons of Jupiter --
The progress of love --
Lichen --
Miles City, Montana --
White dump --
Fits --
Friend of my youth --
Meneseteung --
Differently --
Carried away --
The Albanian virgin --
A wilderness station --
Vandals.]]>
688 Alice Munro 067976674X Abhisek 0 4.30 1985 Selected Stories
author: Alice Munro
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Rules of Prey (Lucas Davenport, #1)]]> 37301
The "maddog" murderer who is terrorizing the Twin Cities is two things: insane and extremely intelligent. He kills for the pleasure of it and thoroughly enjoys placing elaborate obstacles to keep the police befuddled. Each clever move he makes is another point of pride. But when the brilliant Lieutenant Davenport--a dedicated cop and a serial killer's worst nightmare--is brought in to take up the investigation, maddog suddenly has an adversary worthy of his genius.

Librarian's note: the first five books in the Lucas Davenport series are #1, Rules of Prey, 1989; #2, Shadow Prey, 1990; #3, Eyes of Prey, 1991; #4, Silent Prey, 1992; and #5, Winter Prey, 1993.]]>
479 John Sandford 0425205819 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.10 1989 Rules of Prey (Lucas Davenport, #1)
author: John Sandford
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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Honor Among Thieves 79006 480 Jeffrey Archer 0312933533 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.87 1993 Honor Among Thieves
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/27
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<![CDATA[The Confessor (Gabriel Allon, #3)]]> 93801
In Munich, a Jewish scholar is assassinated. In Venice, Mossad agent and art restorer Gabriel Allon receives the news, puts down his brushes, and leaves immediately. And at the Vatican, the new pope vows to uncover the truth about the church's response to the Holocaust-while a powerful cardinal plots his next move.

Now, as Allon follows a trail of secrets and unthinkable deeds, the lives of millions are changed forever-and the life of one man becomes expendable...]]>
416 Daniel Silva 014101587X Abhisek 0 4.14 2003 The Confessor (Gabriel Allon, #3)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/15
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<![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]>
489 Dan Brown Abhisek 0 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/04/24
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কালো বর� 17279452
Khaleq's relentless nostalgia enrages his wife Rekha, who resents his lack of ambition and aloofness. Prodded by the village physician, Doctor Narhari, the couple embark on a boat ride that forces them to confront their discord and desires, and plumb the roots of Abdul Khaleq's alienation.

First published in 1977 in Bengali, Black Ice draws on Mahmudul Haque's own experience of Partition to intimately probe the invisible scars bequeathed to the inheritors of Partition.]]>
130 Mahmudul Haque 9844652464 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.32 1992 কালো বরফ
author: Mahmudul Haque
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/04/24
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<![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Abhisek 0 currently-reading 4.33 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/08
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প্রাগŕ§ŕ¦¤ŕ¦żŕ¦ąŕ¦ľŕ¦¸ŕ¦żŕ¦� 23179348 96 Manik Bandopadhyay Abhisek 4 4.29 1937 প্রাগŕ§ŕ¦¤ŕ¦żŕ¦ąŕ¦ľŕ¦¸ŕ¦żŕ¦•
author: Manik Bandopadhyay
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/07/12
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Mozelle 33644506 18 Saadat Hasan Manto Abhisek 0 4.36 Mozelle
author: Saadat Hasan Manto
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.36
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read at: 2017/05/29
date added: 2017/05/29
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Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]>
453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany]]> 767171 No other powerful empire ever bequeathed such mountains of evidence about its birth and destruction as the Third Reich. When the bitter war was over, and before the Nazis could destroy their files, the Allied demand for unconditional surrender produced an almost hour-by-hour record of the nightmare empire built by Adolph Hitler. This record included the testimony of Nazi leaders and of concentration camp inmates, the diaries of officials, transcripts of secret conferences, army orders, private letters—all the vast paperwork behind Hitler's drive to conquer the world.

The famed foreign correspondent and historian William L. Shirer, who had watched and reported on the Nazis since 1925, spent five and a half years sifting through this massive documentation. The result is a monumental study that has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind.

This worldwide bestseller has been acclaimed as the definitive book on Nazi Germany; it is a classic work.

The accounts of how the United States got involved and how Hitler used Mussolini and Japan are astonishing, and the coverage of the war-from Germany's early successes to her eventual defeat-is must reading

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1147 William L. Shirer 0671728687 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.20 1960 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
author: William L. Shirer
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The English Assassin (Gabriel Allon, #2)]]> 93795 The Unlikely Spy, Daniel Silva's extraordinary debut novel, was applauded by critics as it rocketed onto national bestseller lists. Now Silva has outdone himself, with a taut, lightning-paced thriller rooted assuredly in fact: Switzerland's shameful WWII record of profiteering and collaboration with Nazi Germany.

When art restorer and occasional Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is sent to Zurich, Switzerland, to restore the painting of a reclusive millionaire banker, he arrives to find his would-be employer murdered at the foot of his Raphael. A secret collection of priceless, illicitly gained Impressionist masterpieces is missing. Gabriel's handlers step out of the shadows to admit the truth-the collector had been silenced-and Gabriel is put back in the high-stakes spy game, battling wits with the rogue assassin he helped to train.

Tense, taut, expertly crafted, and brimming with unexpected reversals, The English Assassin is Daniel Silva at his storytelling best]]>
437 Daniel Silva 0451208188 Abhisek 4 4.12 2002 The English Assassin (Gabriel Allon, #2)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/23
date added: 2017/04/23
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The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]>
96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 0
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The Prophet 2547 The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.

The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.]]>
127 Kahlil Gibran 000100039X Abhisek 0 to-read 4.27 1923 The Prophet
author: Kahlil Gibran
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1923
rating: 0
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মো�-কাগজ 29932091 204 Smaranjit Chakraborty 9350405903 Abhisek 5 3.86 2016 মোম-কাগজ
author: Smaranjit Chakraborty
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/18
date added: 2017/02/18
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War and Peace 656
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.


Tolstoy gave his personal approval to this translation, published here in a new single volume edition, which includes an introduction by Henry Gifford, and Tolstoy's important essay `Some Words about War and Peace'.]]>
1392 Leo Tolstoy 0192833987 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.14 1869 War and Peace
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1869
rating: 0
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অগ্ন৶Äশ্বর 25524824 87 Banaful Abhisek 5 4.20 অগ্ন৶Äশ্বর
author: Banaful
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.20
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rating: 5
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<![CDATA[Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account]]> 315578 Dr. Miklos Nyiszli was spared death for a grimmer fate: to perform "scientific research" on his fellow inmates under the supervision of the man who became known as the infamous "Angel of Death" - Dr. Josef Mengele. Nyiszli was named Mengele's personal research pathologist. In that capactity he also served as physician to the Sonderkommando, the Jewish prisoners who worked exclusively in the crematoriums and were routinely executed after four months. Miraculously, Nyiszli survived to give this horrifying and sobering account.]]> 222 MiklĂłs Nyiszli 1559702028 Abhisek 5 4.27 1946 Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account
author: MiklĂłs Nyiszli
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1946
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/23
date added: 2016/01/23
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<![CDATA[The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind]]> 17978489 The New York Times best-selling author of Physics of the Impossible, Physics of the Future and Hyperspace tackles the most fascinating and complex object in the known universe: the human brain.

For the first time in history, the secrets of the living brain are being revealed by a battery of high tech brain scans devised by physicists. Now what was once solely the province of science fiction has become a startling reality. Recording memories, telepathy, videotaping our dreams, mind control, avatars, and telekinesis are not only possible; they already exist.

The Future of the Mind gives us an authoritative and compelling look at the astonishing research being done in top laboratories around the world—all based on the latest advancements in neuroscience and physics. One day we might have a "smart pill" that can enhance our cognition; be able to upload our brain to a computer, neuron for neuron; send thoughts and emotions around the world on a "brain-net"; control computers and robots with our mind; push the very limits of immortality; and perhaps even send our consciousness across the universe.

Dr. Kaku takes us on a grand tour of what the future might hold, giving us not only a solid sense of how the brain functions but also how these technologies will change our daily lives. He even presents a radically new way to think about "consciousness" and applies it to provide fresh insight into mental illness, artificial intelligence and alien consciousness.

With Dr. Kaku's deep understanding of modern science and keen eye for future developments, The Future of the Mind is a scientific tour de force--an extraordinary, mind-boggling exploration of the frontiers of neuroscience.]]>
377 Michio Kaku 038553082X Abhisek 5 4.07 2014 The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind
author: Michio Kaku
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/11/01
date added: 2015/12/29
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<![CDATA[The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon, #1)]]> 93794 The story features a vivid and fascinating supporting cast, including the magus-like Ari Shamron, a beautiful French Jewish model who is seeking retribution for her family's death in the Holocaust, and a marvelously comic down-at-the-heels London art dealer. Set these colorful and varied characters against a brilliant background of political intrigue and vengeance at the highest levels and a manhunt that covers three continents, and the result is a smart and electrically exciting global thriller.

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501 Daniel Silva 0451209338 Abhisek 4 3.97 2000 The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon, #1)
author: Daniel Silva
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/29
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<![CDATA[The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)]]> 22034
Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—these are the themes that have resonated with millions of readers around the world and made The Godfather the definitive novel of the violent subculture that, steeped in intrigue and controversy, remains indelibly etched in our collective consciousness.]]>
448 Mario Puzo Abhisek 5 4.39 1969 The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)
author: Mario Puzo
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at: 2015/09/17
date added: 2015/09/18
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A Bend in the Road 3463 341 Nicholas Sparks 0446696137 Abhisek 3 4.04 2001 A Bend in the Road
author: Nicholas Sparks
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/07
date added: 2015/04/07
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The Book of Secrets 6919962

Nick Ash does research for the FBI in New York. Six months ago his girlfriend Gillian walked out and broke his heart. Now he’s the only person who can save her � if it’s not too late. Within hours of getting her message, Nick finds himself on the run, delving deep into the past before it catches up with him.

Hunted across Europe, Nick follows Gillian’s trail into the heart of a five-hundred-year-old mystery. But across the centuries, powerful forces are closing around him. There are men who have devoted their lives to keeping the secret, and they will stop at nothing to protect it.


From the Paperback edition.]]>
585 Tom Harper 0099545578 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.63 2009 The Book of Secrets
author: Tom Harper
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]>
736 Dan Brown 1416524797 Abhisek 4 3.95 2000 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2015/01/14
date added: 2015/01/14
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The Big Four 1006535 48 Alain Paillou 0007250657 Abhisek 0 to-read 3.19 2006 The Big Four
author: Alain Paillou
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot, #15)]]> 16297
Mr. Shaitana was famous, as were his parties. He was also a man of whom everybody was a little afraid. So, when he boasted to Poirot that he considered murder an art form, the detective had some reservations about accepting a party invitation of cards and viewing Shaitana’s private art collection. Indeed, what began as an absorbing evening of bridge was to turn into a more dangerous game altogether…]]>
324 Agatha Christie 0425205959 Abhisek 4 3.94 1936 Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot, #15)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1936
rating: 4
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date added: 2014/11/22
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Steve Jobs 11084141 FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING BIOGRAPHIES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND ALBERT EINSTEIN, THIS IS THE EXCLUSIVE BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE JOBS.

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.  

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

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472 Walter Isaacson 1451648553 Abhisek 4 4.18 2011 Steve Jobs
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2014/11/02
date added: 2014/11/02
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<![CDATA[Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century]]> 17835351
If you want to learn about one of history’s most fascinating minds and uncover some of his secrets of imagination—secrets that enabled him to invent machines light years ahead of his time and literally bring light to the world—then you want to read this book.

Imagination amplifies and colors every other element of genius, and unlocks our potential for understanding and ability.

It’s no coincidence that geniuses not only dare to dream of the impossible for their work, but do the same for their lives.]]>
47 Sean Patrick 1938895177 Abhisek 1 3.88 2013 Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century
author: Sean Patrick
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 1
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Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1) 762806 Arkady Renko, o investigador chefe da brigada de homicídios, encarregado do caso, é brilhante, sensível, íntegro e cínico acerca de tudo, excepto no que à sua profissão diz respeito. E enfrenta agora o maior desafio da sua carreira: descobrir a verdade sobre um crime que ninguém parece interessado em desvendar, o que o força a desafiar o KGB, o FBI, a polícia nova-iorquina� e as poucas probabilidades de sair com vida de uma situação que ultrapassa o âmbito criminal.

Obra emblemática da literatura policial produzida durante a Guerra Fria, Parque Gorki é, antes de mais, um retrato fiel das idiossincrasias de uma União Soviética decadente, a braços com uma elite corrupta.
O romance foi adaptado ao cinema, em 1983, por Michael Apted, tendo William Hurt como protagonista.]]>
433 Martin Cruz Smith 0345298349 Abhisek 3 4.05 1981 Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1)
author: Martin Cruz Smith
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2014/11/02
date added: 2014/11/02
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And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]>
264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Abhisek 0 to-read 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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The Stranger 49552 The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."]]> 123 Albert Camus Abhisek 2 4.04 1942 The Stranger
author: Albert Camus
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1942
rating: 2
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date added: 2013/10/12
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Cycle of the Werewolf 550844
Now scenes of unbelieving horror come each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next. But one thing is sure.

When the moon grows fat, a paralyzing fear sweeps through Tarker Mills. For snarls that sound like human words can be heard whining through the wind. And all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated... Cycle of the Werewolf.]]>
128 Stephen King 0451822196 Abhisek 3 3.69 1983 Cycle of the Werewolf
author: Stephen King
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at: 2013/10/11
date added: 2013/10/11
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<![CDATA[Outliers: The Story of Success]]> 3228917 Learn what sets high achievers apart � from Bill Gates to the Beatles � in this #1 bestseller from "a singular talent" (New York Times Book Review).

In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.]]>
309 Malcolm Gladwell 0316017922 Abhisek 4 4.19 2008 Outliers: The Story of Success
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2013/10/06
date added: 2013/10/06
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Life... With No Breaks 8298752
He had a dull, drizzly weekend to kill, so made a start on the book he’d been promising to write all his life... and had it finished by midnight Sunday.

You’ll laugh out loud reading his odyssey of non-stop writing, in a selection of anecdotes, asides and stories... all dredged up from an over-stimulated brain functioning on caffeine, nicotine and the occasional chocolate biscuit.

The book is a conversation with YOU and with Nick you'll venture into the thorny topics of love, life, sex, horribly timed bowel movements and a deathly fear of sponges (among many other things).

After you've read Life... With No Breaks, you may never look at the world the same way again!]]>
222 Nick Spalding Abhisek 4 3.37 2010 Life... With No Breaks
author: Nick Spalding
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2013/07/19
date added: 2013/07/19
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The Doomsday Conspiracy 106646
Commander Robert Bellamy of US Naval Intelligence is dispatched on a top secret mission. A weather balloon carrying sensitive military information has crashed in Switzerland. Bellamy must locate the ten witnesses to the incident so that they can be sworn to secrecy. 

But as he conducts his search Bellamy begins to suspect that he, too, is being hunted, by an unknown lethal force, that what he was told about the balloon was only one part of an almost unbelievable happening... 

From Washington to Zurich, Rome and Paris, the story unfolds to reveal Bellamy's past: why the women he loves the most cannot return his love, why his friends become his deadly enemies, and why the world must never learn the incredible secret hidden on the Swiss Alps... ]]>
448 Sidney Sheldon 1568650957 Abhisek 4 3.67 1991 The Doomsday Conspiracy
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1991
rating: 4
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The Fourth Protocol 327255 443 Frederick Forsyth 0099642611 Abhisek 5 4.04 1984 The Fourth Protocol
author: Frederick Forsyth
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at: 2011/11/11
date added: 2012/11/20
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Where We Belong 12987977
For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.]]>
372 Emily Giffin 0312554192 Abhisek 4 3.89 2004 Where We Belong
author: Emily Giffin
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2012/11/18
date added: 2012/11/19
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<![CDATA[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2429135
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.]]>
480 Stieg Larsson 0670069019 Abhisek 4 4.17 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2012/08/20
date added: 2012/11/18
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Room 7937843
Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience—and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough ... not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.]]>
321 Emma Donoghue Abhisek 3 4.04 2010 Room
author: Emma Donoghue
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2012/09/16
date added: 2012/09/16
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<![CDATA[Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)]]> 375802
But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military's purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine's abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth-an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.]]>
324 Orson Scott Card 0812550706 Abhisek 4 4.31 1985 Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Abhisek
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2012/07/25
date added: 2012/07/25
shelves:
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The Sky is Falling 43327
Her Sarajevo ward Kemal gets expelled, a prosthetic arm, then often naps afternoons under care of kindly new housekeeper. Unseen agents follow her, bug hotel rooms, while an evil mastermind voice overhears taped conversations and supervises regular secret auctions, inviting armed wealthy customers. Witnesses and informants die before, and after meetings. Friends become foes, nobody can be trusted.]]>
399 Sidney Sheldon 0446610178 Abhisek 4 3.61 2000 The Sky is Falling
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/10/24
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Rage of Angels 43328 512 Sidney Sheldon 0006178731 Abhisek 4 3.96 1980 Rage of Angels
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/10/24
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1)]]> 136167 462 Sidney Sheldon 0440060672 Abhisek 5 3.94 1973 The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1)
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/10/24
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<![CDATA[Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT]]> 105576
The book starts with a disclaimer, “This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don’t think straight.�

Three hostelmates � Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT � they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters � their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive.

Will they make it? Do under performers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?]]>
267 Chetan Bhagat 8129104598 Abhisek 4 3.41 2004 Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT
author: Chetan Bhagat
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/10/24
shelves:
review:

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The Sands of Time 119382 Four women - and the men they are forbidden to love.
Megan - the orphan, who feels an overpowering attraction to Jaime.
Lucia - the fiery Sicilian beauty on the run for murder - and Rubio Arzano, the freedom fighter who risks his life to save her.
Teresa - whose guilty conscience finally drives her to betray her friends.
Graciela - who bears a terrible secret that almost destroys her - and the courageous Ricardo who loves her.

From the same author of the books "The Other Side of Midnight", "Rage of Angels", "Bloodline" and "Windmills of the Gods". The book is set in Spain and centres around four nuns and their unwitting involvement with outlawed Basque nationalists and the Spanish Army.]]>
427 Sidney Sheldon 0006174434 Abhisek 4 3.78 1985 The Sands of Time
author: Sidney Sheldon
name: Abhisek
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/10/24
shelves:
review:

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