Prisoners of Geography is a really great book Ashwin :) I read a LOT of genre fiction, but I also managed to finally (I think) shake my inability to read non genre fiction. I second Alok's recommendation of the Dawn of Everything, and to it I will add Four Seasons in Rome <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/137852.Four_Seasons_in_Rome>, Everything the Light Touches <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60277024-everything-the-light-touches>, and A General Theory of Oblivion <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23346410-a-general-theory-of-oblivion>.
Cordially, Ameya Nagarajan (she/her) <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameyann> On Mon, 19 Dec 2022 at 08:50, Ashwin Nanjappa via Silklist < [email protected]> wrote: > Bharat, 100+ is incredible! I need some of that energy. 😁 > > I didn't read many books this year because my free time was under heavy > attack (a toddler and an elementary school kid at home!), but these two I > can recommend from among the few I read: > > * Prisoners of Geography > <https://codeyarns.com/personal/2022-07-12-prisoners-of-geography.html>: > Great look at how the geography of 10 key nations/regions of the world > constrains their ambitions and future. The first chapter is on Russia and > the very first lines talk about how Putin looks at Ukraine and desires to > annex it to strengthen Russia's geopolitical status. Not kidding! Published > in 2015. > > * Childhood's End > <https://codeyarns.com/personal/2022-04-03-childhoods-end.html> by Arthur > C Clarke: Working my way slowly through Clarke's books. This one is > brilliant. > > The links are to my reviews of the books. > > This year I also focused more on reducing time spent on "breaking news", > TV news and daily news articles to ~zero and instead reading from good > weekly and monthly magazines. I settled on The Economist, The New Yorker, > The Atlantic and Financial Times (dropped NYTimes) among others - and this > has been going great to be honest. The magazines are a great fit to consume > while supervising kid's extracurricular activities. > > On Sun, Dec 18, 2022 at 7:05 PM Bharat Shetty via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> That time of the year again and once again I look forward to this list >> of books. 2022, was great for me as I managed to clock over 100+ books >> this year. Consuming 50 pages in the morning and 50 pages in the night >> ensured I was able to achieve this. >> >> Without much further ado, here goes the books that I really liked this >> year. >> >> 1. Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris >> Miller >> >> 2. Americana by Bhu Srinivasan, which gave a solid introduction to the >> genesis of many inventions in America fueled by capitalism and other >> things. >> >> 3. Circe by Madeline Miller, which gave an interesting adaptation to >> greek superheroes and mythological figures during the Greek Heroic Age >> >> 4. Laika by Nick Abadzis, and Hilary Sycamore - a great graphic novel >> about Laika, a dog that was sent by Russians to space. >> >> 5. Nripatunga by Ta Ra Su - A Kannada novel that talks about >> Rastrakuta king Amoghvarsha Nripatunga, who is believed to be one of >> the wisest rulers to have ruled Karnataka. >> >> 6. 3019 A.D by Dr. Shantala - a Kannada sci-fi that talks about many >> emergent plausible human behavioral alternations in the future along >> with Dr. K N Ganeshaiah's Mooka Dhatu (one should see sci-fi slowly >> flowing to other Indic languages soon). >> >> 7. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Ken Liu >> >> 8. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Matthew Walker >> >> 9. Land of Big Numbers: Stories Te-Ping Chen - nice intro stories >> around culture and events in China. >> >> 10. The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life >> >> Regards, >> Bharat >> >> On Wed, Dec 14, 2022 at 5:20 AM Thaths via Silklist >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > Hey Folks, >> > >> > Now that Silklist is back online, it is time to revive our >> almost-annual tradition of sharing our annual book recommendations. I would >> love to hear your recommendations. >> > >> > Here are the best books I read in 2022: >> > >> > 1. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey: A very >> meditative book. Loved it. A great pandemic read. >> > >> > 2. West with the Night by Beryl Markham: Not a new book, but a classic. >> Beryl's description of growing up in Kenya and becoming a bush pilot is >> beautifully written. I was lucky enough to live in Kenya much later, and >> had the chance to experience some of what she describes (though with more >> modern planes). >> > >> > 3. Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James: Part 2 of the 3-part >> trilogy. Imagine Lord of the Rings / Game of Thrones set in Africa. >> > >> > 4. In This Corner of the World by Fumiyo Kouno: The story (in manga >> format) of a young woman's coming of age in a suburb of Hiroshima during >> the war. Despite being prime material for war and suffering depictions, the >> book was actually quite beautiful and touching. >> > >> > 5. Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America's Founders >> > by Dennis C. Rasmussen: Hmmm... I wonder what was in the air that made >> me want to read about the disillusioned final years of the Founding Father. >> > >> > 6. Masala Lab : The Science of Indian Cooking by Krish Ashok: Not much >> new for someone like me who reads Harold McGee as bedtime reading, or >> steeps in Serious Eats during the day, but he has a knack of customizing >> food science to Indian cuisine (in all its complexity). >> > >> > 7. Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival by David Pilling: >> A book that combines the micro (stories of a handful of people impacted by >> the Tohuku Tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster) and the macro (Japan's >> history in the recent past). Superbly sourced and cited. And the level of >> depth and clarity that I would expect from someone working at the FT. >> > >> > 8. Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses by Pranay Lal: I >> loved Pranay's first book - Indica - and went into this book (Invisible >> Empire) also with high expectations. My expectations were met, and >> surpassed. Pranay weaves together history and natural history to paint a >> biography of viruses, and the roles they have played (and continue to play >> as I write this in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic) in history. >> > >> > Thaths >> > -- >> > Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? >> > Carl: Nuthin'. >> > Homer: D'oh! >> > Carl: Unless you're crooked. >> > Homer: Woo-hoo! >> > -- >> > Silklist mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >> -- >> Silklist mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >> > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >
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