With my own list to add to the most excellent Venkatesh from Human Resources:
Haven’t read 2 and 3 on his list. Thanks Venkatesh.
1. The addictive read - Marathon Man. William Goldman.
Bosch and his jazz albums cannot hold a candle to our hero history student against the mighty Nazi Szell and his diamonds. I dare you to start reading it at 9 pm with a board meeting at 7 am.
The most addictive thriller ever written, and then immortalized badly by Dustin Hoffman and Sir Olivier. (The Day Of The Jackal is one exception that proves the rule that movies can be as good as books - second on the addictive list.)
2. The slow pleasure - non-fiction at its best - “But Do Blondes prefer Gentlemen” Anthony Burgess - mordant wit - erudition from the Bard, the humble keyboard, and other gems. Dip in, dip out and keep coming back for more.
3. The book that will change your life - “Small is beautiful” by EF Schumacher, 1973 Enough said. It changed mine in 1 month -Dec 2022 - after bubbling and brewing inside me for 30 years. (1st runner up - The Age of Unreason - Charles Handy, 1991 - see Portfolio of opportunités).
Now I have to look for other posts in this thread and mine for gold.
Au revoir.
Thinking about this, I realised that I'm currently reading/have read three types of books that are dear to me:
1. The addictive read that you have to finish as quickly as possible. For me that was Michael Connelly's latest Bosch and Ballard police procedural Desert Star. I've gotten over my suspicion that the writer stole from James Ellroy's life story to make his character more credible, and can now enjoy his books happily. The procedurals are like that food you like so much from that one particular restaurant. Exactly what you want, and so satisfying.
2. The book that you try to read as slowly as you possibly can because you just want to make it last. For me that is The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles...it has the same magical quality to it that A Gentleman in Moscow had, and I'm reading it slowly, and with great pleasure.
3. The book that is going to change your life. One that you will likely read and re-read over the years (or at least a couple of times). For me, that is George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life. I've done about half but that half I've read three times. I like it because it's one of those three-in-one reads: it goes deep into the craft of writing, it teaches you how to read short stories by Chekov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Gogol, and finally, it is a meditation on life.
And finally, a fourth category pops into my mind. The book that is going to give you ulcers and raise your blood pressure, but you just have to read. That, for me, is Malevolent Republic by Kapil Komireddy. Happy reading and happy new year!
Thank you so much, Udhay! Missed your tag in the flurry of silklist emails :)
I had two books out this year -
This Handmade Life - 7 Skills to Enhance and Transform Your Everyday Life (Penguin India) The Great Indian Thali - seasonal vegetarian wholesomeness (Roli Books)
Links to all my books are here
Warmly, Nandita
On Wed, 14 Dec 2022 at 07:41, Udhay Shankar N via Silklist < [email protected]> wrote: 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).
Ashok is on silk. I wonder if he'd want to talk about the experience of researching, writing and evangelising the book.
Nandita (also on silk) has a book on a related topic:
Udhay
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H R Venkatesh
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