Recommendations
Books, links, tools, and interesting things worth your time.
-
Memoirs of Singapore’s first prime minister: Lessons in nation building, governance, diplomacy and effective public policy.
This is the finest non-fiction book and memoir I have ever read. Singapore was a swamp smaller than the size of Bangalore city. That the Singapore we know today emerged from the ashes of the Second World War, the collapse of British colonial rule, the turbulence of communist unrest, and a bitter expulsion from Malaysia is nothing short of extraordinary.
No matter which walk of life you are from, reading this will teach you how to embody first principles thinking, good management, administration, patriotism and how you can achieve extraordinary things with sparse resources, great teammates and unyielding will. -
A delicious concoction of insightful socio-economics, gender studies, Bollywood and the lives of a diverse group of Indian women.
Shrayana Bhattacharya is a brilliant developmental economist who simply adores Shah Rukh Khan. So do millions of other women across India, and it is in asking the “why” to Shah Rukh’s popularity do we get to go on a thoroughly informative, entertaining and illuminating ride across the lives of many wonderful women.
The author uses the symbol of a bollywood icon to help understand gender divide, the wants/needs of Indian women and the female gaze. She gives voice to the dreams, aspirations, complaints and thoughts of Indian women by doing justice to their story, their hero all while shedding light on the socio-political reality of women in India. She does it all so masterfully that by the end of the book you’re well taught about gender politics in this country, while chock full of love, empathy and kinship.Read this the next time you get the non-fiction itch and I can promise you that you’ll have a ton of fun.
- Born a Crime Book
Trevor Noah’s mature, emotional and seriously funny memoir which moves mountains inside you
What do I say about a life story told with great intelligence, perspective, emotion and humour? A childhood full of sacrifice, love, deep humanity, humour and odds that were overcome? Not much, only that you should read it, and let Trevor tell you the rest.
- A Fine Balance Book
Rohinton Mistry’s masterpiece. Speaks of India during the emergency and introduces characters from all walks of life whose lives intersect in myriads of ways.
I was at a loss for words when I finished this book, having never before felt the power of a book to move you so viscerally as I first did here. I think its best to read this story going in blind without any context of the plot or its themes.
Everything that happens in this book is very plausible, it is what must have been the reality of many people during the emergency period in India. Ultimately that is what this piece of literature is about: everybody’s unique stories, their history and how the emergency period’s rash policies impacted millions of people in India.
- Patrick Collison's Website Website
The founder of Stripe is one of the most voracious readers and curious people I’ve come across online. You’ll find a long (very long) list of book recommendations, interesting science problems that need solving, great engineering feats done in very little time and much more.
It’s a thought provoking website written in plaintext HTML. Would highly recommend it. The idea to have a recommendations page on my website came from Patrick’s website.