All Your Choice

Thursday, August 17, 2017

A Thousand Splendid Suns

http://www.bookshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/6e10eba95cce.jpg

A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is a contemporary novel that tells a gripping story of two women with contradictory attitudes and how their decisions shape future generations. A marvelous work of fiction which brings an untold side of Afghanistan in limelight, this novel is irresistible. Khalid Hosseini has once again depicted a plethora of human emotions and beauty of Afghanistan through his distinctive story telling. These books became number one New York Times bestseller for fifteen weeks following its release and according to the author, it is a "mother-daughter story". It won the Book Sense book of the year award for fiction and the Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008.

The title of the book is an inspiration from a line in the poem "Kabul" by the 17th-century Iranian poet Saib Tabrizi. This novel is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. This period saw some of the ugliest phases in Afghanistan as it witnessed the Russian invasion, Taliban rule and American intervention. It revolves around two women, Mariam and Laila, who have contradictory attitudes and very little in common. However, a series of unfortunate events and dramatic changes intertwine their lives and their subsequent friendship and support for each other is the gest of this book. Khalid Hosseini takes us through an unforgettable journey of war, misery, troubles, losses and ultimately the divine fate. Along with these two brave women, the hardcore Pashtun, Rasheed give a different angle to this saga. On a wider perspective, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is a contemporary reflection of Afghani women and their womanhood.

About the author

Khalid Hosseini rose to fame with his debut novel, 'The Kite Runner’ which got universal acclam. Hosseini is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician who was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and moved to France and finally settled in United States of America. He graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and has a bachelor's degree in biology from Santa Clara University, in 1988. He completed his M.D. in 1993 from University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. His book 'The Kite Runner’ spent 101 weeks on the The New York Times Best Seller list and is regarded as one of the best contemporary works on Afghanistan.

Thus the book 'A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is an incredible read and is easily available online at amazon.in.

A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes

http://www.bookshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/4296e777cb39.jpg

'A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes’ poses some interesting and unanswered questions, like if there had been any beginning of time or if time can run backwards or if there is any boundary to the universe itself. Stephen Hawking, the great scientist and theoretical physicist, tries to answer it all by drawing theories of the entire cosmos from Albert Einstein to Newton. In doing so, he also sheds considerable light on the dark secrets that still reside at the heart of time and space.

This book takes the readers on a journey into the depth of cosmos right from the big bang theory, through the nature of forces and the world of string theory in physics, to the different forces that constitute the universe itself, summed up as the theory of everything.

Although a seemingly huge subject, Hawking tickles the mind of the inquisitive readers through his simple yet eloquent language of physics and mathematics and has even the non-scientific reader get attracted to the enormous universe and working of the cosmos.

By drawing analogies of Copernicus, Sagan, Kepler and Einstein, among others, who unfurled the science of universe to the common people, Stephen Hawking has yet managed to bring important topics wormholes and black holes into the discussion of common people.

About the Author:

Stephen Hawking: An English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, author as well as the Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology under the University of Cambridge, Stephen Hawking is a scholar with more than a dozen of honorary degrees. In was in 1963 that Stephen Hawking contracted a rare motor neuron disorder which gave him just two years to live, yet he went to Cambridge to become what he is today.

Wise and Otherwise

http://www.bookshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/d9d47f9dc1d2.jpg

Understanding human and human nature is one of the toughest jobs .Many time what seems right and good or vice versa can be completely different if explored to proper depth. In many instance, we all come across people and forms an opinion about the people we meet without actually knowing anything about them. But hearing and learning about such instances helps us to redefine our thought process and become wiser. Sudha Murty’s book Wise and otherwise will take you to a journey across the length and breadth of India through narrations of 51 stories inspired by the extensive travels of the author herself.

Wise and otherwise has generated interest not just as an inspirational book of people’s struggles and how they overcome it but also for its settings. It present a realistic picture of India with its values, traditions and imperfections and lay before the readers certain set of moral values whose validity they have to judge for themselves. It unravels human nature and shows all that is good and bad in it and how it is often shaped by intention and circumstances. From the story of a son who leaves his father in an old age home pretending he is a stranger to the story of earthquake aid being exploited and not reaching to victims, each story is a moving one and will generate myriads of emotions within the readers, ranging from anger to kindness to pity to the realisation of reality of the world. The book grabs the attention of the reader through its skilful narration of characters, setting and situations.

The book is available online for convenient shopping. You can bag this book from Amazon.in today by following a few easy steps.

About the author

Sudha Murty is a social activist and worker and also a prolific writer in Kannada and English. She is well known for her social work as the chairperson of Infosys Foundation. Through her writings, she tries to highlight the social issues prevalent in the society. 'Dollar Sose’ authored by her in Kannada is her most renowned work and beside that. she has authored several other books like How I taught my grandmother to read, The Accolades Galore, House of Cards etc in English and Yashashvi, Tumula, Paridihi Computer Lokadalli in Kannada language. Sudha Murty has been decorated with several awards from prestigious institutions. She is the better half of N.R. Narayana Murthy.

When Breath Becomes Air

http://www.bookshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/24fddb501246.jpg

When Breath Becomes Air chornicles the life of Paul Kalanithi who after having completed a decade long training as a neurosurgeon is confronted with being diagnosed of lung cancer.

From being one who treated serious patients to being a patient with a terminal disease, Kalanithi started penning this auto-biography after he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and was counting days.

It is a moving story about Kalanithi’s own life: from being a student pondering over the meaningfulness of life to a famous neurosurgeon who operated brains that deals with the core of human identity, to being a new father at a time when his own life is awaiting an uncanny end.

In writing about his own life, Kalanithi puts forth some reflecting questions: what is a person supposed to do when his life is catastrophically cut off? What makes a life admirable and worth living right in the face of death? And, finally, what does it mean to have a child right when one’s own life is on the verge of perennial slumber?

Paul Kalanithi passed away while working on the book yet 'When Breath Becomes Air’ is regarded as a profound reflection on the acceptance of mortality and on the relationship between a patient and a doctor, all from an author, who had to face it all.

About the author:

Paul Kalanithi: A neurosurgeon who took to writing, Paul Kalanithi held degrees in human biology, English Literature and history and philosophy of science and medicine from Cambridge and Stanford Universities before finally graduating from Yale School of Medicine. He was also bestowed with the highest award for research in the field of medicine by the American Academy of Neurological Surgery.

Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of Spacex and Tesla is Shaping Our Future

http://www.bookshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20acabe74f17.jpg

The book captures the life and achievements of South African interpreter and innovator, Elon Musk, the brain behind series of successful enterprises such as PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solarcity. The real-life inspiration of the Iron Man Series, Musk wants to be the saviour of the planet, send people into space and set up a colony on Mars.

Bullied in school and scolded tremendously by his father, Musk was actually a brilliant student and his life story is nothing less than a drama packed film. Ashlee Vance’s brilliant description of Musk's character, simple language and neat choice of words indeed makes this book a great read.

Considered by some as the innovation, entrepreneurial Steve Jobs of the present and future, Elon Musk became a billionaire early in life with his successful online ventures. One of the successful companies that he co-founded was the online payment gateway PayPal that was later acquired by e-Bay in 2002.

Getting sacked as the CEO, Musk did not cease to amaze friend and foes alike with his out of the box ideas, like investing in rockets! Needless to say, this deconstructed obsession with technology had his marital life go haywire.

The book 'Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and TESLA is Shaping Our Future’ is a brilliant and intelligent account of this genius young 'iron man’ told in a gripping manner. Available in paperback from Penguin Random House publication, the book was published in 2015.