Rakhi Jayashankar's Blog, page 64

Learning how to fly by A.P.J Abdul Kalam- Review

Book Name         - Learning how to flyAuthor                  - A.P.J.Abdul KalamPublisher              - Rupa PublicationsNumber of Pages - 195Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - Paperback Price                     -176
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Rating : 5.0

My Review

Should I review the book? There are certain classics that I have opined of attaining a position such that they don't need a review. They are self-fulfilled. Dr.A.P.J. Kalam is a personality that has influenced billions of Indians and foreigners alike. He possess a thought process that is futuristic, and pragmatic.
'Learning How to Fly- Life lessons for the youth' is a compilation of talks delivered by the great man himself at various occasions. He asks the youth to be creative and innovative. His knowledge equation -Knowledge=Creativity +Righteousness +Courage- is a cosmopolitan observation. I find it puerile reviewing the Pointe he put forth and citing the merits and demrits (which doesn't exist)Author tells how to attain excellence.
 He has always believed that reading is the key to success. In this book as well, he has reinforced the importance of books and has recommended a few. His experiences in ISRO is something that provide an adrenaline pump to the youth, not for defence or attack, but to attain excellence.

If the book doesn't influence a person, then there must be nothing that can change him. That is the level of novelty in the ideas shared. Dr. Kalam has shared his experiences to bolster the cognitive thoughts put forth by him.This review is in return of a free book from the publisher  
About the author

Twenty twenty by Anuraag Srivastava - Review

Book Name         - Twenty Twenty Author                  - AnurPublisher              - Srishti Publications Number of Pages - 224Publishing Year   - Paperback Edition                  -2017Price                     -195
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Rating : 3.0

My Review

What will you choose if you are caught between a team of goons, your sister's dignity and professional ethics? What will you choose if you are caught between your brother's dilemma, your sanctity and romantic emotions? The story of love, money, betrayal, sex, brilliance, debauchery and trust, twenty twentyis tale of new generation for the new generation by  a new generation writer.
Abhi never expected that his foray into the stock market will land him in major trouble. Caught between her brother's greed, and inefficiency, Aditi too becomes a part of the game. They have twenty days to arrange twenty lakhs and get out of the whole trouble. How would they? Or would they succeed at all?

Twenty Twenty is  fast paced tale prominently based on the intricacies of technology. How Abhi tries to arrange the money is exciting to see considering the technological brilliance narrated convincingly. How Aditi tries to arrange, disappointed me. spoiler alert-watchout for spoilers, without which it's difficult for me to explain. The two female characters Aditi and Alka gains their needs through  debauchery. Even though there were passages about respecting women and similar stuff, the whole theme of the book, for me, sounded misogynistic. Why? Aren't women capable of getting promotions or arranging money through any other means?

The lack of ethics seen in the current generation is reflected through the book. The mind games are worked out decently. Though the twist in thw climax was expected,  the twist after the twist was a surprise.
Overall the book is a one time easy read


This review is in return of a free book from the publisher  
About the author

Anuraag Srivastava, having done his schooling and college from Lucknow, has been a banker for over eighteen years now. Presently based at Ghaziabad, he has written more than a hundred poems in Hindi and English. A learning guitarist, an amateur photographer and an avid reader, he is a multi-faceted person. He also runs a blog for sharing his views on spirituality and general philosophy.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta by Raghu Rai- Review

Book Name         - Saint Teresa of Calcutta Author                  - Raghu RaiPublisher              - Aleph Book company(Rupa )Number of Pages - 148Publishing Year   - 2017Edition                  - HardcoverPrice                     -1499
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Rating : 5.0

My Review

I was 10 when Mother Teresa's holy soul bid adieu to the materialistic world.  Then I had just heard about this holy lady who served the poor. She became the proverbial messiah of the poor. People with helpful mentality were easily termed as mother Teresa.


Her holy soul blessed Raghu Rai as the chosen one to let the disappointment of the likes of me by sketching mother's life through his camera. His photography is full of life that I saw her, touched her and felt her through the pics. Author shares the glimpses of his experiences while photographing her life, her canonization, and funeral.

The book is  divine experience.  Priceless and asset 

This review is in return of a free book from the publisher  
About the author

In half a century as a photographer, Raghu Rai has won many national and international awards and accolades including being nominated in 1971 by Henri Cartier-Bresson to Magnum Photos. His solo exhibition has travelled to London, Paris, New York, Hamburg, Prague, Tokyo, Zurich and Sydney. His photo essays have appeared in Time, Life, GEO, Newsweek, The Independent, New York Times, Sunday Times, and New Yorker.
He received the Padma Shri in 1971. Raghu Rai currently lives and works in New D

A dog's purpose by Bruce Cameron- Review

Book Name         - A Dog's PurposeAuthor                  - W. Bruce CameroonPublisher              - Pan MacmillanNumber of Pages - 336Publishing Year   -2017Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     -399
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Rating : 4.5

My Review

As human beings, we all believe in fate. We all believe that we have a purpose in our life. But, do animals have a purpose? Bruce Cameroon brings to the readers the quest of a dog, about its purpose in life. 


It is interesting to see how the thought process of a dog can be. While shredding the bed, while chewing on the shoes and while doing every seemingly harmless job that takes everyone by surprise or shock, for that matter. Bailey's relation with Ethan, his parents, grand parents, friends and neighbors as well as other animals which include dogs, cats, horse, ducks etc takes the readers into a magically imaginative world. His take on human lives and relations is surprisingly so realistic. How the dog grasps the bits of words from what people talk. The warmth used to permeate to the readers while narrating Bailey's life with Ethan.The graph drops when Ellie reaches her second master, Maya. That's the only part of the book that failed to hook me.

 I have read one of the reviews of the book, that mentions that Bruce Cameroon was a dog in his previous life, might sound rude but there is no other way to express how perfect and genuine the narration and the story is.
This review is in return of a free book from the publisher  
About the author

W. Bruce Cameron is the New York Times bestselling author of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, which has turned into the hit television series. He has twice been voted the number one best humour columnist by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and his nationally syndicated column in the US is read by more than three million readers every week. He lives in California.

Product Review- GeekCases GOLD USB Cable for Micro USB Based Devices Like Phones & Cameras

I ordered the product online from  Amazon for my Galaxy Tab 3. I ordered the product on May 4 2017 and got it delivered on May 8 2017, which is pretty fast. The packing is also quite good.

The cable is golden color. Thick, insulated cable is covered with nylon . 
The cable is pretty long, as you can see in the picture.

The length of cables has always been a matter of concern for me. With other cables, I had to adjust the phone while charging such that it could be kept somewhere, since most of the cables don't have the ample length to my convenience.

The color is glossy and classy too. The chrome finish is lasting. The pin is easy to connect to both the phone as well as USB port. This cable, I used while charging as well as file transfer.


The product comes with one year warranty.
The claim is that the cable provides lightening fast charging but it depends on the phone as well. Tabs take time to charge hence the speed of charging cannot be counted as lightening fast for my phone but it could be so for other products.

If you could see the screenshot, you could see that the phone has 35 % charge at 4.07 PM and 62 % charge at 5.27 PM,which when compared to original cable is definitely faster because it used to take whole night for my Tab to get charged.
              

Overall the product is priceworthy.

GeekCases Xtreme Indestructible Apple Lightning / 8 PIN Reversible Connector Cable (3.3Ft / 1M) with 2.4Amps Fast Charging and Data Sync for iPhone, iPad & iPod - BLUE

I ordered the product online from  Amazon for my husband's  iPhone 7plus. I ordered the product on 4th May 2017 and got it delivered on 8th May 2017 , which is pretty fast. The packing is also quite good.
The cable is blue color. Thick, insulated cable is covered with nylon coating. 

The cable is pretty long, as you can see in the picture. 
The length of cables has always been a matter of concern for me. With other cables, I had to adjust the phone while charging such that it could be kept somewhere, since most of the cables don't have the ample length to my convenience.
The color is glossy and classy too. The chrome finish is lasting. 

The pin is easy to connect to both the phone as well as USB port. This cable, I used while charging as well as file transfer. The pics I have shared was taken in my car.                                  

The product comes with one year warranty. The charging speed is good. The cable could be used in playing songs in my car, from the phone. This is really helpful while travelling, since you can keep your charger exclusively for the charging and this GeekCase cable connected to car and listen to unlimited music as well as charge the phone inside the car.
Why should I refrain from giving a five star for this amazing product.

Rafflesia by Gautham- Review

Book Name         - RafflesiaAuthor                  - GautamPublisher              - Frog Books (Leadstart)Number of Pages -397Publishing Year   -2017Edition                  -Paperback Price                     -395
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Rating : 4.0

My Review

Rafflesia tells you why it is said that 'We shouldn't judge a book by its cover'. The cover image of Rafflesia gives you an impression of a historical romance or YA fantasy. The blurb gives you an impression of psychological thriller with an eccentric or schizophrenic protagonist.


Appu's colorless life changes for good, once he meets Rahul and his family. Rahul's father, Vikram, is Aabir's friends. Rahul mother Amala adopts Appu as her heartborne child. A traumatic tragedy in the family brings storms in Appu's family as well. If that was not enough, Appu's father loses his job and becomes physically unwell. Adding to the hardships, the family is robbedof their life's savings by a trusted aide in disguise of a financial support.  In spite of all hardships, Appu studies well and continues to be a topper. Nevertheless, the financial instabilities and father's illness forces Appu to take up any job that comes his way. Troubles don't end there and Appu is exploited and ill-treated at his workplaces. He gets his mother's love when he meets Jeet and Sujata at Leeuwarden. For Sujata, Appu is a son she never had. While Appu tries to settle down there, another tragedy brings him back to India.

The narration is slow paced, yet engaging. Emotional ups and downs in Appu's life is depicted with finesse. Right from the beginning a tragic undertone is maintained. Appu's life is depicted as a flashback which comes intermittently in Appu's thought processes, as well as in the form of an independent chapter. The book is a literary treat. The suspense element is maintained well. A lot of characters come by but author has succeeded in avoiding confusion.

Towards the end, the plot is dragged too much that I no longer cared about Rafflesia, by the time her story unfolded. The book need a thorough editing and proofreading. The mistakes in typesetting itself made a lot of confusions.

Overall the book is an above-average read.This review is in return of a free book from WritersMelon
About the authorA B-School graduate, Gautam is a business analyst by profession. Considers the laptop as among his best friends and nurses a secret desire to turn an entrepreneur someday.

The Indus Challenge by R.Durgadoss-Review

Book Name         - The Indus Challenge Author                  -R. DurgadossPublisher              - Rupa Publications Number of Pages -320Publishing Year   -2016Edition                  -Paperback Price                     -250
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Rating : 4.0

My Review

The book Indus challenge is a rare seamless mix of mythological historical and contemporary fiction. This is the story of Sagar, who aides Abhimanyu in Kurukshetra war, who reincarnates as Rudra, commander-in-chief of Mauryan army when Macedonian army under Alexander,the great attacks India and as Shiva in the current era, a victim of the terrorist attack in Mumbai.

The plot is exceptional and has a lot of possibilities to work with.  Author has worked out the historical part more than the fictional part. The narration is fast paced and the chapters are small. Nevertheless some areas are rushed. For instance the relation between Rudra swastika. The book surely needed a developmental edit. Nevertheless, I didn't ooze out the entertainment value completely.


This review is in return of a free book from TBC  


About the author

R. Durgadoss (his associates call him Dr DD) is an entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, writer and coach. He holds a PhD in Corporate Finance. He has a career spanning more than three decades with leading multinational institutions of high repute.
He has a deep-rooted passion for Indian mythology, history and philosophy. Since his childhood he has been able to attract a number of followers with his mesmerizing storytelling abilities. Wherever history is a mystery, he fills gaps with his creative spin.
Having held his audience spellbound with powerful storytelling during his lectures in international forums, he thought it was time to focus on a series of fiction in the historical/mythological genre. The Indus Challenge is the second book in this series.

Success With Stress by Jae Ellard- Review

Book Name         - Success with StressAuthor                  - Jae EllardPublisher              - Simple IntensionsNumber of Pages - 102Publishing Year   - 2011Edition                  -PaperbackPrice                     -$14.95
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Rating : 3.0

My Review

Success with stress if a self help book that helps the readers deal with stress. Authoress states the different types of stresses and the points to deal with stress. 

The target audience of the book are beginners. Readers who gets stressed out for menial reasons will find the book helpful. The major points in stress management is given. Nevertheless a deep study into the topic was lacking. Authoress has touched the topic, superficially. Stress management, as such is a vast topic but in the book, success with stress, priority is given to the peripheral part of the topic

The whole layout of the book is also disappointing. There are a very few pages with atleast a few lines of matter in the book. Hopefully, the book would be better laid out.
This review is in return of a free book from the iRead Book Tour


About the author

Jae Ellard is an author and expert on behaviors that cause imbalance, disengagement and distraction. After years in senior communication roles crafting content for executives, Jae collapsed from stress-related adrenal fatigue. This life-altering experience propelled her to research human behavior, neuroscience, mindfulness, and organizational relationship systems. 
In 2008, Jae founded Simple Intentions and developed the Mindful Life™ Program to generate intentional conversations to disrupt patterns and create awareness, accountability and action at team and individual levels. Jae has taught the skill of awareness in more than 50 countries to thousands of employees at multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Amazon and Expedia. 

Jae is a columnist on workplace awareness for Mindful Magazine, as well as the author of 7 books on the topic. She contributes to the Healthy Living section on Huffington Post as well as the Simple Intentions blog. In 2013, she founded Seattle Wisdom, a community organization working to create and support conscious conversations in professional spaces in the Pacific Northwest. Jae has a master’s degree in Communication Management from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communication from Metropolitan State College of Denver. She holds certificates in co-active coaching and organizational relationship systems coaching.

Interview with Jae Ellard

Hey everyone Today I have the author of Mindful and Success with stress with me. Jane Ellard.Let's welcome her to this virtual tete-a-tete 
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How does a person's energy affect whether they feel in or out of balance?

When it comes to balance there are two states of being: empowered or disempowered. When people feel empowered, they have a clear sense of purpose and normal to high levels of energy to help them with that purpose. When a person feels disempowered, they tend to feel as if they have everything to lose and operate from lower energy states that may show up as exhaustion, anxiety, depression, fatigue or sleeplessness.

What is the difference between proactive and reactive stress management?

Another way to think about this is when we react vs. respond to a situation. Reacting happens immediately and without much thought or processing, whereas when we respond, we’ve taken time to consider the situation. For example, reactively dealing with stress means you are surprised that you are experiencing stress. Proactively managing stress means you’ve been able to anticipate a situation that may be unpleasant and have formed a strategy to care for yourself while you navigate it. 

What's your writing ritual? 

My favorite place to write is my kitchen table in the morning sun, pen on paper, looking out at the trees and listening to the birds chirp away. In recent years, I’ve also found international flights as great place to let the words flow. I’ve been writing each morning for at least an hour for the last 2 decades.  

Do you have a favorite travel spot?

The world is too amazing to have only one favorite place to visit! High on the list are anywhere in Italy, Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris, Munich, Santiago, and Aspen.    

If there is one thing you want readers to remember, what would it be?

That the choices is yours for how to live your life – so make intentional choices about how you want to show up, what you want to say and the life you want to create.