Looking for a book to enjoy over the Christmas holidays? Here are some of my recent favorites

Books are friends for life – one should be able to pick a book from his/her collection and re-read at any given moment just like picking up the telephone and call-up an old friend for a chat.

I feel so empowered each time I finish reading a new book.

When I was young, there were few options to learn on my own. Some of my rich friends had sets of colorful Encyclopedias, which I borrowed and read through. But there were no Google, no online courses, no videos, no TED talks or podcasts to introduce me to new ideas and thinkers as we have today.

But then again, reading books has been my favorite way to learn about something new. I’ve been reading two books a month on average since I was in 5th standard. My Aunt sourced these books regularly from her 130 year old school library. Even today when my schedule is quite out of control, I carve out a lot of time for reading.

If you’re looking for a book to enjoy over these holidays, here are some of my favorites from 2016. Usually they cover a magic mix of topics—from ‘Lateral Thinking’ to ‘Boat Journeys’, from ‘Genetics to Upanishada and other ancient learning’, from ‘Astrophysics to Ancient Aliens’, from ‘Indigenous Knowledge to Yoga & Meditation’, from ‘Thrillers to Archaeological Research works’. But this year I have noticed they were simpler….. I think its the ‘age’. You cross forty and suddenly everything start changing.

Well coming back to the point, most of these books are very well written, and they all give me my ‘momentary vision moments’ with unexpected insights and pleasures.

The Sumerian Controversy – A special Report by Dr Heather Lynn

There are new excavations underway in ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Join writer, researcher, and archaeologist, Dr. Heather Lynn, as she investigates who is behind the latest Sumerian discovery near the ancient city of Ur.

What is its connection to big oil, bankers, and elite families? Among many of the new artifacts, one stands out that has been quickly shipped off for analysis.

This report is the first part of a series of briefings designed to keep the public informed on this unfolding story. This book has left me with more questions, than answers, I now am engaged in the process of the investigation.

The author appeals if we work together, the truth can be brought to light.

The publisher says any profits from the sale of this publication go directly to support the Society for Truth in Archaeological Research (STAR).

A World Treasury of Folk Wisdom by Reynold Feldman & Cynthia-A-Voelke

I like this book as a collection of wonderful sayings from around the world. It contains over a hundred topics related to the human condition. Topics in the book cover the gamut from “Adversity” to “Vanity and Arrogance,” from “Caution and Care” to “Impossibility.” It is an incredible book in that it speaks to the universality of the human experience.

Outliers – The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? Again and again…

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

365 ways to change the world by Michael Norton

You want to make a difference in the world, but don’t know where to begin. Now you can. Here is just the guide to lots of exciting ways that are more personal and fun than merely writing a check. For every day of the year, 365 Ways to Change the World is packed with information and ideas that don’t take a lot of special skills to put into action, but will achieve something positive:

Observe a “Buy Nothing Day” Plant a “peace pole” Sew a panel for an AIDS memorial quilt Collect rainwater to water your plants. I am amazed as I turned each page of this book.

The suggestions cover twelve important areas in which you can influence change, including in your local community, as a consumer, making a cultural contribution, and addressing problems such as the environment, health, and human rights. You can go through the book day by day or use the index to flip to the issues that concern you most; to help you take action, a complementary website links straight to many of the sources listed in the book. Great to give as well as to keep, this is an inspiring, practical resource for making the world a better place – one day at a time.

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski

From the master of literary reportage whose acclaimed books include Shah of Shahs, The Emperor, and The Shadow of the Sun, an intimate account of his first youthful forays beyond the Iron Curtain.

Just out of university in 1955, Kapuscinski told his editor that he’d like to go abroad. Dreaming no farther than Czechoslovakia, the young reporter found himself sent to India. Wide-eyed and captivated, he would discover in those days his life’s work—to understand and describe the world in its remotest reaches, in all its multiplicity. From the rituals of sunrise at Persepolis to the incongruity of Louis Armstrong performing before a stone-faced crowd in Khartoum, Kapuscinski gives us the non-Western world as he first saw it, through still-virginal Western eyes.

The companion on his travels: a volume of Herodotus, a gift from his first boss. Whether in China, Poland, Iran, or the Congo, it was the “father of history”—and, as Kapuscinski would realize, of globalism—who helped the young correspondent to make sense of events, to find the story where it did not obviously exist. It is this great forerunner’s spirit—both supremely worldly and innately Occidental—that would continue to whet Kapuscinski’s ravenous appetite for discovering the broader world and that has made him our own indispensable companion on any leg of that perpetual journey.

The Armada by Garrett Mattingly

Chronicling one of the most spectacular events of the sixteenth century, The Armada is the definitive story of the English fleet’s infamous defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The esteemed and critically acclaimed historian Garrett Mattingly explores all dimensions of the naval campaign, which captured the attention of the European world and played a deciding role in the settlement of the New World. So skilfully constructed it reads like a novel,  The Armada is sure to appeal to the scholar and amateur historian alike.

I am sure my experience about some of these books will intrigue you to grab a copy and turn the pages with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. I hope they bring you some unexpected insights and pleasures too.

Victor Ghoshe

Sr Adviser, BBC, India