Books

These are among the books I have read (and some that intend to read). The discerning Cosma Shalizi has good recommendations.
Format of entries: title; author; rating; description
Gutenberg: Illuminator of the ages

Sections:

Non-fiction:

Puzzles:
  1. how would you move mount fuji
  2. Puzzles To Puzzle You; Shakuntala Devi
  3. mathematics for fun
  4. Brain Teasers; Ravi Narula

Physics:
  1. physics part 1; robert resnick and dave halliday
  2. physics can be fun; Ya Perelman
  3. Fundamentals of Physics by Resnick Halliday and Walker: The first 28.5 chapters.

General science:
  1. a brief history of time; stephen hawkings
  2. The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution (All except part 3); John Brockman;; essays by eminent scientists about evolution, complexity theory, consciousness, AI and the origin of the universe.

Chemistry:
  1. Organic Chemistry (few chapters only); Morrisson Boyd
  2. University Chemistry; Mahan
  3. Understanding Chemistry; CNR Rao

Computer science:
  1. datastructures with C; p b kothur
  2. programming with java; balagurusamy
  3. ansi c; balagurusamy
  4. An Introduction to formal languages and automata; Peter Linz;
  5. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition); Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig [375Rs]; Until the reinforcement learning chapter
  6. Probability and Computing: Randomized Algorithms and Probabilistic Analysis (Hardcover); Michael Mitzenmacher, Eli Upfal;; very good; (Ommitted 2-3 chapters.)
  7. Introduction to Computational Learning Theory; Kearns and Vazirani;; 1990 - old, good, a few errors.
  8. Algorithmic game theory; Nisan, Tim Roughgarden, Eva Tardos, and Vijay V. Vazirani;; agt1user/camb2agt, only (26 - 22 + 28 - [13] pages) read.
  9. Pattern recognition and machine learning; Christopher Bishop;; Ch 1 (Page 5/59), Appendix E read.


Mathematics:
  1. school geometry; hall and stevens
  2. trigonometry; s l loney
  3. algebra; hall and knight
  4. mathematical analysis volume 1; bermant and aramanovich;;(The first half done)
  5. descrete mathematics; kolman busby and ross
  6. Introduction to Linear Algebra and its applications; Gilbert Strang;; 256 pages done.
  7. Numerical Linear Algebra; L. N. Trefethen and D. Bau;; (321 - 293 - lectures {17, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, 34 to 37}) pages)
  8. Principles of Mathematical Analysis; Walter Rudin;; 2009 course covered first 7 chapters.
  9. Convex optimization; Boyd and Vandenberghe;;.
Biology:
  1. survival strategies; cooperation and conflict in animal societies; raghavendra gadagkar; good
  2. Principles of Protein Structure (Springer Advanced Texts in Chemistry); Georg E. Schulz and Schirmer; (The first half)
  3. Biophysical chemistry Volume 1; Cantor and Schimmel; (The first half)
Career:
  1. Getting What You Came; by Robert Peters
Society:
  1. Inspite of the Gods: The strange rise of modern India; Edward Luce;; review here.
  2. India: A wounded civilization; VS Naipaul;; Brilliant writing. a long, stern, damning, insightful stare at hindu culture and Indian society during the Emergency.
Philosophy:
Also see beautiful fiction which concerns itself with much the same questions. Existentialists concern themselves heavily with the purpose of life, the quality of their mood and so on; while analytical philosophers try to describe experience analytically - with a theory. Rationalists such as Plato tend to theorize without feeling adequate urge to test their falsifiable hypotheses; whereas empiricists like Socrates focus heavily on challenging theories with experimentation (eg: by the socratic dialogue).
  1. God Delusion; Richard Dawkins;; not very good.
  2. mystique of enlightenment; u g krishnamurti
  3. Thought is Your Enemy: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti
  4. Mind Is a Myth: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti
  5. No Way Out: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti
  6. The Courage to Stand Alone: Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti
  7. U.G. Krishnamurti, a Life; Mahesh Bhatt
  8. The Sage And the Housewife; Shanta Kelkar
  9. Stopped in Our Tracks: Stories of UG in India; K. Chandrasekhar, J. S. R. L. Narayana Moorty
  10. zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance; robert m pirsig
  11. lila; robert m pirsig;; biological, social, intellectual and dynamic quality
  12. The Human Animal; Desmond Morris;; Only Body-language part of the book is interesting to Indians, review here.
  13. cosmos; carl sagan
  14. bhagavat gita
  15. ashtavakra gita
  16. the heart of wisdom sutra (pragnaparamitahridayaha);;
  17. the platform sutra; hui neng;
  18. the gospel of buddha
  19. buddha; the word
  20. zen mind beginner's mind; shunryu suzuki
  21. mystique of the abhidhamma; ajahn sujato
  22. a history of mindfulness; ajahn sujato
  23. autobiography of forest monk; ajahn tate
  24. Getting Off: A Portrait; vinayadhara
  25. excerpts from the hagakure; Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Autobiographies:
  1. surely you must be joking mr feynman; richard philip feynman
Biographies:
  1. ramakrishna paramahamsa
  2. sharada devi; ;
  3. swami vivekananda
  4. alexander
  5. The life of Galeleo; Bertolt Brecht
History/ ancient socio-economic thought:
  1. Discovery of India; Jawaharlal Nehru
  2. Glimpses of World History; Jawaharlal Nehru
  3. Medieval Indian History (check Title and author)
  4. Ancient Indian History (check Title and author)
  5. History of India (check Title and author)
  6. art of war; sun tzu

Fiction:

Purpose:

As to purpose, a novel can be written for the purpose of taking a reader to another world or strange circumstances - as in science fiction or fantasy. Or it can build and introduce us to extraordinary characters. Or it can be a way of examining - and perhaps criticising - (the section of) a society and its values. Some may even preach, by embedding morals in their stories. Or, style may be its main gift - the plot may itself be weak, but the it may be delectable for its vividness or for its mastery over the language. Or the purpose of a novel may be a combination of these.

Style and types:

Short stories:

These works often do not afford a lot of space to explore and understand a character. In limited space, they try to bring out an aspect of the character and his situation. In order to deliver entertainment to the readers, they often include surprising twists at the climax. Eg: O Henry.

Novels:

Writers who subscribe to realism do their best to bring out the characters' traits - precisely and clearly - trying hard to not let their own personality and judgements interfere. They explore and develop the character by placing them in various situations.

Writing a good realist novel may be an ardous task: writers struggle to find just the right words to precisely describe the situation and scene, to describe the trait or behaviour they want to bring to our attention. They may face the problem of having to deal with a long period of time within a few pages.

Books:

science fiction:
  1. hitchhikers guide to the galoaxy ... the 6 books; douglas adams
  2. andromeda strain; michael chricton
  3. congo; michael chricton
  4. the lost world ; michael chricton
  5. Dune; Frank Herbert
  6. Dune Messiah; Frank Herbert
  7. Children of Dune; Frank Herbert
  8. God Emperor of Dune; Frank Herbert
  9. Heretics of Dune; Frank Herbert
  10. Chapterhouse Dune; Frank Herbert
  11. battlefield earth; L.Ron Hubbard
  12. Bicentennial Man; issac asimov
  13. Foundation Series 1 - Prelude To Foundation; issac asimov;; good
  14. Foundation Series 2 - Foundation ; issac asimov;; good
  15. Foundation Series 3 - Foundation and Empire; issac asimov;; mediocre
  16. Foundation Series 4 - Second Foundation; issac asimov;; mediocre
  17. Foundation Series 5 - Foundations Edge ; issac asimov;; mediocre
  18. Foundation Series 6 - Foundation and Earth ; issac asimov;; mediocre
  19. Robot 01 - The Caves of Steel ; issac asimov
  20. Robot 02 - The Naked Sun ; issac asimov
  21. Ender's Game; Orson Scott Card;; good
  22. Speaker for the Dead; Orson Scott Card
  23. Xenocide; Orson Scott Card
  24. Children of the Mind; Orson Scott Card
  25. Heechee 01 - Gateway ; Frederik Pohl
  26. Heechee 02 - Beyond the Blue Event Horizon ; Frederik Pohl
  27. Heechee 03 - Heechee Rendevous ; Frederik Pohl
  28. Heechee 04 - Annals of the Heechee; Frederik Pohl
  29. Heechee 05 - The Gateway Trip ; Frederik Pohl
  30. contact; carl sagan
  31.  Neuromancer; William Gibson
  32.  Count Zero; William Gibson
  33. Monalisa Overdrive; William Gibson
  34. Johnny Mnemonic ; William Gibson
  35. Citizen of the Galaxy; Robert A Heinlein
  36. moon is a harsh mistres; Robert A Heinlein
  37. starship troopers; Robert A Heinlein
  38. stranger in a strange land; Robert A Heinlein
  39. orphans of the sky; Robert A Heinlein
  40. farnham's freehold; Robert A Heinlein
  41. cat who walks through walls; Robert A Heinlein;; utter crap
  42. puppet masters; robert heinlein
  43. city of chash; jack vance;; not good.
  44. servants of the wankh; jack vance;; not good.
  45. the dirdir; jack vance;; not good.
  46. the pnume; jack vance;; not good.
  47.  Amtrak Wars 1 - Cloudwarrior; Patrick Tilley
  48.  Amtrak Wars 2 - First Family; Patrick Tilley
  49.  Amtrak Wars 3 - Iron Master; Patrick Tilley
  50.  Amtrak Wars 4 - Bloodriver; Patrick Tilley
  51. Amtrak Wars 5 - Death Bringer; Patrick Tilley
  52.  Amtrak Wars 6 - Earth Thunder; Patrick Tilley
  53. Xenogenesis 01 - Dawn ; Octavia Butler
  54. 2001 A Space Odissey ; Arthur C Clarke
  55. 2010 Odissey Two ; Arthur C Clarke
  56. 2061 Odissey Three ; Arthur C Clarke
  57. 3001 the Final Odissey ; Arthur C Clarke
  58. Cradle ; Arthur C Clarke;
  59. Fountains of Paradise; Arthur C Clarke;
  60. Childhood's end; Arthur C Clarke;
  61. Star trek: TOS
  62. Star trek: Voyager
  63. Star trek: the next generation
  64. Star trek: DS9
  65. Star Wars - The Thrawn Trilogy Book 01 - Heir to the Empire ; Timothy Zahn;; mediocre
  66. Star Wars - The Thrawn Trilogy Book 02 - Dark Force Rising ; Timothy Zahn;; mediocre
  67. 20000 leagues under the sea;jules verne
  68. journey to the center of the earth;jules verne
  69. Around the World in 80  Days ;jules verne
  70. From the Earth To the Moon ;jules verne
  71. The Time Machine ; h g wells
  72. Battle Circle 1 - Sos the Rope; antony pierce;
  73. victor hugo
  74. darc ages;a r ygnve
  75. the stainless steel rat; harry harrison
  76. this immortal; roger zezlany; ;very good
  77. understand;; people receiving experimental neuro-regenerative drug become super-intelligent, and therefore beyond the control of society - two of them with distinct goals - understanding of everything vs planned progress of humanity, vie for dominance; very good.
  78. worldwar 1; harry turtledove; aliens invade in the midst of ww2;not good
  79. Manna; Marshall Brain; robots replace human labor with strikingly different effects in USA and Australia.
  80. The Philadelphia Experiment; brad steigner;
  81. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court; mark twain
fantasy:
  1. A Darkness at Sethanon; Raymond E Feist
  2. Magician; Raymond E Feist
  3. Magician Apprentice; Raymond E Feist
  4. Master; Raymond E Feist
  5. Prince of the Blood; Raymond E Feist
  6. Silverthorn; Raymond E Feist
  7. The King's Buccaneer; Raymond E Feist
  8. Rage of a Demon King; Raymond E Feist
  9. Rise of a merchant Prince; Raymond E Feist
  10. Shadow of a Dark Queen; Raymond E Feist
  11. Shards of a Broken Crown; Raymond E Feist
  12. Wood Boy; Raymond E Feist
  13. Krondor the Betrayal; Raymond E Feist
  14. Krondor the Assasins; Raymond E Feist
  15. Alice in Wonderland ; Lewis Carrol (Samuel Clemens)
  16. The Hobbit; J R R Tolkien; good
  17. The Fellowship of the Ring; J R R Tolkien; good
  18. Lord of the Rings Part II -- Two Towers; J R R Tolkien; good
  19. The Return of the King; J R R Tolkien; good
  20. Harry Potter 1 - The Sorcerer's Stone ; J.K. Rowling
  21. Harry Potter 2 - The Chamber Of Secrets; J.K. Rowling
  22. Harry Potter 3 - The Prisoner of Azkaban; J.K. Rowling
  23. Harry Potter 4 - The Goblet of Fire ; J.K. Rowling
  24. Harry Potter 5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ; J.K. Rowling
  25. Icewind Dale 01 - The Crystal Shard; R A Salvatore; ;mediocre
  26. Icewind Dale 02 - Streams of Silver; R A Salvatore; ;mediocre
  27. Icewind Dale 03 - The Halfling's Gem; R A Salvatore; ;mediocre
  28. Hunters Blade 01 - Thousand Orcs ; R A Salvatore;;mediocre
  29. Hunters Blade 02 - The Lone Drow ; R A Salvatore;;mediocre
  30. The Dark Elf Trilogy 01 - Homeland; R A Salvatore;;mediocre
  31. The Dark Elf Trilogy 02 - Exile; R A Salvatore;;mediocre
  32. The Dark Elf Trilogy 03 - Sojourn; R A Salvatore;;mediocre
  33. songs of ice and fire series.. 1-4; george r r martin;;good
  34. earthsea saga;; not good
  35. tarnsman of gor;John Norman;;not good
  36. Outlaw of Gor ;John Norman;;not good
  37. Priest-Kings of Gor;John Norman;;not good
  38. Nomads of Gor;John Norman;;not good
  39. chronicles of narnia; c s lewis
  40. amber chronicles; roger zezlany;;good - especially the first two books.
  41. Dying earth; Jack Vance;; simple stories told vividly with excellent vocabulary.
  42. the lost horizon; James Hilton; shangri la; good

adventure:
See notes on 'Adventure' movies elsewhere. Like adventure movies, these books target the dopamine system.
  1. Tarzan 01 - Tarzan of the Apes ; edgar rice barroughs
  2. Tarzan 02 - The Return of Tarzan ; edgar rice barroughs
  3. Tarzan 03 - The Beasts of Tarzan; edgar rice barroughs
  4. Tarzan 09 - Tarzan and the Golden Lion ; edgar rice barroughs
  5. Tarzan 12 - Tarzan and the Lost Empire ; edgar rice barroughs
  6. princess of mars; edgar rice barroughs
  7. efficiency expert; edgar rice barroughs
  8. Caspak 01 - The Land That Time Forgot ; edgar rice barroughs
  9. Pellucidar 01 - At the Earth's Core ; edgar rice barroughs
  10. Adventures of tom thumb
  11. kidnapped; robert louis stephenson
  12. Gulliver's travels; robert louis stephenson
  13. Robinson Crusoe ; daniel defoe
  14. The adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Mark Twain
  15. parts of Tom Sawyer; Mark Twain
  16. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; mark twain
  17. THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER; mark twain
  18. David Copperfield; Charles Dickens
  19. Black Beauty; Anna Sewell
  20. mill on the river floss; thomas hardy
  21. Far From the Madding Crowd ; thomas hardy
alternate history:
  1. Seventh Son; Orson Scott Card
  2. Red Prophet; Orson Scott Card
  3. Prentice Alvin; Orson Scott Card
  4. Alvin Journeyman; Orson Scott Card
  5. Heartfire; Orson Scott Card
  6. The Crystal City; Orson Scott Card
military/ organized fight:
  1. The Hunt For Red October; Tom Clancy
  2. Red Storm Rising; Tom Clancy
  3. the godfather; mario puzo
historical fiction:
  1. ivanhoe; sir walter scott
  2. Quentin Durward; Sir Walter Scott
  3. The Count of Monte Cristo ; Alexandre Dumas
  4.  [Three Musketeers 1] - The 3 Musketeers ; Alexandre Dumas
  5. A Tale Of Two Cities; Charles Dickens
  6. king lear (abridged) ; shakespear
  7. a comedy of errors (abridged); shakespear
  8. macbeth; shakespear
  9. julius caesar (abridged); shakespear
  10. hamlet (abridged); shakespear
  11. AvaraNaM; S L bhairappa; saMskRRita translation of kannaDa work describing a novel being written by a contemporary hindu/ atheist daughter of a gAndhian friend of a shAstrI married to a muslim after visitng hampi about: rAjapUta-rAjakumAraH awra~NgazEba-bandhI bhagna-vRRiShaNaH janAnA-sEvakaH kAshI-vishvanAtha-mandira-dvamsana-vIkShakaH; story-line suited for good eye-opening debate with disappointing ending.

mythology:
  1. mahabharatha- consise version; c rajagopalachari
  2. the bible : new testament
detective:
  1. Hardy Boys - 018 - The Twisted Claw and others
  2. Nancy Drew : a few books
  3. The five findouters
  4.  Mysterious Affair At Styles; Agatha christie
  5. Tommy and Tuppence 01 - The Secret Adversary ; Agatha christie
  6. The adventures of sherlock holmes; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  7. Reflex; Dick Francis; cheating in horce-racing discovered by sharp man who does not need too much sleep; fair
  8. da vinci code; dan brown;;poor plot, jerky writing, much trivia
  9. Where love has gone; Robert Lundum
spy:
  1. Alistair Maclean books
  2. Double deal; Frederick Forsyth
  3. The negotiator; Frederick Forsyth
  4. The parsifal's mozaic; Robert Lundum
medical fiction:
  1. Acceptable Risk ; robin cook
  2. Blindsight ; robin cook
  3. Chromosome 6; robin cook; geneticist creates an evil genius of a boy - and ends up killing him in the end.
  4. Brain ; robin cook
  5. Coma ; robin cook
  6. Invasion ; robin cook; alien invasion of earth
  7. Toxin ; robin cook
Philosophical/ moralist/ character-study fiction:
  1. A Christmas Carol; mark twain
  2. Elegance of the hedgehog; Muriel Barbery; a hotel-manager with deliberately hidden sharp intellect due to a heart-breaking childhood, a prodigy feeling ennui about the futility of life and the fakeness of her family's refinement, a kind and cultured Japanese gentle man who seeks out the wise; good : especially as it progresses.
  3. mission; patrick tilley;jesus in present age ; horrible book
  4. the jataka tales
  5. panchatantra
  6. aesop's fables
  7. anna karenina; lev nicholayevitch tolstoy; contrast (the social reject who cannot fully turn her back on the vile rotten society) anna k & vronsky adulterous pair with kitty/ levin (managing his country estate, exploring righteousness) pair to see who finds satisfaction ultimately!
  8. the Picture of Dorian Gray ; Oscar wilde

Social critique fiction:
  1. Oliver Twist; mark twain
  2. Animal Farm; George Orwell
  3. 1984; George Orwell
  4. inscrutable americans; anurag mathur;; not good.
Humor:
  1. tales of tenali rama krishna
  2. tales of birbal
Corporate world/ Academia:
  1. 11th commandment; jeffery archer
  2. the prize; irving wallace

To read:

To consider reading:

To buy: