Reading

This is a list of books I have read. I prefer to buy books because I can personalize them. You can find me on Goodreads. Please let me know if you think I would love (or should read) a book.

Since 2021 I have been using the Storytel app for listening to audio books. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy books in Indian regional languages. (As of 2024, due to lack of time, I discontinued my subscription.)

From Jan 2023 to 2024, I explored the Blinkist app for a quick (15–20 min) summary of books that I didn’t have time to read. I don’t seem to remember much of what I read on blinkist. So I decided to discontinue my subscription.

  1. Winter 25 – Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (Ethan Mollick)
  2. Winter 25 – My Story (Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum)
  3. Winter 24 – The Bet (Anton Chekhov)
  4. Fall 23 – How to Be Creative: A Practical Guide for the Mathematical Sciences (Nicholas Higham)
  5. Summer 23 – Never split the difference (Chris Voss) — read on blinkist
  6. Summer 23 – Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Biography (Zena Alkayat , Nina Cosford)
  7. Spring 23 – Neypayasam (Madhavikutty) — Malayalam short story — listened on YouTube
  8. Spring 23 – Basic Economics (Thomas Sowell) — read on blinkist
  9. Spring 23 – Naked Statistics (Charles Wheelan) — read on blinkist
  10. Spring 23 – 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do (Amy Morin) — read on blinkist
  11. Spring 23 – Aadu Jeevitham (Benyamin) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on YouTube
  12. Winter 23 – The Guide (R K Narayan)
  13. Winter 23 – How to win friends and influence people (Dale Carnegie)
  14. Winter 23 – Mamukkoya (Thaha Madayi) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Bhaskaran Chelembra
  15. Winter 23 – The adventure of the yellow face (Arthur Conan Doyle) — listened to the English audio version on Storytel narrated by David McCran
  16. Winter 23 – Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Joke Book (Roald Dahl)
  17. Winter 23 – The Little Book of Dad Jokes: So Bad They’re Good (Orange Hippo)
  18. Winter 23 – Love Poems (Pablo Neruda) — listened to the English audio version on Storytel narrated by Armando Duran
  19. Winter 23 – Shishir Ki Girlfriend (Satya Vyas) — listened to the Hindi audio version on Storytel narrated by Abhishek Sharma 
  20. Winter 23 – Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (James Clear)
  21. Winter 23 – Bhoomiyude Avakaashikal (Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) –– listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Vivek Bhooshan 
  22. Fall 22 – Toba Tek Singh (Saadat Hasan Manto) — listened to the Hindi audio version on Storytel 
  23. Fall 22 – Mukesh Kathakal (Mukesh) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by the author
  24. Fall 22 – Achappam Kathakal (Gayathri Arun) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by the author
  25. Fall 22 – Karnanin Kadhai (Balakumaran) — listened to the Tamil audio version on Storytel narrated by V Balasubramanian
  26. Fall 22 – Just one Paisa (Nadine D’souza) — listened to the English audio version on Storytel narrated by Rahul Dravid
  27. Fall 22 – Vasavadatha (Sajil Sreedhar) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Andrea Theodore Martin
  28. Fall 22 – When we grow up (Nikita Singh) — listened to the audio version on Storytel narrated by Nishka Raheja
  29. Fall 22 – La Sa Ra short stories – 1 (La Sa Ramamrutham) — listened to the Tamil audio version on Storytel narrated by Deepika Arun
  30. Fall 22 – Appa Pillai (Vidya Subramaniam) — listened to the Tamil audio version on Storytel narrated by Bombay Kannan. The narration was awesome with background music. 
  31. Fall 22 – Collector Bro: The Quixotic ‘Thallals’ of a Civil Servant (Prasanth Nair) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by the author. His voice is addictive. 
  32. Fall 22 – Pachai Vayal Manadhu (Balakumaran) — listened to the Tamil audio version on Storytel narrated by Kirtana Ragade 
  33. Fall 22 – Lifebuoy (Prasanth Nair) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by the author
  34. Summer 22 – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (Mark Manson) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Ravi Perumal 
  35. Summer 22 – Oruthi (Mayna Umaiban) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Manjima Mohan
  36. Summer 22 – Balyakalasakhi (Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Harikumar 
  37. Summer 22 – When Daddy Was a Little Boy (Alexander Raskin) — listened to the Malayalam audio version “Achante Kuttikkalam” on Storytel narrated by Manjima Mohan
  38. Summer 22 – SS Menaka (Kalki) — listened to the Tamil audio version on Storytel narrated by Gautham Vasudev Menon
  39. Spring 22 – Book of Questions (Pablo Neruda)
  40. Spring 22 – The Forerunner & The Madman: Lesser known poems from the Sufi master (Kahlil Gibran) — listened to the audio version on Storytel
  41. Spring 22 –  Helmut Newton: Sumo (Helmut Newton) —  borrowed from a friend
  42. Spring 22 – A Treasury of Wintertime Tales (Noel Daniel, Nicolas Sidjakov)
  43. Winter 22 – So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love (Cal Newport)
  44. Winter 22 – Ikigai The Japanese secret to a long and happy life (Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Manjima Mohan
  45. Winter 22 – Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life (Jim Kwik)
  46. Winter 22 – Van Gogh (Ingo F. Walter)
  47. Winter 22 – Ma Nishada (Girish Karnad) — Kannada short story, listened on Storytel
  48. Winter 22 – Gulmohar (Karthik Vidya Hebbar) — Kannada short story, listened on Storytel
  49. Winter 22 – Lock Down Letters (P D Satish Chandra) — Kannada short story, listened on Storytel
  50. Autumn 21 – The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More (Chris Anderson)
  51. Autumn 21 – A Sport and a Pastime (James Salter)
  52. Autumn 21 – Special Treatment: Student Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Anna Ruddock)
  53. Autumn 21 – The Signal Man (Charles Dickens) — listened to the audio version on Storytel narrated by Timothy Ackroyd
  54. Autumn 21 – The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)
  55. Autumn 21 – Raghuvamsam: The Line of Raghu — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Rajeev Nair
  56. Summer 21 – Wings of Fire: An Autobiography (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) — listened to the audio version on Storytel narrated by Girish Karnad
  57. Summer 21 – Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business (Kindra Hall)
  58. Summer 21 – Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakkurippukal (B. Umadathan) — Malayalam
  59. Summer 21 – Vethalakathakal (Chandramathi) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Manjima Mohan
  60. Summer 21 – Bade Bhaisahab (Munshi Premchand) — listened to the Hindi audio version on Storytel narrated by Sameer Goswami
  61. Summer 21 – Mathilukal (Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Rajesh K Puthumana
  62. Summer 21 – Pathummayude Aadu (Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Sanjeev S
  63. Summer 21 – A Field of Flowers (Anita Nair) — listened to the English audio version on Storytel narrated by Prakash Raj
  64. Summer 21 – Make Your Point! (Kevin Carroll and Bob Elliott)
  65. Summer 21 – The Little Duck Girl (Anita Nair) — listened to the English audio version on Storytel narrated by Prakash Raj
  66. Summer 21 – The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State (Nadia Murad) — listened to the Malayalam audio version on Storytel narrated by Manjima Mohan
  67. Spring 21 – Assertiveness: How to Stand Up for Yourself and Still Win the Respect of Others (Judy Murphy)
  68. Winter 21 – The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel)
  69. Winter 21 – Economical writing (Deirdre N. McCloskey)
  70. Winter 21 – The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
  71. Winter 21 – Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind (Annaka Harris)
  72. Winter 21 – Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide (John Cleese)
  73. Autumn 20 – How Doctors Think (Jerome Groopman)
  74. Autumn 20 – Out of Their Minds: The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists (Dennis E. Shasha)
  75. Autumn 20 – Grit and Gold (Gayatri Chandrashekar)
  76. Summer 20 – Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messaih (Richard Bach)
  77. Winter 19 – Colour of Gold (Gita Aravamudan)
  78. Winter 19 – The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Jonas Jonasson) — borrowed from Stanford library
  79. Winter 19 – Bangalore: A Century of Tales from City Cantonment (Peter Colaco, Paul Fernandes)
  80. Winter 19 – The Man from the Egg (Sudha Murty)
  81. Winter 19 – Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (Sudha Murty)
  82. *^Winter 19 – Shiva Moves On (Harry Peronius)
  83. Autumn 19 – Flood and Fury: Ecological Devastation in the Western Ghats (Viju B.)
  84. Autumn 19 – India Positive: New Essays and Selected Columns (Chetan Bhagat)
  85. Summer 19 – The Case for India (William Durant) — online
  86. Summer 19 – my Gita (Devdutt Pattanaik) — borrowed from Stanford library
  87. Spring 19 – Beastly Tales from here and there (Vikram Seth)
  88. Spring 19 – my Hanuman Chalisa (Devdutt Pattanaik)
  89. Spring 19 – Lying (Sam Harris) — borrowed from a friend!
  90. Spring 19 – Feynman (Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick)
  91. Spring 19 – Love A Little Stronger (Preeti Shenoy)
  92. Spring 19 – The Formula: The Science Behind Why People Succeed or Fail (Albert-László Barabási)
  93. Winter 18 – Patience: A Little Book of Inner Strength (Eknath Easwaran)
  94. Winter 18 – Beyond Mars and Venus: Taking Your Relationship to the Next Level (John Gray)
  95. Autumn 17 – Stanford 125: A Visual Exploration (Alex Webb)
  96. Autumn 17 – When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi) — This book will bring tears. As much as I loved reading the book, I had to pause and take long breaks
  97. Autumn 17 – Stanford Memorial Church: Glory of Angels (Robert C. Gregg) — borrowed from a friend
  98. Autumn 17 – The 24×7 Marriage: Smart Strategies for Good Beginnings (Vijay Nagaswami) — audio book
  99. Summer 17 – Alcatraz: The Notorious Prison, A Daring Jailbreak (History Channel Magazine)
  100. *Summer 17 – Quila House and the Jalan Collection: A Brief Introduction (Paula Gonzaga de Sa)
  101. Winter 17 – Nature’s Numbers (Ian Stewart) — borrowed from a friend
  102. Autumn 16 – The Captain’s Verses (Pablo Neruda, translated by Donald D. Walsh)
  103. Autumn 16 – Trefethen’s Index Cards: Forty years of notes about People, Words and Mathematics (Lloyd N. Trefethen)
  104. Summer 16 – One Night @ the Call Center (Chetan Bhagat)
  105. Summer 16 – A Better India A Better World (Narayan Murthy) — Read few chapters in 2010 and completed the rest in this July
  106. Summer 16 – The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch) — I didn’t read from my copy of the book, instead listened to the audio version available on YouTube. This is my first experience with an audio version of a book.
  107. Summer 16 – The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (Robin Sharma)
  108. Summer 16 – Zen Garden: Conversations with Pathmakers (Subroto Bagchi)
  109. Summer 16 – The Magic Drum and other Favorite Stories (Sudha Murty)
  110. Summer 16 – House of Cards (Sudha Murty) — borrowed from a cousin.
  111. Summer 16 – Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake (Preeti Shenoy)
  112. Summer 16 – What Young India Wants (Chetan Bhagat)
  113. Spring 16 – The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) — borrowed from a friend.
  114. Fall 15 – Eleven Minutes (Paulo Coelho) — borrowed from the West Lafayette library.
  115. Fall 15 – Adultery (Paulo Coelho) — borrowed from the West Lafayette library.
  116. Summer 15 – Letters to a Young Mathematician: Art of Mentoring (Ian Stewart) — borrowed from a friend
  117. Summer 15 – Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol S. Dweck)
  118. Summer 15 – The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran) — borrowed from a friend!
  119. Spring 15 – The Painted Veil (Somerset Maugham) — borrowed from the West Lafayette library. Watched the movie and then read the book. Addicted to the soundtrack from the movie.
  120. Winter 14 – Fermat’s Enigma (Simon Singh)
  121. Summer 14 – Creative Confidence (Tom and David Kelley)
  122. Spring 14 – Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Edward Burger, Michael Starbird)
  123. Winter 13 – Nikola Tesla (Sean Patrick)
  124. Summer 13 – Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
  125. Summer 13 – Who Will Cry When You Die (Robin Sharma)
  126. Spring 13 – The 5 Love Languages (Garry Chapman) — borrowed from a friend of friend
  127. Spring 13 – Between Fathers and Daughters (Linda Nielsen)
  128. Spring 13 – Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)
  129. Fall 12 – MBA at 16 (Subroto Bagchi)
  130. Fall 12 – The Secret Wish List (Preeti Shenoy)
  131. Fall 12 – Grandma’s Bag of Stories (Sudha Murty)
  132. Fall 12 – Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese (Sidin Vadukut)
  133. Fall 12 – A Mathematician’s Apology (G H Hardy)
  134. Fall 12 – The Very Best of The Common Man (R K Laxman)
  135. Fall 12 – Unusual People Do Things Differently (T G C Prasad)
  136. Fall 12 – Giants of Science (Philip Cane, 1959) — borrowed from a friend
  137. Fall 12 – The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk (Sudha Murty)
  138. Fall 12 – Timpa: Runners Of The Golden Horn (Jhangir Kerawala)
  139. Fall 12 – Diary of a Wimpy Kid – #1 (Jeff Kinney) — borrowed from a friend
  140. Summer 12 – Tales My Boss Never Told Me (Juan Mateo)
  141. Spring 12 – Life Is What You Make It (Preeti Shenoy)
  142. Spring 12 – Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Richard Feynman, Ralph Leighton)  — borrowed from a friend
  143. Spring 12 – Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition (Chetan Bhagat)
  144. Spring 12 – 2 States: The Story of My Marriage (Chetan Bhagat)
  145. Spring 11 – The High Performance Entrepreneur (Subroto Bagchi)
  146. Spring 11 – A R Rahman: The Musical Storm (Kamini Mathai)
  147. Spring 11 – Go Kiss The World (Subroto Bagchi)
  148. Spring 11 – The Go-Giver (Bob Burg, John Mann)
  149. Fall 10 – Devdas (Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
  150. Fall 10 – Why Mars and Venus Collide (John Gray)
  151. Fall 10 – Parineeta (Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay)
  152. Spring 10 – Wise & Otherwise (Sudha Murty)
  153. Spring 10 – The Old Man & His God: Discovering the Spirit of India (Sudha Murty)
  154. 2010 – Khushwant Singh’s Joke Book (Khushwant Singh)
  155. Fall 09 – Discover The Diamond In You (Arindam Chaudhuri)
  156. 2008 – The Complete Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
  157. 2001 – Kidnapped (Robert Louis Stevenson)
  158. [Unknown] – The Go-Getter (Peter Kyne)
  159. [Unknown] – A R Rahman: The Spirit of Music (Nasreen Kabir)
  160. [Unknown] – The Professional (Subroto Bagchi)
* These books don't have an entry on goodreads. 

^ I have an author signed copy.