In this stirring war memoir, Robert Leckie provides a first hand view of the final battle of World War II that pitted the resilient Americans against their resolute Japanese foes. The battle of Okinawa represented a conflict of attrition as two unrelenting and unyielding sets of brave soldiers engaged in an unforgiving clash in a … Continue reading Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II by Robert Leckie

The "Railway Man" is a searing autobiography of anguish and acceptance. This savage and emotional book initially rends asunder any shred of faith placed on humanity before finally restoring it by assuaging that such trust does not represent misplaced confidence. Although quite unsettling in parts, "The Railway Man" is a book to be read, remembered … Continue reading The Railway Man by Eric Lomax

This book is significant to me in more ways than one. The most significant one being the fact that I received this book from a complete stranger forming part of a book chain that was initiated on Social Media. Much to the chagrin and jealousies of naysayers and doomsday prophets, the book link did not … Continue reading Whispers of the Beloved by Rumi, Azima Melita Kolin (Translator), Maryam Mafi (Translator)

Following the blockbuster success of their earlier book 'Super Brains', Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi are back again and this time with an even more ambitious venture. Turning on its head one of the most frequently adages, "you are what your genes make you out to be", this spiritualist-medical practitioner duo throw interesting insights on … Continue reading Super Genes: Harnessing the Vast Potential of Your Genome for Optimum Health and Well-Being by Deepak Chopra

Read this only if you have nerves of steel, a temporarily hardened heart and a strong stomach! Stalingrad will go down in history as one of the epochal and seminal books ever penned on the subject of war. With the publication of this tour de force, Antony Beevor has firmly cemented his place as one … Continue reading Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943 by Antony Beevor

"Swirling like water against rugged rocks time goes around and around Thus with a Haiku does begin Denis Theriault's beautifully tragic book. The protagonist of the story is a twenty seven year old postman, Bilodo. Bilodo, a bachelor lives in a small one bedroom unit on the 10th floor of a non-decrepit apartment in Montreal. … Continue reading The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Thériault, Liedewy Hawke (Translation)

Professor Richard Overy in this eye opener, details the gargantuan Soviet effort in amassing men and material, which on hindsight turned out to be the most colossal feat of World War II. From the very brink of humiliating defeat after being taken unawares of the German Blitzkrieg - courtesy Operation Barbarossa - to hoisting the … Continue reading Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945 by Richard Overy

Antony Beevor picks up from where he left his epic "Stalingrad". With "Berlin" he consolidates his cemented position as one of the premier military historians of any generation. Pulsating, poignant and pertinent, 'Berlin' is almost an atonement for the unforgivable follies of man fueled by greed and fashioned by hubris. After the wily encirclement and … Continue reading The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor

A stupendous piece of narrative non-fiction by the Pulitzer Prize winning Katherine Boo, "Behind the Beautiful Forevers", has at its bedrock the squalor, sentiments and sanguine atmosphere surrounding the sprawling Annawadi slum in the glitzy Metropolis of Mumbai. Squatting just behind the glamorous 5 star hotels and the renovated International Airport, Annawadi is distinguished by … Continue reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

"Things Fall Apart" is the first in the African Trilogy series by Chinua Achebe and lays down the platform for a story that tugs at the very strings of the heart. Dealing initially with precolonial Nigeria, the story courses through disturbing developments leading to the pitiless colonisation of the African nation by the British Empire, … Continue reading Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy #1) by Chinua Achebe