Books Worth Reading

I love books. Not just because of the smell of pulp and ink, but because of the fragrance of words. Here is a TOTALLY INCOMPLETE list of books that I found really interesting, or sometimes even changed my perspective.

Non-textbook Science and Technology

In the order I came across:

  • A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
  • ഒന്ന്, രണ്ട്, മൂന്ന്... അനന്തം (Onnu, Randu, Moonnu... Anantham, Malayalam translation of One, Two, Three... Infinity by George Gamow)
  • The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
  • ഭൗതികകൗതുകം (Bhouthikakauthukam, Malayalam Translation of Physics for Entertainment by Yakov Perelman)
  • The Code Book, Simon Singh
  • Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker
  • Deep Thinking, Garry Kasparov and Mig Greengard
  • Phantoms in the Brain, V. S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee
  • Permanent Record, Edward Snowden
  • Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! — the stories are hard to believe, but definitely some of the most interesting anecdotes I've read so far.
  • 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari — impressed with the clarity in presentation.

Fiction

I don't like to to classify them as serious and pop fiction. Also, I'm listing some books here not because of their literary quality, but because I found them interesting or influencing. Influencing in some way or other. For example, read this blog post to see how Dracula made me carry a pocket diary always with me.

Not in any particular order:

  • The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Stories (including the four novels), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Dracula, Bram Stoker
  • Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
  • The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
  • Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

Spiritual

  • കേനോപനിഷത്ത് (Kenopanishad)

Autobiography

  • അഗ്നിച്ചിറകുകള്‍ (Agnichirakukal, Malayalam translation of The Wings of Fire by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam)
  • ടോട്ടോ-ചാന്‍: ജനാലയ്ക്കരികിലെ വികൃതിക്കുട്ടി (Totto-Chan: Janalaykkarikile Vikruthikkutti, Malayalam translation of Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi)
  • ആന്‍ ഫ്രാങ്കിന്റെ ഡയറിക്കുറിപ്പുകള്‍

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