pico iyer takes you on a wonderful journey across south east asia. during the course of which he unravels the very interesting relationship between tourists and natives. a wonderful book! the only glitch is that it’s a little dated.

a whole bunch of fabulous stories, with lots of twists and turns. highly recommended!

it’s a wonderful book based on Bombay. Suketu Mehta takes you into the interesting lives of some of the people who’ve made the city home. in the process he has created a book that makes for wonderful reading.

originally written by douglas adams as a series of five books, the ‘ultimate’ has been added to this version because all the five have been rolled into one, with an extra chapter thrown in for free.

i’d seen this book on the ‘favourites’ list of so many people that i had to read it to know what the fuss was all about.

this book is definitely one of the funniest books i’ve ever read. all about the adventures of one mr.arthur dent around the universe. over 815 pages, douglas adams takes you across countless galaxies and introduces you to some of the funniest characters a weird imagination can conjure. this book is a rib-tickler all the way.

it’s ok. not that great. i guess, people interested in south america might like the book.

p sainath has written what is arguably the best book ever on the subject of poverty in rural india. a must read

this is a thriller set in the 17th century turkey. it’s the story of a school of miniature artists who have to work on a project commissioned by the sultan.a couple of them end up getting murdered, in the process. orhan pamuk meshes a murder mystery and the artistry of the 17th century perfectly, to set up a wonderful plot.

this was my first terry prachett book. i read on a couple of blogs that terry prachett is an amazingly funny writer. so expectations were quite high. a story about a bunch of kids going back in time to the second world war. the book isn’t that funny, but it certainly makes for breezy reading. a decent book. certainly not among the funniest i’ve read.

it’s an nice book for those interested in the mysterious world of cryptography. from its origins to coding in the 21st century, simon singh takes the reader down the long winding road of the evolution of cryptography. while it is certainly an interesting book, it’s not an easy read. be warned, gentle reader!

simon singh provides numerous examples to explain the different kinds of codes. you could get caught up in trying to figure out how a simple message was shuffled, crumpled and broken up into gibberish and then put back together again. unless, of course, you decide to just turn the page!

what i found most interesting about the book were the little stories about the unsung heroes and heroines of cryptography. their eccentricities, their ingenuity and the closed world in which they had to work. while their intelligence is truly admirable, it remained a secret from the world. until it was no longer relevant to their bosses.

i think the book’s worth reading.

why was this given a booker? i guess because it fits into the westerner’s perception of india. an average book, at best