(Random pick from my shelf)
Books have been special, have provided the knowledge, have reflected the moods, have evolved me from a kid to an adult.
The earliest memory goes back to the rhyme books. 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', "Goosey Goosey Gander', 'Jack and Jill' and so many; playful and yet the most powerful way to introduce language. Poetry and humor has been a favorite read since then. Though the message hidden in the simple couplets is deep and hard to follow even to this day!
Then came the times, when the paper vendor was keenly sought on the first of every month, to grab a copy of Champak, Nandan, Misha, Reader's Digest and others, as soon as these hit the market and before those ran out of stock. An occasional Pran comics during the train journeys to cheer up; and a copy of Amar Chitra Katha, that so brilliantly retell the folklore and the cultural heritage.
To cultivate this habit of reading, was introduced to long stories, children's classic, science fiction and world literature. The numerous titles and authors, ranging from Arabian Nights to Sherlock Holmes, Premchand to Oscar Wilde, Dickens to Shakespeare; opened the eyes to a world of fantasy and imagination, horror and worldly wisdom!
As the years passed, priorities shifted and fell in love with numbers, and had fun with physics. Preparatory magazines and text books - McGraw Hill, Bharati Bhavan, Competition Success Review, Brilliant, TIME; started occupying the shelves. And to these owe the success, the grades and the degrees!
While growing through the days of school and university, couldn't ignore the popular fiction of Erich Segal, Robin Cook, Dan Brown, Sidney Sheldon, Chetan Bhagat and the likes. At the same time interest developed in the award winning Booker's and bestsellers. First felt that feeling of achievement on finishing a thousand pager Any Rand, that have finally matured as a reader!
Tried a brief stint at spiritual and motivational books. Paulo Coelho, Stephen Covey, Malcom Gladwell, Dale Carnegie, are a different league. They teach us not just to live, but how to live!
The latest stop-over is at non-fiction genre, business and biographies. It's just not enough to skim through the headlines, but to understand the people, the issues surrounding the everyday life and to find the solution to these issues, have to keep reading and reading a variety of topics.
Thankfully, this challenge provided ample good reviews and topics for discussion. Hopefully these will find place on my shelf someday!
(Analysis from FB data science: Books that have stayed with us)
