The web (in particular, the *ahem* blogosphere) is an important source of information for me but I still hold the humble book, that ancient technology of pulped-wood and ink, in highest regard. From the day I started reading books as a young lad til now, I doubt there's been a week in which I haven't read a book. Indeed, there would be few such days.
Unsurprisingly, I'm a big fan of bookstores and India has, in my opinion, some of the finest such establishments in all of Asia- with diverse selections of books across all genres, often at prices cheaper than can be found anywhere else (and that's not even counting India's famous second-hand book scene, which I have yet to delve into).
I was in Bangalore recently and had the pleasure of visiting a few of it's bookstores. Every time I go to Bangalore I come back with as much books as my luggage can carry- this trip was no exception. However, while my previous previous book-buying sprees in Bangalore yielded mostly fiction and the odd science book, this time I decided to purchase a few choice non-fiction works (though I yielded to temptation and bought a gorgeous new leather-bound collected edition of Robert E Howard's Conan stories).
This change in buying habits was actually inspired by another book that I'd been rading recently-Jeffrey Sachs' inspiring 'The End of Poverty.' Now, despite it's eye-catching title, it's not a book I would normally consider reading simply because of it's subject matter: Economics, a subject I abhorred in junior college (I wasn't particularly bad at it, but I found it tedious and devoid of real-world value as it was taught). How I ended up with a copy of the book was that I was bringing it to a cousin in the Maldives as a gift- she'd been very keen to get her hands on it. Being the curious reader I am, I couldn't resist taking a peek inside en-route.
To my great surprise, I found myself hooked. This was more riveting than 10 airport thrillers put together. Jeffrey Sachs is a more entertaining writer than any economist has a right to be and he argues his case persuasively- that it is within our collective global ability to eradicate extreme poverty (the most extreme form of poverty, where people have no access to basic survival needs such as food, water and shelter) within our lifetimes. A bold claim, certainly, but the man backs it up with weighty (but not ponderous) intellectualism and weathered experience. I won't go into more details (the book is absolutely worth your time- I can't recommend it more) but suffice to say that Mr Sachs has made me deeply interested in economics, a field that prior to this I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot stick- an achievement in and of itself.
My first purchase was another copy of 'The End of Poverty'- this time for my own personal reading. Next, I chose a work that can arguably be called the foundation of modern economic study- Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations.' A cursory reading revealed it to be remarkably accessible, despite it's 1776 publication date. I was also on the lookout for books by John Maynard Keynes, but sadly none turned up.
I did, however, see an interesting contemporary book that invited comparison to Smith's classic text with it's title: 'The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.' This book, by David S. Landes, seeks to explain the great inequalities in wealth that exist between the rich and poor countries of the world today. I haven't touched the book just yet, but it looks to be a thought-provoking read. The last economics-related book I picked up was Thomas L. Friedman's 'The World Is Flat,' a book on that hot-topic of Globalisation that looks to be similarly stimulating.
Finally, I rounded off my purchases with three science books. Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' and Richard Dawkins' 'The Selfish Gene' to start me on the path of filling the woeful gap in biology knowledge left by my formal education and 'Genius'- James Gleick's biography of Richard Feynman- one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. I've always enjoyed Gleick's writings- his biography of Isaac Newton was a superlative work- so I have high hopes for this book too.
Further impressions on all these books as I read them!
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