2025: In Reads

Presenting the reading list from 2025. It’s a round dozen from the BookMarks listed in chronological order of reading.

1. The Fine Art of Small Talk - Debra Fine (1997): A book targeting the introverts to help them make conversation! Basically an extended book version of a Ted Talk content!

2. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe (1719): An old classic revisited but in it original form. The story of a man who gets shipwrecked and stranded alone on a remote island and then begins to build his own little world there till his return home after a two decade incarceration and then subsequent adventures.

A heavy duty read in its original 18th century language form. Also, many of the beliefs will not stand the test of modern times.

3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri (2019): A Syrian family’s harrowing journey of escape from the war and reaching asylum in the UK. And it is not just the physical struggles but also the mental battles being fought by the protagonists as they build their own illusions to escape the harsh reality around themselves.

A sad but engaging tale!

4. Corporate Chanakya on Leadership - Radhakrishna Pillai (2012): An attempt to incorporate the learnings from Chanakya’s Arthshashtra into contemporary corporate leadership.

5. Bhagavad Gita for Millennials - Bibek Debroy (2020): An introduction to the Bhagavad Gita. It is is not a direct interpretation but more of a commentary conveying its key messages.

The messaging at times goes all over the place but more of how to read the Bhagavad Gita.

6. 1962 - The War That Wasn't - Shiv Kunal Verma (2020): The story of how the India-China war/conflict of 1962 was lost, not on the battlefield itself, but much before through a combination of blind belief, lack of planning, poor co-ordination, and sheer incompetence of some of those in the command.

7. How the World Really Works - Vaclav Smil (2022): “We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works.” This is the premise with which the book the fundamentals of how our world really works and offers a glimpse of what the future holds.

8. The Indian Spy - Mihir Bose (2017): The story of a man called Silver, who managed to spy for multiple countries while operating out of Kabul during the 2nd World War and also aided in Netaji’s escape from India.

Quite a fascinating story but is mostly based on a book by Ram Talwar a.k.a Silver himself. A line which stood out - ‘It is impossible, or at any rate, highly dangerous, to tell a lie until you know what the truth is going to be.’

9. Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely (2008): A book on the study of human decision making. How most of our decision-making is predictable and can be influenced. And even decisions which may seem irrational and random have common guiding forces.

Quite an engaging read into Human behaviour

10. Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis (1989): The story of Michael Lewis and his employer the Wall Street Firm, Salomon Brothers. Set in the 1980s, the book presents an insider account of some of the most turbulent and storied times in the financial markets.

The story also sets the foundations for the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. No wonder it is a recommended B-School read.

11. The Past As Present - Romila Thapar (2014): A collection of essays on the study of history, how it has evolved, and how it is being interpreted in present times and by different groups. The key message – History is a dialogue between the past and the present.

12. The Answer Is No - Fredrick Backman (2024): A short funny tale, originally published in Swedish, about a man whose quiet and happy life is suddenly disrupted by seemingly innocuous events nearby. Fun to read, yet provides a lot of insights into that basic human quest – the pursuit of happiness.

In addition, I read my first ever Tintin comic books (3 of them). However, the very first one was “Tintin in the Congo”, in which personally found the depiction of the African natives to be heavily racist! Also learnt that this particular comic has been moved from the Children’s section to the Graphic novels section in bookstores due to this very reason. There was the first Roald Dahl as well. 

In summary, books across genres – self-help, classics, fiction, management, history, science, behavioral economics, financial markets, humor, children books, comics.

Overall, could have and should have read more, but not a complete dearth! The reading pace wasn't a gallop but more of a canter.

Wishing a Happy New Year 2026 to all fellow Readers!