"Perhaps we are all immigrants. Trading one home for another. First we leave the womb for air. Then the suburbs for the filthy city in search of a better life. Some of us just happen to leave entire countries."
Tag: Book
The English patient by Michael Ondaatje
Dear readers – This is a post by my friend and frequent contributor Ken. Ken decided to review a book called The English Patient. I learned about this book and the related movie at a young age. They are both my mother’s favorites. It is quite a disarming story. The reason may be that I have lived in a warzone and in a war period; I may be able to relate to what wars destroy: Love and Lives.
The secret diaries of Miss Anne Lister
For those who are new to my blog, my friend Ken Mckellar is a regular contributor whose generosity is quite disarming. He was keen to share with me another review for a book he has read. I happen to have watched the related movie. It was a British movie released in 2010. The story also inspired a series starring Suranne Jones: The Gentleman Jack. Enjoy the review and if you are a fan of this genre (Non Fiction. Biography. LGBT. History), you can purchase the book here.
Zero to one by Peter Thiel
Many know Peter Thiel as a famous American entrepreneur who co-founded a number of companies including PayPal. Thiel is also the author of one of my favorite business books: Zero to One.
So good they cannot ignore you by Cal Newport
A while ago I started a blogpost with a question: “what would you do if you were not afraid”? I cannot remember the number of times I asked myself this question. Yet, in the past few months, I have asked myself a different question: “do you do things out of fear or out of love”? Over time, I also learned to ground myself through another important question: “would you rather be happy or right”? I have recently read a book called “so good they can’t ignore you” by Cal Newport.
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Goodbye to Berlin teaches an important lesson for our times. Totalitarian regimes never burst on to the scene: they creep up stealthily, step-by-step, on a vulnerable population hungry for change. And before the population knows it, the dictator is in control. By the time Isherwood published his novel, seven years later, Europe was at war.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Obama chose to write her story in order to challenge readers to think through what she did as she was writing her book – answer two key questions: who we are and who do we want to become.
World order by Henry Kissinger
Some qualify this book as a meditation on the roots of international order and disorder. Kissinger, the author, is one of notable diplomats of the modern era. He was the security adviser for a number of presidents and he spent his life studying foreign policy events. In this book, Kissinger reveals the challenge of the twenty-first century: how to bring order into a world where perspectives are contradictory.
The origins of political order by Francis Fukuyama
This is not a random book that fades away a few years later. Not only because it won the New York Times Notable Book for 2011, the Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year and the Kirkus Reviews Best non-fiction all in the same year.
The no.1 ladies’ detective agency by Alexander McCall Smith
To be completely honest, I have had a tough week at work. It was long, demanding, included travelling, and more. I did not have a chance to write a personal blog post. But, as usual, my dear and now standing contributor Ken saved me. It is not like something bad would happen if I do not blog once a week. However this is a level of consistency I am committed to. Also when you are so overwhelmed with the readers' reactions, comments, shares, and likes - you feel that you have no choice but honor every reader's expectations. Ken reviewed a book I have not read. His review will surely make me read it. I hope it does that to you too. Enjoy.
Venus in furs by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch
This is to introduce my friend Ken again. This time, we decided to get out of the cliché and do a review for a book that is quite risqué. We hope you enjoy the review as much as I did. But I also hope you will read the book. This is an atypical read; but it is all worth it.
Battlefield of the mind by Joyce Meyer
I started to follow Joyce Meyer back in 2005. Since then I have read two of her books (Battlefield of the Mind and Making Good Habits). I also got addicted to her audio-book series around offense. I personally like Joyce Meyer for a very simple reason: she realized that the Bible is the best leadership book. She also activated this realization in her ministries, books, and other platforms. My friend Ken likes her as much as I do. He reviewed her flagship book, Battlefield of the Mind. I thank him for this; hoping Ken and I are able to inspire you in leading a life of love, respective, mindfulness, integrity, forgiveness, kindness, and joy.
The untethered soul: the journey beyond yourself by Michael A. Singer
Dear book addicts, I am so happy that the request from guest contributors is increasing. Here is a post by Farah Al Dabbagh. Farah is a very talented young Saudi woman who I got the chance to work with. She literally embodies a future thought leader. I am honored to have her write on my blog as we share a common passion: books. I wanted to make sure that she is given the space to express herself, freely. I am thrilled to have a woman guess contributor from the Kingdom.
Announcement: enhanced reviews
I am very happy to announce that I will be adding, going forward, a star rating to every book review. I thought that this will ease readers’ selection for books you would like to read. It is visual, consistent, and easy to understand.
Lean in by Cheryl Sandberg
Lean In is a management guide. And this is not what I will be writing about. As much as it contains practical for sailing through the challenges that arise in career advancement (the author describes as a “jungle gym”), this is not what I liked about the book.
The man in the white sharkskin suit by Lucette Lagnado
The book is about a Jewish family’s exodus from old Cairo to the new world. It is actually a memoir full of stories about family, tragedy, and triumph. This is a book I recommend particularly if you are passionate about politics. Still, you would enjoy it if you would like to read a memoir (something I personally enjoy very much).
The one thing by Gary Keller
It is about how we can achieve more by doing less in a world full of distractions and what the author calls “daily barrage” of emails, texts, tweets, meetings, and “other things”.
Tiny beautiful things by Cheryl Strayed (aka Sugar)
I read this book about a year ago and it soon became among my favorite books. In French we call it “livre de chevet”, a book you keep by your bed, one you read more than once, one you open at random pages at random times.