My 2018 Reading Challenge

Towards the end of 2017, I found myself falling behind on my habit of reading books. It wasn't that I was not reading lesser than usual or not reading at all. It was just that I spent most of my time reading newspapers and magazines; mostly the latter, which is something I enjoyed very much. Due to this, when it came to reading books, I did not have much to be happy about.

It was during this time that I came across a friend using Goodreads to keep tracking of his "to read" list and progressing through them during the course of the year. I decided to follow suit and joined the Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge and set myself a target of 20 books. During the course of this challenge, I came across a wide variety of books across various genres - from inspiring memoirs, spellbinding narratives and political thrillers to some that were slow and painful to progress through and had to be dropped halfway. By the end of the year, I had read a total of 17 books and had a couple of abandoned ones in various stages of progress.

This post, after a rather long time, lists down some of my favourite books from last year's reading challenge. In no order of preference, they are:

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

If I had to pick a favourite among the 17 books that I read last year, it would have to be Bad Blood written by the WSJ journalist (and Pulitzer Prize winner) John Carreyrou on the rise and fall of the infamous startup Theranos. When I mentioned some books that were "spellbinding narratives" above, I had this book in mind. I stumbled across this book while browsing one of Bill Gates' reading recommendations. I was sold on his review and gave this book a try and boy, did I have a hard time putting it down. It was a spectacular read. I won't be able to do justice to the review that this book deserves, so I recommend that you read Bill Gates' review of it here. 

Book Review: The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company

I recently read Michael Malone's "The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company". I enjoyed reading it so much that I recommended it to a few of my friends. Eventually, I figured that I might as well tell more people about it and wrote a review. The following review is cross-posted from Goodreads.com.

The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company by Michael S. Malone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I began reading this book on a whim having already been familiar with the backgrounds of the three founders - Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove. Michael Malone chronicles the birth of Intel to its present state methodically and brilliantly. During the course of the narrative, the book beautifully digresses to give the reader a detailed look into the early lives of the three founders starting with Noyce, Moore and finally Grove.

The book acknowledges that it borrows from the individual biographies of its founders but doesn't come across as redundant at any point. Deeply engaging in its narrative and often poignant in its story line, I found this book beautifully compiled and enjoyed every bit of it to the point that I was a little sad when it ended.

If you are a fan of biographies, you would find this to be a great book. I'd rate is So-good-I-can't-stop-telling-you-about-it good!

Latest Read - The Scarlet Pimpernel

... By Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

It is 1792 and France is in the grip of a seething, bloody revolution. Mobs roam the streets of Paris hunting down royalists and others from the aristocratic community. Barricades block any chance of escape and everyday hundreds die under the blade of the ruthless guillotine. But in the hearts of the condemned nobility there remains one last vestige of hope: rescue by the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. Renowned for both his unparalleled bravery and his clever disguises, the Scarlet Pimpernel's identity remains as much a mystery to his sworn enemy, the ruthless French agent Chauvelin, as to his devoted admirer, the beautiful Lady Marguerite Blakeney.

The story leads into a wonderful thrilling episode when its time comes for the Scarlet Pimpernel to risk everything, and carry out his best rescue mission ever - to rescue the Monsieur le Comte. In the various disguises, the Scarlet Pimpernel comes close enough to smell the breadth of his enemy. The French, on the other hand have no clue at all of the elusive path the Scarlet Pimpernel has taken to reach France from England completely undetected. The book is written in such a wonderful way that it tends to keep the reader guessing the actual identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, until it is finally revealed by a set of clues. I would love to tell you the identity of the Pimpernel but I would hate to spoil the fun too, so I'll leave you to enjoy the book for yourself.

First published in 1905, the book guarantees thrills.

Book Review - 'Inside the Wire' by Erik Saar and Viveca Novak

A Military Intelligence Soldier's eyewitness account of Life at Guantanamo

Inside the Wire is a gripping portrait of an American soldier's six month tenure at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo), Cuba, a high level terrorist detention center that houses the 'worst of the worst' al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, most of whom were captured during the US led 'war on terror' invasion of Afghanistan.

The author,Erik Saar, gets posted as a military intelligence linguist at Gitmo. His job - to carefully extract crucial intelligence from the terrorists. Saar was more than excited to begin working at Gitmo and would always look forward to the day of his posting. But then he finds himself in the bizarre world of life at Gitmo that defied everything he had ever expected.

In his powerful account, he takes us inside the cell blocks and interrogation rooms and describes what its like to talk, question and sit face to face with the captives.
Saar describes all the various tortures that the captives were subjected to in order to get them speaking and blurt out valuable intel information. Most of the captives were detained way back in 2001 and many more keep arriving each month.

Gitmo has been largely criticized by many Human Rights activists group for the appalling sexual interrogation tactics used on detainees. Many of detainees were convinced that they would never be released ever again and so many went to the extent of even trying to commit suicide. Simple objects like tooth brushes, shaving blades were sharpened and used as make shift weapons. Former detainees say in most cases the prisoner made a noose out of clothes or sheets and tried to hang himself from the cell bars; one, they say, tried to slit his throat with a knife he had made from metal.

Saar describes his job of reading the letters ,both, written by the detainees to their families in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine etc. and written by their families to them. As he reads the various letters, he struggles to decide whether to be sympathetic to them or be ruthless as everyone else.

Inside the Wire is one of those rare and unforgettable eyewitness accounts for a momentous and deeply sobering chapter in American history and a powerful cautionary tale about the risks of defaming the very values we are fighting for as we wage the 'War on Terror'

* Viveca Novak is a Washington correspondent for the TIME magazine and has been covering legal affairs and terrorism for a long time.

From INSIDE THE WIRE...

The commander radioed the IRF (Initial Reaction Force) team leader and told him to start moving in. A detainee in the end cell shouted, "Allah Al-Akbar"- God is great-the common cry when the shit was hitting the fan. Then loud, synchronized stomping as five soldiers entered the block in helmets, over-the-knee shin pads, chest protectors and thick black-leather gloves. The first solder in line carried a shield. They were in no rush; the psychological effect of their march down the corridor, boots echoing off the metal floor with frightening, deafening thuds, were powerful. One NCO was with a radio camera. I was told the tapes were used for training.

The detainee very slowly kissed the Koran, closed it, placed it in its white covering and set it on his cell ledge. Then he stood up and took off his orange shirt. He was thin but had a wiry build with sharp muscle definition. We later learned that he was a kick boxer at home. The guard commander offered him one last chance. He said nothing and simply indicated with his hand that he was ready for the IRF team.

The air on the block seemed to vibrate as everyone anticipated the onset of orchestrated violence. Some of the detainees were genuinely frightened, moving to the back of their cells. The others started shouting "American Dogs!". "Kafer!", "Allah Al-Akbar!" I had never witnessed such mayhem.