This is one gold mine of a book at the intersection of epistemology and modern physics. I can never forget how the concept of fallibilism in this book challenged my world view that justified beliefs/universal truths exist, and made me firmly internalize that theories are all there is within the vast body of human knowledge. I recommend reading it multiple times to be able to fully digest the dense ideas presented in this masterpiece.

This ancient book is primarily about time-tested war strategies that military generals in China and powerful people across the world have been reading for centuries (Napolean to Mao Zedong to Bill Gates). But the text is much more than mere fighting tips - it is also about tact, leadership and human psychology. This is worth reading at least twice, once for the content and once for the beautifully-written phrases that seem contradictory at first, but underpin the mystical Taoistic truths. For instance, quotes like "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle", "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak", “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” etc.

Yes, it is the known world that causes us humans more troubles than the unknown. JK is an original thinker and his writings persuaded me revisit all the concepts I thought I knew about human emotions, desires and ambitions from scratch. This is another book I periodically revisit whenever I feel lost in direction. The beauty in JK's philosophy is that there is none. He is a strong advocate of thinking for oneself ("Truth is a pathless land", he said) and did so by boldly rejecting all sorts of "presciptions" from systems/traditions/gurus. Humans are always looking for prescriptions from others to follow in order to deal with their own sufferings. As such, the idea of thinking everything from scratch devoid of any dogma sounds terrifying. But, that journey is indeed the path towards true freedom according to JK, and I cannot disagree.

The beauty of Sapiens lies in weaving fascinating stories about the evolution of humans in a way that was not interpreted before. As much as I loved the content, which is fairly original, it is Harari's writing style that kept me hooked throughout and made it a memorable reading experience. I can see myself rereading this masterpiece in the company of nature on a fine vacation.

This is a dense text and presents some deep ideas at the intersection of art, music and mathematics. TBD.

A detailed book on why we love music to why music evolved the way it did. A must read for those remotely interested in understanding the significance of music to humans from an evolutionary perspective.

Who doesn't know System-1 and System-2? This idea of two systems has existed in the literature of psychology for sometime now but Kanheman popularized it so much so that it is part of most discussions about nature of modern day AI.

A classic must-read for both beginners and the experienced investors.

Bogleheads are all about a set of simple yet effective investment principles (see their investment philosophy). This is an informative investing guide worth revisiting once in a while, especially when DCA with Index funds feels boring. The subtle art of investing, it turns out, finds beauty in the bland.

What I love about this book is its holistic treatment of wealth as not just of money and investing, but also of our health, relationships and through the lens of our overall wellbeing. Sometimes when life feels like a unidimensional race, this perspective is important to be able to appreciate the other aspects of wealth that we usually take for granted.

This is a quick read that helped me with useful tips on how to go about seeking the companies for investing and looking for trends in prospering businesses.

Naval is sort of a modern day spiritual guru for the people in tech. A compilation of Naval's tweets, this is a small book filled with rich and dense quotes.

A collection of the great Charlie Munger's wisdom snippets, need I say more?

The entire book revolves around the fascinating question of "What important truth do very few people agree with you on?". Little did I imagine this'd help me connect dots between the seemingly-distant pursuits of truth-seeking and running startups. No other book had as many fascinating ideas at the intersection of startups, truth-seeking and the nature of innovation as this one. Some are original, others are contrarian and some others are straightout nonsensical, but almost all of have certainly been thought-provoking. I will be revisiting this again and again in the future.

Full review here.

Feynman is a fascinating personality not just because he's a physicist that won the Nobel prize renowned for his accessible lectures on advanced physics, but also due to his well-rounded life. While many academics grind their way into greatness, Richard did it all with a laid-back approach to his life while being a prankster, a bongos player and a tinkerer.

A must read for those interested in the history of India from the perspective of an intellectual who happened to be at the helm of India's independence movement. I was positively surprised how well-informed Nehru was about the state-of-the-art developments in science amist all the turmoil in his life and in the world around him.

As one of the best-preserved ancient histories and the cornerstone of the modern Western world, Roman civilization is fascinating for its groundbreaking innovations across various spheres. From monumental structures like the Colosseum and sophisticated road networks to profound philosophies like Stoicism and advancements in law, engineering, art, and culture, the Romans left an enduring legacy. This is an authoritative text on all that we know about those times.

This book has some great strategies to prevent overextending yourself while pursuing personal/professional growth and taking on new endeavors.

This is a coffee table book with each page dedicated to a country illustrated by cool pictures and interesting tidbits about their culture, heritage and more. I'd like to be able to spontaneously open one of the pages, discover something fascinating about a country and add to my travel bucketlist.

Perhaps the most popular and important Telugu poem collection written in the last century. Putting aside the Marxistic undertones, the striking descriptions of hope and human suffering in a provocative yet arresting tone is what makes it an original piece of art. Some of the expressions used in this book have become part of vernacular Telugu language and can also be heard today in movies, news, political speeches etc, a testament to the incredible influence it had on Telugu society.