Become: The 5 Critical Conversational Practices

I rarely read self-help book especially related to personality development. If I have been to window shopping to a book-shop I might have missed this book as I ignore the whole section of self-help. I checked the cover of "Become" by Sameer Dua and thought of giving a try. And I really liked the book.

Book Blurb

Become is an invitation to you to choose a powerful 'posture' in your leadership, and life. You don't 'become' by knowing more, you 'become' by shifting your practices, and in case of leadership, by shifting and creating new conversational practices. Which is why this book is not about understanding new concepts, but about learning new practices to shift 'who you be', moment to moment. The promise of this book is to provide, in simple words, the fundamentals of the critical leadership coaching conversations to enable leaders to generate sustainable, extraordinary results.

The book is started with the importance of conversation. Believe me not just me but the most of the professionals think only about end results. If things not done then all other things are treated as arguments. Author has thrown light with the help of examples that it won’t be the case every time. In most of the situations, a proper conversation is missing between two channels. Then Sameer has explained the role of leaders. Normally people think leadership is just to lead outputs but successful leaders are those who coach his team. And then starts the crux of the book. i.e. important aspects of conversation for coaching. Author has finished with Adobe’s case study which was equally interesting.

I liked the book and the way the serious material was delivered. It reminded with me, my previous boss. I have seen similar leadership style in him.

It is a perfect gift for professionals. Talking about rating:

1. Cover – 3.5/5
2. Content – 4/5
3. Concept – 4/5
4. Overall – 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

The Inheritors: Stories of Enduring Success and Innovation

I am a big fan of entrepreneur stories. I have read most of the books of Rashmi Bansal. So the moment I saw "The Inheritors: Stories of Enduring Success and Innovation" by Sonu Bhasin I jumped for it.

Book Blurb

Why did Harsh Mariwala leave his family business?

Why did the Burman family quit the day-to-day operations of Dabur?

How did the Dhingras turn a collapsing business into India's second-largest paint company?

The Inheritors offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in Marico, Dabur, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Antara, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Luxor and Motilal Oswal. The book focuses on culture, family politics, ego battles, business rivalries and a lot more. And then, of course, there are the inheritors themselves-some take the businesses to even greater heights while others lead them to doom.

Inheritors is the compilation of success stories about the brands/companies we hear in day-to-day life. Dabur, Berger, Motilal Oswal and 6 more big brands were covered in the book. Each of the stories started with how each of the inheritor's forefathers has established the empire. Being part of such big empire how these individuals have spent childhood or youth. What are the reasons they wanted to do something different from their established business? How they have handled the rollercoaster life of the business.

Being an MBA and a Gujarati myself I like to reach such stories as they give inspiration of thinking differently, motivation to work hard/smart and understanding of different businesses. I personally adored this book. Thanks, Writersmelon for arranging review copy.

Talking about ratings

1. Cover - 3/5
2. Content - 4.5/5
3. Overall - 4.5/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

1 Man, 10 Years, 100 Life Goals - The Art of Fully Living by Tal Gur

"The Art of Fully Living", what made me really read this book was this phrase on the cover "1 man, 10 years, 100 life goals". The instant thought after reading that cover phrase was "What journey did this man go through to reach 100 life goals? " And after reading this book I must say I am rejuvenated and astonished. It was a great inspiring read.

Book blurb

The Art of Fully Living takes you along the exhilarating ride of Tal’s journey while illuminating your own possible life-goal trajectory: as Tal relates how he socialized nonstop in vibrant Melbourne to master English and trained intensively to complete Ironman New Zealand and practice ancient Thai martial arts, you’ll learn how to apply immersion to achieve your own life goals; as Tal describes how he eliminated his crushing student debt in one year and attained financial and location independence, you’ll learn how to simplify your life, recognize your own present wealth, and turn your passions into a living; and as Tal animates his experiences learning to surf and salsa, to drum in a troupe and compose electronic music, and to write this very book, you’ll learn how to let your intuition be your guide, reveal your authentic core, and achieve flow—among the myriad other adventures and take-aways that fill this book. 

The story starts with Tal living an ideal corporate life, high paying job with conventional success. Soon Tal realized that he was unhappy with how he was living his life and he became true to himself. He decided that he would live his dreams, put up with his goals. Thus created a beautiful, meaningful and inspirational journey.

What I really liked about this book was that it isn't based on fundamental scientific facts but a man's own experience. The lesson and key points that I really liked and found life-changing thoughts are as follow :

• Redefinition of "Failure"
• Moving beyond discomfort and embracing it
• The quote "every crisis is also an opportunity, row potential for a powerful growth experience "
• Chasing happiness and not the materialistic things
• Embracing uncertainty
• Concept of living simple life
• The power of surrendering to life
• Embracing intuition and uncovering authentic core

Every chapter has something new to learn. It was an implacable and inspirational read. I would like to congratulate Tal Gur for achieving the life of his dreams and the great journey.

Ratings

1. Cover : - 4/5
2. Content : - 4.5/5
3. Concept : - 4/5
4. Overall : - 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon India & Amazon USA

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Fat-loss Diet by Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar

I got "Dr Dhurandhar's Fat Loss Diet" from HarperCollins as a gift and I would like to thank them for it.

Book Blurb

Have you tried diet after diet to lose weight? Tried hitting the gym, doing aerobics, Zumba, but lost interest? Does one day of binge-eating make you want to give up? Has weight loss become an unattainable dream? Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar is the man who transformed Aamir Khan s fat Mahavir Singh Phogat into an incredibly fit on-screen wrestler in Dangal He has treated over 10,000 patients and, in this book, he wants to help you! Dr Dhurandhar busts diet myths with science, presenting facts over fads, and gives us a plan designed specifically for Indians. Here are all the secrets you need: The reasons for weight gain The things you ll need The meal plans Motivation tips and tricks How to stop the lost weight from returning Dr Dhurandhar s Fat-Loss Diet is for all who don t have the time to go to the gym like Aamir, and for all looking for actual results.

Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar is a celebrity physician having 35 years of experience in weight management practice. He helped Aamir Khan to reduce fat in Dangal movie. His qualification and achievements in the field are the testimony of his fame.

The book started with the chapter “Why Am I Fat”, which gives us multiple facts about our changed metabolism. It also covers how the author became obesity physician. It also covers how this book can help someone reduce fact. Then come chapters on diet and protein importance. Diet planning chapter is really in depth to help someone understand his or her food intake. The 5th chapter is my favorite as it is about Dangal and Aamir Khan. It covers his weightloss journey with author and Aamir’s conversation. The final chapter was around the importance of exercise.

Overall a nice book which can show you the importance of proper diet & weight or I would say fat-loss. Talking about ratings

1. Cover – 4/5
2. Content – 3.5/5
3. Overall 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

BookReview - 65 Colours of Rainbow by Smit Kapila

"65 Colours of Rainbow" by Smit Kapila is a collection of 65 stories of some crazy and weird workplace.

Book Blurb

There is a wonderful saying: “The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect." In this highly competitive world, life of corporate work-force is full of all kinds of strain and stress. There is no way we can escape from our jobs and its work pressure, but we can certainly counter it by enriching the fun and laughter quotient at work.

65 Colours of Rainbow is a collection of sixty-five short stories and caricatures based on real life, work-related incidents. This pleasingly warm collection writes with terrifying compassion about the things that matter most. The distinctive narrative caricatures demonstrate how extraordinary the ordinary can be!!

If you want to read light and humorous read than this book is just perfect. These stories are short and funny so it's really enjoyable. As I am a student there were some of the things that I didn't understand about workplace-related problems but I still enjoyed this book. If you're in a corporate job than you can relate more to the stories. Some of the stories are sarcastic, some are humorous, some are weird but fun.

So all and all if you want a light read along the main novel that this book is awesome. Also if you're fishing for humor and laughter than also this book works wonders.

Talking about ratings

1. Cover : - 3/5
2. Content : - 3.5/5
3. Concept : - 3.5/5
4. Overall : - 3.5/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Shadows - Dark Touch - 1 by Amy Meredith

"Shadows" is the first novel in dark touch series by Amy Meredith. I picked up this book because of its trendy cover. It's edgy YA supernatural/paranormal story.

Book Blurb

Fifteen-year-old Eve Evergold is cute, sassy and enjoying a busy social life. What she doesn't know yet is that someone close to her is an evil demon that only she has the supernatural power to defeat. She needs to work out who it is - and fast! Because although there's something very attractive about the dark side...dating a demon? Pure hell!

The story is about Fifteen years old Eve Evergold, who lived in small-town Deepdene where everyone knew each other. As the year begin two new boys moved into town one was minister's kid Luke and the other mysteries fellow Mal. Some mysterious things started to happen as the year started. Some of the girls were seeing shadows and having nightmares about demon sucking their soul. These girls soon went crazy. On the other hand, Eve was discovering some strange power in herself. She could feel electric charge in her fingers. She could move things without touching. To find out more about her powers and the thing that happened to other girls she took help of Luke and her best friend Jess. They soon found out that she was the great great great granddaughter of Deepdene's witch. She also had acquired crush on mal and he invites her to his house. There suddenly she realized that mal is the demon and he tried to suck her soul but she killed him. Story end where Eve is thinking that either she has killed mal or send him back to hell.

I enjoyed Eve and Jess 's friendship and their fashion talk, what I didn't like was saving of Deepdene was solemnly resting only on Eve's shoulder. Other than that I enjoyed this book.

if you like to read paranormal and supernatural things than this book is a perfect pick for you.

Ratings

1. Cover : - 4/5
2. Content : - 3/5
3. Character : - 2/5
4. Concept : - 3.5/5
5. Overall : - 3/5

Book can be found at Amazon India & Amazon US

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

BookReview - Keeping Up with Kaneda by Gaurav Kumar

"Keeping up with Kaneda" is a book which narrates the soul-searching experience of the debutante author Gaurav Kumar on foreign soil. 

Book Blurb

Canada – the land of beautiful lakes, opportunities and umm... scores of desis (aren't we just everywhere?). What happens when a young man gets a one-way ticket to the hallowed country? When you're saat samundar paar, even a modest course at a community college becomes a gateway for merriment and learning... of a totally different kind. And so it did, with Gaurav. An Australian flatmate, fellow students from Nigeria and Bangladesh and an employer from Kazakhstan lead him on a journey of epic escapades and much self-discovery. And when you're looking to earn some pocket money, odd jobs just have to do. From a curious DJing gig that turns out slightly different than expected to becoming a walking salesman clad in a sandwich board, there's no dearth of drama. Jump right in, for Keeping Up With Kaneda is an adventure in itself.

When you see the cover of the book you will find some random unrelated things like a bear, a girl in short dress with a snake around her neck, a moose, a stud etc. After reading the book, I found that they are one of the many important characters of the story.

Gaurav Kumar has described his real-life experiences during his stay at Canada in very astute manner. Pursuing his MBA in Canada, he has gone through a lot of part-time jobs for earning his living expenses there. He has written his experience which came across during that period and which have changed his life.

In each chapter, the author would find a new job and narrates the experience of the job. You will find stories like a funny gay DJ night to a memorable outing with a friend on a long drive in Dodge Charger, from a rich girl with a big green snake to Nat Geo people filming giant bear. At the end, he has shared his real-life experience about resigning from his job and his startup journey. I personally liked the conversation with a Pakistani driver in one of the story.

So overall all its a good book to read. The flow of storyline and easy language made me finish the book in a single sitting.

Ratings:

1. Cover: 4/5
2. Characters: 4/5
3. Concept: 4/5
4. Overall: 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads