Books Books and Books all the way

These books cover all spheres of self development, from peer pressure, to career and relationships. There are at least 2000 self help books published all over the world every year.

“The little Book of Calm” by Paul Wilson. The book is rich in wisdom of all kinds, from emotional wisdom to the practicalities of life. This was one of the first and still remains one of the best books that deal with how to counter stress in life.

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This is a great book for youngsters who dream of making it big in the financial and corporate world. It is a compilation of lessons learnt by the author himself from biggies in the business.

“The Real Rules” by Barbara de Angelis. This book is on relationships and talks about when the time is right to be honest with one and end a potentially doomed relationship. The book talks about common sense.

“The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. The book is a blend of Christian themes and lessons on self help. It is full of heady advices on how to lead your life better.

“Networking-The art of making Friends” by Carole Stone. This book helps those who are too shy to network with people around them, not only for business purposes but also for striking true friendships.

“How to Talk so Kids will listen and Listen so Kids will Talk” by Elaine Mazlish and Adele Faber. It is perhaps the best self help book written for parents. It helps grown ups to understand what it is like to be a child and why they never seem to listen to adults. It helps one communicate with children.

“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor E Frankl. It is an inspirational book with an autobiographical section dealing with the holocaust, thus being able to analyze and conclude from his own experiences.

“Winning through Intimidation” by Robert Ringer. This book is not actually about learning how to intimidate people but how intimidation can coerce you into doing things that you do not like, and how to avoid this.

“Food and Mood” by Elizabeth Somer. The book is a guide to how to eat well and feel good in the same time. It talks about how a diet can affect emotions.

“Don’t sweat the Small Stuff” by Richard Carlson. The principles of the book originate from cognitive therapy and meditation and help one to deal with pressures in life.

Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare). This is one of the most everlasting of all of the romances ever written. Revolving around the affair of a young couple from two opposite and warring families, this tale with its moving dialogues and tragic ending will never get old.

Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte). This novel is one of the oldest of the under dog stories along with being a beautiful romance. The governess Jane and her love affair with the Master of the house create characters and a plot that is hard to forget.

Frenchman’s Creek (Daphne DuMaurier). This is a romance set in a historical backdrop. It tells of the love affair between a rich yet impulsive English lady and French Pirate.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen). Considered by several modern critics to be a highly anti-feminist novel, the charm of this old English tale is hard to resist. The story revolves around the pride and the misunderstandings between characters, and has produced some of the most endearing characters of literature such as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell). The story is another everlasting romance, set in the backdrop of the American Civil War. The novel created the characters of Rhett Butler and Scarlet O Hara.

The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks). The story revolves around a young couple, a poor boy and a rich town girl who fall in love during the early 1940’s, and what follows is a heart breaking tale of love.

Far from the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy). This is a tragic and touching romance and a piece of early feminist writing. The story revolves around a farm and a young vivacious girl and the men she loves and those who love her.

P S, I Love You (Cecilia Ahern). This heart wrenching romance tells the tale of a doting husband who had written letters to his wife before his death, to guide her through her life later on.

Whitney, my Love (Judith McNaught). This is one of the modern classic romances. It deals with the romance of a youthful girl, her love for one man and the man who she finally realizes she is in love with.

The Black Moth (Georgette Heyer). This is her first novel and here she is able to delightfully blend mystery with intrigue along with a sweet tale of romance. This is the kind of her novels which were the fore runners of today’s Intrigue romances.

In the last decade Indian fiction has begun to blossom. At present there are at least a handful of Indian authors who have won awards worldwide and their audience is now not restricted only to the sub continent.

“The Golden Gate”(1986)Vikram Seth. This novel written in verse was originally inspired by Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”. The novel follows the lives of a group of youngsters in San Francisco, based on his experiences as a student there.

“Midnight’s Children”(1981)Salman Rushdie. The novel, divided into three books, is an allegory of happenings that took place before and after midnight of 15 August 1947, India’s independence. It won the Booker’s Prize in 1981.

“The White Tiger”(2008)Arvind Adiga. The novel compares India’s rise in the global economy from the eyes of a partly educated Rickshaw puller’s son. The novel won the Booker Prize in 2008.

“Sea of Poppies”(2008)Amitav Ghosh. The story is set on the banks of Ganga and in Calcutta. It revolves around the lives of the local inhabitants there.

“A Suitable Boy”(1994)Vikram Seth. The novel follows the lives of four families over a course of a few months, as a mother searches for a suitable boy for her daughter to marry.

“The Shadow Lines”(1988)Amitav Ghosh. The novel is built on a series of memories of several people to show lines that bring people together and those lines that hold them apart. It chronicles a series of events from the point of view of several people.

“The Interpreter of Maladies”(2000)Jhumpa Lahiri. The work is a collection of short stories on the lives of Indians as well as American Indians who are caught between their traditions and the modern way of the world. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

“The God of Small Things”(1997)Arundhati Roy. The work is a politically charged novel, set in Kerala. The story is of the childhood experiences of a set of fraternal twins. The novel captures Communism and the Caste System in Kerala.

“The Great Indian Novel”(1989)Shashi Tharoor. The story takes the great epic of the “Mahabharata” and remodels it into the Indian Struggle for Independence. Figures from Indian history are changed to fit the role of Indian mythological characters.

“The Alchemy of Desire”(2006)Tarun Tejpal. This fascinating piece of writing by the writer-journalist captures the brimming voices of India as it tells the tale of a young couple insanely in love. The story brimming with ideas is one of heartache and the state of the country.

The idea of feminism is all about how women should be equal to men in all their rights, this includes politically, socially as well as economically and intellectually. Most Feminist speakers are women and the major way in which they make their voices heard is through literature.

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”(1861)Harriet Jacobs. The book is a chronicle of Harriet Jacobs when she was a slave and the brutal punishments she had to endure at the hands of her male master. The book is an eye opener in terms of portraying a universal problem, which yet exists in many parts of the world

“A room of one’s own”(1929)Virginia Wolf. The book is based on a series of her lectures, which were based on whether women are capable of producing literature at par with Shakespeare, or are they just being denied the right to.

“The Three Guineas”(1938)Virginia Wolf. The work is in the form of an extended essay, addresses the question, why boys were better educated than girls of the same families.

“The First Sex”(1971)Elizabeth G Davis. The book tries to prove that in earlier times, the matriarchal system in society had positioned women at an almost “goddess” stature, but with the coming of the patriarchal revolution, this high level of civilization was completely ruined.

“The Beauty Myth”(1991)Naomi Wolf, a brilliant book which examines how beauty has become a demand from women, and the only basis of their judgment. She blames the beauty myth, a patriarchal way of keeping women under control.

“Sexual Politics”(1970)Kate Millet, was one of the most controversial books of this decade. The main argument of the book was that sex in today’s world has a much neglected political point of view.

“The Color Purple”(1982)Alice Walker. The book is based on the life of black women in Southern America, addressing their low social position in society. It received the Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

“Female Chauvinist Pigs”(2005)Aerial Levy. The book critiques what feminism means to the modern American woman. She believes that they equate empowerment with their freedom to dress and behave the way they want.

“Woman’s Evolution”(1975)Evelyn Reed. The book dealing with the history of women, is held to be a pioneer work of Marxist Feminism and has been translated to several languages. It is currently banned in many Arab nations.

“The Female Man”(1975)Joanna Russ. The book is one of the first feminist science fiction novels.

This genre of literature has as its main features, magic, the paranormal and monsters and special powers.

“Alice in Wonderland”(1865)Lewis Carroll. This is one of the pre runners of all fantasy novels, a tale of a girl named Alice who falls into a rabbit hole into a world full of fantastical and peculiar creatures. However, the tale is deep rooted in logic and is thus popular till this day among adults and children alike.

“The Hobbit”(1937)J.R.R.Tolkien. The book set between the “dawn of the fairies and the dominion of men” follows the quest of the Bilbo Bagins to procure the treasure guarded by the dragon.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”(1964)Roald Dahl. This is considered to be one of the most beloved books for children worldwide. It is about a boy in a chocolate factory of the crazed candy-maker Willy Wonka.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”(1997)J.K.Rowling. This is the first book of the vastly celebrated “Harry Potter” series. This book relates how this boy wizard discovers his true identity and begins his education as a wizard, meanwhile avenging the murder of his parents.

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”(1950)C.S.Lewis. The book tells the story of four children who discover a hidden wardrobe which leads them to the fantasy land of Narnia, which is under the spell of an evil Witch.

“The Fellowship of the Ring”(1954)J.R.R.Tolkien. It is the first volume of the epic novel “The Lord of the Rings” and is the best read. It is set in the fictional middle-earth and traces Bilbo’s effort to destroy the magical ring.

“Mary Poppins”(1934)P.L.Travers. This is a series of eight books which follow the adventures of a vain and magical English nanny with the Banks family and their children.

“Life of Pi”(2001)Yann Martel. In the story, the protagonist, an Indian boy, who is shipwrecked for 227 days, explores spirituality and religion with fantastical creatures and carnivorous islands.

“The Last Unicorn”(1968)Peter S.Beagle. The story follows the journey of a unicorn who believes she is the last of her race and tries to discover what happened to the others. On her way she meets a host of fantasy characters.

“The Black Swan”(1999)Mercedes Lackey. This fantasy novel is a retelling of “The Swan Lake”.  The story is told from the point of view of a young sorceress. A feministic novel, its plot revolves around how women who disrespected men were cursed.