Book Tag

June 9, 2005

Yazad tagged me with this book meme that's actually hopped from LiveJournal to the "other" blog world. Sorry, my response has been late. But getting the flu has at least one upside, and that is that you find some time to write stuff like this. You can't work even if you want to because your taste buds are shot, and without being able to taste food properly, a chef is pretty useless.

Here we go then...

Total Number of Books I Own: Like Yazad, I never counted. I estimate several hundred (at least 700 or so). I got them insured for Rs. 50000 which is much lower than what they're worth. The collection also grows faster than I can read them, so I have about 20 books still to be read. 

Last Book I Bought: I spent many hours at bookshops in Singapore during my last trip a couple of months back (when I wasn't eating, that is), and the last book I bought was a double volume of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour.

Last Book I Read: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps: How We're Different and What to Do About It. I borrowed this from a friend because the title got me curious. (I'm always curious about books on human behaviour.) It turned out to be mostly crap and I read only 3/4 of it. Does that count? If not, the last book I read completely was Frederick Forsyth's Avenger. It was entertaining but set off my "bullshit meter" far too often.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: I can't possibly restrict it to five, but those are the rules, so let's give it a shot.

On Writing Well by William Zinsser: This book is invaluable to people who want to be better writers. When you read it, you will realise how much more you could be. I owe much of my penchant for simplicity and clarity to this man. It's affordable, so you should buy a copy too.

The Design of Everyday Things: If you think I bitch too much, you can partly blame this book. It opened my eyes to the world of design, and showed how poor design is responsible for product screw-ups. If you've wondered why people push a door when it's clearly marked "Pull", this book will tell you. (And it's a design problem, not a user problem.)

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams: Every person who manages a team of professionals in the IT business should have a copy of this book, and even if you're not in IT, a large part of the management advice in this book will still be useful to you. Stuff like how overtime doesn't help in the long run, or how motivational posters actually have the opposite effect... here, read the sample chapter online. 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: Robert Cialdini has written a wonderful book on how we are manipulated by other people all the time. He describes these "weapons of influence", why they work, and how to protect yourself from them.

It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking: Believe it or not, this book has only 30 recipes, but its value lies in the detailed way the author explains the principles of cooking and combining flavours. I'm a strong believer in teaching people how to cook rather than teaching them just recipes, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Read her pieces on balancing flavours, making curry pastes, and cooking to taste rather than blindly following recipes. This book closely competed with the far more formidable tome on Chinese cooking, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking by Barbara Tropp. So why did It Rains Fishes win? Because Tropp's book is not in the least for the casual cook. It can be intimidating reading it if you're a novice, but a great learning experience if you're not (and I wasn't.)

 

Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs

Is there anyone out there who hasn't been tagged yet? People like Yazad have tossed their nets out to catch everyone. After much cross-checking, here are my picks:

The Raving Atheist

Shanti Mangala

Sandeep

Jace

Anita Bora

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