As the year is all set to end let’s review some of the best non-fiction books of 2021 which have been published. If you haven’t read this now make sure you do so next year.
Will by Will Smith
Only in the darkness can you see the stars”.
Martin Luther King Jr. _____________
Introduction.
Willard Carroll Smith Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards and has won four Grammy Awards. _____________ Summary
This book is an autobiography of Will Smith narrated and written by himself. It starts with his early childhood years in West Philadelphia and a small introduction of his daddy who was in the army his mom who truly believed in education and his grandmother who was a priest and was his true mentor.
Although before this there is a short story at the very start of the book about building a wall near the front of his father’s shop. A wall was needed to be built there but instead of hiring a carpenter, his daddy or what Will used to call (Daddio) decided that Will and his brother will make this. They were horrified at the start and couldn’t make the proper wall after several months of effort. Then one day his dad told him that ” Stop thinking about the damn wall, there is no wall only bricks Your only concern is one brick” These few words made a big difference in his life and he began to see the difference between a task that feels impossible and task that feels doable is merely a matter of perspective. _____________ Conclusion.
Bitter, unfiltered, and motivating. Creative insight into Will Smith’s life unlike ever before. Through this book, I had the joy of discovering the insurmountable setbacks, heartbreaks, and victories that molded the Will Smith we see today. I loved the audiobook of this as it was narrated by Will itself and so many raps of his which he had sung early are in the audio version. I truly recommended this book especially the audiobook on audible. _____________
2) A silent coup by Josy Joseph
The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.
“A democracy is run by the majority but is judged by how it treats its minorities” _____________ “The Silent Coup” #Nonfiction– Politics, Security & Current affairs.
Josy Joseph is an Indian investigative journalist and author. He is the founder of Confluence Media, a platform-agnostic investigative journalism outfit. _____________ Summary.
The book provides a brief but tricky nexus between political parties and police. How both work jointly to silence the people, prison them or kill them in case if they don’t listen. How fake encounters happen, how a normal citizen is converted into terrorists in the eyes of society.
Such crimes have occurred across the globe but most victims of this have been Muslims who are already considered terrorists by the majority of the population, hence it’s easy to label them terrorists even before it is proven.
All this started on 11 September 2001, 6:16 pm IST. when 19 members of the Al- Qaeda group hijacked five airplanes and destroyed the World trade organization. This led to rising of a term called “islamophobia” which further led to the killing and torturing of thousands of innocent Muslims across the globe in the name of terrorism
Josy’s book, through his 20+ years of reporting on Defence, Security, Intelligence gives a detailed & specific insight into how the ‘Police” has given up on Democracy & Constitution, & have not just started following dictates of their political Masters, but also being pro-active to manufacture Terror to serve the ruling elite’s narrative. _____________ Conclusion.
The finest book on contemporary India. The book shows a dangerous nexus between political parties-police- crony capitalists. Apart from this, it shows how countless people are thrown into jail and have spent decades there just to be proven innocent. And this all things are a reality, not a fiction _____________
3) Think Again by Adam Grant
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
“Think Again”
Nonfiction – Psychology
_____________ Summary
The book is based & concentrates on the vision of re-thinking. Reevaluating our old beliefs in a new way reinforces the importance of rethinking and highlights the perils of not revisiting one’s idea.
The author elucidates the concepts and then shows us how to apply these rethinking principles to all walks of life. From dealing with prejudices, education, organizational behavior, listening and questioning, career planning, dealing with conflict and disagreements, and avoiding overconfidence.
The best part of the book was that it was the original work of the author and not some statistics and references. The author has done hundreds of experiments and has jotted down the conclusion in this book. The best chapter for me was the “Joy of being wrong” in which the author shows how being wrong is a good sign and it means you are learning.
_____________
Conclusion
The core message of this book is to think like a scientist. Always seeking new information, challenging existing beliefs including your own, running experiments to test your hypotheses, and being a lifelong learner.
At the end of this book, you will value humility, self-doubt, curiosity, being proven wrong, healthy debate, complexity, and nuance, and the value of experiments. _____________ What I learned!!
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me that we should never stop learning no matter how old we are. It’s wise and healthy to keep analyzing all the things you believe are true. Life is all about flow and renewal. Nothing is fixed forever – including our strongly held opinions and beliefs. This book helps to see why. It helps us to become more authentic.
4) How I quite google to sell samosa by Munaf Kapadia
our most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”… by Bill Gates.
From being a team leader to admin to starting a business this quotation has helped me numerous times because only wrong people can teach you the right lessons, My favorite💕
Back to the book 👇 _____________
Review –
Nonfiction- Biography & Entrepreneurship ____________
This book is the story of Munaf Kapadia a former employee of google who quit his job and ended up as the Chief Eating Officer of TBK= The bohri the kitchen a food tech start-up.
The word Bohra is associated with Dawoodi Bohra which is a religious organization within the Islam branch of Shia Islam.
The book is based upon how these people eat in “thaal” which is an exclusive tradition of the Dawoodi Bohra community. However, Munaf try to capitalize on this idea and started a home dining experience of eating in “thaal” in his home with the help of her mom, who was a great chef. The idea pick up and turned out to be a great success, however it wasn’t easy to start. The journey was filled with failures, disappointment, and betrayal which he had to overcome. The concept of mental health has also been touched on by the author.
The book is a rollercoaster ride and it makes you laugh, cry, and be happy altogether. The book is much more than just selling samosas and the title is just another beautiful example of how a good story is the first stepping stone in making and selling a brand. _____________
Conclusion
I read such types of stories every day but what fascinated me about this was he was from my community and the idea and phase which he had once gone through is something I am also going through now. The unpredictable future, confusing present, and doubts about past decisions are something I have to deal with every day with myself and with my family.
This book will motivate you but that’s not what I love the most about it, it is the integrity with which it is written that I appreciate the most.
5) How to avoid a climate Disaster by Bill Gates
How to avoid a climate disaster”
Nonfiction – Social science, Environment & Politics _____________
As the title points out, the book is about climate -changes how it happens, why it occurs & and how to prevent a complete climate catastrophe. Which if happens will be twice as fatal as the covid- pandemic which we are confronting presently.
The central point of Bill Gates was to show the significance of getting to zero greenhouse emissions. There are two numbers you need to know about climate change. The first is 51 billion & the other is zero. 51 billion is how many tons of greenhouse gases the world typically adds.
However getting to zero-emission is not that simple since everything from our toothpaste to building equipment to our cars, trains & airplanes are all somewhere powered by fossil fuel. This is where the notion of this book is originated where Bill has enlisted numerous recommendations on government & corporate policies which every country can adopt to reduce the impact of climate change.
Bill Gates has generated a sense of urgency about climate change in this book. The book is composed in an amazingly simple non-technical method to take the message to the common man _____________
Conclusion
The ‘boiling frog’ is a fable describing a frog put in tepid water; when brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. We humans shall soon replace the frog in this fable and face the existential threat if we ignore the signs of global warming.
The book is very enlightening, it very nicely illustrates how enormous the Climate Change Problem is, after finishing this book you will recognize that fighting climate change will be the most difficult battle of all time. The crisis also calls for a joint effort by all the leading countries of the world to take actions collectively and also take responsibility for its emission. _____________
Conclusion
2021 has been a great year in terms of reading. Many thought-provoking books have been published this year that can help us in changing ourselves. Make sure you read all the above-mentioned books. For more book reviews do subscribe to my blog and follow me on Instagram @_passsionforgrowing_
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