Book Review - Tiny Buddha

Tiny Buddha by Lori Deschene

What started as an individual's struggle to survive, let alone find meaning in  life resulted in this wonderful book called "Tiny Buddha". Right from the front cover to the last page/ back cover, everything is worth reading again and again.The struggle of the person (Lori Deschene, the author) who almost lost everything in life and then bounced back to create meaning in her life and so many million more is what makes this book extraordinary. 

Starting with daily tweets through @tinybuddha, then moving on to creating website www.tinybuddha.com and finally resulting in this wonderful book by the same name. As the author says that the book is a collaborative effort of all the readers (of her tweets, blogs and questions) who contributed with their insights on queries pertaining to wisdom in daily life. The responses to the questions she posted resulted in this wonderful book.

The book is very neatly segregated into 9 sections/ categories some of which are Pain, Meaning and Change. Each section is very well carved out with lots of researched content(on the theme of the section), personal insights by the author, key messages(highlighted), tips, practical exercises and relevant tweets. All these elements put together gets the reader moving to apply and take action. Each section starts with posing a relevant question and this really sets the tone for more to follow.

It's a simple and honest book with no frills and that's what sets it apart from the rest of the pack. This is a book which you would want to finish in one go, no matter how much time it takes.The layout of the book is nice too!

Preview the Book here http://amzn.to/2w0e5Sq

A real book written with a realistic approach to deliver real, practical message

Book Review - Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times

Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times by David Viscott

A wonderful companion book that one can pick up anytime, open any page and start deriving strength from the content. Everything about the book is perfect - right from it's size, the layout, the content and if i may add price too :) .

The title of the book itself is self-revealing about what is contained inside it. The chapter names are

very well thought (that's how there are plenty of them but that's well justified!) and relate to common crossroad situations that each of us find our self in many times. The chapter are succint with practical yet powerful advice rendered to the reader. Each chapter is indeed a meditation; an opportunity for self-reflection and brooding to understand and accept life and its vagaries. Each chapter has a message and a learning.

Another wonderful feature of the book is the affirmation(s) at the end of each chapter. These powerful affirmations are also well thought about, relate to the context of the chapter and are indeed easy to apply by the reader.

The book is available for purchase at http://amzn.to/2vInEGe

Al in all, the book is extraordinary and a great companion during tough times when we need some support!   

Book Review - Notes To Myself

Notes To Myself- My Struggle To Become  A Person by Hugh Prather

This book is probably one of the best self-reflection book i have read. The book is like a companion which can accompany forever and provide guidance whenever and wherever required. The beauty of the book is that one can open any page randomly sand start reading it and still every word will make sense. The story about how this book came by makes it all the more interesting and a must read. The thoughts penned down by the author in his diary/ journal about life's struggles, hardships and dilemmas proved to be great insights on life. Since the book is an outcome of author's personal experiences, it comes out as very honest, authentic and genuine in its approach. The content of the book beautifully captures the confusion, chaos and identity crisis that each one of us face while we are maturing and evolving as a being. The only thing that appeals to us during these time is some "food for thought" to aid us self-reflect and accept the realities of life; the reality that is indicative of our true personality and our approach to life.   

No Index, No Chapters, No Begging and No End - The book is simple, easy and uncomplicated. It's all about "self-discovery" by connecting to our inner-self. 

Even after multiple re-reads i still discover new gems of learning and knowledge in the book.

Preview the book here -  http://amzn.to/2vIuzPJ

Book Review - RAIN: What a Paperboy Learned About Business

RAIN: What a Paperboy Learned About Business by Jeffrey J. Fox

An important parameter of a good parable based book is that it instantly strikes a chord with the readers and establishes a deep connect with them. This book definitely scores very well on this parameter and is written exceptionally well. The readers will easily be able to relate to the parable and its underlying message(s) that this book aims to deliver.

The book is about a teenage paperboy and his struggle to become a "man" in terms of learning lessons of business. It's like a journey of a boy and his travails to learn the fundamental lessons of life. What starts as a vocation to earn some pocket money leads to Rain (the protagonist) learning a good deal about business, entrepreneurship, customer service and personal growth. The book captures the story of this paperboy in the form of various adventures that he gets into and the learning that he derives from each of those adventures.    

The business lessons are wonderfully captured in the form of "Rainmaking principles" and these principles apply very well to various situations and circumstances in our life. The book does draw parallel of these principles in real-life through various examples. The characters and the metaphors mentioned in the book are very well crafted and definitely leave an indelible impression on the readers. The way the author, Jeffrey J. Fox, renders an understanding and explanation of key business concepts like Money, Customers, Referrals, Entrepreneurship, Competition, Marketing, Negotiation, Innovation and Valuation is incredible. My favourite is Chapter 24 on Valuation.

Another impressive component of the book are the "rainmaking principles" and the exercises at the end of the parable. A parable or a story is only as good as its application. This book definitely boasts of well thought of activities that would help the reader become a rainmaker in life.   

It's the simplicity of the book in explaining the complex subjects/ topics so subtly that makes this book a must read. In a nutshell, this book is about the evolution of an ordinary teenager into a rainmaker. 

Rain comes out as a real superhero in this book !

N.B : Rainmaker is any person in an organisation who is a key differentiator by virtue of the business, money and clients the person generates. A rainmaker is like a superstar.