My Top Five. Review on 5 Best Books

Its hard to come up with a list that symbolizes the 5 best books that I’ve read yet, but given the right thought, I did come up with some titles. The books I read cover a variety of subjects & disciplines, I dont like to stick to a particular theory or topic & always mix mash my reading choice, just for kicks.

So here's my top 5 over the years:

1) * The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

This book is Dawkins’ magnum opus, which tells us the practicality of Darwin’s Theory of evolution & natural selection. The topic itselfmay sound too huge to comprehend, but the way Dawkins writes, I felt I became a biologist. He explains the intricate details of evolutionary biology & genetics with such ease & lucid examples that even a dog can understand. After reading the Selfish Gene, I realized the link between math & nature. After all life is a probability game &odds are always in the favour of the fittest. It explains in relevant detail the ability of an animal to think & its effects on the immediate surroundings & kins. I recommend the second last chapter of the book as a MUST READ, which is on the application of prisoners dilemma problem in nature & life itself. The chapter is called "Nice Guys Finish First", where maths & life collide into aself sustaining equilibrium.

2) *World War 3.0 by Ken Auletta *

Anyone in the IT world, graduating or working cannot deny the enormity of thecompany known as Microsoft. The worlds most leading brand in software technology, once upon a time became famous for all the wrong reasons.The time was early 90’s when the world woke up to the Internet &thus began the internet boom. Like the gold rush, companies got haywire over the commercial power of the internet & wanted a piece of it.Ferocious competition arised which made & lost fortunes for many.Amidst all this, Microsoft was caught in a very painful situation, The Anti Trust Case. The book is based on this anti trust trial against Microsoft for trying to monopolize the market by throwing the competition out. The case was Microsoft vs US govt, where many of the leading IT companies in the world testified against Microsoft’s bullying tactics. The book explains details of the case proceedings which is the closest anyone can get to the fierce competition backthen. The case which is considered to be   the biggest law suit in UShistory after John D. Rockfellar’s Standard Oil case in the early 20th Century, is a must read, to all those who are interested to learn about how Microsoft became what they are today. A very well written account of the aspirations of a company to make it bigger & the consequences they faced for it.

3) *The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich by Willian L Shirer *(illustrated edition)

In my opinion, this book is the most detailed fact sheet of the most vital happenings in World War II. William L Shirer proved that he was a brilliant journalist with impeccable research skills. It brings you face to face to the whole concept of Nazi & the man himself, Adolf Hitler. The book traces Hitler’s life right from his childhood to be coming the most powerful man in the world & to his controversial death. The illustrated edition contains unmatchable pictures collected from a huge variety of sources from all over the world to sum up the enormity of the World War II. With superior map detail & personalized facts about the countries, armies, soldiers & their leaders, this book becomes an interesting read for anyone having a slight tinge of interest in the war operations during World War II. I was very fond of the World War right since school & got my hands on this copy when I was in 11th std. A very enticing & brilliantly written book.

4) *Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach *

Itsa book that screams, "SIZE DOESN’T MATTER", for such a tiny book tocontain such a phenomenal thought of realizing your passion, goal &true ambition coupled with focus to achieve greatness. Its niether atypical self help book nor a garden variety novel. Its a totallydifferent spiritual reality that takes us deep within the powerful zoneof trust. The protagonist of this book is a Seagull, who is disgustedof the daily grind for food & living the stereotypical life.Instead, he realizes his ability to fly higher & better &ventures into the lands where no seagull has ever gone before. Helearns flight & tries to overcome the physical barriers of flight, for a gull. He trains relentlessly to achieve the quality of flightthat he sees a gull is capable of & in turn is outcast from hiscommunity. The book connects with every reader to some extent, becauseI have heard many interpretations of this book from many of my friends, all were entirely distinct. The book is a must read for everyone as ittakes us deep into our minds on a trip to learn the true meaning of theword "Achievement". It also symbolizes a very important concept ofconstant self improvement, which is the main trait af any successfulperson.

5) *The Fountainhead by Ayn R *

Notop 5 list is complete without this book. Ayn R’s classic, The Fountainhead is an embodiment of the ego that drives us. The engine of thought & motivation within every human being is readily expressed in this book. The entire book preaches the concepts of Objectivism through all its characters, but on the other hand, that's what makes the book a very interesting read. Ayn R is a master of plots. She makes the plots extremely complex & not to forget the characters itself are very complicated. The leading man, Howard Roark, is shown as a brilliant instinctive architect, who believes in the concept of functional design rather than traditional one. He is thrown out of his architecture school for the same reason. The book is about the journeyof Roark through the difficult road that he chooses to shape up his career. He is shown as the genius in living form. Also the plot gets really messy later on & shows R’s real talent as a story teller.The book is pretty big & contains loads of food for thought.Definitely a recommended book to all those who appreciate the genius within them. Its a book that says, "either you have it or you don’t".

There are tonnes of books to be mentioned here, but this list is my top five favs & its completely unfair that I havnt included more books in it:)

Happy reading...