Agatha Christie's Poirot by Anne Hart

The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot 
 'My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.' 
The dapper, moustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head, curious mannerisms and inordinate respect for his own 'little grey cells' has solved some of the most puzzling crimes of the century. 
Yet despite being familiar to millions, Poirot himself has remained an enigma -- until now. 
From his first appearance in 1920 to his last in 1975, from country-house drawing-rooms to opium dens in Limehouse, from Mayfair to the Mediterranean, Anne Hart stalks the legendary sleuth, unveiling the mysteries that surround him. 
Sifting through 33 novels and 56 short stories, she examines his origins, tastes, relationships and peculiarities, revealing a character as fascinating as the books themselves.

[Book Description Source: www.flipkart.com  ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.78 out of 5 (192 Ratings; 13 Reviews - As on April 6 2017)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments:  A very informative biography of Hercule Poirot one of the most popular fictional detectives created by Agatha Christie. Very cleverly written without any spoilers. Kindles a desire for reading all the books he is featured in. A must read for all Poirot and Agatha Christie fans.
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Running Lean - Ash Maurya

Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works
We live in an age of unparalleled opportunity for innovation. 
We're building more products than ever before, but most of them fail--not because we can't complete what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product.
What we need is a systematic process for quickly vetting product ideas and raising our odds of success. 
That's the promise of Running Lean.

In this inspiring book, Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving a "product/market fit" for your fledgling venture, based on his own experience in building a wide array of products from high-tech to no-tech. 
Throughout, he builds on the ideas and concepts of several innovative methodologies, including the Lean Startup, Customer Development, and bootstrapping.

Running Lean is an ideal tool for business managers, CEOs, small business owners, developers and programmers, and anyone who's interested in starting a business project.

Get to know how to:

• Find a problem worth solving, then define a solution
• Engage your customers throughout the development cycle
• Continually test your product with smaller, faster iterations
• Build a feature, measure customer response, and verify/refute the idea
• Know when to "pivot" by changing your plan's course
• Maximize your efforts for speed, learning, and focus
• Learn the ideal time to raise your "big round" of funding

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com  ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.07 out of 5 (5,970 Ratings; 141 Reviews - As on March 31 2017)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments:  Nice cook book to jump start your Lean Startup process !
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Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh

This is the story of the puzzle that had confounded mathematicians since the 17th century. 
‘I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.’
It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pierre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community. 
For over 350 years, proving Fermat’s Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematical problem, a puzzle whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution eluded the greatest minds in the world. 
Many people had tried and failed, including an 18th-century philanderer who was killed in a duel. 
An 18th-century Frenchwoman made a major breakthrough in solving the riddle, but she had to attend maths lectures at the Ecole Polytechnique disguised as a man. 

In 1963, a schoolboy Andrew Wiles browsing in his local library stumbled across Fermat's Last Theorem. Aged just ten, he dreamed he would crack it.
In 1993, after years of secret toil, Andrew Wiles  announced to an astounded audience that he had cracked Fermat’s Last Theorem. 
The solution of the Theorem was one of the most important mathematical developments of the 20th century. 
In ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ Simon Singh has crafted a remarkable tale of intellectual endeavour spanning three centuries, and a moving testament to the obsession, sacrifice and extraordinary determination of Andrew Wiles: one man against all the odds.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com  and www.amazon.in] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.21 out of 5 (17,874 Ratings; 739 Reviews - As on February 18 2017)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments:  Gripping narration about an esoteric mathematical subject. Not a single dull moment throughout the book.


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Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik - Devdutt Pattanaik

Journey into the amazing world of Hindu mythology with Devdutt Pattanaik,
Why are most temples dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva or the goddess, but not to Brahma or Indra?
How are an asura, rakshasa,yaksha and pishacha different from each other?
Why did the Pandavas find themselves in naraka rather than swarga? 
Over several months, EPIC Channel's ground-breaking show Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik has enthralled countless viewers.
Here, finally, is the book based on the first series of the ever popular show, which will take you on a scintillating tour through the myriad stories, symbols and rituals that form the basis of Hindu culture. 
Prepare to be surprised and thrilled as Devdutt narrates magical tales about larger-than life figures gods, goddesses, demi-gods and demons who you thought you knew well but didn t. 
Learn about the intricacies of Hindu thought as he explains the origin and meaning of different creation myths, and throws light on why we believe in a cyclical not linear concept of time. 
This book is your perfect introduction to the endlessly fascinating world of Hindu mythology.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.84 out of 5 (327 Ratings; 28 Reviews - As on February 11 2017)
My Rating:  3.5 out of 5
My Comments: Full of interesting facts and interpretation about Hindu god, goddesses, rituals, customs and philosophy.


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Introducing Hinduism : A Graphic Guide - Vinay Lal & Borin Van Loon

Hinduism is said to be the world's oldest religion. 
Yet the word 'Hindu' is of foreign 18th-century origin. 
Hinduism is defined as a polytheistic religion, but Mahatma Gandhi famously declared that one can be a Hindu without believing in any god. 
Hinduism appears to accommodate endless contradictions.
 It is a religion at least as much of myth as of history - it has no historical founder, no single authoritative book, and few central doctrines.
Introducing Hinduism offers a guide to this extraordinarily diverse faith. 
It untangles the complexities of Hinduism's gods and goddesses, its caste system and its views on sex, everyday life and asceticism. 
Why do Hindus revere the cow? 
Must Hindus be vegetarian? 
Introducing Hinduism explores the links with and differences from Buddhism, Jainism and other religions, and describes the resurgence of Hindu extremism, the phenomenon of Bollywood and the overseas Hindu diaspora.

[Book Description Source: www.goodreads.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.52 out of 5 (105 Ratings; 7 Reviews - As on February 5 2017)
My Rating:  3.0 out of 5
My Comments: Quick and entertaining comic book style  guide to Hinduism. Some concepts are treated rather frivolously and may offend some people.


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Manage Your Project Portfolio - Johanna Rothman

Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
All of your projects and programs make up your portfolio. 
But how much time you actually spend on your projects, and how much time do you spend responding to emergencies?

This book will introduce you to different ways of ordering all of the projects you are working on now, and help you figure out how to staff those projects--even when you've run out of project teams to do the work.

Once you learn to manage your portfolio better, you'll avoid emergency "firedrills." 
The trick is adopting lean and agile approaches to projects, whether they are software projects, projects that include hardware, or projects that depend on chunks of functionality from other suppliers.

You may be accustomed to spending time in meetings where you still don't have the data you need to evaluate your projects.
Here, with a few measures, you'll be able to quickly evaluate each project and come to a decision quickly.

You'll learn how to define your team's, group's, or department's mission with none of the buzzwords that normally accompany a mission statement. 
Armed with the work and the mission, you can make those decisions that define the true leaders in the organization.
 [Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.61 out of 5 (127 Ratings; 17 Reviews - As on February 04 2017)
My Rating:  3.0 out of 5
My Comments: Good tips on managing the Agile project portfolios.


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Cosmic Love and Human Apathy - Jyotirmaya Sharma

Swami Vivekananda's Restatement of Religion 
The truth is rarely simple. 
The common consensus is that Swami Vivekananda, as Sri Ramakrishna's chosen disciple, spread his master's message across the world. 
The fact, though, is that after Ramakrishna's death in 1886, Vivekananda not only shifted the devotional emphasis of the new monastic order from Kali to Shiva, he also embraced a world far removed from Ramakrishna's. 
Cosmic Love and Human Apathy is the story of this rupture.
Integral to the tale is the issue of Hindu identity. 
The essays in this volume examine Vivekananda's formulation of Hinduism as religion: the most definitive restatement of Hinduism in modern history.
Erudite yet accessible, consistently probing and skeptical of hoary traditions, controversial and thought-provoking, Cosmic Love and Human Apathy is an invaluable addition to the existing scholarship on one of India's greatest religious and social icons.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.38 out of 5 (8 Ratings; 0 Review - As on February 1 2017)
My Rating:  2.5 out of 5



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