Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

This one is a novella or short novel but I'll like to call it a long story. I don't remember where I got the reference for this one but this was on shelf for quite some time.

This was real quick, and I was wondering why I didn't pick it up earlier.

This is one of those stories that go a long way with you after it is over. I read it fast, and honestly I can still see the two main characters George and Lennie in my head.

It's a story of constant struggle in life, loneliness, dreams (seen, broken, and killed). We all have a dream of owning that life of contentment and peace, but like Crooks said this world is full of such dreamers but no one ever finds such a place.

We'll be fortunate if we get a chance to live our dreams even for a brief time but the worst thing that can happen is the death of those dreams. And unfortunately death of those dreams is something that we all can relate to.

Peace

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

This is also the one which was on shelf from quite some time. And glad that I finished it.

As the title suggests this is about how anybody can predict the future based on the knowledge of current events, and a little bit of digging. This gives the confidence that you don't have to be a maths genius or global policy expert or a head of so called think-tanks to predict about some future events.

The best thing about this book is that it gives you a framework, and gives a lot of examples how the actual participants benefited or found a solution.

I'm not really a fan of Tom Friedman but I did read two of his books which are around future predictions. He has an excellent writing style but I will agree to the point that a lot of things can go either way.

For a lot of people prediction is a full time job, and it can damage the reputation if their predictions turn out to be incorrect. The point is that this is not an absolute science, and even if there are signs in the favour of an event it can still not happen due to a lot of complexities being involved.

So you make them, and own them even if they turn out to be incorrect. Use them as an opportunity to fine tune your understanding.

Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style by David T. Lamb

No prizes for guessing that I picked this up only for the title.

This was a fun read, and positively honest about the stories in Old Testament around prostitutes and polygamists.

It puts emphasis on the point that due to the timeline differences we can't real justify the pros and cons of a controversial laws of the olden time. But it is always beneficial that we know them and try to treat them reasonably. Rejecting them without any thought is as bad as accepting them. Also, the golden rule is "do not imagine", if it is not there it's better to leave it as is rather than putting a lot of imagination.

Really good part of the book is that it shows the controversial stories around a lot of the prime characters from the Old Testament like David, Solomon etc as is, and doesn't really try to euphemize or sweep them under the carpet.

Definitely a worth read, and surprisingly quick!

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

I don't know why I picked this up but let's just say I read this book.

No thoughts!

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil

A lot of the books end up being classified under the category Science-Tech, or Nonfiction or futurism (which is a relatively new in the market).

 I didn't care much about such classification but this particular book is not an easy read. It needs relatively much open mindedness, and critic. All the beliefs that have been the way of life or very close to your heart are challenged here in the most rational way possible.

The problem with such a topic is that not all the readers have the level of awareness required to understand some complicated topics covered here (in the very plain language with minimum to no jargon). A lot of people who don't have it may end up rejecting everything as a work of fiction.

So if you have an open mind to explore new ideas, and hypothesis plus some patience for fat books than this one is for you.

You don't need to be a super techie or even a tech enthusiast to follow a lot of content but be prepared to be challenged. This may end up changing your way of looking at future.

Peace