Pakorakorner | A personal portal with a strong Asian Indian flavor on a whole range of topics.

The popular belief in the business world is that if you have the clout, the reach and the money you can sell anything. Kishore Biyani, founder of Big Bazaar, seems to have done precisely this. His book "It happened in India" is supposedly a bestseller with more than 1,25,000 copies sold. I saw a huge stack on sale, at where-else? Big Bazaar!

Title: Inspite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern IndiaAuthor: Edward LuceThis is a well researched book that addresses the various changes happening in contemporary India on the social, economic and political fronts. The author has met with people from so many different walks of life in India ranging from politicians, god-men, bureaucrats, businessmen and women, IT employees, etc and put together a very interesting book. He nicely combines these meetings he has had with historical aspects like ...

Title: The Caged Virgin -- An Emancipation Proclamation for Women & IslamAuthor: Ayaan Hirsi AliType: Non-fictionThe first thing that strikes you when you read this book is the author's admirable courage and deep conviction. Influenced almost entirely by her personal life experiences, she takes on the entire world of Islam, head on! The author was born and raised in Somalia and eventually became a politician in the Netherlands. Having seen and experienced first-hand the challenges of growing up as a ...

Harry Bernstein, a 96 year old man published his first book titled "The Invisible Wall". See the article. Admirable spirit indeed! Apart from the fact that he was 96 years old, the other interesting fact is that he sent the book directly to the publisher(without an agent), in this case, Random House UK. NY Times published a review of the book."If I had not lived until I was 90, I would not have been able to write this book," ...

Title: By the River Pampa I StoodAuthor: Geeta Abraham JoseType: FictionThe story revolves around families belonging of the Syrian Christian Community of Kerala, India. The story set in Kerala, involves the Christian Community tied to an ancestral home with hard core "mallu" sounding name, inter-caste marriage complications, joint family squabbles, religious issues, you name it. It is hard to imagine that this book was not inspired by Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things. It has all the parallels ...

Title: Audacity of HopeAuthor: Barack ObamaMr. Barack Obama has obviously been toying with the idea of a run for President of the USA for quite some time. Perhaps this plan was further accelerated after his highly successful speech at the last Democratic Convention. His new book "Audacity of Hope" is further evidence that this run has been on the cards.In this book he clearly outlines his views on everything from race to health care, from family to divisive politics in ...

"THE WAY TO WIN --Taking the White House in 2008" has to be the ultimate in "how to" book titles!

Title: The Memory Keeper's DaughterAuthor: Kim EdwardsType: FictionThis is a 400 page book and fairly long for my reading standards. So I had my doubts about completing it right when I started reading the book. But I survived and hence this review!The story extends over a 25-year period starting in the mid-sixties. Pregnant wife has twins. The second child is born is born with down syndrome. Husband is the Doc who delivers the baby. He gives the baby away because ...

With elections rounds the corner David Kuo, former number 2 in President Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, has chosen to blast the Bush team for abandoning the evangelicals after the last elections. Is this a case of perfect timing for a book release? Is the Bush team really on the verge of loosing a vote bank?"President George W. Bush is a politician and is ultimately no different from any other politician, content to use religion for electoral gain more than ...

Carly Fiorina's new book is titled, "Tough Choices", while President Musharraff's book is titled, "In the Line of Fire". Did the publishers get the titles mixed up? :-)"Its all about timing" and both these folks could not have timed their respective book releases better.