Thursday, January 1, 2009

self leadership and the one minute manager


This is an awesome book which is different from all other management books that you might have come across. The language is very simple and there is limited use of ornamental words, which makes the book easy to read as well as easy to grasp in the details.

This book is one among the 18 bestseller books of one minute manager by Ken Blanchard. Ken Blanchard is a master of words and has played beautifully with them to help the readers understand the effectiveness of what he calls as 'Situational Self Leadership'.

The book is both inspirational and motivational. While going through the pages one tries to figure out the powers one has and how he can utilize the same to enhance his leadership skills.

The name 'one minute manager' may be a little confusing and people might think it as another book for managers but that isnt the case. This book is for one and all.

If you are down on your proffessional or confidence level, I urge you to go through this book and believe me there is some magic in it.


Friday, May 30, 2008

The Wheel Of Time : The EYE of the WORLD


"THERE IS A WORLD OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, WHERE GOOD AND EVIL WAGE ETERNAL WAR. IT IS THE WORLD OF THE WHEEL OF TIME, THE GREATEST FANTASY EPIC EVER WRITTEN. - THE WHEEL OF THE TIME by ROBERT JORDAN "

"The EYE of the WORLD" is the 1st book from the series of 12 books.

It is said that if there is a Creator then there is Shaitan and this book depicts of a war against that Shaitan. It is a book about three friends Rand Al' Thor, Matrim Cauthom & Perrin Ayabara, who are destined as Tavern to fight against the Dark Lord and free the world; but 1 among them is the Dragon Reborn.

The trio was forced to live their simple life and move on with Aes Sedai Morianne, her warder Lan, Egwene the inne keeper's daughter and the gleeman Thom Merlin after Trollocs attack their village. That is where their adventure starts. The stories about Trollocs and Aes Sedai that the three had heard when they were kid suddenly turned out to be true and they were not sure whether what Morainne told them about their being the Tavern was true or not. In their journey they go to various places and also find an Ogier who later on travelled with them. They are a pattern now After travelling for days they reach the Blight, where one of them fights with the Dark Lord and uses the One Power unknowingly. The Wheel breaks and underneath they find something that they have to send to Illian.

Read the book to engage yourself in a world of fantasy where your imagination will build itself according to the story.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone


This is the very first book of the Harry Potter series.

The book begins with an intro to Harry's life, an ordinary 11-year-old boy serving as a slave for his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and Cousin Dudley after the death of his parents in a car crash. He is completely ignorant of the fact that he is a wizard. But as soon as he turns 11, suddenly owls start dropping letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at his house and at last he is rescued from his uncle’s house by Rubeus Hagrid (the game keeper for Hogwarts). That is when he comes in contact with the fascinating magical world where he is famous.

In the Hogwarts, Harry comes to know the tragic murder of his parents James and Lily Potter by Lord Voldermort and why the lightening shaped scar on his forehead hurts sometime. In Hogwarts, first Harry, Ron and Hermione are sorted into Gryffindor House by the Sorting Hat; and soon after Harry got selected as a Seeker for the Quidditch team of his house. Time goes by and one day Harry, Hermoine and Ron come to know about the Sorcerer’s Stone (Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal) which is hidden somewhere in the Hogwarts’ premises. They also discover that someone is trying to steal the stone and assume it to be Severus Snape, their Potion’s teacher. The trio tries to convey the message to Prof. Dumbledore that the Snape wants to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone but everyone including Prof McGonagall and Hagrid ask them not to worry. But the three of them are sure as they had heard Snape trying to get information from Prof Quirrell. So Harry, Hermoine and Ron plan to save the Sorcerer’s stone from being stolen and that’s where their first ever adventure starts.

They set out to reach the stone first, navigating the security system set up by the school's staff, which is a series of complex magical challenges. The three make it through together until finally, Harry must enter the inner chamber alone. There he finds that meek Professor Quirrell, not Snape, is attempting to steal the Stone. Realizing that Snape was trying to protect him from harm all along, Harry confronts Quirrell and survives a second encounter with Lord Voldemort, who has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell gets blisters when he touches Harry's skin, and Harry suffers because of his close proximity to Lord Voldemort and Voldemort then pitilessly abandons Quirrell, who dies in the aftermath of his possession.

Prof Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Lily Potter died to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides Harry with an ancient magical protection from Voldemort's lethal spells and also prevents Voldemort from touching Harry without suffering terribly. Dumbledore also confirmed that the Sorcerer's Stone has been destroyed to prevent future attempts by anyone to steal it.

Finally, at the end-of-year feast, the House Points totals are given: Gryffindor is in last place. However, Dumbledore gives a few "last-minute additions", granting points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, so that Gryffindor wins the House Cup.

I hope you liked it. If ever I have missed out some points please let me know. Cheers!!! :)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Harry Potter Series


J. K. Rowling has wonderfully woven a world of fantasy and magic with Harry Potter.

The story is divided into 7 volumes, where each volume speaks of each year's adventure of Harry and his friends in Hogward.
Its a complete magical world that drives your imagination and makes you dive into the world of fantasy with Harry, Ron and Hermoine. The description of the scenes and adventures of the trio captivates you and there is no way for you to break the enchantment of the book and get back to the real world. The level of your excitement increases and you can feel yourself completely engrossed in the story.

Before reading the books I had a very stupid notion that these books are meant for the kids and teenagers....but when I read them at the age of 22... I can't deny I was totally dumbstruck that even a person like me who doesn't believe in magic and fairy tales could also get fascinated to such an extent that I could not help myself reading all the other volumes but also enjoyed watching the movies. Now I can say that I am a great fan of the magical world of Harry Potter.

I am planning to write summary of each volume so that people who haven't read the books will get an idea and maybe want to read the books. ;)

Friday, May 16, 2008

Intro

Hi,
This is Misthi. I never had a slightest idea that someday I would start write blogs but lo behold I started it and being as lazy as me I never could continue it. So, at last I got this idea from a friend to write about the novels I read. Thanks dear Sumi for the brilliant idea ;).

When I was a kid every month my dad used get a bunch of comics for me like ‘Chacha Choudhary’, ‘Billoo’, ‘Pinky’, ‘Tinkle’ etc and when i grew a bit older I got to read novels in easy English like ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, ‘Little Women’, ‘Moby Dick’, ‘Black Beauty’ etc. And years rolled by and I was into my teens, then was the time I quite enjoyed ‘Mills & Boon’ and ‘Harlequin’ novels...yup the romantic ones. Then one day my sis gave me ‘Daddy by Daniel Steel’ and later I read a few Daniel Steel novels like ‘The Long Road Home’ & ‘The Ghost’.

Then was a time when one of my cousin got fascinated with ‘Harry Potter’ series, and he used to bug me a lot to read those, but as most would have done I teased him a lot as at that time I thought it was book meant fro the kids. But when I read the 1st book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, it was so gripping that I couldn’t keep it down. After that I read the complete series promising that I would never tease anyone for the books they chose to read.

I have also read 1 or 2 books by Sidney Sheldon like ‘The Best Laid Plans’, ‘Doomsday Conspiracy’, ‘The Sky is Falling’, ‘Sand of Time’ etc. Among these three I liked ‘Sands of Time the most’.

I have even read both the books by Chetan Bhagat, ‘Five Point Someone’ & ‘One Night at the Call Centre’. Among these two I like ‘Five Point Someone’ not because I was a five pointer myself in my MCA ;) but also because it was written in a very raw language like a friend telling you his story.

Later when I read Mary Higgins Clark novels I found them very thrilling as well as grasping. I have read quite of her books like ‘‘Daddy's Little Girl’, ‘Moonlight Becomes You’, ‘Pretend You Don’t See Her’, ‘Deck Of Halls’, ‘Before I Say Goodbye’, ‘A Cry in the Night’, ‘A Stranger is Watching’, ‘Remember Me’ & ‘The Cradle Will Fall’. Apart from these there are a dozen of her novels that I haven’t still read.

But now I am back into the fascinating world of fantasy and magic – ‘The Wheel of Time’ series by Robert Jordan

Apart from all this there are two other novels that I like very much i.e. ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Whitney my Love’.

I hope you guys liked the intro, and may be my comments on the books I have already read will make you read it. :)