Few of my Favourite Books

Here is a collection of my favourite books that I have read, re-read and admired. These books have helped me change my outlook and transformed me as an individual. The reviews will help you to get an overview and in case you want to read it, I have provided an additional link for you to get it.

Happy Reading!!!

Book: The Google Story
Author: David A Vise

I read Google Story four months back and was impressed by the inside story and how Larry and Sergey (Co-founders of Google) started their own company which has today become indispensable for all of us. With its colorful, childlike logo set against a pure white background, Google’s magical ability to produce speedy, relevant responses to queries hundreds of millions of times daily has changed the way people find information and stay abreast of the news. Million of people use it daily and have come to regard Google and internet as one.

During the electronic revolution, Google sprang about as the most indispensable search engine almost overnight. If there is anybody on the face of this planet who hasn't heard of Google, I think he must have been from the Stone Age.

Google Story by David A Vise reveals the hidden secrets behind what went in the creation of Google and what challenges were faced by its founders right from its inception.

Google runs the largest computer system in the world, which is the reason behind all quality searches and providing a competitive strength to the company. To me Google is an advertising company, which generates money through highly targeted text ads that searchers click when looking for information.

One bright idea that led Google to its present day success was the idealism of its founders. During the heyday of the dot com companies, Sergey and Larry preferred to keep the company private as long as they possibly could because they wanted to build the best search engine; the money they could gain by making the company public was not so important.

The soul of Google m/c is rapid innovation, where all technologists think of solving problems first rather than devising ways of making money and creating products. Google fosters on word of mouth publicity and is not involved in any marketing or advertising activities.

The Google Story is in hardcover with 326 pages. In the front of the book, a contents page showing its 26 chapters is followed by an Introduction, and at the end of the book, are the appendices such as Google Search Tips, Google Labs Aptitude Test, and Google's Financial Scorecard, plus A Note on Sources, Acknowledgments, Photo Credits and Index. A few black and white photos in the middle of the book add to its enjoyment as well as the variety of anecdotes inside it. This book is also available as an abridged audio CD, an abridged downloadable audiobook, and a trade paperback.

For me, this was an enjoyable read with one tale after another. Although the information in it has been in the news media before, seeing it in one piece was a treat.

Click on the link below to Buy Google Story Now:

Book: Rich Dad Poor Dad

Author: Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert Kiyosaki's and Sharon Lechter's first best-selling book. It advocates financial independence through investing, real estate, owning businesses, and the use of finance protection tactics.

Mr. Kiyosaki is a fourth generation Japanese-American. After serving in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War, he took a job with the Xerox Corporation as a salesman. This is when he started to invest in real estate and other commodities and eventually started a company that introduced nylon and Velcro wallets (designed for surfers) into the market. Mr. Kiyosaki now runs a business and investment education company, Cashflow Technologies, Inc.

The book is largely based on Kiyosaki's upbringing and education in Hawaii, although the degree of fictionalization in his anecdotes is disputed. Because of the heavy use of allegory, some readers believe that Kiyosaki created the Rich Dad character as an author surrogate (a literary device), discussed further in the criticism section below. The book highlights the different attitudes to money, work and life of these two men, and how they in turn influenced key decisions in Kiyosaki's life.

Among some of the book's topics are:

• the value of financial intelligence
• that corporations spend first, then pay taxes, while individuals must pay taxes first
• that corporations are artificial entities that anyone can use, but the poor usually don't know how

According to Kiyosaki and Lechter, wealth is measured as the number of days the income from your assets will sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets exceeds your monthly expenses. Each dad had a different way of teaching his son....

The book is very well written and, surprisingly for a book on the subject of finance, not at all dry or long-winded. Mr. Kiyosaki uses a lot of anecdotes to illustrate his ideas. The constant comparison between the wealth management strategies of “Rich Dad” and “Poor Dad” serves to reinforce the need to change middle-class mindsets about money.

Click on the link below to Buy Rich Dad Poor Dad Now: