The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

This is a self-help book, a non-fiction category that I had borrowed from the library.

The premise of the book appears fairly simple: the author advises us to follow four rules in life to live a happy, fulfilling life.

1. Be Impeccable with Your Word
2. Do Not Take Anything Personally
3. Do Not Make Assumptions
4. Always Do Your Best

Generally, in most self-help books the life experiences of writers are boiled down to succinct points with useful examples and explanations. And to many cynics (including me) these pearls of wisdom may seem obvious, even trite, but there is no denying that they are important.

However, this is a difficult book to prod through not because it is complex in nature, but mainly because it is incomprehensible and a tad boring in many parts. When I say incomprehensible, I mean to say some of the ideas do not make sense – I felt the author made it unnecessarily complicated just to make it appear exotic. I was looking forward to a lot of personal stories of the writer that connects the reader to the situations and the application of these rules to overcome any obstacles. I was also looking for a more no-nonsense approach towards the explanations. Neither happened here.

I am disappointed to say I finished the book with great difficulty, often doubting myself of being close-minded, but the more I think of the book now, the less impressed I am with it.

I would rate it just 1.5/5.0

Reading in August

Eat. Delete. – Puja Makhija

Curiosity made me borrow this book from the library. I had never read a diet related book and this seemed interesting. The book covers a range of topics – what is right and wrong about dieting, different types of food, exercise and its importance and a lot of pep talk to people who want to lose weight and grow fit. The author also shares an exhaustive list of What to eat and what to avoid in various cuisines while travelling.

It was interesting in parts, enlightening as well. But a lot of it is a bit preachy, which, probably is required for hardcore dieters. I did learn a few important things and overall it was a decent book to borrow.

Dark Matter – Blake Crouch

A very well written book where the protagonist is a laidback scientist-turned-teacher who gave up on the chance to become a leading name in his research field in favour of family time. One fine day, he finds himself forcibly transported to a parallel world, to one of the multiverses where the possibility of getting back to his family seems nil, unless he finds a way to get back to his world. The plot revolves around how he gets back to his own world and what are the repercussions of traversing across multiverses.

Never once did I suspect this book could disturb me at so many levels. The very concept of multiverses (infinite number of universes that parallelly exist, based on the everyday choices a human makes) seemed too fantastic and the outcome of this adventure is so bizarre that one wonders, what if, this were true!?

The writing is wonderful, never once boring, and the characters and their emotions are well crafted. The only thing that nagged me was the extent to which the protagonist was willing to go for his family – I mean, I loved it and I appreciate it as well – but then I forget, pushing their limits is what makes them heroes.

I would suggest this quirky, wonderful book to all sci-fi lovers.