Here are some of the books I have finished reading in the past few weeks and recent months. Reviews of some of these books will appear or have appeared in The Nepali Times newspaper. 1) "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found" by Suketu Mehta. An excellently readable biography of that city, rich vivid details on gritty life, Bollywood and underground crime. 2) "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell NK and Czar, I am working on a review of this book for The Nepali Times. Will it be all right if I email you my draft for comments? 3) "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Steve Dubner In a very lively, readable style, this book shows that economic reasoning, together with application of statistics, can help us understand many social phenomena from corrupt sumo wrestlers to cheating teachers to why you should not trust your real-estate agents. 4) "Empire" by Niall Ferguson An excellent survey history of how the tiny island of Britain dominated over so much of earth's surface before fading out as a global power. 5) "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini Normally, I don't read fiction, but I liked this book: a heartwarmingly unpretentious tale of two young Afgan boys: their friendships, betryal and eventual redemption. 6) "Gulag" by Anne Applebaum A depressing, yet passionately written book about what life was like in Soviet concentration camps. Could be some of our future in Maoist camps in Nepal someday. 7) "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow Kanak Dixit loaned me this book, and I was blown way by the accounts of Hamilton's life. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson come across as not-so-great characters in this book. Hamilton, one of the American founding fathers and America's first Finance Minister, practically invented many of the financial institutions we now take for granted. 8) "Nepal Studies in the UK: Conversations with Practitioners" By Pratyoush Onta A compilation of conversations Pratyoush had with British academics who study Nepal. My review of this book is soon coming out in The Nepali Times. 9) "The Power to Choose" by Naila Kabir An excellent piece of academic work on how Bangladeshi women who work in garment factories make decisions at factories in the UK and in Dhaka. 10) "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki A wonderfullu written book by The New Yorker's business columnist (whose essays I make it a point to read every week on that magazine's web site). If there's a book which provides a strong intellectual argument as to why Sajha is a great forum, then this is the book which celebrates the attributes of diversity and indepedence that a crowd of people bring to most decision-making situations. 11) "A Mighty Heart" by Mariane Pearl The widow of the Wall Street Journal journalist Danny Pearl who was beheaded in Pakistan about three years ago tells her story with gripping, touching details. 12) "India's Economy in the New Millennium: Selected Essays" by Bimal Jalan A good book to update onseself about India's economic prospects and constraints. I could go on, but it's time to sir down and read some more :-) oohi ashu