Books, Books and Books....

I am an addict and shopoholic when it comes to books. I went berserk when I stepped into Borders and Kinokuniya (largest bookstore in Asia) while in Singapore .Curious to know what came home with me?

Everything from romance, self help, fiction, human psychology to evolutionary biology etc.

1. The Wednesday letters – Jason F Wright
This is along the lines of Tuesdays with Morrie, but has a unique flavor of family and forgiveness. Isn’t forgiveness the need of the hour? Here is the jist - The three children of Jack and Laurel discover a treasure trove of family history in the form of Wednesday letters-notes that Jack wrote to his wife every single week of their married lives. As they read, the children brush across the fabric of a devoted marriage that survived a devastating event kept secret all these years. It's a lovely story: heartening, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive. It resonates with the true meaning of family and the life-healing power of forgiveness all wrapped up in a satisfying ending.

2. The myth of Monogamy – Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People –
Shattering deeply held beliefs about sexual relationships in humans and other animals, The Myth of Monogamy is a much needed treatment of a sensitive issue. Written by the husband and wife team of behavioral scientist David P. Barash and psychiatrist Judith Eve Lipton, it glows with wit and warmth even as it explores decades of research undermining traditional precepts of mating rituals. Evidence from genetic testing has been devastating to those seeking monogamy in the animal kingdom; even many birds, long prized as examples of fidelity, turn out to have a high incidence of extra-pair couplings.

3. The gift- Cecilia Ahern
I was moved by her books PS I love you and Where rainbows end. Ahern demonstrates a sure and subtle understanding of the human condition and the pleasures and pains in relationships. Her theme in the new book is the way in which we conceal the truth about ourselves -- many people cover themselves in layers of deceit until somebody with the right motivation unwraps those layers and discovers the truth.

4. Thanks for the Memories- Cecilia Ahern
Some cross paths in the strangest of circumstances. They have no idea that their fates are more entangled than they could ever have imagined! In this book Ahern writes about the relationship between a woman and her blood donor.

5. The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature
We have heard and read Darwin and Freud and some of us have read young Turks like Richard Dawkins and Geoffrey Miller. In The Mating Mind, he takes Darwin's "other" evolutionary theory--of sexual rather than natural selection--and uses it to build a theory about how the human mind has developed the sophistication of a peacock's tail to encourage sexual choice and the refining of art, morality, music, and literature. Why have humans evolved such costly and complex brains? And further, why do we use our brains to produce such seemingly useless behaviors as art or music?

6. Letters to Sam - A Grandfather's Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life
This emotionally powerful collection of letters from grandfather to grandson will touch readers right down to their core. When his grandson was born, Daniel Gottlieb began to write a series of heartfelt letters that he hoped Sam would read later in life. He planned to cover all the important topics and what motivated him was the fear that he might not, as a quadraplegic, live to see Sam reach adulthood. Then, when Sam was only fourteen months old, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disability, a form of autism, and suddenly everything changed. This is a lovingly written, emotionally gripping book that offers unique - and universal - insights into what it means to be human.

Books make you laugh, think and at times cry. Aren’t books the best way to start the year and end your day? Circle back after a few weeks and I shall share my thoughts on each of them.