What Should I Read Next : Issue 4

Finance thrillers, Mental health memoirs, Audio book reccos

Dear Readers,

Money can trigger all sorts of stories.

Mine began when I was 23, with a job offer from ANZ Grindlays Bank. At the time, I was ecstatic, with little idea I would be walking into a 506 crore rupee market scam.

The story unfolded dramatically with ‘Big Bull’ Harshad Mehta borrowing crores to play the stock market - you can read about it in the expose The Scam by Sucheta Dalal, and watch in on Big Bull & Scam 92 , our desi versions of Wall Street and The Big Short. With my employer, the blue chip bank, bang in the midst of the brouhaha. The branch I worked at, a few hundred feet away from the Bombay Stock Exchange, was in a gorgeous art-deco building. Inside were shiny floors, high ceilings & fluted white columns. It looked rock solid. The reality couldn’t have been more different.

Red Notice by Bill Browder is another such expose on the realities of working with money. It is a true story of a British fund manager in Moscow - we were recommended this book by investment banker readers, and vouch for it completely ! Racy, pacy, hard to put down.

A gentler addition, but no less punchy is Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag - a gem of a novella, translated from Kannada. Featured in the New York Times Critic List this psychological drama is set around money & relationships.

Moving to the method behind the money, if you have finished reading Warren Buffett’s letters to his shareholders, we recommend the very readable Ray Dalio’s Principles and also Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.

And now for our

How to Read More Tip of the Month :

Read as a family. Children who grow up in a house full of books become better readers & do better in life, say economists Stephen Leavitt & Stephen Dubner in Freakanomics. The Family Book Box helps this happen - what better way to bond than over books? Do check it out here.

From Reading to Writing

Writing Contest for all Ages : For August, we invite submissions for money stories, personal essays, short stories around money. 1500-3000 words to be emailed to sonyasbookbox@gmail.com by Aug 31. Prizes include Book hampers, personal finance consultations & passes to workshops on Money & EQ.

We had a fabulous response to our Young Writers Story Contest - what wonderful stories - a sizzling smorsgasbord of literary offerings. Here are some -Ishani Sawant’s thriller, Himarsha Mulchandani’s sci-fi , Tanisha Desai relooks at the Lion King, Navya Bhamidipati’s horror story, Rahil Kazmi’s adventure, Samar Kazmi’s coming of age tale, Shreya Devarajan’s popular fiction. The prizes were announced at a writing workshop held for all the participants - many thanks to Tansy Troy & Likla Lall for taking on the tough task of deciding whose story was best.

Moving onto More Recommendations

Memoir of the Month : Maybe You Should Talk to Someone an energising memoir of a therapist seeking therapy ; wry, self deprecatory, full of insights. Author Lori Gottlieb pivoted from scriptwriter on the sets of ER to a doctor from Stanford Medical School to therapist. In this book she entwines her story with that of her patients, dealing with breakups, bereavements & omniscient inner critics - in short with issues we can all identify with.

Audio Book Recommendation : Prentice Onayemi narrates Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. The story of 2 families & how their worlds collide- Clark & Cindy , WASP fund manager & his uneasy wife, and Jenda, illegal immigrant from Cameroon & his family. It’s set in 2008, during the financial crisis, which drives some aspects of the plot as well. If you are expecting the usual immigrant story, you’ll be surprised !

Podcast episode recommendation : Anne Lamott talks to Tim Ferriss about perfectionism being our biggest destroyer, how to deal with anxiety & the writing life.

Upcoming Book Events

August 7 : An IIM Book club meets at 10 AM IST on Zoom to discuss What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

August 14 : The Beas Book meets at 12 noon in Manali to discuss Oneness versus the 1% by Vandana Shiva and Four by Scott Galloway.

August 21 : The Juhu Book Club meets at 6 PM IST on Zoom to discuss 2 books around caste ; Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson & The Annihilation of Caste by B R Ambedkar.

In conclusion, an offering of books - Treat yourself to a book box if you’d like to read more. Or gift a box to a friend or family - and get special credits !

And do share this newsletter if you have enjoyed these book recommendations.

What have been your favourite reads - do give your recommendations in the comments, and also links to any reviews you may have written ? Any stories where money has played a big part ? We’d love also to get a short story or personal essay written by you around money. These essays and stories should be mailed by 31 Aug to sonyasbookbox@gmail.com.

Till next month then, Happy Reading & Happy Writing !

Warm regards,

Sonya

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