Sushanth R

Hard listen

Revisado: 11-20-23

Struggling to finish. Gave up. Not as interesting as expected. Writing could’ve been made more intriguing. A bit academic.

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Bibi and Obama

Revisado: 02-17-17

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Michael B. Oren being the ex-ambassador of Israel to USA, brings a unique perspective to the reader. I've always wondered about the daily routines and chores of an ambassador and this books provides glimpses of it. The book was a slow read for me since the story didn't have any suspense or mystery elements. However, its a useful read since it describes Obama's position on Middle Eastern affairs, told from an Israeli perspective.

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The peripheral ghost: KSM

Revisado: 02-03-17

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This book changes your entire perception of 9/11. While the media and investigating agencies were fixated on UBL prior to 9/11, the real master mind was hard at work. What will surprise you about KSM, is the sheer volume of parallel plots he juggles in his mind all through his peak days.Had to listen to the book twice, back-to-back to fathom all details. The book exposes gaps among security agencies and how it benefited KSM and AQ. There are some fascinating characters such as Pellegrino, Basher, O'Niel, Ali Soufan etc.

Great read. Urge readers to complement this book with Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower.

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Pakistan's Dichotomy (David or Dawood?)

Revisado: 01-07-17

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This is yet another book that presents the mindset of various Pakistani establishments towards India. The question of whether these are state sponsored or not does not really matter. Its an agenda that is indoctrinated at a very young age that becomes the sole motive for some impressionable minds.

Dawood Gilani alias David Coleman is one such instance who scales the heights with assistance from his Genes and US Passport. Its a truly fascinating story that exposes weaknesses of Indian security agencies and how complacent US could be when the attacks are not intended towards its homeland or NATO.

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CIA Deputy Director's Memoir

Revisado: 01-07-17

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A good read overall. The book can be divided into two parts. One, the story behind the incidents that took place during Michael Morrel's stint at the office in various positions. The second part covers justifications for EIT, refuting personal allegations, debunking myths, defending the agency and its decisions, defending US Presidents etc.

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Just Read It

Revisado: 12-29-16

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Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike takes us through his journey of creating the multi-billion dollar sports apparel company. Unlike the complicated personalities of most other famous founders of companies, Phil immediately appears to be relatively more conventional. The book provides an insight into the shoe industry and its association with athletes and sports personalities. It also throws light into the roles of several Japanese companies that have been associated with Nike. Its a wonderful book thats probably going to make you fall in love with Nike. My next pair of shoes might just be Nike!

A special note about the narrator:
Norbert Leo Butz, successfully impersonates Phil Knight. The narration is aptly backed by context specific expressions and tonal variations, that are pure joy to listen. The research and preparation done by the narrator is well appreciated.

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Heredity and Evolution demystified!

Revisado: 12-22-16

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A scientific book that provides a commentary on the history, present and future of Genetics. Scientific explanations to common phenomenons such as hereditary traits, diseases etc are explained with sufficient examples. The dash of personal examples also elevates the reading experience. It is important for one to be aware of the scientific explanations to evolution and related topics, since these are not covered adequately at schools. Genetic mutations result in formation of mutants and we are all mutants in some form or the other. Mutants are the normal. The examples demonstrated with identical twins are of particular interest, since they share most genetic traits.The rapid pace of scientific progress fills in the gaps historically addressed by supernatural principles.

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Alternate perspective to war on terror in AF-PAK

Revisado: 12-06-16

If you could sum up The Taliban Shuffle in three words, what would they be?

Western. Women. Power.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Farook! He seemed to be the winner eventually.

Which character – as performed by Kirsten Potter – was your favorite?

Nawaz Sharif. The conversations were really funny especially the one about SMS and Blackberry. He is seriously funny!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Definitely not Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot (WTF). "Taliban Shuffle" is most appropriate.

Any additional comments?

Having liked movie WTF, my interests grew about the original source material. To begin with, I wasn't looking for a serious intellectual analysis of radicalism and related perils. After having read some serious books, I wanted something that was not too serious but dealt with other aspects of the stories such as funny personality traits, lighter side of events etc. This book was a perfect fit.

The author ensures that the book always had a funny tone and an obvious woman's perspective to the world. Her adventures in Afghanistan and Pakistan are informative and often hilarious. The movie completely skips references to Pakistan and hence misses out on a large portion of adventures there. The movie was a good watch but as usual, the book was way better.

I suggest, readers to watch the movie first before reading the book. It helped me visualize the characters better since, they all now had familiar faces. The book has sufficient material to keep you engaged enough if you've watched the movie.

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Tale of American ineptness and rise of Black Flags

Revisado: 12-02-16

Where does Black Flags rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Being a novice reader, this is only my 25th book and the best book so far. The book takes an interesting approach to unravel stories. There are lots of subtle details that connect beautifully the various building blocks of history. The story is complex and the book tackles the challenges effortlessly to make an extremely coherent text. In is generally unbiased and builds most personalities adequately to understand their point of views.

What did you like best about this story?

The story provides an insight into the minds of the characters involved in this evolving problem. The mainstream media fails to provide these nuanced details and reports stories in broad strokes of brushes. Books like these are worthy of awards and celebrate the passion behind investigative journalism.

What does Sunil Malhotra bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Sunil's narration was engaging and most suited for this book. He correctly pronounced the Middle Eastern names of people and places. There is clarity to his voice that keeps one hooked on to the narration and helps visualize the events as they unfold. Great narration.

Any additional comments?

Hope Joby Warrick is working on the next book.

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Who founded Twitter?

Revisado: 11-26-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

There is a dark history behind the inception of Twitter. Some win, some lose and some both. History also repeats itself several times over at Twitter. An engaging book filled with drama and emotions.

Who was your favorite character and why?

All co-founders - Noah, Evan, Jack, Biz were interesting.

Have you listened to any of Daniel May’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator's performance was good.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Real Social Network

Any additional comments?

This has changed my perspective of Twitter and how I used the service. After completing the book, I went through all the people I followed and unfollowed most! I wanted to use Twitter to get the most relevant tweets in the shortest possible time.Twitter has multiple personalities. It can be what you want it to be. One has to ensure that the right people/organizations/groups are followed, so that the tweets are useful. It then starts to bring the world to you in the quickest possible way.

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