This is my 15 minute writing exercise

I just decided, I will write for about 15 minutes, whatever comes to my mind. The easiest thing to probably write about is related to the books I have been reading. 2006 has been a great year for me in that, I rekindled my passion for reading. However, now I have turned to non-fiction and I am lucky to have read quite a few very good books. Books that I read recently

1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell : I was absolutely floored by this book. It was definitely a page turner for me. Borrowed from the library, but I am going to get a copy for myself.
2. Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell : I didn't quite take to it as I did with 'Blink'. Maybe I had too high of an expectation after reading Blink. Borrowed from the library and had to return it before I was done. I am going to buy this. I need to re-read this.
3. Freakonomics : Wasn't quite impressed, read it only half way through. Need to finish it.
4. Love is the Killer App - Tim Sanders : Another book that floored me and had a great influence on me. Take aways.
• Importance and the significance of reading good books. Also, how to read a business book.
  
• Building relationships. This has changed my outlook on how I deal with my friends or any new people I meet.
5. Beyond Code - 9 ways to Distinguish yourself by Rajesh Setty: Very good book. It has practical advice and to me it's a cliff notes version of all the wisdom in various business books.
6. Automatic Homeowner Millionaire by David Bach : Garbage.
7. World is flat by Tom Friedman - Another excellent book.
8. The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living - Decent book that tells you the importance of doing what you really love, right now, instead of postponing it to 'after achieveing xxxx' date.
9. Million little pieces - James Frey: GARBAGE. Thorougly enjoyed reading it, but once I realized the lies behind this supposedly non-fiction, I am putting this under GARBAGE category.
10. The Radical Edge : Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World -- BORING. Has an important message, but the message could have been conveyed with the same effectiveness using a single blog post, instead of a book.

Currently Reading:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Thoroughly enjoying it so far.


Books to Read:

1. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable [Hardcover] by Godin
2. The Art of the Start : The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything.
3. The Big Moo : Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable
4. MANAGING THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRM [Hardcover] by Maister, David H.
5. The Likeability Factor : How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams
6. Good to great - Jim Colins
7. The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
8. How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie (Re-read)
9. Economics in One Lesson
10. Think and Grow Rich: The Andrew Carnegie formula for money making
11. Richest Man in Babylon

My goal is to read 24 books this year.
(This post actually took close to 25 minutes).

Terrific questions!

There is a terrific piece about very interesting/useful questions that you could ask yourself, from Ramit Sethi, author of the blog I Will Teach you to be Rich

Price Sensitive Consumers and Web 2.0

I started this post on 02/09, but now I have lost track on what I was going to write about. It probably was a link to something I read in a different blog.

A Start!

Here is what I will be publishing on this Blog:

• Stuff on Personal Development.
  
• Stuff on Personal Finance.
• My journey as an Oracle DBA.
• Random Musings.

The goal is to create content that is useful for others and not a mere public journal of my activities.

For now I am more comfortable with anonymity as I think this will keep my thoughts and expressions free flowing.