Monday, January 03, 2011

The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

This book came up as a recommendation if you "liked" Potato Peel Pie.. book. Having read it in 2 days flat, I would agree whole-heartedly with this recommendation. The book is superbly written. The "English" english makes the book a wonderful read. The author has taken a real life person, the British Queen and fictionalized her journey into reading.So what happens to those around her when the Queen of England has an "infatuation" to reading? Where does this lead to? A wonderful comedy written beautifully.. The Uncommon Reader.
The boy who harnessed the wind: William Kamkwamba

This book is an autobiography of a 20 year old boy named William. It is an amazing story of his life sufferings and achievements in such short period of time. At the age of 15, William resolved to build a windmill to generate electricity for his house so that they will never be hungry again. Within the next 5 years, he not only build the windmill (using scrap material and by reading diagrams from a Physics textbook) but also got to improve the lives of everyone around him. When i watched him in the TED video, my eyes were filled with tears of joy! This is truly an inspirational story for everyone who has lost hope due to their circumstances.