HYDERABAD: Ridhima’s debut book ‘Seven Uncommoners’, is born out of conversations with people who embody the entrepreneurial spirit that defines India. An avid runner whose personal best is 3.24 in a full marathon, Ridhima loves to dance and do yoga. She daydreams about trading lives with Oprah and living in Hawaii. A finance professional with close to a decade of experience, Ridhima shares her favourite reads with City Express
The Great Gatsby
by F Scott Fitzgerald
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” I think it’s honestly one of my top five just because of the last line.
About the book
This exemplary novel of the Jazz age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. It speaks of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession”. An exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s, ‘The Great Gatsby’ is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.
Friends in small places
by Ruskin Bond
He delivers a magnificent evocation of small town India in this imaginative and beautifully crafted book, inspired by common every day people who have a lasting impression on him.
About the book
This collection brings together the best of Ruskin Bond’s cameos, all beautifully imagined and crafted, inspired by people who have left a lasting impression on him. In addition, there are a host of characters culled from Bond’s numerous short stories. Taken together, they constitute a magnificent evocation of the small-town India by one of the country’s best storytellers.
Fountainhead
by Ayn Rand
I read this book when I was in high school and it filled me with a sense of grandeur and purpose. Howard Roark is a monolith of integrity.
About the book
This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This edition contains a special Afterword by Rand’s literary executor, Leonard Peikoff which includes excerpts from Ayn Rand’s own notes on the making of ‘The Fountainhead’.
The Stories of Anton Chekhov
He covers the entire range of human emotions and experiences simply and eloquently.
About the book
From characteristically brief, evocative early pieces such as ‘The Huntsman’ and the tour de force ‘A Boring Story’, to his best-known stories such as ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ and his own personal favourite, ‘The Student,’ Chekhov’s short fiction possesses the transcendent power of art to awe and change the reader.
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
The best book on enduring human spirit. I read this everytime I need inspiration.
About the book
This, is one of Hemingway’s most enduring works. Told in a language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal – a relentless, agonising battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Hemingway recasts, in striking contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat and of personal triumph won from loss.