“The Google Story” by David A. Vise

Google is now almost synonym for “God”… and why shouldn’t it be? Don’t we get ALL the solutions to our dilemmas and queries through a simple search bar?! Yes, I did say “ALL solutions” as through personal experience I have realized Google has helped me in my career, love life, pregnancy moments, parenting, health, etc. In every aspect of my life Google plays a BIG role! And I’m sure yours too… Chances are you have probably come to this review through Google search engine, looking for the latest book in the market!
Now, you must be wondering what is there to a story about a high advancement and technological breakthrough. After reading this book, you will find there’s a lot. As technical as it is, this book is heart warming and inspiring, covering the unofficial biography of two Stanford geeks who started out with a simple idea, which led to new era advancement.
Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Stanford buddies who formed the company in a friends garage with an interesting motto “Do No Evil”. Innovation was encouraged from day 1 where a “no manager” protocol was followed, as they believed “they only get in the way”. Their long fight against the Wall Street, Microsoft, investors and even mockery is an extraordinary tale with truth and sincerity. Seven years later, they are now worth $10 billion each and their small baby is now a larger corporation that the giants; McDonalds, Disney and General Motors!
Fun, Fast, Informative, Motivating, this book embarks a journey taken in 1998 through a series of ups and downs and finally to its destination of immense success. Every step taken to build their empire is calculated just like an equation, in fact one of the team mates wrote an equation to describe their journey: “youth + freedom + transparency + new model + the general public’s benefit + belief in trust = The Miracle of Google”.

From a Business point of view: This book also answers the big question many investors or businessmen think about “How does Google earn Money?” This is something I am not going to reveal in my review…

Finally, the writer plays a little bit by trying to predict what is next after the Google Search Engine…. Powering the human mind with a plug-in? Well, that’s probably too far-fetched. Anyway, we are talking about two rich men with gifted minds and a soul for discovery; thank God they want to do ‘no evil’!!

“Oprah” by Kitty Kelly –an unauthorized autobiography

Who doesn’t know Oprah? Big, Bold, Beautiful and Black…! We know her rough past, we know her jade bathtub, we know her stupendous charity campaigns and donations.. but do we know how she earned all that bread (with extra butter)??

“The Oprah Winfrey Show” won her the title of “the richest black woman in the world” and to thread that road must not have been easy. What’s behind that calm and confident female (despite her size and color) and what secrets she hide is probably unknown to some and shocking to others who have it reveled. The fact that Oprah once called room service and ordered 2 pecan pies, which she sinfully ate by herself or the truth about her teen cocaine and child prostitution days, is faced with either a wide-eyed disbelief or even understanding nods. The point to be noted, my friend, is how did a black woman born in a racist small town with a sexual abuse past, become the richest and most influential woman of this time?!

Oprah was a born performer with a wild belief in herself. Strong willed even as a young girl she got herself elected vice-president of her mostly white high school through her extra bold campaign slogan “Put a Little Color in Your Life. Vote for the Grand Ole Oprah.” She decided to be the black Barbara Walters!

The pull she draws to the world is that most women share the same issues as her. Size and body have always led to devastating outcomes; color has majorly brought about racism in job opportunities and love; so what makes Oprah different? Well, even if she lay weeping on her knees over Mr. Wrong, she is brainstorming her next career breakthrough!

Kitty Kelley decided to dwell into something most biographers have been reluctant to do before: She wrote the life story of the almighty Oprah Winfrey. Four years of research and colleting data from 25 years’ worth of newspaper, magazine, television and radio interviews, with a grand total of 2,932 files and talking to 850 sources, have brought Kelly the confidence of quoting Oprah’s words without actually having a one-on-one interview with her. The biggest scoop of the book is the secrets – maybe not the secrets itself but the fact that Oprah is so constrained by them and how she binds others into them too. If a photographer takes her picture and she doesn’t like it she simply buys all copies, she doesn’t give her own mother her phone number and restricts her staff from using her real name when going out for chores.

Wha
tever the oohs and aahs that comes with the book that Kelly have managed to bring to readers, she still cant seem to pinpoint what makes Oprah so enduringly popular and what gives her the guts to ask Michael Jackson the question, “Why do you always grab your crotch?” Maybe she’s just born with it! Maybe she’s just Oprah Winfrey!

“How to get what you really want” by BARBARA SHER

Another Self Help book?? Seriously, that too with a name as cheesy as “Wishcraft” and a marketing campaign title “How to get what you really want”! Before you judge, stop and think.. why would I review this? Even with the row of self-help books in the market why did I think this is worth to share?! Now, read on…
How many times have we eloped our minds to fantasies and wishful thinking? Now, don’t lie… Despite being modern, smart intellectual beings of today, the words “I wish” never cease to cross our lips every now and then. This can be upsetting but true; upsetting because having all the will, technological improvements, vast opportunities, etc the word “wish” still plays a role like when we were kids in 2nd grade; true because not every time we get what we wish for due to financial issues, confidence and security concerns and even building a family. (This goes for the male species as well!)
Barbara Sher presents her book into 2 sections; the first part is “wish” which puts you back in touch of your childhood when it was clear WHAT we actually want out of life. The second part is “craft” where practical, but powerful techniques are described to ACTUALLY achieve what is wanted! Discover strengths and skills you forgot you had, make a REAL change in your life through effective tools and goal setting exercises, end that procrastinator in you and discover what is most important to YOU!
A Secretary who slogged for 13 years rediscovered her talent at the age of 44 and enrolled herself into a video production school. She ended up writing and directing a television show.
A man who picked up this book from his library after 4 years realized his dream of being a cartoon voice.
A woman, who was led by this book into the career she hoped for, died unexpectedly at the age of 35. Thank God, she lived for her dream.
Our tales might not be as dramatic as this, but who knows? As implied in the book “Life may be short, but it’s wide!!”