Best BOOKS for noobs to read

HERE I'M GIVING YOU BEST LIST THAT I CAN FIND TO READ...

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

I have read it to three-year-olds who learn about friendship and confronting fear, to seven-year-olds who ponder about nature and wistfulness and for me, to reflect on other-worldliness and personal space. Martin King

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

I cried reading this book. Hemingway’s story of the anguished, hopeless love affair between American war veteran Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley is set against the backdrop of the San Fermin bull festival in Pamplona, Spain. The writer is more present in this work than he is in any other, in Jake’s cold, slightly bitter voice; in his friend and Brett’s ex-loved Robert Cohn you can picture Hemingway’s former boxing partner Harold Loeb. At the place of his first obsession, Hemingway succeeds in distilling the passion and life to be found there. Roisin O'Connor

Naïve. Super by Erland Loe

I have lent this book to friends so many times that I've ended up having to buy 5+ copies. It is written from a child-like perspective and yet has this incredible profundity. A simple story of a Norwegian man trying to gather some sort of semblance of meaning in the world, it has a completely disarming honesty and truth like no other I have come across in literature. It also extols the simple joy of bouncing a ball against a wall, which I think is nice. It might be a cliche, but reading this will change your life.Christopher Hooton

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

One of the most heart-wrenching books I have ever read that transcends cultural gaps to touch the darker areas within us all. Betrayal, guilt and redemption are the strongest themes here, with Hosseini's second, mother-daughter novel A Thousand Splendid Suns also strongly recommended, so long as you’re willing to let the tears keep falling. Definitely try and read this before watching the also excellent film. Jess Denham 

All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen 

I was brought up an Orthodox Jew and this story about a man's journey out of Orthodoxy was compelling both because of its value and how it did and did not reflect my childhood. One for anyone who has ever felt lost. Dina Rickman

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I am infinitely astonished that English isn't Nabokov's first language given his absolute mastery of it. His language comes in such rich torrents and his ornate, stylish sentences are so enviable. If Lolita had been released today it would have been subject to 10,000 think pieces accusing it of, at best, insensitivity, at worst, paedophilia, so I'm glad it wasn't. Through its story of a pompous, middle-aged man's lust for a young girl, Lolita lays the burn of human desire completely bare. Christopher Hooton

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

Expect some hefty historical chapters about the Italian and German occupation of Cephalonia in World War II. Wade through these, interesting as they are, and you'll find many fascinating explorations of love, including my favourite passage about love in literature. “Love is a temporary madness...” Jess Denham

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Books ‘staying with you long after the final page’ might be a cliche but could not be truer in the case of Chad Harbach’s all-consuming, all-American novel. Every fully-developed character slowly becomes a friend whether you love them, hate them or somewhere in between and it’s hard not to empathise with the crippling self-doubt that threatens to destroy Henry’s future.

Prior baseball knowledge is not a necessity: The Art of Fielding sparked the most heated debate yet at my monthly Book Club and not one of us knew what a shortstop was before reading it. If the human condition fascinates you, turn to this one next. Jess Denham

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Carroll’s work is the greatest paradise for dreamers there is. Reading and re-reading Alice’s adventures taught me, each time, that imagination is an infinite thing and the word ‘impossible’ belongs to the vocabulary of the uninspired. Clarisse Loughrey

Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr

An utterly depressing read but one that is necessary to understand no one is infallible to an addiction. Selby’s descriptions are outstanding; you truly experience the harrowing lives of these four unfortunate New Yorkers. This book is a train crash - uncomfortable to read but gripped by its gruesome reality. Ryan Ramgobin 

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

This quintessential jazz age novel is about so much more than a shallow bunch of rich people hosting lavish parties. Fitzgerald explores crushed idealism, hopeless love and the elusiveness of the American Dream. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock will speak to everyone's unfulfilled dreams. Jess Denham

Vanity Fair by William Thackery

I dearly love Austen, but she’s forgivingly attached to her creations. She mocks them with a smiling nod and an effusive warmth. Not Thackeray though; Becky Sharp is despicable, calculating, and relentlessly cruel. And, boy, do I love her for it.Clarisse Loughrey 

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

One of the most ambitious books ever written, a synopsis for which would itself take up most of a novella. Set in a very American dystopia and lurching from tennis academies to rehab centres, it skewers the sadness of capitalism just by looking blankly at it. Wallace possessed Pynchon-like wittiness no matter what the topic. He could literally spend three pages describing a paving slab and you'd be scintillated. Christopher Hooton

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

When I was a wee nipper my Dad gave me a copy of The Hobbit for my birthday, marking my first foray into the fantastical world of Middle Earth. Immediately, I fell in love with Bilbo’s adventure into the Lonely Mountain, the characters being so loveable and, unlike The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s writing was so easily accessible. Now, every time I return to the Shire it’s like revisiting an old friend; I just wish I could forget about those awful film adaptations. Jack Shepherd

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This classic was forced upon me as a 15-year-old as it was part of the GSCE syllabus. I’m very thankful it was. Where else would I have learnt so vividly about racial tension in the southern US and the importance of fighting injustice and prejudice? They were topics that in a predominantly white, middle-class, British commuter town were not exactly on my radar.

But told through the eyes of Scout, the trial of Tom Robinson got me hooked on American history and forever cemented the name Atticus Finch as a byword for moral decency. I still haven’t read Go Set A Watchman, that shows a darker side to Atticus, as I really don’t want to shatter my teenage illusions. Sally Newall

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A handsome, narcissistic young man enthralled by hedonism commits himself to indulging in every pleasure in life: both moral and immoral. Roisin O'Connor

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The power of female relationships is at the heart of this Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the leading part sisterhood can play in encouraging women to be the best person they can be. Set mainly in rural Georgia in the 1930s, it follows the life of poor African-American girl Celie and the sexism, racism and violence she endures. Deeply troubling throughout, but inspirational and life-affirming too. Jess Denham

Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Gentle sophisticated humour covering the fictional history of a small Minnesotan town, with a War and Peace sweep but a ‘Small is quite good’ ethos. Slightly sentimental and Thurberesque, this is the genuine Great American Novel. Alex Johnson

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

This is one of those books which made me laugh out loud with its wordplay and witty dialogue. It all seems a bit absurd at first but it builds towards a clever conclusion. Samuel Osborne

Middlemarch by George Eliot

A marathon of a book, it plods along until suddenly you are utterly gripped, involved and entertained to the last flourish of its finale. There’s no Victorian epic with a better pay-off for those willing to persevere. Adam Withnall

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

Even though it’s a pretty radical and famous book from the 1960s, I only read The Golden Notebook two years ago, when I was 24 and had already had my heart broken once or twice. What Lessing managed to do was take everything I’d learnt so far about the modern world - conflict, politics, how men and women interact - break it down, show me how it’s all interconnected, and put it back together again. She sharpened my understanding of so many things I’d only just begun to get to grips with. Bethan McKernan

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I silently took in the final lines of The Age of Innocence; carefully closed the book, and then threw it against a wall. Not a smart reaction considering I’d borrowed it from the library; but Wharton’s words had devastated me, body and soul. There is no other novel in existence that better reminds me regret is the most poisonous of emotions. Clarisse Loughrey

The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand is probably the only book that has made me cancel plans. Comprised of sections placing the microscope on survivors of a pandemic based in varying locations, the epic remains gripping throughout, achieving more tension across its 1,000 plus pages than most TV shows can muster in a single season.

King’s words are as infectious as the plague at the centre of the story and, as a springboard for many of the author’s future projects, is as essential as they come. Jacob Stolworthy

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The deep, unjust sense of inequality that permeated the Deep South in the 1960s runs true throughout the book but so does the importance of the relationships formed. The most special in my mind is between house maid Aibleen and two-year-old Mae Mobly, who she educates about not judging on skin colour and in the face of a distracted mother, tells her everyday: “You a smart girl. You a kind girl.” The ending breaks my heart every time.Olivia Blair

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Prophet Almustafa has lived in a foreign city for 12 years and is about to board a ship home when he stops to tell a group of people everything he has learnt about all areas of life, from love and marriage to joy and sorrow, crime and punishment, reason and passion, good and evil and everything in between. Once discovered, this spiritual bible is impossible to live without. Jess Denham

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

It shows the absurd futility of trying to do anything in life. And that makes me happy. Steve Anderson

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Gothic literature beautifully poses a single question to my own mind: are ghosts merely a distraction from what truly frightens us? The true horror lies within our own hearts and minds, and the phantom of Rebecca is a merely a pointed finger towards that revelation. Clarisse Loughrey

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Morrison might be best known for the also brilliant Beloved, but her first novel about the harrowing effects of white beauty standards on black self-acceptance and identity is arguably her most profound. Jess Denham

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

I hadn’t read a Hemingway book until last year, For Whom the Bell Tolls serving as my first foray; what I didn’t expect from the Spanish Civil War-set story was such a thrilling, accessible read that would transport me into a time and place I had no previous knowledge of. It’s ending, shrouded in ambiguity, has had me thinking about it more than most books I’ve read in my lifetime thus far. Jacob Stolworthy

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

No-one does teen angst quite like Salinger in this short but seminal Fifties novel. Holden Caulfield's story beautifully explores the struggle to accept death and lost innocence while making the tough journey into adulthood. Jess Denham

Women in Love by DH Lawrence

Many more knowledgeable, respected critics would choose The Rainbow, Lady Chatterley's Lover or Sons and Lovers as DH Lawrence’s best work, but Women in Love holds a special power over this reader. It follows the tumultuous lives and loves of the Brangwen sisters; while Gudrun pursues her destructive relationship with the handsome Gerald Crich, intellectual Rupert Birkin becomes involved with Ursula, the latter of whom tears him apart in most of their exchanges. Lawrence’s tortured characters are filled with self-loathing, the landscape is bleak, and yet the beauty to be found in chapters such as “Water Party”, or the electrifying wrestling scene, makes this novel stand on its own as a literary masterpiece. Roisin O'Connor

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Murakami wows with his ability to portray love, loss and melancholy through stark simplicity and minute descriptions (e.g. “As we ambled along, Naoko spoke to me of wells.”) Perfect.Victoria Richards

Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland

The seediness of LA, fading celebrity and the all-American dream provide the backdrop to this story of a screenwriter and jaded TV star’s search for a real connection in a superficial world. The mystery at the centre of this novel keeps you intrigued all the way through until a life-affirming resolution that ultimately presents love through a more hopeful lens. Heather Saul

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Just how big an influence the ultimate beat generation novel still has on young people became clear while travelling on my gap year aged 19. Everyone had their cherished, dishevelled copy crammed into their backpack. Prepare for serious wanderlust. Jess Denham 

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

There isn't really a central narrative, it's mostly a list of unpronounceable names, and will probably confuse even the most ardent fans of the genre, but nothing comes close to matching the fantastical breadth of Tolkien's legendary precursor to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. When I finished Silmarillion for the first time and put it down, I couldn't believe an entire mythology had been contained within a single, smallish book. Matt Champion

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that this love story is an enduring classic, exquisitely written with Austen's characteristic pen of irony. But fans of the BBC adaptation be warned, Darcy does not emerge from the lake in a wet white shirt in the 1813 original (a travesty, in my opinion). This novel taught me what Austen herself learned long ago: that charm can be the ultimate deceiver. Jess Denham

The Beach by Alex Garland

No book will add more excitement to your commute than The Beach. With its exotic locales, sense of adventure and gradual descent into the nightmarish, author Alex Garland (who directed last year’s sublime sci-fi Ex Machina) presents the book equivalent of going on a holiday you won’t want to forget. It remains the only book I’ve revisited in my adult years. Jacob Stolworthy

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 

I wish every teenage girl could read The Virgin Suicides. Every woman, even. There’s this strange quality to Eugenides’ outsider perspective that captures, like otherworldly magic, the feminine experience as both the sublime dream and monstrous nightmare it’s come to be. Clarisse Loughrey

Bobby Brewster by HE Todd

Scandalously out of print, Bobby Brewster is a timeless primary school-aged boy who has mildly magical adventures – nothing as serious as Harry Potter, they usually involve everyday objects such as spoons or conkers coming to life. He is also very partial to sardine sandwiches. Alex Johnson

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I read this while travelling around Steinbeck’s California stomping ground, which helped bring his dusty world to life. The Grapes of Wrath is set during the Great Depression and follows an Oklahoma family as they trek across America in search of a better future. Humanity at its rawest and most unflinching. Jess Denham

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Carey Mulligan's recent movie was great but, as is often the case, it didn't have anything on the book. One independent female farmer and three hugely different suitors make for a first-rate story. Hardy’s fourth and arguably least depressing novel has unrequited love, death, insanity, murder and, finally, the happy ending you were wanting all along. Jess Denham

The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa

This is an exquisitely told story of Ricardo Somocurcio and his decade-long obsession with a Peruvian expatriate: the woman he first fell in love with when he was just 15-years-old.

And add Of Mice and Men to list of great books. its good  its from 30's by one of the great writers "John Steinbeck"

GST UPDATE for INDIA

On June 14, 2016 the Finance Ministry has released the 'Model GST Law'. It outlines the structure of the GST regime. Further, the draft of 'Integrated GST Bill, 2016' is also released along with such Model GST laws. It also provides the framework for levy and collection of CGST and SGST. "CGST" is the tax levied under the Central Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2016. "IGST" is the tax levied under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2016.Key takeaways from Model GST law are given hereunder:

1) Threshold limit for registrationThe dealer is required to take registration under this law if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs.9 lakhs. However, dealers conducting business in any North Eastern State are required to take registration if their turnover exceeds Rs.4 lakhs.

2) Place of registrationThe dealer has to take registration in the State from where taxable goods or services are supplied.

3) Migration of existing taxpayers to GSTEvery person already registered under extant law will be issued a certificate of registration on a provisional basis. This certificate shall be valid for period of 6 months. Such person will have to furnish the requisite information within 6 months and on furnishing of such information, final registration certificate shall be granted by the Central/State Government.

4) GST compliance rating scoreEvery taxable person shall be assigned a GST compliance rating score based on his record of compliance with the provisions of this Act. The GST compliance rating score shall be updated at periodic intervals and intimated to the taxable person and also placed in the public domain.

5) Levy of TaxThe person registered under this law is liable to pay tax if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs 10 lakhs. However, a dealer conducting business in any of the North Eastern is required to pay tax if his aggregate turnover exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs.A negative list has also been prescribed for transactions and activities of Government and Local Authorities which shall be exempt from GST levy, like activities of issuance of passport, visa, driving license, birth certificate or death certificate, etc

.6) Taxable EventThe taxable event under GST regime will be supply of goods or services. Supply includes all forms of supply of goods and/or services such as sale, transfer, barter, exchange, license, rental, lease or disposal made or agreed to be made for a consideration. It also includes importation of service, whether or not for a consideration

.7) Point of taxationCGST/SGST shall be payable at the earliest of the following dates, namely:(i) Date on which the goods are removed for supply to the recipient (in case of movable goods).(ii) Date on which the goods are made available to the recipient (in case of immovable goods).(iii) Date of issuing invoice by supplier; or(iv) Date of receipt of payment by supplier; or(v) Date on which recipient shows the receipt of the goods in his books of account

.8) TCS on online sales of goods or serviceEvery E-commerce operator engaged in facilitating the supply of any goods and/or services (like Amazon, Flipkart, etc.) shall collect tax at source at the time of credit or at the time of payment whichever is earlier.

9) Valuation RulesSuch Rules shall apply to the supply of goods and/or services under the IGST/CGST/SGST Bill. Some of the methods prescribed for valuation are given hereunder:

a) Transaction Value: As per this method the value of goods and/or services shall be the transaction value

.b) Transaction value of goods or services of like kind: Where value of supply cannot be determined under previous method [i.e. point a], the value shall be determined on the basis of transaction value of goods and/or services of like kind and quality supplied at or about the same time to customers

.c) Computed Value Method: Where value cannot be determined under previous method [i.e., point

b], it shall be based on computed value which shall include cost of production, manufacture or processing of the goods or, the cost of the provision of services, the charges, if any, for design and brand and amount towards profit and general expenses

.d) Residual Method: Where the value cannot be determined under the computed value method, the value shall be determined using reasonable means consistent with the principles and general provisions of these Rules.

10) Utilization of credit:Utilization of IGST: The amount of input tax credit on account of IGST available in the electronic credit ledger of dealer shall first be utilized towards payment of IGST and the amount remaining, if any, may be utilized towards the payment of CGST and SGST, in that order.Utilization of SGST: The amount of input tax credit on account of SGST available in the electronic credit ledger shall first be utilized towards payment of SGST and the amount remaining, if any, may be utilized towards the payment of IGST.Utilization of CGST: The amount of input tax credit on account of CGST available in the electronic credit ledger shall first be utilized towards payment of CGST and the amount remaining, if any, may be utilized towards the payment of IGST.Note: The input tax credit on account of CGST shall not be available for payment of SGST.

11) PaymentAny tax, interest, penalty, fee, etc., shall be paid via internet banking or by using credit/debit cards or NEFT or RTGS. This amount shall be credited to the electronic cash ledger of dealer.

12) TDSThe Central or a State Government may mandate certain departments (viz, local authority, Govt. agencies) to deduct tax at the rate of one percent on notified goods or services, where the total value of such supply, under a contract, exceeds Rs 10 lakhs.

13) RefundA person can claim refund of any tax and interest by making an application in that regard to the prescribed officer of IGST/CGST/SGST. The application can be made before the expiry of two years from the relevant date as may be prescribed. It has been provided that the limitation of two years shall not apply where such tax or interest or the amount has been paid under protest.

14) ReturnsDealers shall be required to furnish following returnsa) Monthly Return: Every registered taxable person shall have to e-file a monthly return for inward and outward supplies of goods and/or services, input tax credit availed, tax payable, tax paid and other particulars within 20 days after the end of such month

.b) Return for Composition Scheme:Dealers paying tax under composition scheme shall have to furnish a return for each quarter or part thereof, electronically within 18 days after the end of such quarter

.c) TDS Return: Every dealer who is required to deduct tax at source shall furnish a return electronically within 10 days after the end of month in which deduction is made

.d) Return for Input Service Distributor: Every Input Service Distributor shall file e-return for every calendar month or part thereof, within 13 days after the end of such month.

e) First Return: Every registered taxable person paying CGST/SGST on all intra-State supplies of goods and/or services shall have to furnish the first return from the date on which he became liable to registration till the end of the month in which the registration has been granted.

f) Annual return: Every registered taxable person shall have to furnish an annual return for every financial year electronically on or before the 31st day of December following the end of such financial year.

g) Final return: Every registered taxable person who applies for cancellation of registration shall have to furnish a final return within three months of the date of cancellation or date of cancellation order, whichever is later, in a prescribed form.

15) Transitional Provisionsa. Under the Model GST Law, a registered taxable person will be entitled to take credit of the amount of cenvat credit/ Value Added Tax carried forward in a return furnished by him in respect of the period ending with the day immediately preceeding the appointed day.b. As per Model GST Law, a registered taxable person shall be entitled to take in his electronic credit ledger/credit of the unavailed cenvat credit/ unavailed input tax credit in respect of capital goods not carried forward in a return furnished by him for the period ending with the day immediately preceding the appointed day.c. If a person registered under GST was not liable to be registered under the earlier law or if he was manufacturing exempted goods under the earlier law which are not taxable, then he will be allowed to take credit of eligible duties and taxes in respect of inputs held in stocks or semi-finished/finished goods.d. Every claim for refund of any duty/tax and interest, if any, paid on such duty/tax or any other amount, filed by any person before the appointed day, shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of earlier law and any amount eventually accruing to him shall be paid in cash. However, where any claim for refund is fully or partially rejected, the amount so rejected shall lapse .

Feminism and Gender Equality Misuse

    When the idea hit me to write about "growing feminism" and misuse of  "women's right". i was left staring at screen for minutes because i didn't know how to explain "Feminism" in words,  what i did was a clever piece of intelligence, i googled it. and a simple meaning that unfolded feminism into alphabets (at least i tried) was the advocacy of  women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. 

    Allow me, what feminism means is, it's a movement towards equal treatment in jobs, equal pay, equal social / political status, equal right to vote, equal right to own property and many more things that have prefix "equal" to them or preventing things that are exploiting women gender , nothing that is harmful to society, in fact, its good thing we don't know it could be a women who finds a cure for cancer or AIDS, for betterment of  society equal opportunities should be given..

   There is a common saying "Extremes Are Dangerous". Misuse of  agitation in society to provide justice and equality have taken a wrong turn, all that effort to correct social structure / hierarchy  done in the past has led few women to think that its Ok to be given better treatment than average man and if not given they demand it. feminists have made Marketable package of suffering of women of past era / undeveloped territories and trying to exploit the society and law made for betterment of women gender as a whole and reasoning with "women have suffered for years, it’s alright to take advantage of our rights now". 

   1. Misuse of law-  Need for law to safeguard a women's interest  was one of main points of agitation . whats been happening is women are knowingly misusing it, Example-Filing FALSE rape cases for take revenge for not marrying or for financial benefits ., Example- Filing for divorce to take 50% of man's hard earn wealth.

   2. Using Feminism When It Suits Them -  You can find these two faced feminists in majority in INDIA. Example-  Equality should prevail, but a MAN should "ALWAYS" ask a girl out, pay for the date, pink is not manly enough. Example- Independent, but have been living off  fathers money and after marriage man should  "man up" and provide for her, buy her a diamond ring, designer stuff and jewels. etc etc.

   3. Your Money is Our money And my Money Is mine - Gotta admit that, this happens, what to speak of others when even my mom supports this. why?? why a man's money is household money and you earn to spend on kitty parties and make up boxes and expensive cloths.

  4. I want EQUALITY,   oy oy, Stand Up Its a Women's Seat-  if you can fight the world for your right and equal treatment, you sure can stand in a bus or metro. ( ever seen a women entering into bus/train and a guy stands up either out of chivalry or social acceptance of women's reserved seat.) seriously. Seat should be Reserved for NEEDY not women. well how about a women's reserved full metro coach equality. NOPE. welcome to INDIA.

  5. Crying, a Tool-  need explanation?  Whenever a female cries  its always "someone else's " fault or She's forgiven. damn you equality. (work in progress)

The great Reservation System of INDIA

   Hi, Naman here, in my last post i discussed problems of india relating to Secularism, and in this post i will discuss about  the one of the products of non secular Indian govt. that is "Reservation:" This system is not new to india

   In India three categories of people out of four get reservation namely ST ( schedule tribe ), SC (Schedule Caste) and OBC (Other backward classes), one which does not get any reservation is "General Caste" (bummer, i belong to General Class)