K. Kumar's Blog

Start Again by J. Saman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Start Again is novel about the romance of two characters forced to confront tragedy and attempt to take stock of things and find comfort in each other. Kate is a nurse who suffered a terrible loss while Ryan was involved in a plane accident that makes him weary of flying. Together they take a road trip to explore the United States, from Boston to New Orleans to Vegas and finally Seattle.

I thought Start Again was an interesting and light hearted st...

From the Argentina Truth Commission report:

Abductions in the presence of children
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When a family which was to be chupada (A slang term, literally meaning ‘sucked up’, ‘swallowed’.) had children, the following methods were employed:

1.  The children were left with neighbours to be looked after until a family relative arrived.2.  They were sent to children’s homes. These would hand them over to relatives or have them adopted.3.  The children might thems...

It is clear that when the gang or ’task force’ had to carry out an operation, they had been given the ’green light’. If any neighbour or caretaker of-the building involved got in touch with the local Police headquarters or with a radio patrol-car asking for help they would be told that the Police were aware of what was going on, but could do nothing.  In order to overrule police authority, the forces taking part in raids would ask for a ’green light’, which they did either by radio,...

Elon Musk: Inventing the Future by Ashlee Vance
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elon Musk is a good book, often times inspiring, but also it reads in parts like an infomercial for Elon Musk and his companies. Musk has done a lot of amazing things, and taken great risks to reach his goals, and he deserves credit for that. But it seems a bit premature to write a biography like this. Yeah, it is interesting and Musk is a passionate visionary, but time will tell whether he will have the impact that this bo...

This is The End:

Copy/paste the text below into your blog. The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins: The Complete Novel by James Faro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the 17th century, Toby Hopkins is a ship merchant who finds himself stuck in Jamaica after being attacked by pirates. Much of his crew has died and he is forced to pick up the pieces. While in Jamaica, he learns of what happened to his father and gets entangled in a murder mystery.

Overall, this is a well written, enjoyable book. The author does a good job...

The truth is there is little that distinguishes one human from another, and yet by some sort of chaotic arrangement we often find ourselves at odds with one another or at least are trained to think in these patterns. I have no doubt that humanity could benefit from closer coordination, greater sharing, more talking, and co-mingling. But now the politics are moving towards the opposite with more talk of border fences, security, bombing, etc. It seems to me more of an absurd condition that huma...

Last week the citizens of the UK voted to exit the EU. There are a lot of questions being asked now about whether it was the right decision and whether the question should have been even put to a vote. There is no direct immediate effect, but the long term ramifications are too unpredictable to ignore. Going into last Thursday, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that BREXIT would fail, that no rational group of people would knowingly do something that seemed so self-damaging. But it happened...

A couple weeks passed. The Hedge Fund Manager slowly began to pick up the pieces of his life after enduring the sudden collapse of his portfolio. Indeed after sleeping the night after the crash, he was unable to rise from bed, unable to look at the same screens, and talk to same people. He refused to take food and refused the pleasures of female companionship. The great American Hedge Fund Manager faced the greatest crisis of his career and he was unable to function knowing that all the work...

The night fell over the valley as the Hedge Fund Manager sat in his balcony recliner, overlooking his expansive lake. He peered at his watch and noticed the time, five in the afternoon. The Japanese markets were about to open up. The Hedge Fund Manager arose from his chair and walked back into his mansion, past the climate controlled table and over toward the theater. He asked, “How is Japan looking?”            The televisions came alive...