Praveen's love affair with Kepler's began in 2002 when he started living in Menlo Park and found himself repeatedly drawn to browsing Kepler's well-stocked bookshelves and discovering many wonderful books. The community's efforts to save Kepler's in 2005 made a lasting impact on Praveen and two years later he found himself quitting his corporate job and teaming up with his wife Christin to acquire the Booksmith bookstore in 2007. Over the next few years Praveen and Christin transformed Booksmith into a award-winning literary destination. In July 2012 Praveen assumed stewardship of Kepler's with a new vision to turn it into a sustainable literary institution.
Goldstein is the co-host of the popular NPR podcast Planet Money and a master storyteller. As suggested by the book’s irreverent title, he employs an entertaining style to help us understand how money became the force it is today. The eclectic characters in his story include emperors, gamblers, libertarian programmers and the scenes shift from places like Greece to the first stock market in Amsterdam to modern day central banks. A fascinating read! --Praveen
The author of the bestselling California Field Atlas has produced another masterpiece! Kaufmann tells us an epic story spanning millions of years with the aid of his signature watercolor maps and trail paintings woven together with astonishing insights about the rich biodiversity of our great state’s forests. This book will change the way you think of our forests. --Praveen
Written by a geopolitical analyst, this book foresaw and spelled out the forces that would go on to produce Brexit, the Trump presidency, and rise of fringe parties and oddball political figures in many parts of the world. The author poses the question - can liberal representative democracy survive? This book has been Marc Andreessen’s #1 handout for anyone seeking to understand the shift in power structures that’s shaking up our world. --Praveen
Have you ever wondered why the world keeps generating the same cycles of problems? Or why the oppressed become oppressors once they achieve power? Or why have we ended up with a permanent underclass in urban centers all around the world, including here in the Bay Area? This classic, originally published in 1968, provides the answers that are even more relevant and urgent today. --Praveen
