Book Reviews

The various publishing houses of the Sri Ramakrishna Math publish these books.
They can be found at several bookshops and also can be ordered online at
http://www.vedanta.com
http://www.sriramakrishnamath.org
http://www.advaitaonline.com
With regards,
Gomu.

1. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
This book contains everyday conversations with Sri Ramakrishna, spanning about four years. The author has recreated the scene very beautifully and faithfully. It is an experience to read this book.

2. Sri Ramakrishna As We Saw Him
This book is a collection of reminiscences of Sri Ramakrishna and time spent with him by various people. The variety of people who are covered in the book is good. So it is not biased.

3. Sri Ramakrishna - The Great Master
This two-volume book is a detailed biography of Sri Ramakrishna.Swami Saradananda, the author is a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and has lived a similar life and understood to a great extent the minor details of the life of Sri Ramakrishna. So, the biography is very authentic. The author also gives the required background in terms of Indian Philosophy and History so that the reader is able to appreciate the life of Sri Ramakrishna.

4. Mother As I Saw Her
This book is written by Swami Saradeshananda disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. This describes various incidents in the life of the saint, which the author has seen or heard from authentic sources. The narration is very homely and gives a very vivid picture of the saint. After reading the book, the reader gets a feeling that the great saint is a familiar person. It creates a close relationship between the reader and the saint.

5. Holy Wanderings in the Himalayas
Service of God in Man
Call of the Spirit
These three books by Swami Akhanadananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna takes the reader to a world of wonderful ideas and ideals. It gives deep insight into the life of the Swami, what it means to be a follower of Sri Ramakrishna, and spiritual life in general. The books also give a nice picture of India during that time, many of which are applicable today also

6. Days in an Indian Monastery
This book is by Sister Devamata, a Christian Sister living in an Indian
monastery at Chennai (called Madras at that time). It gives a very
good account of life in India during that time. The author also
talks a lot about Swami Ramakrishnananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

7. Eternal Companion
This book by Swami Prabhavananda gives the life of Swami Brahmananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. This book is loaded with wisdom on spiritual life.

8. With the Swamis in America and India
This book is written by Swami Atulananda, an American monk of the Ramakrishna Order, who was particularly close with Swami Turiyananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Most of the incidents in the book are in Northern California and Almora, India. The author is very frank and wise. The reader can grasp a lot of essentials of spiritual life from the book.

9. Invitation to Holy Company
This small book has narrations of incidents of the author with several direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. By reading about the
various incidents in the life of these great men, we can try to understand more about Sri Ramakrishna and the ideal he has set for
us.


10. Spiritual Talks
This small book has record of conversations with many direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The book is loaded with spiritual
wisdom in simple casual conversations. The book can be read several times and can be read at random.

11. Talks with Swami Vivekananda
This is a book with conversations with Swami Vivekananda, the famous disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. It has inspired talks about spirituality, India, philosophy, etc. Though conversations, the book is not very light for reading. It gives a glimpse of the character and general ideas of Swami Vivekananda