Reviews & Musings

Introduction Source: Amazon.in ISBN :  978-0143333852 Genre:  Non-Fiction/ Children's books Publishers: Puffin Books Price:  Rs. 199/-  ( I got the book for review from the  publisher )

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ISBN:  9780143441199 Genre:   F iction/ Historical Fiction Publishers: Penguin Random House Price:  Rs. 299/-  ( I got the book for review from the  author )

Introduction ISBN:  9780143428503 Genre:  Fiction / Mythology Publishers:  Penguin Random House Price:  Rs. 299/-  ( I got the book for review from the  author ) As Yama's Lieutenant, Agni Prakash, has diligently been tracking down demons and spirits that threaten peace on earth and dispatching them to his lord's thousand hells. Danger is a constant in his job, but this time an apocalypse threatens his entire world. Agni must go up against a terrifying sorceress-adept in the ancient art of stone magic-and her bestial army of demoniacal creatures who used to be humans before they were transformed into willing killing machines. The witch has a nightmarish vision for a new world that involves large scale culling of the humans-and it falls to Agni to stop her. He must find the Samayakalas, the mysterious keepers of time and reset the clock before all life is destroyed. However, any contact with the Samayakalas is forbidden to mortal and immortal ali...

Introduction ISBN: 978-0670089420 Genre: Fiction/Drama Publishers: Penguin Random House Price: Rs. 499/-   Set in Lahore, This House of Clay and Water explores the lives of two women. Nida, intelligent and lonely, has married into an affluent political family and is desperately searching for some meaning in her existence; and impulsive, lovely Sasha, from the ordinary middle-class, whose longing for designer labels and upmarket places is so frantic that she willingly consorts with rich men who can provide them. Nida and Sasha meet at the famous Daata Sahib dargah and connect-their need to understand why their worlds feel so alien and empty, bringing them together. On her frequent visits to the dargah, Nida meets the gentle, flute-playing hijra Bhanggi, who sits under a bargadh tree and yearns for acceptance and affection, but is invariably shunned. A friendship-fragile, tentative and tender-develops between the two, both exiles within their own lives; but it flies...

On a usual tropical evening in Mumbai I had the pleasure of being at CSMVS where Anil Dharker and Amit Chaudhuri were in conversation over the latter’s new release, Friend of my Youth. With an ethereal sunset at the Arabian Sea adorning its beige textured cover; this book is a short and crisp novella revolving around friendship and childhood memories in the city of dreams – Mumbai. 

Today at Behind the book, we have none other than the wonderful author Ms. Faiqa Mansab. To tell you a bit more about her : Faiqa Mansab received the MFA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Kingston University London, in 2014. Her short stories and an excerpt from her novel were published in The Missing Slate in 2013. She has been a teacher and school administrator for ten years. She has also published in academic journals, and newspapers. Faiqa conducts creative writing workshops when she is not working on a novel. This House of Clay and Water is Faiqa’s debut novel and she is currently working on another one. Let's hear her story of bringing alive this house of clay and water :

Introduction ISIN:  9781781162491 Genre:  Fantasy Fiction Publishers:  Penguin Random House Price:  Rs. 599/- ( I got this book from the  publisher  for a review ) In 2020, eleven years after the passengers of flight BA142 from London to Delhi developed extraordinary abilities corresponding to their innermost desires, the world is overrun with supers. Some use their powers for good, others for evil, and some just want to pulverize iconic monuments and star in their own reality show. But now, from New York to Tokyo, someone is hunting down supers, killing heroes and villains both, and it’s up to the Unit to stop them… Behind the book Source: Goodreads.com

Introduction ASIN: B01BYD1J24 Genre: Fiction / Fantasy Fiction Publishers: Penguin Random House Price:  Rs. 250/- ( I got this book from the  publisher for a review ) How would you feel if you got what you really wanted? What would you do if you were given the power to change the world? Everyone on BA flight 142 from London to Delhi got off it with a unique superpower. A power they didn`t even know they wanted. Everyone, that is, who`s still alive. Because someone is hunting down the passengers. And now Aman Sen`s ragtag collective of rogue super humans is in grave danger. They must decide what to do with their powers and their lives – and quickly. This explosive new blockbuster moves at hyper speed across two continents as colliding forces move towards an action-packed finale that will leave the world – and you – changed forever. Behind the book Source: Goodreads.com

Introduction ISIN: 978-0670086115 Genre: Non Fiction / War Stories Publishers: Penguin Random House Price:  Rs. 699/- ( I got this book from the  publisher for a review ) Between 1939 and 1945 India underwent extraordinary and irreversible change. Hundreds of thousands of Indians suddenly found themselves in uniform, fighting in the Middle East, North and East Africa, Europe and—something simply never imagined—against a Japanese army poised to invade eastern India. With the threat of the Axis powers looming, the entire country was pulled into the vortex of wartime mobilization. By the war’s end, the Indian Army had become the largest volunteer force in the conflict, consisting of 2.5 million men, while many millions more had offered their industrial, agricultural, and military labor. It was clear that India would never be same—the only question was: would the war effort push the country toward or away from independence? In India’s War, historian Srinath Raghavan p...

Introduction ISIN:  978-8184007398 Genre:  Fantasy F iction Publishers:  Random House India Price:  Rs. 399/- ( I got this book from the  author  for a review ) The inhabitants of the thousand hells of Yama have broken free from their prison and vowed to wreak havoc on the heavens, the earth and hell. With the fiendish Hatakas and Narakamayas teamed up with Naganara, a terrifying necromancer hungry for power, the universe is headed for war and destruction unless one human has something to do with it. Agni Prakash, a debonair young man whose world has been turned upside down by the death of his twin sister, Varu, has been enlisted to stop these forces and be Yama s very own lieutenant. As the mythical world clashes with his own, Agni discovers a manuscript left behind by his sister. Hauntingly, it draws parallels to the treacherous path upon which he has been thrust. Equipped with an acerbic wit and winning charm, Agni undertakes a battle, wher...

Introduction ISIN: 978-0307700292 Genre: Fiction Publishers: Random House Price: Rs. 1824.73/- ( I got this book from the publisher for a review ) From the Nobel Prize winner and best-selling author of Snow and My Name Is Red: a soaring, panoramic new novel—his first since The Museum of Innocence—telling the unforgettable tale of an Istanbul street vendor and the love of his life. Since his boyhood in a poor village in Central Anatolia, Mevlut Karataş has fantasized about what his life would become. Not getting as far in school as he’d hoped, at the age of twelve he comes to Istanbul—“the center of the world”—and is immediately enthralled by both the old city that is disappearing and the new one that is fast being built. He follows his father’s trade, selling boza (a traditional mildly alcoholic Turkish drink) on the street, and hoping to become rich, like other villagers who have settled the desolate hills outside the booming metropolis. But luck never seems to be on M...

Go to Book No. 70 Check all the Books Here   Name of the Book: ALL ABOARD Author: Kiran Manral The Story: When Rhea Khanna is dumped just days before her wedding, by her boyfriend of four years, the only thing she wants to do is to get out of the city to clear her head. The opportunity presents itself immediately when her aunt, a retired school headmistress, invites her to accompany her on a Mediterranean cruise. As Rhea struggles to cope with her grief of being dumped at the altar, she finds herself getting attracted to the seemingly unavailable Kamal Shahani—the infuriatingly attractive ex-student of her aunt and a hot shot entrepreneur.  To add to the confusion, Sonia, Kamal’s very attractive ex-girlfriend boards the ship in a bid to win him back. Will Rhea heal her broken heart, or will she end up even more shattered than she was when she got on this cruise? Read, to find out.

Introduction ISIN: 978-0701186050 Genre: Fiction/ Drama Publishers: Penguin Random House Price: Rs. 599/- [ I got this book from the publisher for a review ] Spare and unsparing, "God Help the Child" is a searing tale about the way childhood trauma shapes and misshapes the life of the adult. At the center: a woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life; but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love until she told a lie that ruined the life of an innocent woman, a lie whose reverberations refuse to diminish . . . Booker, the man Bride loves and loses, whose core of anger was born in the wake of the childhood murder of his beloved brother . . . Rain, the mysterious white child, who finds in Bride the only person she can talk to about the abuse she's suffered at the hands of her prostitute mother . . . and Sweetness, Bride...

Introduction ISIN: 978-06-7008-812-6 Genre: Non fiction Publishers : Random House Price: Rs. 699/- (I received the book for review from the publisher ) Our times are characterized not by estranged Superpowers building formidable arsenals but by engaged societies building a robust global economy. Emerging countries are redefining the geo-economic (and geopolitical) dynamic; in the new world order, a soaring GDP and a booming population are the true indicators of a nation's strength. The twenty-first century will be led, Raghav Bahl says, by a handful of SuperEconomies-large, prosperous countries with a high growth rate, ranking among the world's top trading partners, commanding 15 to 20 per cent of global GDP, having nuclear arms but using economic leadership to effect significant change.  The USA and China qualify automatically as the two existing SuperEconomies. With its demographic advantage, a surplus of skilled labour, a GDP that is expected to jump from $2 t...

Introduction ISIN: 978-81-8400-523-3 Genre: Sport/Biography Publishers: Random House Price: Rs. 299/- ( I received the book for review from the publisher ) Beyond The Goal: The Official Biography of Baichung Bhutia explains that what Sachin Tendulkar is to cricket in India, Baichung Bhutia is to football, a relatively less popular game in the subcontinent. Nevertheless, the Sikkimese is a household name in India because he was not just the best football player of the nation but also of the entire continent. Indeed, the Sikkimese Sniper, as he is fondly called for his superb shot accuracy, has been winning the hearts of one and all ever since he stepped into the football field in 1993 with his unbelievable skill and charming looks. Bhutia provides ample fodder for a biography not just because he is a football icon in the continent but also because his career has not been without its fair share of controversies. It is the career path and controversies of Bhutia that the aut...

Introduction ISIN: 978-81-8400-651-3 Genre: Non fiction Publishers: Random House Price: Rs. 399/- (I received the book for review from the publisher) Yuva India takes a deep dive into the lives of India’s young men and women. In unravelling what makes them tick, the book uncovers the phenomenon of ‘attitudinal convergence’ that is rapidly growing across youth cohorts in India. Tracing its origin to the arrival of and exposure to a ‘composite culture’, the research behind ‘convergence’ zeroes in on how a young India is defining itself using new-age sensibilities. Drawing on insights collected over a decade, Ray documents and analyses how young men and women in India approach issues of identity, image, sexuality, spirituality, personal relevance, social connections and community, and professional pursuits. In a one-of-a-kind analysis, using comprehensive data from across the nation, Ray scrutinizes young India’s psyche to make sense of their aspirations. Filled with nume...

Introduction ISIN: 978-81-8400-640-7 Genre: Non fiction Publishers: Random House Price: Rs. 199/- (I received the book for review from the publisher) When it comes to getting ahead in life, who we know is as important as what we do. How do you draw people to you? Impress the powerful? Make an impact and extend your circle of acquaintances? Cultivate influential friends? Suhel Seth, a man who knows almost everyone there is to know in the country, brings you the ultimate guide to social success. From the secret to throwing a successful party to the benefits of befriending the less important half of a couple, he gives you canny advice and strategies to become a successful networker. Inspiring, provocative, and wise, Get to the Top is the ultimate book about wielding soft power. Behind The book Source: Goodreads

Introduction ISIN: 978-1-78206-025-3 Genre: Popular Science/ Non fiction Publishers: Random House Price: Rs. 550/- ( I received the book for review from the publisher ) An exploration of how extreme athletes break the limits of ultimate human performance and what we can learn from their mastery of the state of consciousness known as “flow” In this groundbreaking book, New York Times–bestselling author Steven Kotler decodes the mystery of ultimate human performance. Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand interviews with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes such as big–wave legend Laird Hamilton, big–mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of “flow,” an optimal state of consciousness where we perform and feel our best. Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, The Rise of Superman explains how these athletes are using flow to do the impossible and how we can use...

Introduction ISIN: 978-0-670-08705-1 Genre: Non fiction Publishers: Penguin Price: Rs. 499/- ( I got this book from the publisher for review ) For the immensely popular column ‘Zen Garden’ which he published in Forbes India for over three years, bestselling author Subroto Bagchi cpoke to some very interesting people. Many, though not all, of the visitors to ‘Zen Garden’ were, like Subroto himself, high-performance entrepreneurs. But the one thing that was common to every guest was that they were pathmakers – rather than choosing to follow the well-trodden path, they had charted new paths that other could tread on. This book features the very best conversations from ‘Zen Garden’, including those with the Dalai Lama, Sadhguru Jaggi Zasudev, Nandan Nilekani, Aamir Khan, Dr. Devi Shetty, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Ekta Kapoor, social entrepreneur Harish Hande, Sanjeev Bikchandani of naukri.com, Deep Kalra of makemytrip.com, Café Coffee Day’s V.G. Siddhartha, Vikram Bakshi (the...

Introduction ISBN : 978-0-143-42399-7 Genre: Non fiction Publishers: Penguin Price: Rs. 399/- ( I got this book from the publisher for review ) From “one of his generation’s most inventive and gifted writers” (The New York Times) , intimate and sharply observed commentary on life, art, politics, and “the war on terror.” Mohsin Hamid’s brilliant, moving, and extraordinarily clever novels have not only made him an international bestseller, they have earned him a reputation as a “master critic of the modern global condition” (Foreign Policy). His stories are at once timeless and of-the-moment, and his themes are universal: love, language, ambition, power, corruption, religion, family, identity. Here he explores this terrain from a different angle in essays that deftly counterpoise the personal and the political, and are shot through with the same passion, imagination, and breathtaking shifts of perspective that gives his fiction its unmistakable electric charge. A ...