Nothing beats being curled with a warm cup of coffee and good read.
While there are many books to pick from here’s a list of the latest offerings across publication houses.
Gods and Ends by Lindsay Pereira
Gods and Ends by Lindsay Pereira is in the JCB Prize for literature 2021 shortlist. An intriguing debut with Lindsay’s biting sense of humour and quirky voice. Part of the attraction lies in its unconventional form and structure. Philomena Sequeira knows what she wants by the time she turns fourteen. Her father wants something else.
Life is unyielding for the tenants of the rundown Obrigado Mansion in Orlem, a Roman Catholic parish in suburban Bombay. They grapple with love, loss and sin, surrounded by abused wives and repressed widows, alcoholic husbands and dubious evangelists, angry teenagers and ambivalent priests, all struggling to make sense of circumstances they have no control over.
Gods and Ends takes up multiple threads of individual stories to create a larger picture of darkness beneath a seemingly placid surface. It is about intersecting lives struggling to accept change as homes turn into prisons. This is a book about invisible people in a city of millions, and the claustrophobia they rarely manage to escape from.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pride, Prejudice And Punditry: The Essential Shashi Tharoor
There are ten sections in the book, each devoted to a particular topic. ‘In the Company of Giants’ looks at some of the most important figures of modern Indian history; ‘Into the Maelstrom of Indian Politics’ contains work on the Indian political scene; ‘Our Unruly World’ covers international relations and diplomacy; ‘The Hindu Way’ examines various aspects of the faith; ‘Musings of a Cricket Tragic’ includes some of his finest writing on the sport; ‘You Cannot Be Serious!’ is a light-hearted take on sundry matters; ‘Fragments of an Autobiography’ has poignant essays about his parents and an evocative look at his Kerala heritage; ‘The Spoken Word’ is a selection of his most famous speeches; ‘The Writerly Life’ comprises ruminations on writing and writers; and ‘Selected Fiction and Poetry’ showcases his masterpieces of fiction and poetry.
This book will give those new to the author’s work a panoramic view of the range and depth of his writing. Long-time fans will find fresh material to delight them as also ageless pieces that continue to enchant. Dazzling, inventive, and exuberant, Pride, Prejudice, and Punditry present readers with the essential work of a literary genius.
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Bound by Love by Nityananda Charan Das
Love is the most mystical feeling. “It makes us laugh, it makes us cry. It showers with nectar, the heart that is dry.” And this feeling finds its culmination in the loving yet the esoteric bond between the Supreme Lord and His devotees.
‘Bound by Love’ explores that bond and takes us through a plethora of emotions. There is love, adventure, drama, suspense, a test of faith, surrender and much more! Above all, it makes us realise the enchanting sweetness of the Supreme, in a world where most people are only enamoured by or aware of His greatness. There are inspiring, true stories of hope, both contemporary and ancient, which more than being just entertaining, will provide solace to our suffering hearts, especially in these troubled times. No matter who we are, at every moment, we are being tested even if we are on a divine path. Sometimes we pass and sometimes we fail, losing ourselves in the process. Grace coupled with effort, humility as against false ego, enthusiasm along faith and patience is what we all need to survive to sail through and survive.
Publisher: Birch Books
Vipassana by Shonali Sabherwal
Do you wish to sharpen your awareness? Train your mind to observe your thoughts and emotions?
Bestselling author Shonali Sabherwal’s latest book is for anyone looking to start meditating. With a detailed guide and a focus on Vipassna, it shows you how to control the highs and lows in life and take charge of your happiness. It teaches you how to occupy a state of equanimity and be present in the moment through an ancient technique used by the Buddha for enlightenment.
Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash
Lift yourself up on this journey from misery to happiness, from defilement to purity, from bondage to liberation and from ignorance to enlightenment. Turn your life around through Vipassana.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Anitya by Gayatri Jayaraman
They tell us to change is good for us, as a sort of magic pill. But how do we swallow it when it halts us in our tracks, disrupts our lives, and thwarts cherished plans? How do we begin to cope, let alone embrace, what seems like a destructive force? How do we build back with the ground shifting beneath our feet?
In Anitya – impermanence in Sanskrit – mind-body-spirit counsellor, vipassana and Vajrayana practitioner Gayatri Jayaraman shows us how to navigate the pain of change by practically applying the philosophy of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths – Dukkha (Suffering), Samudaya (the Cause), Nirodha (the Cessation), Magga (the Path), in our lives. Weaving together allegories, real-life experiences of people from different walks of life, Zen stories, Vedic and Buddhist philosophies, and guided meditative practices that involve both the mind and body, this book pushes us to challenge our entrenched resistance to change and helps us heal ourselves.
Whether you’re dealing with the loss of a loved one, the failure of a romantic relationship, an unfulfilling career path, or uncertainty and doubt brought on by a seemingly insurmountable global pandemic, Anitya will be your guide to making change work for you.
Publisher: Hachette India
The Odd Book of Baby Names by Anees Salim
A thin ribbon of smoke rose from the edge something stirred in me and I slapped the book against the railing until small specks of fire fell to the floor and died down. It was not just a book of baby names. It was an unusual memoir my father was leaving behind, memories condensed into names; memories of many kisses, lovemaking, panting and feeling spent.
Can life be like a jigsaw puzzle, pieces waiting to be conjoined? Like a game of hide-and-seek? Like playing statues? Can memories have colour? Can the sins of the father survive his descendants? In a family – is it a family if they don’t know it? – that does not rely on the weakness of memory runs a strange register of names. The Odd Book of Baby Names has been custom-made on palace stationery for the patriarch, an eccentric king, one of the last kings of India, who dutifully records in it the name of his every offspring. As he bitterly draws his final breaths, eight of his one hundred rumoured children trace the savage lies of their father and reckon with the burdens of their lineage.
Layered with multiple perspectives and cadences, each tale recounted in sharp, tantalizing vignettes, this is a rich tapestry of narratives and a kaleidoscopic journey into the dysfunctional heart of the Indian family. Written with the lightness of comedy and the seriousness of tragedy, the playfulness of an inventive riddle and the intellectual heft of a philosophical undertaking, this is Salim’s most ambitious novel yet.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh
Before the 18th century, every single nutmeg in the world originated around a group of small volcanic islands east of Java, known as the Banda Islands. As the nutmeg made its way across the known world, they became immensely valuable – in 16th century Europe, just a handful could buy a house. It was not long before European traders became conquerors, and the indigenous Bandanese communities – and the islands themselves – would pay a high price for access to this precious commodity. Yet the bloody fate of the Banda Islands forewarns of a threat to our present day.
Amitav Ghosh argues that the nutmeg’s violent trajectory from its native islands is revealing of a wider colonial mindset that justifies the exploitation of human life and the natural environment, and which dominates geopolitics to this day.
Written against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, and interweaving discussions on everything from climate change, the migrant crisis, and the animist spirituality of indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg’s Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society and reveals the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
