Postscript
Cecelia Ahern
Harper Collins, 2019, pp 368, Rs 399
Inspired by hearing about her late husband Gerry’s letters, the ‘PS, I Love You Club’ wants Holly Kennedy to help them with their own parting messages for their loved ones to discover after they’re gone. But she doesn’t want to be dragged back to the grief.
Saying No to Jugaad
T N Hari, M S Subramanian
Bloomsbury, 2019, pp 194, Rs 599
Entertaining and anecdotal, the book is not a panegyric about the founders or the company but is the story of real people and a real company with real flaws. It captures the vision, culture and commitment to values which has made Bigbasket one of India’s most successful start-ups.
Ducks, Newburyport
Lucy Ellmann
Pan Macmillan, 2019, pp 1,020, Rs 1,120
Ducks, Newburyport lays out a whole world for you to tramp around in. A heart-rending indictment of America’s barbarity, and a lament for the way we are blundering into environmental disaster, this book is both heresy and a revolution in the novel.
The Ride of a Lifetime
Robert Iger
Penguin, 2019, pp 272, Rs 699
The CEO of Disney, one of Time’s most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life.
How to Become Rich
Devdutt Pattanaik
Rupa, 2019, pp 120, Rs 195
How to Become Rich is a simple retelling of the stories of Lakshmi found in the Vedas and Puranas. Devdutt Pattanaik deftly explains what Hinduism says about economics at a personal level as well as at the social level.
The Cockroach
Ian McEwan
Penguin, 2019, pp 112, Rs 699
That morning, Jim Sams, clever but by no means profound, woke from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed into a gigantic creature. Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life, he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain – and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people.
My Little Epiphanies
Aisha Chaudhary
Bloomsbury, 2019, pp 116, Rs 350
Aisha Chaudhary was born with SCID and underwent a bone-marrow transplant when she was six months old. The last few months of her life felt like a roller-coaster ride, one that seemed to be mostly going down. Spending almost all her time lying in bed, Aisha wrote down her thoughts to get some relief, to get them out of her head.
Never Grow Up
Jackie Chan
Simon & Schuster, 2019, pp 352, Rs 399
In Never Grow Up, Jackie Chan, the global superstar, reflects on his early life, including his childhood years at the China Drama Academy, his big breaks and setbacks in Hong Kong and Hollywood, his numerous brushes with death, and his life as a husband and father.