Book Rack

Storywallah

Neelesh Misra’s Mandali

Penguin, 2018, Rs 250, pp 214

The author, a renowned storyteller, brings together handpicked writers from across the country and shares bittersweet stories of life. Here, homesick journeymen reconnect with their hometowns, old lovers reconcile against all odds, and a war widow stands up to her family. Slice of life, this one.

Monsoon Feelings

Edited by Rajamani, Pernau and Schofield

Niyogi, 2018, Rs 1750, pp 479

The monsoon is the season of intense emotions — love, longing, hope, fear, pleasure, pain, devotion, and joyous excess. Through a series of essays that explore poetry, songs, paintings, architecture, films, gardens, festivals and music, this collection examines the history of monsoon themes in South Asia.

Cast Out and Other Stories

Sucharita Dutta-Asane

Dhauli, 2018, Rs 395, pp 155

This is a collection of short stories set against the backdrop of the night. Most of the stories are set in the everyday, in the moment, in the presence of dampness, mosquitoes, sleep and blankets. These stories are sure to engage the reader.

How to live Plastic Free

Marine Conservation Society

Hachette, 2018, Rs 399, pp 209

Plastic is destroying the marine life in our oceans. This book contains tips on going plastic-free and saving the oceans. It includes little steps which will make a huge difference in the larger picture. The oceans will thank you for it.

Karno’s Daughter

Rimli Sengupta

Context, 2018, Rs 499, pp 187

Buttermilk is a maid in Calcutta. Her extraordinary yet invisible life is captured rather creatively here. It straddles the city, villages, suburbs, and her life brims with stories of betrayal and devastation while travelling the lines of rights and justice.

Note by Note

Ankur Bharadwaj, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 499, pp 321

The story of India over the past 70 years has been of development, social and political change, which has been forgotten, pushed to the recesses of our memories. In a country that has a song for every season and emotion, nothing qualifies as much as the film song to be a metaphor for the nation.

The unsafe asylum

Anirudh Kala

Speaking Tiger, 2018, Rs 350, pp 244

After the partition, India exchanged the Muslim patients in its psychiatric facilities for their Hindu and Sikh counterparts in Pakistan. These interlinked short stories explore the impact of this decision, along with the ongoing partition. A powerful and unsettling collection.

Reminiscences of a Seeker

Kapil Kumar Bhaskar

Angel, 2018, Rs 365, pp 300

A series of events catapults Kapil into the fascinating world of Dark Arts and sucks him into the quagmire of drama, suspense, greed and betrayal. This book tells a true story of an ordinary man plunged into the extraordinary circumstances of the dark world and finding his spiritual calling.