* Teachers are Sculptors; J P Vaswani (Sterling Paperbacks, 2008, pp 112, Rs 100) The author tells us how the teacher can be a force to reckon with today, in the spiritual, intellectual and emotional unfolding of the students.

* A Socialist Critique of the BBC, Albert Einstein, Amartya Sen and Muhammad Yunus; Binay Sarkar (Avenel Press, 2007, pp 112, Rs 80) The author exposes the futility of reformism under the production for profit that is capitalism.

* Blood of the Earth— The Battle for the World’s Vanishing Resources; Dilip Hiro (Penguin, 2007, pp 427, Rs 450) A gripping history of oil and how it has revolutionalised civilian life as well as war and global politics over the last century.

* The Pleasure Inn— A Collection of Short Stories; Sony Kedar (Frog Books, 2008, pp 240, Rs 195) In this collection of short stories the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying.

n Soul Search Engine till now... ; Al Raines (Bombay: Utopia, 2008, pp 99, Rs 199) A spiritual quest spanning millions of lifetimes— ‘the greatest friendship story ever told’.

* Company of Liars— A novel of the Plague; Karen Maitland (Penguin, 2008, pp 558, Pounds 4.99) Midsummer’s day, 1348— On this day of ill omen plague makes its entrance. Take a journey through the ravaged countryside with a band of travellers come together to outrun the breakdown in law and order.

* Monster Love; Carol Topolski (Penguin/Fig Tree, 2008, pp 228, Pounds 14.99) A young couple in love. Each has met their soul mate and nothing can come in between them.

* Patrick Geddes in India; Foreword by Ramachandra Guha (Select Books, 2007, pp 102, Price not mentioned) Patrick Geddes was one of the most dynamic and resourceful figures of his generation and made a profound impact on the thinking of his day.

* Thank you for Arguing— What Aristotle, Eminem and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of persuasion; Jay Heinrichs (Allen Lane, 2008, pp 316, Pounds 6.99) From Cicero’s secrets for moving an audience, to honest Abe’s shameless trick, learn how to argue and, most importantly, win.

* Green Tops in Goa; K A Sahay (First published in 2007, pp 106, Price not mentioned) An informative book on wildlife sanctuaries in Goa, illustrated with beautiful photographs.

*Coping with Life Stress—The Indian Experience; Meena Hariharan, Radhanath Rath (Sage, 2008, pp 286, Rs 375) This book provides a new perspective to the theories of Stress and coping.

* Aesthetics in Marketing; Rajat K Baisya, G Ganesh Das (Sage, 2008, pp 313, Rs 320) This is a book for Indian designers and brand marketers which deals with understanding aesthetics beyond its visual association and making it relevant to product designing strategies.