Book Rack

America For Beginners

Leah Franqui

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 499, pp 308

A tour company takes tourists to the USA at a fixed price with no refunds. There’s the first-time traveller Pival along with Rebecca, an aspiring actor, and Satya, a resourceful tour guide. As their preconceptions about each other and America are challenged, they might just learn to live again.

Bastar Dispatches

Narendra

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 499, pp 262

The Abujhmadias in Bastar, a hunter-gatherer tribe, today stands as one of the few mirrors of the world wherein modernity can view itself — in collapses and calamities. A compelling narrative of a people at peace with themselves and nature.

Frontiers

Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran

Penguin, 2018, Rs 399, pp 487

Aurangzeb and his massive armies have been unleashed to crush a Maratha warrior who is about to set a dangerous precedent. What will happen when the two come face-to-face? A historical saga that brings to life complex and ever-shifting dynamics. What happens when they meet?

Collaborative Advantage

Paul Skinner

Robinson, 2018, Rs 499, pp 218

The history of strategy has been built on the idea that businesses must compete to win. But, what if the competitive model is now broken? In an interconnected world, could strategies to create competitive advantage actually be holding your business back?

Little Things

Dipen Shah

Penguin, 2018, Rs 199, pp 207

Whether it is in dealing with a bad day at work, trying out a new restaurant, Dhruv and Kavya are there for each other. Their lives are a series of simple yet charming incidents that makes for a heart-warming read. It is adapted from the popular web series
of the same name.

Wonder Girls

Varsha Adusumilli

Juggernaut, 2018, Rs 299, pp 255

It is a collection of 15 inspirational stories about
everyday Indian girls — their career choices and the challenges they’ve overcome to make a name for themselves. This one is an affirmation to all young women that they can achieve whatever they set their hearts on.

When I Hid my Caste

Baburao Bagul, translated by Jerry Pinto

Speaking Tiger, 2018, Rs 399, pp 135

This is Baburao Bagul’s debut collection of short stories written in 1963. It revolutionised not only Dalit but all Marathi and Indian literature. The stories are rooted in realism and do not understate the experience of their protagonists living in a hierarchy.

The Disobedient Indian

Ramin Jahanbegloo

Speaking Tiger, 2018, Rs 499, pp 169

Here, the author argues that the core idea of Gandhi’s philosophy of resistance is his unshakeable conviction that it is no longer possible to organise political action without disobedience. As a result, democracy needs to be structured in a certain way that there is room for questions and refusal to comply with unjust laws.