*The Mughal World— Life in India’s Last Golden Age; Abraham Eraly (Penguin Books, 2007, pp 420, Rs 495) The book offers rare insights into the state of the Empire’s economy, religious policies, the Mughal army and its tactics and the glories of Mughal art etc.
*U G Krishnamurti Reader; Edited by Mukunda Rao (Penguin, 2007, pp 257, Rs 250) UG gave no lectures or discourses and had no organisation or fixed address, but he travelled all over the world to meet people who flocked to listen to his anti-teaching.
*Touching Lives— The Little Known Triumphs of the Indian Space Programme; S K Das (Penguin Books, 2007, pp 257, Rs 250) This is a book that introduces us to the other side of the Indian Space Programme and shows us that ISRO is not just rockets.
*Astrid and Veronica; Linda Olsson (First published by Penguin in 2005; This edition published in 2007, pp 252, £2.99) In the midst of a harsh winter, a young writer arrives in the Swedish countryside seeking stillness and solitude.
*Girls of Riyadh; Rajaa Alsanea (Penguin, 2007, pp 299, £ 11.99) This book presents a rare and unforgettable insight into the complicated lives of young Saudi women, whose amazing stories  unfold in a culture so different from our own.
*Raja Ravi Varma— The Most Celebrated Painter of India (1848-1906); E M J Venniyoor (Parsram Mangharam, 2007, pp 208, Price not mentioned) This monograph is a humble tribute to one of the immortals of our land, Raja Ravi Varma, whose paintings have formed the pictoral background to millions of Hindus around the country.