Book Rack...

The book of joshua

Tanya Mendonsa
Harper Collins, 2012, pp 208, 299
Two world travellers meet at a party and realise, as they spend the evening in each other’s company, that they are meant to be together. Enter Joshua, an irresistible cocker spaniel, and the couple’s life is transformed forever.

India grows at night: a liberal case for a strong state

Gurcharan Das
Allen Lane, 2012, pp 320, 599
How can a nation become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies when it is governed by a weak state? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if India’s public policy was supported by private enterprise? Gurcharan Das advocates the need for a strong liberal state.

Counterstrike: the untold story of america’s secret campaign against alqaeda

Eric Schmitt & Thom Shanker
St Martin’s Press, 2012, pp 352, 499
Filled with startling revelations about how the national security of USA is being managed, Counterstrike will change the way everyone thinks about the ongoing struggle with violent extremism in America.

No easy day: the only first-hand account of the navy seal mission that killed osama bin laden

Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
Penguin, 2012, pp 336, 499
This book is a first-person account of the planning and execution of the bin Laden raid from inside the US Navy SEAL team, which carried out the extraordinary mission to kill the terrorist mastermind.

Return to india

Shoba Narayan
Rain Tree, 2012, pp 380 395
Return to India is a brilliant and powerful memoir about what it means to be an immigrant in a foreign country and what propels immigrants to return to their homeland. The author records her dilemma-ridden life as an immigrant straddling two cultures.

Winter of the world

Ken Follett
Pan Macmillan, 2012, pp 640, 399
Set in 1933 Berlin, at a time when Hitler’s grip over Germany strengthens, Ken Follett’s Winter Of The World follows the lives of five linked families as they live out their destinies in a world shaken by tyranny and war in the mid-twentieth century.

Silent house

Orhan Pamuk
Penguin, 2012, pp 334, 599
Each summer, Faruk, Metin and Nilgn come to visit their bitter old grandmother in her dreary seaside home. Over the week, the family face love, old ghosts and childhood memories. Watching them is dwarf Recep, the housekeeper, who has stories of his own.

the mighty fall

Vinita Deshmukh
Menaka Prakashan, 2012, pp 168, 200
This book reflects the social revolution of citizen empowerment and participatory governance sweeping across India, thanks to the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005. Two examples of how RTI proved to be mightier than the mighty in power have been given.

The snow child
Eowyn Ivey
Headline, 2012, pp 384, 395
Set in 1920s Alaska, Jack and Mabel try to make a fresh start in the Alaskan wilderness. But as the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and Mabel can no longer contain her grief over her lost baby. As the first snow falls, Jack and Mabel build a snow girl, which seems to have become
human overnight!