Book rack this week

The Starless Sea

Erin Morgenstern

Penguin, 2019, pp 512, Rs 699

From the author of The Night Circus, comes The Starless Sea, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world —a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

The Moves That Matter

Jonathan Rowson

Bloomsbury, 2019, pp, Rs

Jonathan Rowson's competitive success as a Grandmaster and work as an applied philosopher have given him a unique perspective on why the game of chess is more important than ever for understanding the conflicts and uncertainties of the modern world. Chess emerges as a rich and endlessly suggestive way of thinking about the desires that shape the world around us.

Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story

Mihir Dalal

Pan Macmillan, 2019, pp 320, Rs 699

The definitive account of India’s biggest startup that redefined e-commerce, entrepreneurship and the way we shop and live. Investigative journalist Mihir Dalal recounts the astounding story of how the Bansals built Flipkart into a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse in the span of a few years and made internet entrepreneurship a desirable occupation.

This Is How It Took Place

Rudrakshi Bhattacharjee

Harper Collins, 2019, pp 224, Rs 399

A girl tries in vain to please her mother, a young woman comes to terms with her infidelity, siblings take over each other’s identities – these stories, often told from the perspectives of silent rebels, headstrong loners and nihilistic onlookers, open up the fissures between friendship, love, marriage and familial bonds.

Shakti

Rajorshi Chakraborti

Penguin, 2019, pp 336 Rs 350

Amid a political climate of right-wing, nationalist leadership, three very different women in the city of Calcutta find themselves gifted with magical powers that match their wildest dreams. There is one catch: the gifts come with a Faustian price. With unforgettable heroines and an irresistible pace, Shakti unfolds a world of as much courage as there is darkness, and a journey across a country in the throes of profound transformation.

Discovering Bengaluru

Meera Iyer

Bengaluru Chapter of INTACH, pp 339, Rs 700

This book walks you through a past that is still present in Bengaluru. Packed with archival maps and photographs, the book is part history and part walking-guide. It tells the stories of the streets where people lived, where battles were fought and whre little marvels of architecture, culture or nature are still found around almost every corner.

Journey To The End Of The Universe

Sharad B Nalawade

Sharad B Nalawade, pp 173, Rs 350

Enjoy a breathtaking window-seat view of our universe and learn the deep mysteries. Little or no science background needed, only curious mind will do.

Nat, a 47-year-old veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.

Agent Running in the Field

John le Carré

Penguin, 2019, pp 186, Rs 599

Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.