Book Rack

Ha Ha Hu Hu

V Satyanarayana, translated by V Narayana Rao

Penguin, 2018, Rs 399, pp 184

Two novellas in translation, the first is a tale of an extraordinary creature. Dressed in silks, it has the head of a horse and the body of a human. The second is a satire in which Tikanna visits a Telugu lecturer in a dream and asks to be taught English.

History Repeating

Sam Wilkin

Profile, 2018, Rs 539, pp 288

What causes political instability? How does one tell that one’s country is in for turbulence? What does social science suggest we do? Traversing through history, across dictators and revolutionaries, the author attempts to answer these questions. And most importantly, how to fix things without much damage.

The Story of a Long-Distance Marriage

Siddhesh Inamdar

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 199, pp 176

Rohan and Ira are happily married, but their life takes an unexpected turn when Ira decides to leave for New York to study. Being the new-age couple, they are keen on not letting marriage come in between their ambitions and careers.

Conspiracy

Ryan Holiday

Hachette, 2018, Rs 499, pp 319

In 2007, a short blog post outed the enigmatic Facebook and PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel as gay. In 2016, Gawker was forced to declare bankruptcy after a $140 million judgement over an illegally recorded sex tape. What is the plot and who is the mastermind?

The Shrine of Death

Divya Kumar

Bloomsbury, 2018, Rs 259, pp 296

Prabha Sinha is plunged into the murky world of idol theft, murder and betrayal after she gets a mysterious phone call one night from her old friend Sneha Pillai. As she races against time to find answers along with officials, nothing is as it seems and everything needs to be questioned.

Factfulness

Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling

Hachette, 2018, Rs 499, pp 342

When asked simple questions such as what percentage of people are living in poverty, why is the global population increasing, we get the answers wrong. The author and collaborators offer a radical explanation and reveal 10 instincts that distort our perspective.

The Pataala Prophecy

Christopher C Doyle

Westland, 2018, Rs 327, pp 360

Fifteen-year-old Maya and Arjun find their placid world suddenly overturned when their favourite history teacher is found murdered. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger’s reappearance after 5,000 years strikes fear into the hearts of powerful members of the secret society, Sangha. Who is he? What is the prophecy?

Secret Sauce

Priya Bala and Jayanth Narayanan

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 599, pp 228

A first-ever in-depth look at 40 of India’s most iconic and successful restaurants, which are not just landmarks on the culinary landscape, but also businesses that have stood the test of time in an industry where the rate of failures is notoriously high. It also elaborates on what makes these places unique.