Book Rack

Sea Prayer

Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Dan Williams

Bloomsbury, 2018, Rs 374, pp 48

On a moonlit beach, a father cradles his sleeping son. He tells his boy stories of his childhood and describes the grand souks of Syria before the bombs ravaged them. As the sun rises, he begins to pack his belongings and sets out to find a new home.

The Idol Thief

S Vijay Kumar

Juggernaut, 2018, Rs 499, pp 224

Subhash Kapoor was a New York-based antique dealer whose pieces can be seen in every museum of the world. This is a true story of how he was caught.
It is told by a man who had for years been chasing him and is still tracking the idols that have passed through his hands.

Lethal White

Robert Galbraith

Sphere, 2018, Rs 524, pp 656

Billy, a troubled young man, comes to Cormoran Strike’s office, asks for help in a murder that happened when the former was a child. The job gives Cormoran an unsettling feeling and makes him all the more interested when Billy rushes out of the office halfway through the narration.

The Beauty of All My Days

Ruskin Bond

Penguin, 2018, Rs 399, pp 304

A memoir penned by the author, in which he goes back in time and examines the various events in his life to understand the kind of person he is. He talks of his time in India and how it shaped him as an individual. This one is a peek into the life of a fine writer.

Sugandhi Alias Andal Devanayaki

T D Ramakrishnan, translated by Priya K Nair

Harper, 2018, Rs 399, pp 254

Peter Jeevandam arrives in Sri Lanka to shoot a movie about a human rights activist murdered by the LTTE. The government is more than willing to help. What they don’t know is that he is also searching for Sughandhi — an LTTE member, and the love of his life.

Pakistan Adrift

Asad Durrani

Context, 2018, Rs 699, pp 273

Asad Durrani served as a three-star general in the Pakistan army and later headed the ISI. In this book, he is critical of Pakistan’s civil and military leadership, and provides an insightful account of how the real causes of the country’s travails differ from what international observers have come to believe.

Island of the Day Before

Zuni Chopra

Harper Collins, 2018, Rs 299, pp 214

An otter lies in wait for fish in the sea and wonders about humans and their way of life. An island wakes up to a hovering storm and an untold danger. Through this book, the author takes the readers on a consistently unpredictable voyage. The content is experimental in terms of the themes and form.

Hemalkasa: 22 hours, 22 streaks

Ganesh Venkataraman

Notionpress, 2018, Rs 495, pp 104

The author’s journey through the forests of Maharashtra’s Hemalkasa gives rise to a new way of thinking and induced provocations. Here, he details his nearly day-long stay inside Lok Biradari at Hemalkasa, a social project by Dr Prakash Amte.