A Touch of Salt
Anita Agnihotri, translated by Arunava Sinha
Penguin India
Rs.399
This is the story of the Agariyas, the salt-harvesters in the Rann of Kutch. They have had no water, homes or schools ever since the entire Rann was declared a reserved forest. So, like Mahatma Gandhi before them, they take up the fight for salt against the government, this time in independent India.
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Across the River
Bhaichand Patel
Speaking Tiger
Rs.499
Two young women from Old Delhi belonging to different faiths are the best of friends. Both are expected to marry early, within the same caste and faith, to men chosen by their families. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they start working in a Noida factory.
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Song of the Day
Preet Modi
Westland
Rs.250
In these stories, young people navigate the complexities of love, loss, and life in a changing world. While everything shifts madly, what remains are the fleeting moments—stolen glances, unsaid words, songs that become earworms.
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Revolution Within
Nampudiri Women as Agents of Social Reform in Kerala
T.K. Anandi
Tulika Books
Rs.850
The Nampudiri reform movement of Kerala was unique for how it addressed the gender question. T.K.Anandi explores how this resistance against Brahminical patriarchy, initiated by women and youth in the turn of the 20thcentury, contributed to the growth of progressive democratic movements in the State.
Also Read | New books on the shelves
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This Too Is India: Conversations on Diversity and Dissent
Edited by Githa Hariharan
Context
Rs.599
Originally published in the Indian Cultural Forum, these discussions between Githa Hariharan and a cross-section of academics, activists, and artists reflect on a range of ideas about Indian society, culture, and politics, from caste and contested texts to the silences that surround dissent.
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Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity
Production, Representation, and Reception
Nadira Khatun
Oxford University Press
Rs.1,295
In popular Hindi cinema, Muslims have traditionally been portrayed through the lens of religion. Focussing as she does on Bollywood through a postcolonial feminist lens, Nadira Khatun seeks to understand how narratives about Muslims have changed with changing times over the last seven decades.
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Fiction
She’s Always Hungry
Eliza Clark
Faber & Faber
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All the Colors of the Dark
Chris Whitaker
Crown
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The Fate of Mary Rose
Caroline Blackwood
Virago Modern Classic
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All My Precious Madness
Mark Bowles
Galley Beggar Press
Also Read | New books on the shelves
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Non-fiction
Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox
Naila Kabeer
LSE Press
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The Nazi Study of India and Indian Anti-Colonialism: Knowledge Providers and Propagandists in the ‘Third Reich’
Baijayanti Roy
Oxford University Press
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Forests of Refuge: Decolonizing Environmental Governance in the Amazonian Guiana Shield
Dr Yolanda Ariadne Collins
University of California Press
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Something in the Woods Loves You
Jarod K. Anderson
Timber Press
