New books on the shelves

A sci-fi novel inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio, a reimagination of Indian secularism, and much more.

An Unfinished Search

Rashmi Narzary

Pippa Rann Books & Media

Rs.499

Asman Hazratkandi remains in the village where he was born, while the village itself is shoved from India to Pakistan, and then to Bangladesh. In death, he lies in the no man’s land at the Indo-Bangladesh international border, leaving behind an unfinished search that goes back to Assam’s Malegarh, where lies the graves of 26 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting against the British in 1857. 

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In the Lives of Puppets

T.J. Klune

Tor 

Rs.750 

Inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio, the novel combines sci-fi with adventure to tell the story of a family of three robots and a human living in happiness in a secluded grove till a secret tumbles out. When the fatherly inventor android Gio is captured and taken to the City of Electric Dreams, the rest must journey together to stop him from getting decommissioned. 

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The Perfumist of Paris

Alka Joshi

HarperCollins India

Rs.499

Radha can find the perfect fragrance for any customer who walks through the door. She works for a master perfumer in Paris in 1974 but her husband is not too happy about her job. When she travels to India to find the most seductive perfume, her past life threatens to destroy her already fragile marriage. 

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The Peacemakers  

Edited by Ghazala Wahab

Aleph

Rs. 799

This book profiles a few extraordinary individuals—activists, journalists, politicians, ordinary citizens—who acted when it counted and showed us that it is possible to rise above the hatred and violence that have characterised India as an independent nation.

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Reimagining Indian Secularism

Rajeev Bhargava

Seagull Books

Rs.299

In India, secularism does not demand that the state is against or indifferent to religion, but rather that it combat institutionalised religious domination. Rajeev Bhargava explains how this “principled distance” from religion has been a victim of misunderstanding and deliberate distortion as also how we might one day be able to “rehabilitate” secularism.

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The Stolen Necklace 

Shevlin Sebastian & V.K. Thajudheen 

HarperCollins India

Rs.399

In this exciting story based on true events, V.K. Thajudheen returns from Doha to his hometown, Kannur, for his daughter’s wedding only to be put behind bars for stealing a gold necklace. Thajudheen has a strong alibi but the police is keen to set him up. So starts a game where a common man fights the system and wins the day.  

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Wish List 

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home

Lorrie Moore

Faber & Faber

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Crow Mary

Kathleen Grissom

Simon & Schuster

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The Ghost Theatre 

Mat Osman 

Bloomsbury Publishing

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Shy 

Max Porter 

Graywolf Press

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1964: Eyes of the Storm

Photographs and reflections by Paul McCartney

Allen Lane

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After Work: A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time

Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek

Verso

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Contradiction Days: An Artist on the Verge of Motherhood

JoAnna Novak

Catapult

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Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World

Christian Cooper

Random House