Circus, romance and love for trees (IANS Books This Weekend)

Read a classic action-packed story of loyalty, faith and teamwork revolving around a circus; flick through a love story driven by fate, which plays its dirty trick again and again; and open your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass and flower petal.

The IANS bookshelf offers an interesting variety this weekend. Read on!

1. Book: Circus; Author: V Madhavan Nair; Publisher: Hachette; Pages: 127; Price: Rs 250

A circus is more than just tricks.

The popular and fun-filled Koman Circus has been wrested away from Koman, the beloved ringmaster, by his cunning manager, Kelan. And now sadly Koman is dead, leaving the animals and other circus artistes helpless. Led by Chimpa the chimpanzee, the animals decide to start their own circus. They learn to do everything themselves - from managing money to thinking of new and dazzling tricks. Will their circus, the first of its kind, triumph over all odds? Or will Kelan succeed in his wicked plans to take everything away from them again?

This classic action-packed story of loyalty, faith and teamwork, written by the iconic Malayalam writer Mali, has been fully translated into English for the first time by his granddaughter and author Parvathi Ramkumar, to bring it to thousands more young readers.

2. Book: A Handful of Sunshine; Author: Vikram Bhatt; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 273; Price: Rs 299

The first time Veer set his eyes on Maia, he felt such an intense attraction that he was swept away by the magic. Strangely, Maia felt it too. Soon it became their lives. It was as if the only reality was this inexplicable force that drew them together.

However, just like the whirlwind that it was, it tore them apart. A tragedy caught them unawares and jolted them out of their stupor. What it left in its wake was hatred-as potent as their love. Things did not end there. Several years later, fate played its dirty trick again and brought them face-to-face.

This time, the choice is theirs: to let their hatred destroy them or to give love another chance.

3. Book: Lab Girl; Author: Hope Jahren; Publisher: Fleet; Pages: 369; Price: Rs 499

"Lab Girl" is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren's remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom's labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done with both the heart and the hands; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.

Jahren's probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. "Lab Girl" opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.

--IANS

mg/vm