Page 8 - Book Reading

Gujarat's 19 century trailblazer: 'My Truth' revives legacy of Veer Narmad

Narmad was, thus, our very own Samuel Johnson, besides being his own James Boswel as well! The Narmad-Johnson comparison goes deep

'GeoTechnoGraphy' book offers cold comfort in the rise of digital tech

From Big Tech's grip on daily life to the rise of new tribalism, the perils of digital technology are all too clear. Samir Saran & Anirban Sarma's book is bound to jolt you from complacency

'The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto': The tangled story of cryptocurrency's rise

Even in 1999, the notion of a digital currency that bypassed nation-states and financial institutions was not a novel one

'Classical Music of India': A rich resource for connoisseurs and learners

The book is a great resource for music connoisseurs and music lovers as well as anyone who appreciates music and is interested to learn more about it

'The House of Awadh' delves into Begum Wilayat Mahal's hidden world

With intrigue at the heart of it, The House of Awadh unravels the enigmatic life of Begum Wilayat Mahal and her family

'My Head For A Tree' offers rare insight into the Bishnoi way of life

The author has approached the subject with curiosity, rigour and emotional depth

ISID backs MSMEs, startups to drive manufacturing-led Viksit Bharat

While big industry is crucial, ISID's industrial development report advocates strengthening medium and small enterprises and startups to achieve India's 2047 goal

John Green's latest book traces his long journey with tuberculosis

Green is best known for young adult novels like The Fault in Our Stars, a best-selling tear-jerker about two teenage cancer patients

'Living with Birds': Asad Rahmani's memoir captures birding legacy

Rahmani's most significant contribution has been to bring grassland and savannah squarely into the popular conservation discourse

Rakesh Batabyal's 'Idea of Order' examines European history, nationalism

Professor Batabyal's Indian perspective on this most recent period of European history is obviously relevant for his home audience, but the European public can also learn from it

Satya Mohanty's 'Unpolitically Correct' exposes flaws in public policies

Retired bureaucrat Satya Mohanty's book aims to provoke outrage over policies that ignore public interest, exposing how new programmes are launched without ensuring integrity or inclusivity

Finding the Edge: A masterful tale of Jimmy Anderson's cricketing journey

The story begins at its ending-an ageing but still formidable Anderson-offered a final chance to bow out on his own terms

Diplomat and poet Abhay K reimagines Nalanda's legacy for future learning

The book has eight chapters, the number that holds significance in Buddhist lore. The Dharmacakra, the wheel of Dharma, has eight spikes

Bofors Gate: Chitra Subramaniam's book deep-dives into the arms scandal

A household name for her investigation into the Bofors scandal, Chitra Subramaniam's book offers an unsparing account of the defence deal, even as it examines her own motivation

Every breath you take: Zimmer's Air-Borne explores mysteries of aerobiology

Air-Borne shows us how the scientific community came to understand that Covid-19 transmission was less akin to shots from a gun, and more like smog in a valley

Learning from Silence: Pico Iyer's book explores meaning of suffering, joy

Delicately written, with a rhythm and lyricism that resembles many of Mr Cohen's songs, Learning from Silence is about living a full, robust life with eyes wide open and all senses ablaze

'Casting the Buddha': How Buddhism's ties to power shaped its survival

The chronological approach-from the time of the historical Buddha to the present moment with a Bharatiya Janata Party-run government at the Centre-makes the book easy to follow

Duncan Mavin's 'Meltdown' traces Credit Suisse's grand rise and downfall

Banking often makes for a bad spectator sport. When the money is gone, only the dull parts remain

Chasing Salah: Simon Hughes' valiant attempt to decode the enigma

Chasing Salah is Hughes' valiant attempt to offer a fuller portrait of the man. He is hamstrung by the fact that Salah almost never gives interviews, this book included

Michael Sheridan's book explores the Xi enigma and China's power dynamics

It is hard to shake the feeling that the book fails at multiple levels, principally because of the author's biases