Literature
Power, crime, survival: The women who define Mafia Queens of India
The book opens with Mr Zaidi's journey to meet a mysterious figure who people call Akka, once a key aide to one of Mumbai's mob bosses Varadarajan Mudaliar
 "Power, crime, survival: The women who define Mafia Queens of India")
Between being and nothingness: Yiyun Li picks acceptance as a way of living
Yiyun Li is an award-winning Chinese-American author with multiple novels and short story collections to her name
 "Between being and nothingness: Yiyun Li picks acceptance as a way of living")
Scamlands: From Cambodia to Jamtara, a deep dive into global fraud networks
A sharp, immersive look at phone fraud networks, their victims, and the hidden economies that keep them alive
 "Scamlands: From Cambodia to Jamtara, a deep dive into global fraud networks")
The Breath of the Gods: The polymath probes a force driving human history
Simon Winchester's The Breath of the Gods explores how wind has shaped exploration, disaster, innovation, and imagination, even as its future remains uncertain
 "The Breath of the Gods: The polymath probes a force driving human history")
Manoj Kumar Jha's book explains hope versus reality in coalition politics
A timely collection reflects on democratic ideals, coalition failures, federalism and the need for active citizenship as India debates the future of its political culture
 "Manoj Kumar Jha's book explains hope versus reality in coalition politics")
Voice of the people: Book explains why speeches matter in a democracy
Ms Gupta's selection captures not the speeches alone but the parry and thrust that goes on between the treasury and Opposition benches. CPI (M) leader, late Sitaram Yechury never disrupted parliament
 "Voice of the people: Book explains why speeches matter in a democracy")
Girls Who Said Nothing and Everything: A journey towards selfhood
In a sense, the book is a kind of quiet revolution, reclaiming the voice and identity of Indian girls across generations
 "Girls Who Said Nothing and Everything: A journey towards selfhood")
Tangerine: A journey of self and truth shaped by political change
It tells the story of an unexpected journey into Hindu philosophy during a period of personal turmoil
 "Tangerine: A journey of self and truth shaped by political change")
Jason Bardi's book retraces conceptual conflicts between mathematicians
The Great Math War does something most popular math books don't; it situates mathematics in the context of the people doing the mathematics - and the lives they were living outside the profession
 "Jason Bardi's book retraces conceptual conflicts between mathematicians")
Ritwik Ghatak, rebel auteur who drew upon his life and times for his art
November 4 marked the centenary of Ghatak, Indian cinema's rebel auteur. Along with Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, he is often hailed as one of Bengali cinema's three maestros
 "Ritwik Ghatak, rebel auteur who drew upon his life and times for his art")
A Sixth of Humanity: India's journey between democracy and economic growth
This narrative about India's development is described as an odyssey, perhaps because of the policy shortfalls and mishaps in the development voyage
 "A Sixth of Humanity: India's journey between democracy and economic growth")
Let My Country Awake: Miller's book omits nuances of the Ghadar movement
As Scott Miller writes in Let My Country Awake, the story of the anticolonial Ghadar movement, Indian migrant workers soon found themselves attracted to radical labour organisations
 "Let My Country Awake: Miller's book omits nuances of the Ghadar movement")
The Maker of Filmmakers: How Jagat Murari shaped filmmaking culture
The book is a compelling study of FTII's early years, revealing how great institutions can decay over time due to mismanagement and the failures of those entrusted to protect them
 "The Maker of Filmmakers: How Jagat Murari shaped filmmaking culture")
The Shortest History of AI: How the world came to love and fear it
The world has become firmly divided into two camps. One side believes that AI will solve almost all our problems pretty soon. The other worries about the emerging dangers
 "The Shortest History of AI: How the world came to love and fear it")
Wut's in a word? A new book spells out the threats to the dictionary
Fatsis provides an excellent primer on Merriam-Webster's role in the culture wars, with thorough accounts of the dictionary's approach to the N-word, the F-word, "Covid-19" and "woke"
 "Wut's in a word? A new book spells out the threats to the dictionary")
Lo Bir Sendra: Jaipal Singh's memoir speaks of an Adivasi in two worlds
If the text sometimes feels disjointed, it is, perhaps, because Singh was not writing for publication but to remember
 "Lo Bir Sendra: Jaipal Singh's memoir speaks of an Adivasi in two worlds")
How ordinary Indians shaped the making of the Constitution
The book under review is a most refreshing departure from this pattern. It discusses how people at large participated in what it correctly calls the assembling of the Constitution
 "How ordinary Indians shaped the making of the Constitution")
Devils' Advocates: Is American foreign policy genuinely for sale?
Vogel traces the alarm over foreign lobbying to a well-known scandal from the 1930s in which some of America's top public relations men were charged
 "Devils' Advocates: Is American foreign policy genuinely for sale?")
On the Brink of Belief: A book on gender, religion, and the margins
A new anthology brings together 24 queer and trans writers from South Asia exploring faith, identity, and belonging under the editorship of poet Kazim Ali
 "On the Brink of Belief: A book on gender, religion, and the margins")
Wall Street's original sin: Sorkin revisits the greed and glamour of 1929
Over the course of more than 400 pages, tha author narrates a fable of greed, corruption and incompetence to shock the conscience
 "Wall Street's original sin: Sorkin revisits the greed and glamour of 1929")
