Masterpieces You Can’t Miss This Upcoming Winter

 

Cold, wintery days and a hot mug of coffee…curled up in a favourite spot, soaking in the warmth of the house, and cosying up with an interesting book…this winter which seems more isolated than ever, get up close with some charming books from a plethora of genres and enjoy the good company of some amazing picks from the literary world.

Here are some wonderful winter reads to entice the reader in you and curb the need for a mid-winter pick me up.

 

LUCY 3: LUCY AND THE RISE OF THE PARABOLA by Anandajit Goswami and Debashis Chakraborty

 

The third sequel in the LUCY Series, LUCY and the Rise of the Parabola is a Sci-Fi thriller based around the central character, Lucy who is the Earth’s only hope who can venture into the future and save the world from impending doom. A mega-adventure filled with treacherous twists, sinister entities, dark forces, and a fast-paced journey, the book is sure to keep you hooked till the end and keep you entranced in the magnum opus of engaging science fiction. Indulge in this adrenaline rush to find out whether the Earthlings’ only hope, Lucy can travel to the future and find out the answer to save the world or will she be engulfed by the dark forces?

An Academician and a Musician, Anandajit Goswami Anandajit Goswami has co-authored, co-edited academic books, published academic papers, popular articles, and co-authored and authored sci-fi books. As TERI Africa Coordinator, he was based at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). He regularly writes opinion pieces on his blog space and his music for sustainability-related tracks is popular on his channel in Soundcloud.

 

MYSTICS AND MUSES by Supraajha Murali

 

"Tales are built and screens are peeled,

The hushes of Time are now unveiled"

 

Supraajha Murali whisks readers into four worlds of mists, mirth, and monsters with her second book, "Mystics and Muses", a collection of four short stories. Each page has its own bed of dreams to drown in, holding you spectator to a time when the fences of this world and those of the beyond were melted down by destiny's will, forcing four naïve humans, and four of the fair folk themselves together.

Four ordinary humans with knowledge of neither magic nor beings of the beyond come face-to-face with four otherworldly creatures, each carrying their own burdens, hopes, and trajectories. The lasting impact they leave on each other is what propels their lives forward, forming the core of the wok. With all four stories being set in highly romanticized Indian locations such as Ooty and Kanyakumari, the anthology explores themes such as Mysticism, Solitude, Vagrancies, Time, and Hope, making it a perfect read for chilly wintery afternoons.

Supraajha Murali is a novelist, poet, and engineer-in-the-making, who aims to take the literary world by a storm with her debut novel ‘Half A Moonstone’. She lays claim over her engineering notes through carelessly inked poetry on the margins.

 

DAWN THE WARRIOR PRINCESS OF KASHMIR by Rakesh K Kaul

 

The last girl on Earth must become the ultimate warrior to fight a primeval power and wage a war against King Arman who is set to create a world overrun by human-AI hybrids. Having lived alone with her mother in a sanctuary cave in the Trans-Himalayas, Dawn is visited by two strange guests bearing an odd warning and request—she is in great peril and must embark on a mission to save the world. As she space-jumps through past eras, she readies to battle the most technologically advanced, lethal empire ever known to man. A sci-fi saga that reveals eternal truths, the book is sure to keep you glued to the pages as it traverses the terrains of the Kashmir Valley —the birthplace of the greatest stories ever.

Rakesh Kaul, an IIT gold medallist, migrated to the US in 1972. He was a founding contributor to the first Chair of India Studies at the University of California Berkeley, the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Mattoo Center for India Studies at The State University of New York. He is the author of the bestseller The Last Queen of Kashmir. Kaul has had a distinguished business career as CEO and leadership positions of publicly-traded companies in the US. He serves as the Vice-Chair of the Indo-American Arts Council.

 

 

 

 

FRAUDS IN THE POND by Josma Ettumanur

 

Although a lot of fiction books are coming out in India “Frauds in the Pond” stands ahead of them because it is a political satire. Veteran Journalist Josma Ettumanur’s book can be placed with ‘The God of Small Things’(Arundhati Roy), Q and A (Slumdog Millionaire-Vikas Swarup), and ‘The White Tiger’ (Aravind Adiga) as it addresses such issues with a more political and social punch. Being a journalist for decades in Kerala and New Delhi he uncovers the ‘behind the scenes’ of Media and politicians through funny situations. This pan-Indian story runs from Amritsar to Kanyakumari and Mumbai to Varanasi with real fun. A definite winter pick-me-up and a must-read for both serious and light readers.

 

AANANDI by Jyoti Jha

 

An illustrative symbol of women empowerment and an inspiration for women of all sections of the society, ‘Aanandi’ is an upcoming Hindi novel depicting the story of a girl born in a small village in India and her tryst with life’s struggles and setbacks imposed by the society and family. With the help of her extraordinary intellect, willingness to survive through odds, an awareness of education and its importance in becoming self-reliant, the girl fights through the adversities of life. A heartwarming light winter read, Aanandi is set to connect today's young generation with the reality of their desired society and several aspects like rural environment, generations finding their existence in cities, people's mentality, place of women in society, and changes in social conditions over last several decades, etc.

An HR-turned-Author, Jyoti Jha has lived in the USA and UK for about a decade. TOI Write India Season 3 winner and three books to her credit, she has been an esteemed guest speaker at prestigious institutes like IITs and IIM Lucknow. She aims to give a positive direction to society through her writings.

 

CORPORATE FRAUDS by Robin Banerjee   

 

Fraudsters are lurking around us – be it in business or otherwise. Numerous are the ways that are used by some corporates. Falsification of accounting numbers, financial shenanigans, reneging quality promises, banking bamboozles, black money, money laundering, shell companies, tax avoidance, technology tricks, cybercrimes, lies, and damn lies. A business non-fiction book, ‘Corporate Frauds’ has over 350 stories with names. Creating an awareness of how swindlers rip off and knowing their tricks will help unravel the hocus-pocus of the magicians of hoax, the book is an attempt to bring to fore the many lies and deceptions committed by the business world.  From the author for two bestsellers, Who Blunders and How (2019) and Who Cheats and How (2015), comes an exciting and fast-paced rundown of how cons and swindlers mint money. Discussing the psyche and modus operandi of the defrauders, the book highlights the impact and possible actions to avoid, prevent or protect against chicaneries. 

Perhaps one of its kind, pick up this good winter read to be aware, anticipate, and avoid the business-world charlatans lurking around to con us.