The Art of Choosing
Sheena Iyengar
Hachette India, 2010
Delving into the complex relationship of choice and responsibility, this pleasant read is a self-help book with an attitude, reminding us to question more than once in a while.

Striker/Stopper:
Two novellas
Moti Nany translated by Arunava Sinha
Hachette India, 2010
A fine cocktail of everything Bengali; pride, embarrassing nicknames, mammoth football clubs and their epic rivalries amidst a crowded city dotted with green football grounds in every para (neighbourhood).

Following Fish
Samanth Subramaniam
Penguin Books India, 2010
For a non-fictional social mapping of the history of India’s fish culture, the book reads like one on the threshold of fiction, interjected with personal stories of both the author’s and those he met on this coastal journey.

The Cure
Geeta Anand
Random House India, 2010
The true story of John and Aileen Crowley whose two children were diagnosed with the fatal muscular disorder comes out vividly heart rending. Page after page, one reads as the silent observer to a family that fights to maintain their peace of mind and keep great sorrow at bay.

The Monochrome Madonna
Kalpana Swaminathan
Penguin Books India, 2010
The third book in the ‘Lalli’ mystery series is a smooth and brisk thriller of deceit and intrigue, we watch Lalli revelling in curiosities as she sets her path to solving the mystery.

A quick conversation with Kalpana Swaminathan:
On her readers...
A book is a conversation with a stranger. I do not envision who and how will one be reading my book, it is only after I finish that I think of my readers. More importantly for me writing any book starts with only an idea and the spark. Where the book will take me is always the surprising bit.

On her own books...
My book Venus Crossing was an important book to me because it was written over 15 years and only in public spaces to imbibe the community life around me. The new book is intriguing because this time I pondered, “We always look at paintings and read books, but what if the books start reading us or the paintings start watching us?”

Subscribe to Verve Magazine or buy the Verve issue on stands now!