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Saturday 08 Jan 2011

2011: The Year Of Reading Vigorously

An immensely biased list of notable books and authors you can look
out for in the coming calendar
By
They come in all shapes and formats. In papyrus, PDF and prisoned in the countless columns of excel sheets.
Pamphlets with olive green covers, purple borders and neatly assembled interiors. Some wear a futuristic
look; some shaggy. PDFs with neatly sprinkled low-resolution thumbnails and blurbs that resemble
well-groomed Elvis sideburns. Well, I am talking about catalogues that reach me, mostly in December, in
envelopes that open with the fragrance of fresh earth or emails that bear curious subject lines that make one
think of the Kim Ki-duk film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. Yes, books for all seasons.

Walter Benjamin put it best. He wrote in Unpacking My Library, “If there is a counterpart to the confusion
of a library, it is the order of its catalogue.” As I browse catalogues piled up on my desk and desktop, I realise
they are curtain raisers for the madness that we would plunge into in the new year — the confusion and chaos
of chasing down favourite authors, pet issues and imprints one is madly in love with. Yes, there are such
souls, at least one I know of; who has taken the vow that he would buy all the Verso (London) titles next
year. So, what can BW readers look out for next year on the book front? Well, many. Here’s a sprinkling of
subjects from business and economy to politics to weight loss.

HarperCollins India has quite a few notables. The DLF Saga, penned by real estate mogul K.P. Singh with
author Ramesh Menon, is one. The End Of Suffering by journalist-turned politician Arun Shourie is another,
along with Redesigning Your Life by business litterateur Porus Munshi and Dragon On The Prowl: India’s
China Problem by strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney. Last year, too, had a prominent India-China
tome: Raghav Bahl’s Superpower? (Penguin Portfolio). HarperCollins also has two prominent
autobiographies lined up, by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Viswanathan Anand.

Penguin India will feature two IT top guns in 2011: former TCS helmsman S.
IN FICTION
Ramadorai and Wipro founder Azim Premji. While Ramadorai, along with
Paul Taylor, scripts The TCS Story And Beyond, Premji comes up with
Connecting The Dots: Azim Premji On Leadership, Values And Learning. Shobhaa De
Penguin has more: The Big Bookshelf: Sunil Sethi in Conversation with 30 Shethji, PENGUIN
Famous Authors, Jayalalithaa by noted Tamil writer Vaasanthi, Hunger In
India by social activist and columnist Harsh Mander and The Gas Wars by Sudha Murthy
business journalist Alam Srinivas and academic Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. A novel, PENGUIN
Srinivas’s previous work Ambani Vs Ambani: Storms In The Sea Wind (2008,
Roli Books) was a bestseller. Memoirs of former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral

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is another Penguin notable in 2011.

Aravind Adiga
Random House India’s (RHI) 2011 offerings include Cinnamon Club by Vivek The Last Man In The
Singh with Abdul Yaseen and Hari Nagaraj, a book that blends western with Tower,
the best of traditional Indian cuisine. Last year, too, RHI had a cuisine delight: HARPERCOLLINS
The Mainland China Cookbook, a brilliantly produced work. Also from RHI in
2011 is The Great Speeches of Modern India edited by Rudrangshu Tarun Tejpal
Mukherjee. An Economist’s Miscellany by chief economic advisor Kaushik The Village Of Masks,
Basu is among the big releases from Oxford University Press India. HARPERCOLLINS

Sage Publishing has also roped in some of the best minds in India’s academic- David Davidar
scape. You have Jagdish N. Sheth, with his Legends In Marketing series. Ithaca,
Market strategist and thinker Rama Bijapurkar comes up with Customer In HARPERCOLLINS
The Board-Room: Creating Customer Based Business Strategy, while brand
consultant Anand Halve enters bookstores with Darwin’s Brands: Adapting Manju Kapur
Custody, RANDOM
Your Way to Success. Sage also offers Towards Financial Inclusion In India by
HOUSE
K.G Karmakar, G.D. Banerjee and N.P. Mohapatra.

Westland-Tranquebar has a slingshot from celeb dietician Rujuta Diwekar, author of Don’t Lose Your Mind
Lose Your Weight (2009, RHI). In Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha, to be released this month, Kareena
Kapoor’s diet strategist is expected to reveal more mantras for India Eating. Westland has journalist Aarthi
Ramachandran write a book on the Congress heir apparent; The Making Of Rahul Gandhi — A Biography
(working title). Mafia Queens Of Mumbai by S. Hussain Zaidi with Jane Borges is going to be Westland’s
other popular release in 2011.

Now, this isn’t from an Indian author, yet, the much-awaited sequel to Shantaram, The Mountain Shadow by
Gregory David Roberts, is one of the super leads from Hachette India in 2011, along with 24 Akbar Road by
Rasheed Kidwai, Geek Nation by Angela Saini, Training The Mind by Dalai Lama and The Boss Is Not Your
Friend by Vijay Nair. There are many more books waiting in the stables of several other publishers — from
Rupa to Roli to Jaico, raring to hit the shelves. As British writer James Bryce puts it, “The worth of a book is
to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” For which you have to wait for the books to hit your
shelf. So, get yourself ready for a wonderful year of reading. And do look forward to our reviews.

jinoy dot p at abp dot in

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