Oct 01, 2022 07:33 AM IST

Eric Ambler’s spy thrillers still resonate today

In 'Cause for Alarm', Eric Ambler’s 1938 novel, an engineer in Fascist Italy is caught up in deadly games between European powers.

Book review: ‘Happiness In Action’ is a critique of self-help genre but can't escape its trappings entirely

Whether or not 'Happiness In Action' helps you find happiness, it will make you introspect.

Book review: 'Influence Empire' doesn't start as a cautionary tale, but ends up being one

What has enabled Tencent to compete with Jack Ma’s Alibaba? Why did Donald Trump try to curtail American investments in Tencent? How does Tencent benefit from investing in start-ups? The book engages with questions that are confounding for people outside China.

Book review: Shaili Chopra's 'Sisterhood Economy' draws on personal experiences, interviews

'Sisterhood Economy' examines issues like gender pay gap, expectations of unpaid housework and care work, poor healthcare services for women, and the threat of sexual harassment.

Book review: The whys have it

In seven quick chapters, scientist Justin Gregg unpacks how humans are 'why' specialists, and why we would do well not to consider our intelligence superior to other animals'.

The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida book review: In war-torn Sri Lanka, a ghost probes into his own death

The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka’s second novel after Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, is long-listed for the 2022 Booker Prize.

Book review: Captain G.R. Gopinath's writing in 'Our India' is sharp, empathetic, well-reasoned

Among other things, Air Deccan founder Captain Gopinath offers warm recollections of his interactions with famous men from different walks of life – cartoonist R. K. Laxman, singer Pandit Jasraj, writer-director Girish Karnad, and Café Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha.

There’s more to Japanese novels than Murakami

Newly translated work by Emi Yagi and Mieko Kawakami deal with how the interior worlds of single women are at odds with exterior expectations.

Mohsin Hamid’s fluid worlds

Mohsin Hamid’s forthcoming book 'The Last White Man' is a stinging index of our times, shaped by the pandemic and identity upheavals.

Book review: Long-listed for the Booker Prize 2022, 'Glory' is a punchy political satire from Zimbabwe

In language that crackles with innovation, wit, wild exuberance and a sharp bite, Bulawayo choreographs the transgenerational trauma of a postcolonial nation where one tyrant is brought down only to be replaced by another.

A Country Called Childhood book review: Deepti Naval's memoir is thoughtful, intense

Where the Cobbled Path Leads book review: A rich addition to the expanding world of writings from Nagaland

'Lessons in Chemistry' book review: A riveting story about sexism in science

'Lessons in Chemistry' is a fizzing first novel for a number of reasons. Despite the serious theme, Bonnie Garmus’ writing, characterized by a dry wit, keeps us entertained.

Storyboard18 | Bookstrapping: Upgrade by Blake Crouch

As our reviewer closed this book, this is what she understood of its message - ‘We need to stop humanity from destroying itself by upgrading our collective intelligence and reason. We will die out in the next century if nothing changes.’ Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Down and out in Paris

Edward Chisholm’s memoir about working as a waiter in a Paris restaurant reveals the shadows in the City of Light.

Book review: How Jack Welch paved the way for GE's spectacular decline, and broke capitalism in the process

In 'The Man Who Broke Capitalism', David Gelles analyses the impact of Jack Welch and GE on the business world with considerable journalistic rigour.

Book review: Accenture’s top minds on humanizing AI

'Radically Human' draws on research which shows that most companies use emerging technologies as a lifeline, not as engines of innovation. And the few that do the latter, have reaped huge rewards.

Cold Justice review: When the judge is the accused

Vish Dhamija writes in an easy, direct style and the basic premise of 'Cold Justice' is interesting. However, the characters, for the most part, are cardboard cut-outs.

Book review | Deceptively simple rules to saving and investing

'Just Keep Buying' by Nick Maggiulli shares ideas around managing money and our behaviour around money, by breaking the thought into two equally important parts—saving and investing. And it’s all fortified by data and analytics.

Two debut novels about lives shaped by the Internet

New work by Aravind Jayan and Sheena Patel portrays characters whose lives are mediated by the Internet, making them adapt and adjust.

Storyboard18 | Bookstrapping: The Man Who Bent Light by Narinder Singh Kapany

The fusion of ‘science as a universal need’ and ‘religion as a universal truth but private practice’ emerges beautifully from this book. Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Storyboard18 | Bookstrapping: Disrupting the Game by Nintendo America's former president and CEO, Reggie Fils Aime

The book is a "business memoir” in which the reader learns that Reggie Fils Aime ‘lived his life at the intersection of capability and opportunity.’ Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

The enduring magic of Ashwin Sanghi's Bharat Series

With so many moving parts, it’s a wonder that the narrative throughline of 'The Magicians of Mazda' doesn’t get hopelessly entangled - and herein lies author Ashwin Sanghi’s ingenuity.

Book review: 'Maverick Commissioner' goes behind the scenes of Lalit Modi's rise and steep fall

Lalit Modi was the most important person in cricket between 2005 and 2010 - a phase that changed Indian and world cricket drastically.

Book review: Voluble criticism notwithstanding, 'How To Prevent The Next Pandemic' makes some important points

The book attempts to open up an avenue for newer conversations around pandemic threats, rooted in past lessons as well as future uncertainties.