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The Valley of Masks
The Valley Of Masks is about, as Tarun Tejpal states, the story of the people he has known over the years. The novel provides a powerful reimagining of power structures and belief systems which can be scary but also redemptive in terms of fashioning a better future. The narrator’s name keeps changing as the novel progresses. At one point he is called Karna and at the next he is called X 470. The story is controlled by him. The narrator flees from the Aum Mountains and its doctrines. Through these allegorical devices, the book touches upon issues of the human race, dogmas, and class systems. The story searches for humaneness through the annals of inhumanity. It is not a simple allegory but leaves a deep impact on all readers. This work also deals with extremist institutions where children and young adults go through violent warrior training. This is not about understanding priesthood, but about taking it to the next level. Things become so violent that killing becomes the only means of survival. The question remains whether it is enough to escape from Aum to avoid such violence. A rare piece of literature, The Valley Of Masks has been well received critically and commercially. Critics like Ashis Nandy have pointed out the disturbing yet brilliant way in which Tejpal manages to transcend all the social boundaries imposed on various aspects of people’s lives. The Valley Of Masks comments on the way various trends fashion the way one reads, one views culture, and various other mundane aspects. About Tarun J. Tejpal Known for his journalistic approach in most of his works, Tarun J. Tejpal is a renowned author, publisher, and editor of Tehelka magazine. He has written several novels such as The Story of My Assassins and The Alchemy Of Desire. His works have received global recognition. He has always been associated with his brand of public interest journalism. He has extensively researched on defense scams and naxalite movements for his newspaper, Tehelka. He founded a publishing company called India Ink which published the award-winning novel, The God Of Small Things. He currently lives in New Delhi with his wife.
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The Virgins
With six unmarried sisters and a perennially drunk father, Pinku, a 19-year-old school dropout, has only one dream left to marry the plump girl who caught him stealing flowerpots. His friend and confidant, 17-year-old Bhandu, is not faring any better his parents are divorcing, his father has abandoned him, and the American tourist he is infatuated with doesnt even know that he exists. Bhandu and Pinku seek solace in the distracting shenanigans of their friend Guggi a pampered rich brat who can do anything for a thrill. Guggis reckless hedonism lands the threesome in a series of sexpot escapades each adventure weirder than the one before. But their seemingly innocuous joyride is about to end. With their Class 12 exams around the corner, Guggi, restless to leave a mark, takes over the schools notorious protection racket in a violent coup. The fallout drags the trio into a murky world of heartbreak, betrayal and bloody vengeance...
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The Great Gatsby
Its the Roaring Twenties, and New York City is the place to be. Everything can be purchased, everyone can be bought. But, can you make money erase your past? Its the Roaring Twenties, and it is the time of over-indulgence. As far as the eyes can see and the mind can perceive, there are ostentatious displays of wealth and even more lavish displays of decadency. Unapologetic decadency. But, does it ever stop? Its the Roaring Twenties, and the great American Dream has been perverted. It no longer stands for anything profound that resonates with people. But, does the Idealism even attempt to stop the Materialism? As more and more people lose themselves to the lure of money, ironically the only person who remains unaffected is Jay Gatsby, the enigmatic host of the most extravagant parties . . . In this definitive tale on American culture, Fitzgerald pits a chaste dream against the corrupting influences of wealth and comes up with an epic story that can only be defined as a Great American novel.
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And the Mountains Echoed
From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, the book that readers everywhere have been waiting for: his first novel in six years. So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one... Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pad live with their father and step-mother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pad, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their skulls touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pad and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways that we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history, and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us. From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, the book that readers everywhere have been waiting for: his first novel in six years. So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one... Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pad live with their father and step-mother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pad, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their skulls touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pad and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways that we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history, and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.
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Jugaad Innovation: A Frugal and Flexible Approach
A groundbreaking book on applying jugaad innovation for breakthrough growth. Jugaad is a word often heard in general conversation in India. Whether to find ingenious solutions to problems or turn adversity into opportunity Indians swear by it. In this seminal book, Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja challenge the very way a traditional organization thinks and acts. Leading companies such as Facebook, Future Group, GE, Google, PepsiCo, Philips, Renault-Nissan, Siemens, Suzlon, Tata Group, and YES BANK, among others, are already practicing jugaad to generate original ideas and pioneer growth. In the midst of rising global competition and swelling R&D budgets, Jugaad Innovation presents ways to innovate, be flexible, and do more with less. Peppered with examples of innovative entrepreneurs in emerging markets such as Africa, India, China, and Brazil, Jugaad Innovation illuminates paths to engender breakthrough growth in a complex and resource-scarce world.
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The Black Box
n a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved. Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the "black box," the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together. Riveting and relentlessly paced, THE BLACK BOX leads Harry Bosch, "one of the greats of crime fiction" (New York Daily News), into one of his most fraught and perilous cases.
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Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmi
"This powerful and moving book throws a sharp new light onto one of the most tragic conflicts in the modern world. As a young boy, Rahul Pandita was exiled from his native Kashmir. Now, twenty years later, he returns to the prelude and aftermath of his exile, narrating his family's tortuous journeys with great sensitivity and skill. Every paragraph of this compelling memoir rings deeply true." -- Ramachandra Guha The story of the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from Kashmir in the 1990s, told for the first time. Memoir and history at its best. Rahul Pandita was fourteen years old in 1990 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family, who were Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority within a Muslim- majority Kashmir that was becoming increasingly agitated with the cries of Azadi from India. The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists. But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried. Our Moon Has Blood Clots is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants. Hundreds of people were tortured and killed, and about 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country. Rahul Pandita has written a deeply personal, powerful and unforgettable story of history, home and loss.
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Complete Convenient: There is More to Men than B
Have you ever heard of any NRI who: Hasnt washed dishes and vacuumed carpets Hasnt missed any of his friends/ family members wedding in India Doesnt watch Indian movies, no matter how long he has been outside India Hasnt been to a striptease Doesnt indulge in Indian food whenever he visits India on a vacation Do you know any Indian who: Hasnt thought of moving out of India for a better, safer life Isnt fed up of the scams, traffic jams, filth, noise, crowd and crime that are part of everyday life Isnt tired of attending endless weddings, festivals, birthdays, farewells, parties, lunches and dinners that happen almost every second day in India Has never envied (secretly or openly) his friend / family member living outside India Hasnt wondered what makes NRIs return to India Welcome to the world of Kabir newly married and newly arrived in Sydney, hoping to live the glamorous and sophisticated life he has always dreamt of. After all, a life without frantic competition, traffic jams, queues, dirt, corruption and social obligations (read evils) can be refreshingly convenient. Professional success, new friends, a sincere boss... everything seems to be going just fine. But doesnt this sound too good to be true? Coming straight from the horses mouth, Complete/ Convenient is a roller coaster ride through emotions and experiences as they really are and as you imagine them to be
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Guilty Wives
ust, murder and betrayal in this gripping summer thriller from James Patterson Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. For four days they're free to live someone else's life. As the weekend moves into pulsating nightclubs, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known. In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened - something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime - a fight for survival. Guilty Wives is the ultimate indulgence, the kind of non-stop joy-ride of excess, friendship, betrayal, and danger that only James Patterson can create.
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A Wanted Man
Reacher is back the taut new thriller from the Sunday Times and New York Times number one bestseller, winner of the Specsavers Crime & Thriller Book of the Year Featuring Jack Reacher, hero of the new blockbuster movie starring Tom Cruise. When you're as big and rough as Jack Reacher - and you have a badly-set, freshly-busted nose, patched with silver duct tape it isn't easy to hitch a ride. But Reacher has some unfinished business in Virginia, so he doesn't quit. And at last, he's picked up by three strangers two men and a woman. But within minutes it becomes clear they're all lying about everything and then they run into a police roadblock on the highway. There has been an incident, and the cops are looking for the bad guys ... Will they get through because the three are innocent? Or because the three are now four? Is Reacher just a decoy? With his signature Swiss-watch plotting and heart-thumping suspense, A Wanted Man shows Lee Child at his sublimely skilful best.
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When Strangers Meet..
What happens when Jai is stranded at the metro station with an irritating stranger called Iyer & a mysterious Pathan? How will the tale from Iyers past affect Jais future? And why does the mysterious Pathan keep staring at Jai? What happens inside that small room of the metro station? Nobody believes Jai when he claims that He was there!. People think he is crazy, but is he? The story revolves around Pathan, Jai & Iyer, and their tryst with each others destiny. A light-hearted drama with a heavy tint of suspense that captures father-son relationships from the viewpoints of three different strata of society. Action,Comedy, Romance, Drama, Suspense... A typical Bollywood fiction... A touching tale about choosing between the paths of our dreams and their expectations.
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Trapped
A gritty, gangland Romeo and Juliet story from bestselling author Jacqui Rose, perfect for fans of Jessie Keane and Martina Cole As teenagers, Maggie Donaldson and Johnny Taylor fell hard and fast in love. But they didn’t know they were from rival gangland families in London’s criminal underworld. Going public with their relationship would have brought them more trouble than they could handle, so for years they concealed the truth. But their house of cards won’t be safe for much longer. Maggie’s violent father Max has always been out for the Taylors’ blood and treats his own family with barely more sympathy. There’s a long-buried reason for the vendetta that no one talks about, a secret so shocking it could tear each family – and Maggie and Johnny – apart… A gritty story of bitter feuds and unbreakable bonds, Trapped is the perfect read for fans of Mandasue Heller and Martina Cole.
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Taken
Casey Edwards has demons to put to rest. Since she had to give away her baby at 15, shes been lost in booze and bad company. But now she wants to find her child and put things right... All she wanted to do was get out of there. Get on a train and head for London, the place shed been avoiding for so many years. But it was finally time. Casey Edwards has demons to put to rest. Since she had to give away her baby at 15, shes been lost in booze and bad company. But now she wants to find her child and put things right. Heading to Soho, Casey meets former gangster Vaughn Sadler, an old-school hard man who can still handle himself and anyone else. Theres a spark between Vaughn and Casey but she cant let herself get hurt, not again. To find the truth, Casey must enter the dark world of Londons gangland: hard drugs, vice, even people trafficking. Soon she discovers that mob boss Alfie Jennings and sadistic psycho Oscar Hardings are plotting something dangerous, something brutal. Something that puts Casey and her child in serious trouble . . . Full of strong women, devious gangsters and compelling twists, Taken is compulsive read perfect for fans of Jessie Keane and Roberta Kray.
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The Homing Pigeons...: Not All Love Stories are Pe
n the middle of the catastrophic 2008 recession, Aditya, a jobless, penniless man meets an attractive stranger in a bar. Little does he know that his life will change forever. When Radhika, a young, rich widow, marries off her stepdaughter, little does she know that the freedom she has yearned for is not exactly how she had envisioned it. They say homing pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth. The Homing Pigeons is the story of love between these two unsuspecting characters as it is of lust, greed, separations, prejudices and crumbling spines.
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The Secrets of the Dark: The Debt of Blood is Neve
s one born with his destiny or does he forge it? In the mystical land of Gaya, two prophecies bind the fate of men and empires alike. The Destroyer born from the royal seed on the Land of the Setting Sun shall bring the empires down, or so has been foretold. In between the Destroyer and the world stand the Seven Guardians of Gaya, guarding the realm of man. A king, a father, defies the Seven and fate itself to save the last drop of his blood and prince Agni grows in the Land of the Rising Sun, exiled from his own people, unaware of his past. Losing the woman he loved most to the shadows in the dark, Agni is thrown into a whirlpool of events that he neither knows, nor understands. His quest for vengeance brings him to the doorstep of a secret that will shatter the very foundation of beliefs of a world. Can Agni avert his destiny? Can he uncover the truth about the Seven and the prophecies, now hidden behind a veil of ignorance? The secrets of the dark are sometimes so terrible that they are better left unsaid.
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Odd Apocalypse
The fifth Odd Thomas thriller from the master storyteller. Odd finds refuge at a rundown mansion, but soon discovers a frightening presence. Odd Thomas has seen danger and he has seen death. He lives between two worlds, communicating with the lingering dead. He stands between us and our darkest fears, never failing the tests that confront him, whatever the cost. Now he has found refuge in a crumbling mansion in Santa Barbara, along with his closest friends both living and dead. But the house is a place of terrible secrets, haunted by lingering spirits. And there is a stranger, more frightening presence still…
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Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
The brand new spine-tingling thriller from the global multi-million bestseller. Hannah Connelly, a twenty-eight-year old designer and rising star in the fashion world, is plunged into a web of horror and grief when she learns that Connelly Fine Reproductions, the family-owned furniture business founded by her grandfather, has been levelled by an explosion in the middle of the night. Everything has been destroyed the warehouse, the showrooms, and the mansion where priceless antiques have been on permanent display. Worse, to escape the flames, Hannah's younger sister, Kate, had jumped from a window and is now hospitalized in a medically induced coma, suffering from life-threatening injuries. The fire marshal on the scene is openly suspicious that someone, maybe even Kate, intentionally planned the explosion. Agonized with worry, Hannah can't understand why Kate would be in the warehouse at that hour of the night. What Hannah does not know is that Kate is most at risk from the people who have access to her in the hospital room. One of them is determined not to let her regain consciousness. That person is out to thwart Hannah, too, as she pursues her quest for the truth.
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Secrets From The Past
A glittering brand new novel of deeply-buried secrets, passionate love, obsession and redemption from the master storyteller. Thirty-year old Serena Stone is a talented war photographer who has followed in her famous father?s footsteps. But when he dies unexpectedly, she steps away from the war zone to reassess her life. Drawn to writing her father?s own story, Serena approaches Harry Redford, his best friend and front line colleague. Harry has a request of his own. He wants her to go take care of Zachary North, her former lover, who has come out of Afghanistan suffering from mental and physical exhaustion. Serena and Zac inevitably rekindle their passion ? and together tackle her father?s huge legacy of iconic photographs. But one collection about Venice has never been seen before. It is among these images that Serena stumbles across photos that turn her world upside down. In search of the truth about her father, her family and her own life, Serena begins a desperate quest to uncover a story from decades earlier. Moving from her family?s home in the hills above Nice to the canals and romance of Venice and the riot-filled streets of Libya, Secrets from the Past is a moving and emotional story of secrets, survival and love in its many guises.
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The Next Best Thing
I wanted to love"The Next Best Thing," by Jennifer Weiner, but I didn't. I didn't dislike it, and it kept me occupied for a day, but it honestly wasn't a memorable read. I thought it was an uneven read. It was part memoir-like, about a writer's experience of having her show greenlit, and what happens when the networks get involved with the original vision. The other part is the relationship between a woman and her grandmother after her parents die from a car accident (and physically scarring the woman) I thought the former was a little more realized than the latter, but still not enough. And the love angle(s) just weren't interesting enough. I also found some inconsistencies with the details, which made me think this was lazy writing. I have not read all of Ms. Weiner's novels, but I do remember reading "In Her Shoes" back in the day and remember loving it. This one, I barely liked.