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Happy Place
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Except, now they don't. They broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone. Which is how they end up sharing a bedroom at the cottage that has been their yearly getaway with their best friends for the past decade. For one glorious week they leave behind their lives, drink far too much wine and soak up the sea air with their favourite people. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth. The cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be together here and they can't bear to break their friends' hearts. So, they'll fake it for one more week. It's a flawless plan (if you look at it through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). But how can you pretend to be in love with someone - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best? Brimming with characters you can't help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, HAPPY PLACE is Emily Henry's best novel yet.
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The Man Who Died Twice
The second gripping novel in the New York Times bestselling Thursday Murder Club series, the first of which Kate Atkinson called "A little beacon of pleasure in the midst of the gloom. . . SUCH FUN!" Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor—an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?)—arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club. Richard Osman is back with everyone’s favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of The Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first—an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.
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Notes Of A Dream The Authorized Biography Of A.R.R
Who really is A.R. Rahman? We know the music. But do we know the man? For the first time, a nation's pride--winner of National Film awards, Oscars, Grammys and hearts--opens up about his philosophies: hope, perseverance, positivity and love. From his early days as a composer of advertisement jingles to his first big break in feature films, from his keenness to integrate new technology with good old-fashioned music scores to the founding of his music school, from his resounding entry on to the international stage to his directorial debut, from his philanthropy to his inner life, Notes of a Dream captures Rahman's extraordinary success story with all the rhythm and melody, the highs and lows, of a terrific soundtrack by the man himself. Featuring intimate interviews with the soft-spoken virtuoso, as well as insights and anecdotes from key people in his life, this balanced, uplifting and affectionate book is the definitive biography of A.R. Rahman--the man behind the music and the music that made the man.
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A Promised Land
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making-from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy. In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency-a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil. Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation's highest office. Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune's Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden. A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective-the story of one man's bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of "hope and change," and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible. This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama's conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.
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The World Of Malgudi Mr Sampath The Financial Expe
Brings together four novels of that irrepressible master of storytelling.
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Agent Running In The Field
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain's secret intelligence service, believes his years as an agent Runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow centre, the Office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over the haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarchs with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: The introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent running in the field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heart-breaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.
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Delusional Politics
Looking out of my corner fourth-floor office with a full-frontal view, across First Avenue of the headquarters of the United Nations with the flags of the 193 member states fluttering majestically, I was reminded ever so often of what Bertrand Russell said: 'The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.' Many democratically elected leaders of the twenty-first century have displayed streaks of recklessness, megalomania, bizarre self-obsession and political views that are difficult to characterize. This book studies the actions of these contemporary political leaders and covers Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, the rise of the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and decision-making with respect to global governance, terrorism and trade. It brings to light the fact that at the heart of delusional politics is perhaps the delusional politician.
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Kaifiyat:Verses On Love And Women
About the Author Kaifi Azmi (Author) KAIFI AZMI (1919-2002) was one of the most prominent Urdu poets and lyricists of the twentieth century. An ardent crusader for justice as well as a writer of tender lyrics and rousing anthems, he was the quintessential activist-poet. His three major poetry collections are entitled Jhankar (1943), Akhir-e-Shab (1947) and Awara Sajde (1973). Rakhshanda Jalil (Translator) RAKHSHANDA JALIL is a writer, translator and literary historian. Her work on the Progressive Writers' Movement is considered seminal; she has written A Rebel and Her Cause: The Life and Work of Dr Rashid Jahan, Shahryar: A Life in Poetry, among others. She runs Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu language and literary culture.
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The Runaways
AN EXPLOSIVE NEW NOVEL THAT ASKS DIFFICULT QUESTIONS ABOUT MODERN IDENTITY IN A WORLD ON FIRE Anita Rose lives in a concrete block in one of Karachi's biggest slums, languishing in poverty with her mother and older brother. Determined to escape her stifling circumstances, she struggles to educate herself, scribbling down English words-gleaned from watching TV or taught by her elderly neighbour-in her most prized possession: a glossy red notebook. All the while she is aware that a larger destiny awaits her. On the other side of Karachi lives Monty, whose father owns half the city. But Monty wants more than fast cars and easy girls. When the rebellious Layla joins his school, he knows his life will never be the same again. And far away in Portsmouth, Sunny fits in nowhere. It is only when he meets his charismatic, suntanned cousin Oz-whose smile makes Sunny feel found-that that he realizes his true purpose. These three disparate lives will cross paths in the middle of a desert, a place where life and death walk hand-in-hand, and where their closely guarded secrets will force them to make a terrible choice.
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Oleander Girl
Orphaned at birth, seventeen-year-old Korobi Roy has enjoyed a privileged childhood with her adoring grandparents in Kolkata. But she is troubled by the silence that surrounds her parents’ death and clings to her only inheritance from them: the unfinished love note she found hidden in her mother’s book of poetry. The young woman dreams of one day finding a love as powerful as her parents’, and it seems her wish has come true when she meets the charming Rajat, the only son of a high- profile business family. On the night of their engagement party, Korobi’s grandfather dies of a sudden heart attack. His death reveals the family’s financial problems as well as a dark secret. This secret will shatter Korobi’s sense of self and will take her out of her sheltered Kolkata life into a search, in the company of an attractive stranger, across America, a country that she finds at once dangerous, unwelcoming and alluring. What she discovers at the end will force her to make the most difficult choice of her life. No one tells such heart-stopping stories with as much color and emotion as Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Oleander Girl is the writer at her very best.
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The Missing Queen
A stylish noir retelling of the Ramayana It has been ten years since Rams return from fallen Lanka. Ayodhya is shining. Ayodhya is prosperous. But darkness lurks at the heart of the victorious regime. A pointed question piques a young journalists curiosity: What happened to Sita? Where is Rams absent wife whose abduction triggered the war with Lanka? And so begins the journalists search for the missing queen. Soon her investigation attracts the notice of Ayodhyas all-powerful secret police and its mysterious head, the Washerman. Forced to flee Ayodhya, the journalist makes her way through a war-devastated Lanka in search of answers. In this stylish speculative thriller, Samhita Arni skilfully combines her love for mythology with riveting storytelling.
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Rajanikanth: The Definitive Biography
The first-ever comprehensive biography of Rajinikanth, Indain cinema's greatest superstar When I will come, or how, nobody knows, but I will arrive w hen I ought to' - Muthu (1995) Rajinikanth is, guile simply, the biggest superstar cinema-crazy India has ever seen His stylized dialogues and screen mannerisms are legion, and his guy next door-cum-superhero image has found a hysterically appreciative following among millions of moviegoers. Naman Ramachandran's marvellous biography recounts Rajinis career in meticulous detail tracing his incredible cinematic journey from his very first film Apoorva RagangaI in 1975 to memorable forays into Bollywood like Andhaa Ka noon and Hum. from landmark films like Billa, Thalapathi and Annamalai to the mega successes of Baasha, Muthu, Padayappa, Chandramukhi, Sivaji and Enthiran Along the way, the book provides rare insights into the Thalaivar's personal life, from his childhood days to his times of struggle when he was still Sivaji Rao Gaekwad and then his eventual stardom: revealing how a legend was born. Rapnikanth has not written his memoirs, this book is the closest we are likely to get to the definitive Rain story.
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Maharani
Maharani who drink too much, the real story of Jim Corbett, and friendly ghosts - a magical novella from Ruskin Bond! H.H. is the spoilt, selfish, beautiful widow of the Maharajah of Mastipur. She lives with her dogs and her caretaker, Hans, in an enormous old house in Mussorie, taking lovers and discarding them, drinking too much, and fending off her reckless sons who are waiting hungrily for their inheritance. The seasons come and go, hotels burns down, cinemas shut shop, and people leave the hill station never to return. But H.H. remains constant and indomitable. Observing her antics, often with disapproval, is her old friend Ruskin, who can never quite cut himself off from her. Melancholic, wry and full of charm, Maharani is a delightful novella about love, death and friendship. About The Author Ruskin Bond is the acclaimed author of over five hundred novellas, stories, essays and poetry, all of which has established him as one of the Indias most beloved writers. His most recent work are Secrets and Susannas Seven Husbands which was turned into the film Saat Khoon Maaf. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993 and the Padma Shri in 1999.
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Lucknow Boy A Memoir
Sharp, insightful, shocking, delightful ... in this sparkling memoir, Vinod Mehta, India’s most independent, principled and irreverent editor finally tells his own story! It’s an extraordinary story. Mehta grew up as an insouciant army brat from a Punjabi refugee family, in the syncretic culture of Lucknow of the 1950s—an experience that turned him into an unflagging ‘pseudo secularist’. Leaving home with a BA third class degree, he experimented with a string of jobs, including that of a factory hand in suburban Britain, before accepting an offer to edit Debonair, a journal best known for featuring naked women. With the eclecticism and flair that were to become his hallmark, he turned it into an intelligent, lively magazine, while managing to keep fans of its centrespreads happy. The next three decades saw Vinod Mehta becoming one of India’s most widely-read and influential editors, as he launched a number of successful new publications, from the now legendary Sunday Observer to the weekly newsmagazine, Outlook. There are riveting accounts of his encounters with personalities from the worlds of politics, business, films and the media. There are masterly pen portraits of personalities ranging from Shobhaa Dé to V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie and Sonia Gandhi. There are the stories behind the scoops Mehta has brought before a fascinated public, from the alleged mole in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, to the cricket match-fixing scandal, to the Radia Tapes. There are valuable lessons, too, in Mehta’s inside stories of his successful media launches, in his tips for aspiring journalists, and in his struggles for editorial independence through his nearly four-decade-long tryst with Indian journalism. About the Author Vinod Mehta has founded and edited numerous publications, among them India’s first Sunday paper, The Sunday Observer, The Indian Post, The Independent and The Pioneer (Delhi edition). Currently, he is editor-in- chief of the Outlook Group which brings out 10 magazines, including the weekly newsmagazine Outlook. Vinod Mehta has authored biographies of Sanjay Gandhi and Meena Kumari, and in 2001 published a collection of his articles under the title, Mr Editor, How Close Are You to the PM?
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Smart Leadership
For corporate leaders, the challenge is to find new ways of doing things. Smart Leadership: Insights for CEOs presents twelve CEOs who have done just that, and set new benchmarks for growth and performance in their respective industry in the process. More outstandingly, whether it is Kumar Mangalam Birla, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Rahul Bajaj or K.V. Kamath, they have shown how such growth can be sustained, year after year, even as the business environment becomes, in the words of one CEO, ‘ferociously competitive, rapidly changing and fluid’. In this compact but insightful book, Gita Piramal and Jennifer Netarwala draw insights from these CEOs, heading companies as diverse as Lijjat papad to Tata Consultancy Services, on how they accomplished their goals in such a competitive environment, and what others can learn from them. They come up with lessons on some of the core aspects of leadership: decision-making, building teams, nurturing talent, managing change, and an unwavering focus on growth. Indian companies are today grappling with the challenge of moving up to the next level of competition—one where an organization has a demand for its product or service anywhere in the world. Smart Leadership offers practical tips on effecting that transformation for executives at all levels.