BOOKS WE RECOMMEND THIS WEEK

From a novel set in India of the early 1960s, to a poetry collection with poems deliberating on various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, our book picks this week, curated by Chirdeep Malhotra

FICTION

“The Hottest Summer in Years” by Anuradha Kumar

This novel is set in the newly independent and defiantly hopeful India of the early 1960s. An important factory takes shape with German collaboration in a central Indian town, and Hans Gerder finds himself on a learning curve once more. With a childhood spent in southwest Africa, and then learning harsh truths about Germany in the early 1940s, he is at times confused about the past and his own role in it.
But in this somnolent yet simmering Indian town, circumstances link his life closely to young Lipsa’s, who is as lonely and lost as he is. When a body is discovered unexpectedly in the forest, Hans finds himself shielding Lipsa and her family from the predatory instincts of an ambitious police officer. This is a story of one’s inner demons and if love might bring deliverance from them.



NON-FICTION

“The Rise and Fall of the Black Hole Paradigm” by Abhas Mitra

Black holes have turned out to be the cornerstone of both physics and popular belief. But what if we were to realize that exact black holes cannot exist, even though their existence is apparently suggested by exact general relativistic solutions? While the black hole paradigm has become commonplace in popular consciousness, in the last decade, noise has consistently grown about the many physical effects which can inhibit the formation of exact mathematical black holes.
In this book, Abhas Mitra shows us how, much before these developments, he had proven why the so-called black holes must only be black hole pretenders. The book also discusses critical issues on astrophysics and general relativity in layman's language.



SUSPENSE THRILLER

“That Night” by Nidhi Upadhyay

What happens when an innocent prank goes horribly wrong? For this, you can read this dark, twisted tale of friendship and betrayal that draws you in and confounds you at every turn. Natasha, Riya, Anjali and Katherine were best friends in college, until that night which began with a game of Ouija but ended with the death of Sania, their hostel mate. All of them vowed never to discuss that fateful night.
But after twenty years, someone is threatening to reveal the truth that only Sania knew. Is it a hacker playing on their guilt or has Sania's ghost really returned to avenge her death? As the faceless enemy closes in on them, the friends come together to recount what really happened that night. But when the story is retold by each of them, the pieces don't fit, because none of them is telling the whole truth. This book is more than a plain vanilla thriller, for its subtle yet powerful emphasis on social issues. This thriller promises to keep you on the edge of your seat.



POETRY

“The Night Won't Wait” by Kaustabh Kashyap

Poetry embalms our wounds and shines new light into ordinary lives. People have turned to its powers since time immemorial when both science and the heavens fail to console. “The Night Won't Wait” is a collection of contemporary poems that deliberate on various issues that have ensued due to the Covid-19 pandemic, both in India and globally. The themes of the poems are universal in the sense that they raise fundamental questions about our entire species, taking the pandemic as a take-off point. The book is aptly subtitled ‘Glimpses of the Great Pause’, as it deals with the Great Pause, as the Covid-19 pandemic has been described by many. Do read this fine poetry collection, for in these uncertain times that are dark and gloomy, there is also opportunity to pause, listen and reflect.