The story of four billion years of life on Earth
Looking forward to a book that explains life? Well, here it is! Explaining Life Through Evolution opens a window to the four billion year history of the millions of species we see on this planet. This book does not simply narrate the story of evolution: It brings to light who we are and where we came from. As humans we often focus on identifying our differences, no matter how small; Prosanta Chakrabarty demystifies our perceived differences and emphasizes our similarities. As more and more people take ancestry tests, sending their DNA samples and money to genealogy testing centres, we need to be educated on what the results actually mean scientifically; and we all have to decide together what it means socially. He thinks we should be celebrating the fact that our diversity comes from the same little drops of water and sunlight, each of us just shining a little differently as seen through the prism of evolution.
Prosanta encourages us to think of life as being like a book, one that is always in the making. What we see living around us today are just the last few pages. If we look out on to the millions of species that we share this planet with we can trace their histories, and ours, back through nearly four billion years of evolution. We can also think of all the living things around as the young leaves on an ancient and gigantic ‘Tree of Life’, all of us connected by invisible branches not just to each other, but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors.
Evocative, comprehensive and thought-provoking, this is a book which will compel you to reimagine life.
Lily Tharoor was born in a small village in Kerala in the mid-1930s. From this humble beginning, she would live around the world, raise three global citizens, and inspire multiple generations with her drive to learn and achieve. Fiercely independent and ambitious, she pushed her children, including her son Shashi, to always think outside the box. The only ground firm enough to stand on, she told them, is the one written into existence by your own hand.
In Good Innings, Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan tells her mother Lily’s ‘extraordinary, ordinary’ story through a combination of personal reflections, life lessons, and philosophical insights. The result is a collection of teachable vignettes aimed to galvanize a new generation into growth and action. Every chapter starts with an anecdote which will encourage conversations and transformations in the reader’s life. Good Innings is an intimate account of the life of a beloved matriarch with a modest background and an iron will-a woman who learned from the school of life and now has lessons to share of her own.
Meet Sherlock Holmes-eccentric genius and brilliant detective. Using the science of deduction, Holmes cracks cases
that baffle even the police. When the famous sleuth moves into rooms at 221B Baker Street in London with Dr John Watson, a medic returned from the war front, the two begin a warm and enduring friendship-and a series of exciting adventures.
This volume contains the four novels featuring the world’s most famous detective. Narrated by Dr Watson, the adventures in this volume are packed with multi-layered mysteries-a grisly murder, a daring robbery, mysterious messages, strange sights and sounds, shadowy alliances, and secret societies-and are truly epic.
A thrilling collection of the most famous detective novels ever written, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels brings
together four timeless classics of the mystery genre.
Penned by the 16th century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, Meditations enumerates how to live wisely and meaningfully in an unpredictable world. Brimming with timeless wisdom, this book has found its way into the the bookshelves of many notable statesmen, thinkers, and intellectuals.
WHEN LIFE BRINGS YOU PAIN AND SUFFERING, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? TURN INWARDS.
Through Meditations, Aurelius urges the reader to embrace the principles of stoic philosophy-the key to living a happy and fulfilling life.
Learn how to:
1. Cultivate inner strength, resilience, and peace
2. Overcome self-doubt and fear
3. Develop self-discipline
… and much more.
Cerebral, contemplative, and profound, Meditations is among the greatest works of popular philosophy, and is truly life-changing.
Humankind’s unrelenting mistreatment of our planet has finally led to a seemingly futile awareness of our acute shortage of time. What separates us from an oblivion preceded by excruciating pain and strife? The characters of this unique book, inspired by legends from lore and literature alike, pursue paths they believe are best for them and for their world. They are unaware of the flaws that distort their dreams. Divided into three parts, Suniti Namjoshi’s Dangerous Pursuits turns righteousness and virtue upon their heads, making for an irreverent and ruminative exploration of the beginning of the end of the world.
In “Bad People”, Ravana, Shupi and Kumbh deflect the world from its destructive course, but perfection remains a distant dream. Ravana, of course, belongs to epic; but how does he fit into the twenty-first century? With the help of Grandma Ketumati’s balm, these three ‘bad’ people outwit our contemporary villains. In “Heart’s Desire”, an old woman seeks to make a bargain with the devil, but the devil isn’t interested, and she finds herself stuck with two angels instead. She and the angels do their best, but the old woman learns that the heart’s desires aren’t all that she had expected. And in “The Dream Book”, based on The Tempest, Caliban, Miranda, Prospero and the rest find that their dreams clash and are as pretty and pitiless as glass shards. Yet, each time their dreams crack, they dream again, reckless in this dangerous pursuit.
It is said that road to India’s power corridor runs through Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of the country which sends eighty MPs to the lower house of the Parliament. Till date, most of the Prime Ministers of India belonged to this state and an electoral win in the state assembly paves the way for the formation of a central government.
The question is, do we have a barometer to guess the political pulse of the people? What are the political trends in the state? Which are the political, social, and economic factors that affect those trends?
Would extreme backward castes (EBCs) be successful in getting direct share in the power structure, which has been a dream so far for them?
This book written by veteran journalist Pradeep Srivastava tries to find out answers to these questions with in-depth analysis and in an easy to understand language.
Avi has an extremely annoying habit of seeing the good side (pros) and the bad side (cons) of situations that life tosses his way-just like the curveballs his best friend HJ tosses while playing cricket.
Only this time, Avi is in the soup. Just like the mama bear who is known to eat her sickly baby, Avi is pretty sure that his aai wants to dunk him in soup and eat him up. Even though he definitely would not taste good.
Now, the only two options in front of Avi are fight or be fried.
Avi’s thoughts on this book:
Pro: Reading this book will make you a smart cookie and feed your imagination, especially about all things wild.
Con: Cookies are edible and Aai is hungry! Uh-oh.
Dig in at your own risk.
The Worlds Within You tells the story of Ami Shekar, who has decided to take a break from her first year of university in the UK and return to her home in Chennai. Ami is stuck, and finds herself fretting, overthinking and retreating into her own head. But she knows that whatever it is that makes her feel ‘weird’ all the time must have a name to it. And so, Ami is back home, to come to terms with many things: her mental health, her own identity, memories of her grandfather and, finally, herself.
Set over the course of seven writing classes, this is an unconventional and melancholic take on what it means to be alive and finding your own emotional support system-no matter how flawed the people within your system might be.
Deep in the wild jungles of Rajasthan resides a magical sparrow that grants wishes . . .
In Gujarat, a pandit haggles with vendors and chastises merchants as he chases an elusive bargain . . .
A bullocky in Multan encounters a mysterious and wise old man who charges money to talk!
A pandemonium of fools, geniuses and everyone in between gambol across the deserts of India to amusing and delightful results. So sit back with a bowlful of kheench and get ready to be enchanted by the beauty of the Thar, the nights at Cholistan and the markets of Kutch.
Best Sweets has opened next to Firoza’s dadu’s sweet shop and is taking away all the customers. How can Firoza make her dadu’s shop better than Best?
About the Hook Book Series
In a world where children’s books often feel cut from the same cloth, Hook Books stand out as a vibrant blend of imagination, humour, and heart. Crafted as a bridge between picture books and early chapter books, this series delivers stories that spark joy and wonder, while remaining rooted in age-appropriate learning.
Hook Books keep the fun going with:
- Short, digestible bits of text (perfect for budding readers)
- Bright colour illustrations that pull kids into the story
- Themes that speak to the everyday lives of children—plus a sprinkle of whimsy!
From fantasy tales to those that touch on more advanced ideas, Hook Books ensure that young readers are always in for a treat, no matter their reading level. Even better, these books take children on journeys through different parts of India, giving them a taste of the rich diversity of our world through local flavours, landscapes, and cultures. Whether the story takes place in bustling cities or quiet villages, Hook Books make every setting feel like home.
