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Archives: Books

Agalya in the Spotlight | A Fresh, Modern Twist to Rapunzel | Fun Illustrations | Themes of Beauty, Friendship, Resilience and Courage | Ages 8 + | Story Book for Kids

Nine-year-old Agalya is on cloud nine—she has been cast as Rapunzel in the school play! But her excitement is short-lived when her best friend, Prisha, turns against her. Prisha wanted the role too and can’t understand why Agalya, who is into gymnastics, suddenly cares so much about being a princess in a play.

Just when things couldn’t get worse, Agalya develops alopecia, leaving a glaring bald spot on her head. A bald Rapunzel? That’s unheard of!

As whispers and self-doubt grow, she must find the courage to embrace herself. Can Agalya rise above it all and let her true self shine?

House of Ash and Shadow (Gilded City, 1)

From USA Today bestselling author Leia Stone, House of Ash and Shadow is the first book in the addictive Gilded City series, about a girl who must battle curses, dark powers, and her own heart. This world of dazzling fae magic and romantic pining is perfect for fans of Wednesday and Holly Black.

Seventeen-year-old Fallon Bane was born with a devastating curse: a single touch from another person will cause her excruciating pain. Thus, she has accepted that she will die without ever being kissed, without even hugging her own father, though it breaks her heart every day.

But when her beloved father falls ill, she breaks into the magical Gilded City to find a healer fae that can save him. When handsome healer Ariyon Madden agrees to help, everything she knows about herself and her curse changes. Because during her father’s healing, Ariyon reaches out and touches her bare skin. She waits for the agony… but it never comes. For the first time in her life, she imagines a new future for herself. However, that fantasy is quickly destroyed, because not only does Ariyon flee from her in disgust when he learns of her curse; he also reveals her existence to powerful fae who want to hurt her.

Fallon is then swept away to a magical academy, where she learns the terrifying truth about her family history and her dark magic. Her life and the future of fae everywhere hang in the balance, and all the while Fallon can’t help but wonder if she will get to touch Ariyon Madden one more time before she dies…

This enchanting story of family, fae, and yearning is perfect for readers who love:

– Romantic fantasy books for teens
– Unputdownable and bingeworthy novels
– Magical boarding schools
– Grumpy sunshine romance
– Holly Black and Sarah J. Maas

House of War and Bone (Gilded City, 2)

From USA Today bestselling author Leia Stone comes the next book in the addictive Gilded City series, about a girl who must battle curses, dark powers, and her own heart. This world of dazzling fae magic and romantic pining is perfect for fans of Wednesday and Holly Black.

The only guy in the world who could kiss me was about to be taken out by some Nightling with a vendetta against his family.

Fallon Bane thought that being cursed to feel pain every time she was touched was the worst thing that would ever happen to her.

She was wrong.

The worst thing was finding and falling for Ariyon―the only person in the realm who can touch her―only to accidentally trap him in the land of souls and swap powers with him.

Now she must act as Maven healer to Queen Solana while trying to figure out how to sneak into the Realm of Eternity to save Ariyon.

She drove me crazy, in both good and bad ways, and all I wanted to do was finally kiss her, hold her, feel her body relax into mine like it’d found its missing other half.

Aryion Madden had enough to deal with: heir to the throne, Maven healing powers that meant he would die young, and orphaned by Marissa Bane. Then, he met Marissa’s daughter and fell in love, upending everything he thought he knew.

Now, he has to fight for his life―and maybe his afterlife―against the undead using Fallon’s dark magic.

And if that’s not enough to worry about, all the while, the prophesied Nightling war is approaching.

The Politics of Sorrow: Unity and Allegiance Across Tibetan Exile (Studies of Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

The Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet in 1959 after its occupation by China and established a government in exile in India. There, Tibetan leaders aimed to bring together displaced people from varied religious traditions and local loyalties under the banner of unity. To contest Chinese colonization and stand up for self-determination, Tibetan refugees were asked to shed regional allegiances and embrace a vision of a shared national identity.

The Politics of Sorrow tells the story of the Group of Thirteen, a collective of chieftains and lamas from the regions of Kham and Amdo, who sought to preserve Tibet’s cultural diversity in exile. They established settlements in India in the mid-1960s with the goal of protecting their regional and religious traditions, setting them apart from the majority of Tibetan refugees, who saw a common tradition as the basis for unifying the Tibetan people. Tsering Wangmo Dhompa traces these different visions for Tibetan governance and identity, juxtaposing the Tibetan government in exile’s external struggle for international recognition with its lesser-known internal struggle to command loyalty within the diaspora. She argues that although unity was necessary for democracy and independence, it also drew painful boundaries between those who belonged and those who didn’t. Drawing on insightful interviews with Tibetan elders and an exceptional archive of Tibetan exile texts, The Politics of Sorrow is a compelling narrative of a tumultuous time that reveals the complexities of Tibetan identities then and now.

Police Affairs

IPS officer Arjun Kumar has always played by the rules—a decorated officer, a devoted husband and a high achiever with a perfect life. But when he meets the captivating singer Madhushree at a police event, his carefully constructed world begins to crack. Stolen glances turn into whispered conversations, and before he knows it, he’s entangled in an affair that he never saw coming.

Passion turns to peril when an untimely death threatens to implicate him in murder. As he scrambles to cover his tracks, the walls start closing in—his wife’s growing suspicion, an unscrupulous Godman tightening his grip on power, and a faceless stranger lurking in the shadows. But what began as a personal transgression has drawn him into a dangerous conspiracy—one that could destroy not just his life, but the very system he swore to protect.

With the police closing in, enemies circling, and his conscience weighing him down Arjun realises he is no longer just hiding a mistake—he is caught in a deadly game of power and deception where every choice has consequences. As the truth edges closer, he must decide whether to keep running or fight. The line between duty and betrayal has never been thinner—and the clock is ticking.

From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2013

Pankaj Mishra’s From the Ruins of Empire offers a surprising, gripping narrative depicting the thinkers whose ideas shaped contemporary China, India, and the Muslim world.

A little more than a century ago, independent thinkers across Asia sought to frame a distinct intellectual tradition that would inspire the continent’s rise to dominance. Yet this did not come to pass, and today those thinkers―Tagore, Gandhi, and later Nehru in India; Liang Qichao and Sun Yat-sen in China; Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Abdurreshi al Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire―are seen as outsiders within the main anticolonial tradition.

But as Mishra demonstrates in this enthralling portrait of like minds, Asia’s revolt against the West is not the one led by faith-fired terrorists and thwarted peasants; rather, it is rooted in the ideas of these once renowned intellectuals.

Now, when the ascendency of Asia seems possible as never before, From the Ruins of Empire is as necessary as it is timely―a book indispensable to our understanding of the world and our place in it.

‘Arrestingly original … this penetrating and disquieting book should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand where we are today’ John Gray, Independent

‘A riveting account that makes new and illuminating connections … deeply entertaining and deeply humane’ Hisham Matar

‘Fascinating … a rich and genuinely thought-provoking book’ Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph

‘Provocative, shaming and convincing’ Michael Binyon, The Times

‘Lively … engaging … retains the power to shock’ Mark Mazower, Financial Times

‘Subtle, erudite and entertaining’ Economist, New Delhi

A Glimpse of My Life

Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’ (1897-1927) remains among the best-known revolutionaries of India’s struggle for freedom. In this autobiography, Bismil reflects on his life, as well as on the people and ideas that inspired him, and on the revolutionary movement he built. He remembers his childhood, the hardships his parents faced, the role his mother and guru played in shaping him, his involvement in the Kakori train robbery, his experiences in prison, and his comrades fighting alongside him for freedom from British rule.

Bismil not only offers glimpses of his eventful life but also lays out his ideas on gender, caste, class, communalism, justice, nation-building and the attractions and pitfalls of revolutionary activity. The readers of his autobiography will find many of these ideas to be of great relevance in present-day India.

Originally titled Nij Jiwan Ki Chhata, this book was written in secret during Bismil’s imprisonment, while he was on death row. It is a passionately narrated account of the life of a young and daring freedom fighter who lived and died with the single aim of freeing India from foreign rule.

White Nights

“I don’t know how to be silent when my heart is speaking.”

Set in the enchanting streets of St. Petersburg, this is a story of a young man who is a dreamer, and wanders on the city’s deserted lanes during long summer nights.

On a foggy night, under the hazy streetlights, a young man met Nastenka, who captured his heart with her beauty and innocence. They spent four consecutive nights together, as he becomes increasingly besotted with Nastenka, sharing his innermost thoughts and feelings.

Just as he was beginning to feel safe in their oasis, he discovers that Nastenka is in love with another man; a prince who has promised to return to her after a long absence. Yet, he is certain that even Nastenka is drawn to him, each grappling with their own sense of longing and desire for connection.

Through this vivid narrative of the intoxicating power of hope, the young man’s monologues reveal his absolute yearning for love, while Nastenka’s vulnerability and romantic idealism add layers of emotion to the story.

Through these fragile yet sublime characters we witness the beauty and pain of unrequited love.

Metamorphosis

“What now, then?” Gregor asked himself as he looked round in the darkness. He soon made the discovery that he could no longer move at all.

One morning, Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into a horrible vermin. Here begins Metamorphosis, the most resounding story of the inherent human conflicts and the suppressed dark side of the human existence.

As Samsa struggles to remind those around him that he is still human despite his new repulsive appearance; we see his friends and family struggle to remember the person that lives in this unappealing creature. Are we inherently a superficial society?

Can we truly look past the surface to appreciate inner beauty? Do we possess the ability to selfishly care for others?

Metamorphosis is a compelling, sarcastic, and emotional story holding a mirror to the feelings of alienation common to all alike.

The Spiritual Poems of Rumi

The Spiritual Poems of Rumi: A Special Collection of Spiritual Poems

Discover the wisdom of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, the revered Persian mystic and Sufi master, in this beautifully illustrated edition. For over eight centuries, Rumi’s timeless poetry has captivated readers from all walks of life, offering profound insights into love, friendship, and spirituality.

This carefully curated collection features –

  • Brilliant translations that bring Rumi’s universal themes to life, inviting readers to embark on a spiritual journey toward self-discovery and a deeper connection to the world around them.
  • With verses that transcend time and culture, Rumi’s words resonate with anyone seeking a greater understanding of the self and our collective oneness.
  • In this exquisite edition, adorned with intricate, richly colored designs, reflecting the beauty and depth of Rumi’s words, this book is more than just a collection of poems—it is a cherished tool for self-reflection and spiritual growth.
  • Whether you are new to Rumi’s work or a lifelong admirer, this series will serve as a meaningful companion on your journey of inner awakening.
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