Best October Book Releases

Planning to go on a vacation and catch the sun on the beach, or planning to spend the season getting comfortable in your home? You will need a good book or two to read. Below are few picks from some of the most exciting book releases in October, something that’s sure to keep you flipping pages!

 1. Drop Dead: A Niki Marwah Mystery by Swati Kaushal 

Thisis a murder mystery about Rak Mehta, the President and CEO of a very successful publishing company, whose dead body mysteriously appears at the bottom of hills of Sonargam in peak tourist season. Niki Marwah, Superintendent of Police in Shimla, along with her team of investigators uncovers bitter rivalries, secret grudges and the victim’s own grimy past that fetched him more enemies than friends. This is a story about Niki’s intelligence and skill to catch the killer before Sonargam’s tranquil landscape is disrupted.

 2. Blasphemy by Asia Bibi

This is a gripping story from the writer’s prison cell. Asia Bibi has become an icon in Pakistan when it comes to the nation’s blasphemy laws and their misuse to target minorities. She is the first female victim of Pakistan’s blasphemy law. The book talks about why and how she fell in the clutches of this law, landing her in prison.

 3. Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani 

This international lifestyle journalist working for a range of global publications has returned this time with a highly relatable and enjoyable young adult chick-lit. Lovetorn is the story of a teenage girl seeking help on the critical subject of love. It is about a girl who moves to US with her family, the awkwardness she faces in terms of her appearance, the fight to make friends and the challenge to remain loyal to the person she got engaged to before relocating.

 4. Taking Sides by Rudolf C. Heredia

This non-fiction title focuses on the much debated topic of reservation quotas and minority rights in India. Rudolf Heredia, in this book, makes a convincing argument for justice based on liberty, equality and fraternity. Taking Sides is analytical yet aggressive, capable of tossing great debates on justice and equality.

 5. Guru Dutt by Arun Khopkar and Shanta Gokhale 

This book unveils the innovative cinematic form one of the masters of world cinema, Guru Dutt. Renowned film-maker and scholar Arun Khopkar closely examines Dutt’s three best-known films, namely Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. Along with exploring the historical context in which these films are set, the intricacies of the cinematic medium – like acting, lighting, music, editing and rhythm – are also analysed by Khopkar and Gokhale a Mumbai-based Marathi novelist, playwright, translator, bilingual columnist, theatre historian and critic. This book even highlights the point of view of Guru Dutt, for whom art was not merely a thing of beauty but a vital part of living itself.

 6. The Vicks Mango Tree by Anees Salim

An extraordinary literary novel by first-time novelist Anees Salim, The Vicks Mango Tree deals with one of the darkest chapters of India’s history – the Emergency. This is the story of the tiny fictional region of Mangobaag in India, where middle-class people are continuously attempting to fulfil their dreams, and about and local legends who are struggling to survive in the dying light of a glorious past. The novel is full of dark humour and unusual characters which will appeal to a wide section of readers.

 7. The Youngest Suspect by Peggy Mohan 

Peggy Mohan, West Indies Born cartoon animator, now a music teacher in a school in Delhi brings to you a politico-legal novel set in post-Godhra, Gujarat. This thriller is certainly a fast-paced compelling tale about the communal riot that altered the political and social landscape of Gujarat enclosing a love story.

 8. But Ira Said by Shreya Mathur

The story of a sixteen-year-old Mumbai girl who discovers that she has a magical power of predicting question papers, she has to help her gang of friends desperate for help, which drags her into problems one after another. This delightful work of fiction is a first piece written by a sixteen-year-old in a way that would appeal to young adults.

 9. Poor But Spirited in Karimnagar: Field Notes of a Civil Servant by Sumita Dawra

Thisnon-fiction account brings to light the difficulty of finding solutions while contributing to the study of the implementation of welfare programmes in India. The stories range from huge populations issues leading to the problem of child labour, from cotton farmers to coal miners. Each chapter is divided into three sections about identifying the problem, providing the context, and offering the solution. Poor But Spirited in Karimnagar provides a modern perspective on administration and governance.

Book Review: Just Married, Please Excuse

 Just Married, Please Excuse is the story of a quick-tempered Delhi girl in her twenties, Yashodhara Lal, an IIM Bangalore pass-out, and her husband Vijay Sharma, an IIT-ian from conservative Jaipur family. While Y started working with Hindustan Unilever as a Management Trainee, Vijay had been the part of that company and same department for quite a few years.

Love happens and Vijay makes it a point to marry none other than Yashodhara. Yashodhara who needed more time, was reluctant to marry so soon, considering the fact that she was too young to marry, or maybe because she never thought of herself the as ‘marrying type’. But then the expected happens, Marriage!

Y’s amusing attempts to impress Vijay’s family and an account of them  setting up home in Bangalore given their different tastes, her failed attempts at cooking and getting used to each other’s quirks have been described impeccably in this book.

While Y’s young shoulders are apparently too gentle to take the responsibilities, Vijay is the mature kind who could manage the odd and new situations finely. He conclusively provides enough feed for humour, only that they are all wrongly timed.

Soon after shifting to Mumbai from Bangalore, they manage to get fine people like Zareena, the informal maid; Vinod, the polite driver from small town and of course Vivi, a friend in call without a doubt. And then their cultural and intellectual differences and clashes begin. The husband expectations, so typical of our Indian society are mentioned in a very light and restrained manner. With the unanticipated arrival of baby Anoushka a.k.a. Peanut, the clashes shoot up, fuelled by their vastly conflicting views on raising a child, which in due course lands them at a marriage counsellor’s agency, which also doesn’t prove of much aid. Assistance does arrive for both of them from Vijay’s parents who have been married for ages and under no circumstances are seen as tussled.

Vijay is different from Yashodhara in most respects but his dedication to Y and her honest behaviour is engaging. Vijay, therefore, comes across as a loving husband and an affectionate father. His getting confused about his use of English when he’s excited, adds even more humour to the story.

The growth of love and understanding between a newly married couple, despite their dissimilar backgrounds and personalities, makes the book “Just Married, Please Excuse” believable, legible and certainly enjoyable!