Books of the week: From An Officer and His Holiness, to India and the Olympic Games — our picks

We love stories, and even in the age of Netflix-and-chill, there’s nothing like a good book that promises a couple of hours of absorption — whether curled up in bed, in your favourite coffeehouse, or that long (and tiresome) commute to work. Every Sunday, we’ll have a succinct pick of books, across diverse genres, that have been newly made available for your reading pleasure. Get them wherever you get your books — the friendly neighbourhood bookseller, e-retail website, chain store — and in whatever form you prefer. Happy reading! For more of our weekly book recommendations, click here . ***

– FICTION Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line By Deepa Anappara Penguin Random House India | Rs 499 | 320 pages Journalist and writer Deepa Anappara’s debut novel follows nine-year-old Jai, who excessively watches reality police shows and considers himself smarter than his friends Pari and Faiz. When a classmate goes missing, the three of them band together and decide to use the crime-solving skills Jai picked up from television to find him. Soon however, more children start to disappear. Drawing on real incidents of disappearances in metropolitan India, the novel takes readers on a tumultuous, suspenseful journey. Read more about the book here. – MEMOIRS AND BIOGRAPHIES An Officer and His Holiness By Rani Singh Penguin Random House India | Rs 499 | 256 pages Journalist Rani Singh documents the journey of her uncle, political officer Har Mander Singh, in 1959, as he carefully escorted the Dalai Lama from the Indian border, following his escape from Tibet. Singh has reproduced entries from the diary her uncle kept during this period, and through research, travel, rare pictures, and interviews, records their journey. Her own experience retracing the journey also provides an overview of the current situation in the region. Read more about the book here. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India By Narayani Basu Simon & Schuster India | Rs 799 | 432 pages Author and historian Narayani Basu presents a biography of her great grandfather Vappala Pangunni Menon, referred to as the architect of modern India. Besides considering his career, determination to earn women the right to vote, strategy to get princely states to accede, and decision to join the Swatantra Party, the book also explores the man behind the public figure, looking at his personal life and private conflicts. The book also records the times he lived in, and offers a new lens through which to consider how India came into being. Read more about the book here. Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back By Chander Suta Dogra HarperCollins India | Rs 699 | 392 pages Journalist and author Chander Suta Dogra’s Missing in Action tells the stories of Indian soldiers who went missing during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. Through collecting scattered reports over the past five decades and years of research, the book attempts to answer the question ‘what happened to these men?’ and opens debate about how soldiers are often used as governmental pawns. Read more about the book here. – NON-FICTION Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games By Boria Majumdar, Nalin Mehta HarperCollins India | Rs 599 | 352 pages Journalists Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta give readers a look into what goes on behind the scenes in the Indian Olympics world, considers how it has changed in the past decade, and provides an overview of how India has fared at the Olympics over the past century. It discusses the question that comes up around the Olympics each time: ‘why does a country of a billion plus have so little to show for itself at the Olympics?’ and considers India’s preparedness for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Read more about the book here. From Cowrie to Crypto: Blockchain and the Future of Money By TCA Sharad Raghavan Westland Publications | Rs 399 | 236 pages With the aim to spread awareness about cryptocurrencies and clarify misconceptions surrounding it, former journalist and media advisor Sharad Raghavan’s book explains what blockchain is, how it works, how it’s connected to cryptocurrencies, and discusses what it means for companies and governments. It also talks about how it’s different from any other known form of money so far, its advantages, and dangers. Social Entrepreneurship in India: Quarter Idealism and a Pound of Pragmatism By Madhukar Shukla SAGE Publications India | Rs 495 | 284 pages Dr Madhukar Shukla, professor at XLRI Jamshedpur, presents an overview of social entrepreneurship in the country. It looks at the historical roots of its emergence in the country and provides models of five types of entrepreneurs. It looks at the strategies social entrepreneurs employ, challenges they face, and meditates on the essential requirement of scaling. It also considers over 120 real-life examples of Indian social ventures, describing how they are solving some of Indian society’s most crucial social problems. Read more about the book here.