First Look

LR: Ashok Banker

The Forest of Stories: Mahabharat Series Book One;Ashok Kumar Banker, Westland, Rs.295

The first in Ashok Banker's long awaited ‘MBA' Series, takes us deep into the haunted jungle of Naimisha-van. Based on the original Sanskrit shlokas with an action-packed narration and vivid descriptions that give the reader a 3D effect Surround Sound experience, this sampoorn Mahabharata retelling brings to life all the magic and majesty, wonders and violence of the world's greatest epic

Calico Joe;

John Grisham, Hachette India/Hodder & Stoughton (2012), Rs.350.

Thirty years have passed since 11-year-old Paul Tracy watched his troubled father, Warren, a pitcher for the New York Mets, clash with his childhood hero, the Cubs' golden-boy Joe Castle, in a contest from which no winners emerged. Now the news that his father is dying brings the memory of that day flooding back. Deciding that it's time to face up to what really happened on that baseball field in 1973, father and son make their way to Calico Rock, Arkansas, where either redemption or rejection awaits them.

Tell Me a Story;Rupa Bajwa, Pan Macmillan India (2012), Rs.499.

Set partly in the small, buzzing town of Amritsar and partly in New Delhi,

Tell Me A Story is the story of Rani, a young woman in contemporary India. She enjoys her work in a local beauty parlour though her lower middle-class family lives in a state of constant struggle: to make ends meet, to hang on to their dreams, to keep their fragile lives from collapsing.

Difficult Pleasures;Anjum Hasan, Viking (2012), Rs.399.

Wry, tender, borderline surreal, Difficult Pleasures is a collection of stories about the need to escape and the longing to belong. Accomplished, ambitious and full of surprises, this is a masterful collection that confirms Anjum Hasan's reputation as one of India's most gifted young writers

Hotel K: The Shocking Inside Story of Bali's Most Notorious Jail; Kathryn Bonella, Quercus (2012), Rs.299

Welcome to Hotel Kerobokan, or Hotel K, the tongue-in-cheek nickname for Kerobokan Jail, Bali's most notorious prison. It is a dark, bizarre and truly frightening underworld of sex, drugs, violence and squalor. Hotel K has become home to a procession of the infamous and the tragic, from the Bali Bombers to the Bali Nine.

The Mahabharata;Shiv K. Kumar, HarperCollins, Rs. 399.

One of the greatest epics in the world, the Mahabharata delves into human psychology and explores the range of human ideals and emotions. Prof. Shiv K. Kumar's imaginative retelling rediscovers the beauty of a magnificent tale that is ultimately propelled by the force of human emotions: love and hate, lust and vengeance, jealousy and greed, loyalty and betrayal.