Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
The One Who Had Two Lives | HarperCollins

The tale of Amba-Ambika-Amb­­alika, and that of Shikhandi, are among the most enticing of the Mahabharata—that supremely capacious of epics. In this age of mining it for ret­­ellings, Madhavan adopts a first-­­person voice for intimacy, plo­ughing the inner lives of Amba and Shikhandi. The result is finely drawn characters who drive the nar­­ratives, though more could have been done on vivifying an imagined ancientness.

Edited by Shreerupa Mitra
Energising India: Fuelling a Billion Lives | Rupa

As India marches towards economic superpowerdom, its energy needs have increased salience. This book, through its galaxy of con­­­­tri­­butors, deals with the subject threadbare: our energy challenge (Anil Kakodkar), a gas-based future (Dharmendra Pradhan), energy dip­lo­macy (S. Jaishankar), role of LPG in household energy (Kirk R. Smith and Abhishek Jain) etc. Beautifully printed, with accessible graphs.

Robin Sharma
The 5 AM Club  | Jaico

Sharma is one indefatigable collater of snackworthy anecdotes: bits of wisdom-laden goodies featuring the great (Picasso, Vonnegut, Seneca…) and framed by stock cha­­racters in earnest confab. The mes­­­sages are as old as the hills (work detached from thoughts of gain, a disciplined, early-to-rise lifestyle), though the crispiness would appeal to those who approach reading cautiously.