May Reading List

Reading is not only a great activity, but it also gives us the opportunity to learn so much more than we could have ever imagined. Reading not only aids in knowledge acquisition but also in language development.

1. Small Wins Everyday by Luke Countinho

Nothing is as daunting as a goal. Many of us struggle with achieving them - be it in life, health, love and career. When you set unrealistic goals and keep failing, your intelligently designed brain tries to protect you from the pain and negative emotions that come with failure. In Small Wins Every Day, Luke Coutinho presents a simple premise with powerful results, teaching you to rewire your brain for success. The hack? Break down your goals into small wins that you can achieve every day. Stacked over time, these contribute to significant lifestyle changes, good health and happiness.

Simple and bite-sized but packed with a punch, here are 100 wins to change your life.

2. The Penguin Book of Modern Tibetan Essays, edited by Tenzin Dickie

A groundbreaking anthology of modern Tibetan non-fiction, this unprecedented collection celebrates the art of the modern Tibetan essay and comprises some of the best Tibetan writers working today in Tibetan, English and Chinese.

There are essays on lost friends, stolen inheritances, prison notes and secret journeys from-and to-Tibet. There are also essays on food, the Dalai Lama's Gar dancer, love letters, lotteries and the prince of Tibet. The collection offers a profound commentary not just on the Tibetan nation and Tibetan exile but also on the romance, comedy and tragedy of modern Tibetan life.

For this anthology, editor and translator Tenzin Dickie has commissioned and collected twenty-eight essays from twenty-two Tibetan writers, including Woeser, Jamyang Norbu, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Pema Bhum and Lhashamgyal.

This book of personal essays by Tibetan writers is a landmark addition to contemporary Tibetan letters as well as a significant contribution to global literature.

3. Lost to the World by Shahbaz Taseer

In late August of 2011, Shahbaz Taseer was driving to his office in Lahore, Pakistan when he was dragged from his car at gunpoint and kidnapped by a group of Taliban-affiliated terrorists.

Just seven months earlier, his father, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, had been shot dead by his guard for speaking out against Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

For almost five years Shahbaz was held captive, moved ever-deeper into the lawless Hindu Kush, frequently tortured and forced to endure extreme cruelty, his fate resting on his kidnappers' impossible demands and the uneasy alliances between his captors, the Taliban and ISIS.

Lost to the World is the remarkable true story of Taseer's time in captivity, and of his astonishing escape. It is a story of extraordinary faith, bravery and sorrow, with moments of kindness, humour and empathy, offering a hopeful light in the dark years of his imprisonment.

While deeply harrowing, this tale is also about resilience. Taseer countered his captors' narrative of a holy war by immersing himself in the Quran in search of hope and a means to see his own humanity under even the most inhumane conditions, and ultimately to find a way back to his family.

4. Dr Mathai's ABC to health by Issac Mathai

How often have you put off eating healthy food, starting those morning walks, hitting the gym or practising yoga because you are feeling well anyway? Dr Mathai's ABC to Good Health tells you why you must not postpone all those good habits required for staying healthy and what could happen to you if you ignore your fitness quotient.

5. Lab Hopping by Aashima Dogra and Nandita Jayaraj

Embark on this one-of-a-kind journey through India's science laboratories in pursuit of the true story behind the gender gap.

Aashima Dogra and Nandita Jayaraj engage in thought-provoking dialogues about the triumphs and challenges faced by women, and offer fresh perspectives on the gender gap that continues to haunt Indian science today. The book is a comprehensive examination of the state of women in science and a road map for the way forward.

6. Working to Restore by Esha Chhabra

A new and sustainable business blueprint for the twenty-first century.

In Working to Restore, reporter Esha Chhabra uses her vast experience of reporting on sustainability to highlight pioneering grassroots entrepreneurs who are building new business blueprints in the twenty-first century. Working across the world, they are focused on rethinking, restructuring and regenerating. This book describes the challenges the world faces in each area and how business models are helping to solve these problems.

7. Water in a broken pot by Yogesh Maitreya

A book about longing, loss and finding oneself in the chaos that is life.

Incredibly moving and hauntingly honest, Water in a Broken Pot is the memoir of Yogesh Maitreya, a leading independent Indian Dalit publisher, writer and poet. Encompassing experiences of pain, loneliness, deprivation, alienation and the political consciousness of his caste identity, this intimately moving memoir is a story of resilience and raw brutality.

8. The Case for Nature by Siddarth Shrikanth

A positive manifesto for regenerating our planet through the power of nature.

In a world where carbon emissions and climate financing are rightly rising up the agenda, there exists another catastrophe that is often overlooked but is just as dire-the global collapse of our ecosystems. Siddarth Shrikanth's The Case for Nature presents a compelling vision for tackling this other planetary crisis by rethinking our relationship with nature in economic, social and even personal terms.

9. My Father's Brain by Sandeep Jauhar

A deeply affecting memoir of a father's descent into dementia, and a revelatory inquiry into why the human brain degenerates with age and what we can do about it.

In this intimate memoir, rich with humour and heartbreak, distinguished physician and author Sandeep Jauhar sets his father's descent into Alzheimer's alongside his own journey towards understanding this disease and how it might best be coped with, if not cured. The result is a work of essential insight into dementia, and into how scientists, caregivers and all of us in an ageing society are reckoning with the fallout.

10. The Feluda Journal by Satyajit Ray

Felu, the super sleuth, is the nickname of Pradosh C. Mitter. Although Satyajit Ray wrote the Feluda stories for younger readers, it was found that they were being read by their parents as well. Soon, longer stories followed- novelettes-taking place in a variety of picturesque settings, from the historical setting of Lucknow-where Feluda solves the mystery of a diamond ring which once belonged to the Mughal emperor Aurengzeb-to the Blue Beryl of Kailash Chowdhury. This is the first-ever Feluda journal, which opens a window to unseen archived materials, illustrations and rare publicity stills created by Ray. A companion journal to scribble your thoughts, this collector's item brings to light the ever-popular adventures of Satyajit Ray's enduring creation, Feluda!