September reads to add to your bookshelf

By Siddhi Jain
ArrayNew Delhi, Aug 28 (IANSlife) From academic success and hidden Indian literary gems to a bit of marketing 'gyan' and a bestseller by a Booker-shortlisted author, here's your must read list for the upcoming month.

'The Island of Missing Trees' by Elif Shafak

A rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of '10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World'. Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. The taverna is the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic and chilli peppers, creeping honeysuckle, and in the centre, growing through a cavity in the roof, a fig tree. The fig tree witnesses their hushed, happy meetings; their silent, surreptitious departures. The fig tree is there, too, when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns -- a botanist, looking for native species -- looking, really, for Defne. The two lovers return to the taverna to take a clipping from the fig tree and smuggle it into their suitcase, bound for London. Years later, the fig tree in the garden is their daughter Ada's only knowledge of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence, and find her place in the world.

'5 Mantras' by Chandan Deshmukh

This self-help book from the author of '6 Secrets Smart Students Don't Tell You' and '7 Dream Jobs and How to Find Them', gives various tested methods and tips to smart studying and achieving academic success. It teaches and sets goals for all future school and college toppers and provides a step-by-step method that will help to retain information, revise and apply. Success holds different meanings for different people, but the feeling of wanting success is universal. However, most students end up being their own greatest enemy when they start comparing their life stories with others' achievements. In this well-researched self-help book, Chandan Deshmukh unpacks five simple and insightful mantras, which are easy to put into action from Day 1.

'Hidden Treasures of India: Folktales & Stories from Puranas' by Kanupriya Ajitsaria

The knowledge of our civilisation comes to us in the form of stories; stories from the Puranas, from Ramayana, folktales, and many other sources. These stories regale, teach, leave us mesmerised, and, ultimately teach us to take life as it is. They tell us that we are responsible for what we do or do not do. In these handpicked stories from various Puranas, folktales and other renditions, Author Kanupriya Ajitsaria traverses a vast span across the four yugas, through various lands and the protagonists belonging to various age groups.

'The Year That Wasn't -- The Diary of a 14-Year Old' by Brisha Jain

Teen author Brisha Jain's debut book is a journal-style narrative that chronicles the unprecedented upheaval of the last few months -- a time when a tiny pathogen brought the world to a halt. The dated log entries serve as an incredible reminder of the day-to-day rollercoaster of the year that was. The diary handholds readers through the hopeful beginning of a brand new decade; the tumultuous confusion of a burgeoning worldwide calamity; lockdown travails; a death march that won't halt; coping with the whole new world of online schooling; a new digital divide; the vaccine race; the waning of the pandemic's severity and it's resurgence -- all seen through the fresh lens of the young author.

'Fidelity: How To Create A Loving Relationship That Lasts' by Thich Nhat Hanh

A manual to finding healthy and enduring intimacy in our relationships. In his first book on intimacy and healthy sexuality, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to love our partners and nurture our relationships and how to walk the path of love past anger and disappointments while practising gratitude and appreciation. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the best-known Zen Buddhist teachers in the world today.

'Million Dollar Logo' by Sudhir Kove

The book comes from the author's belief that the logo of a company is capable enough to single-handedly drive the cause behind it all -- the silent backbone of the company. As a logo can make or break a brand, striving to answer the questions around designing the ideal logo for your company, the book 'Million Dollar Logo' immerses you into the science behind Logo Analysis citing case studies of the celebrated logos, thereby unfolding the secret sauce that went into catapulting them to achieve the feat.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at [email protected])