Saturday, April 30, 2011

Mail sent to twistntales yahoogroup members today !

Hi all,

Thank you all so much for your greetings, mails, sms es and your heartfelt wishes for our Ninth anniversary. While we have tried to acknowledge each one of you personally, we may have missed a few… thank you again from the bottom of our hearts. You are the sole reason for our existence, simply no exaggeration here !

As we begin our 10th year of operations, we hope we can continue to bring joy to your reading, get to know you and your family better and fine tune our work processes to service you better. Our emphasis this year will be to use technology to give you a more personalized service.

For the schools, colleges and other library institutions we service, we hope to cut down our response time, give you advance intimation of forthcoming books, so that you can plan your budgeting and purchasing in a more efficient manner.

While we have a few new faces in the team, and some familiar faces move on, rest assured, we at twistntales know almost each one of you and our work practices are designed to ensure that consistency in service quality is maintained (yes, we do whisper the sacred Gayatri Mantra to all new initiates!)

Kshitija who has been our mainstay for the last few years, finished with us this month, and is happily awaiting the birth of her first child. Kshitija worked with us for three and a half years, and her absence is truly going to be felt in the team. A heart felt thanks goes out to her from the team and we wish her all the best for the future. While many of you have met Lijya (who joined us in Oct’10) and Priyanka (Feb’11), a few additional happy folks will join us in June, and we hope to rebuild a new team to take us towards our 10th birthday celebrations.

Going forward in May, we plan to keep twistntales closed in the afternoon hours, as the heat is taking a toll on both our “walk-ins” and our electricity bills! From June 1st, we will be back to normal working hours to 1030 to 2030.

A lot of new exciting books have been released in April, and we have tried to give you a few reviews. Very many exciting books are scheduled to be launched in the next few months, chief among them being, Amitav Ghosh’s sequel to Sea Of Poppies. Be with us on this exciting journey over the next few months.

List of new books:

“Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics” by Kaushik Basu @ Rs.399/- (pgs 273) (Socio Eco)

Kaushik Basu, Economist par excellence, has written a wonderful book that will appeal to both to the professional economist, and the uninitiated. Beyond the Invisible Hand, shows us a new way forward. Free Market economics has provided us a positive surge in growth and employment opportunities, but has not been a panacea for all ailments. Contemporary Capitalism v/s Development Economics is the argument here. An excellently researched book by India’s leading economist, Kaushik Basu enlightens us on the rampant use of the free market policy which has affected the way we craft policy and engage in globalization. A read not only for economists and aspiring students of this social science but for anybody who likes to read and think!

“No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from S.India” @ Rs.599/- (pgs 643) - Socio Eco

This rich and intense collection of translated stories by Tamil and Malayalam intellectuals from the greats of Abhimani, K.A.Gunasekaran (Tamil) to Raghavan Atholi, Sunny Kavikad (Malyalam) is undoubtedly thought provoking! The powerful subject of the book- Dalit literature is brought out beautifully by the thoughtful use of colloquial language giving this book that much required unique southerly flavour! It’s the first of the two volumes, so pick up and read before the next ones out!

“Niche: Why the Market No Longer favours the mainstream” by James Harkin @ Rs.595/- (pgs 250) – Business

From “Positioning” to “Focus” to “Niche” – the markets tell us only one thing, if we care to listen. Stay focused, stay in a Niche, that’s the way the future goes. From the all-in ones, Woolworths style of functioning to a narrow area of expertise and cultivating passionate audiences around them, the twistntales way is the wave of the future! Read it to know more!

Inspiration:

“Across Many Mountains: Three Daughters of Tibet” by Yangzom Brauen @ Rs.499/- (pgs 324) - Memoirs

Born in 1980 to a Swiss father and Tibetan mother, Yangzom Brauen is an actress and political activist. This is the story of her grandmother, who as one of Tibet’s youngest nuns escaped prosecution during the Chinese invasion of 1950, and made the long tedious journey to India on foot like so many other refugees. The journey and after – in the various refugee camps in India, the arrival of Martin Brauen, who rescued both her and her daughter and took them to Switzerland, where Yangzom was born. The story makes remarkable reading, covering the geo-political scenario of the Region and the human angle to it, makes it truly inspirational.

“A Masterful Spirit: Homi J Bhabha” by Indira Chowdhury and Ananya Dasgupta @ Rs.1299/- (pgs 258) - Personalities

An inspirational account of one of India’s greatest Institution builder. Scientist, artist and Renaissance man. Recreated with the help of anecdotes, letters, incidents recounted by close friends, colleagues and family, this biography recreates the spirit of the times. The making of TIFR, the Atomic Energy Establishment – later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. (in 1966, after his tragic demise in an aircrash), the social, political scene then prevalent all weave together beautifully to create this life for many of us, who have only studied this only in history textbooks Yes, such special people did live in India!

“Mindful Eating, Mindful Life: Savour Every Moment and Every Bite” by Thich Nhat Hanh (with Dr. Lilian Cheung) @ Rs.299/- (pgs 292) – Health

Move over Rutuja Diwekar (Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight), the Guru is here. Thich Nhat Hanh brings mindfulness to our eating habits. Savouring every bite and staying in the awareness of the present moment shows us a mirror to our present habits. Focusing on the roots of these habits, we can develop a guide to transform our actions, and look forward to live a life of abundance. Packed with practical tools and a nutritional guide, this is the book for transformation if you are looking at weight-loss and a healthy body.

“I Want to Live: The Story of Madhubala” by Khatija Akbar @ Rs.399/-

The Queen of Beauty- we have for you the charming Madhubala! It’s the very first biography- truly comprehensive, authentic and captivating! (Includes a Free Vcd of Madhubala’s hit songs!) Indulge into blissfulness and relive the 50’s magic!

“K.L.Saigal: The Definitive Biography” by Pran Nevile @ Rs.299/- (pgs 218)

Firstly, Applause: A Tribute to the First singer superstar of Indian cinema! Did you know that with no formal training K.L.Saigal revolutionized the music industry with 185 of his classic records? All by just trusting his instincts! It undoubtedly takes something beyond the ordinary. This biography will unleash before you the life, music, movies and photographs of this doomed lover (from Devdas) to perfection!

Fiction

“Pigeon English” by Stephen Kelman @ Rs.499/- (pgs 263)


A boy is knifed to death on the street. And an appeal for witnesses by the police draws only silence. That is when young Harrison Opoku, a boy who has newly arrived in England from Ghana decides to investigate the murder himself endangering his mother’s fragile web of protection for family safety! Absorbing the many strange elements of a new city and fascinated by the pigeon who visits his balcony, this story is enthralling for adults and young adults alike!

“Under a Monsoon Cloud: An Inspector Ghote Mystery” by H.R.F Keating” @ Rs.299/- (pgs 238)

Is there a Sherlock Holmes for India? Yes! Presenting Inspector Ganesh Ghote from the Bombay C.I.D --solver of mysteries and agent for seeking justice! This mystery-fiction series is a delight to read with just the right amount of creepiness, suspense and tit bits of comic! H.R.Keating has authored the first nine Inspector Ghote mysteries capturing the whole intriguing world of Bombay even before visiting India with exceptional authenticity! Now that’s true brilliance- a tribute to his ability as a novelist!

“Nothing to Declare” by Rabi Thapa @ Rs.199/- (pgs 172)

This debut by Rabi Thapa is engrossing! A collection of sixteen short stories, this book has been crafted excellently throwing light on the scenes of Kathmandu’s conventional settings! While “initiation” talks about the family’s traditional ritual of initiating a young boy into manhood, Nothing to Declare tells about phoren moved Nepalese and their changing attitudes and habits. A thorough mix of a variety of subjects! An Interesting read!

“Pythogoras” by Kitty Ferguson @ Rs.499/-
“The Cousins” by Prema Raghunath @ Rs.325/-
“The Wandering Falcon” by Jamil Ahmad @ Rs.399/-
“From the Brink of Bankruptcy: the DCM Story” by Vinay Bharat- Ram @ Rs.499/-
“The Poetry of Birds” edited by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee @ Rs.399/-
“The Information” by James Gleick @ Rs.599/-
“How to Think like a Bat and 34 other really interesting uses of philosophy” by Peter Cave @ Rs.399/-
“How to be Compassionate: A Handbook for Creating inner Peace and a Happier World” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama” @ Rs.399/-
“R.D. Burman: The Man, the Music” @ Rs.399/-
“9th Judgement” by James Patterson @ Rs.299/-
“The Gatecrasher” by Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham @ Rs.399/-
“Playing with Fire: Tales of an Extra Ordinary Girl” by Gena Showalter @ Rs.299/-
“The Pregnant Widow” by Martin Amis @ Rs.325/-
“Switch: How to change things when change is hard” by Chip & Dan Heath” @ Rs.399/-
“Bad Ideas? An Arresting History of our Invention” by Robert Winston @ Rs.425/-
“Vengeance of Ravana: Book Seven of the Ramayana” by Ashok K Banker @ Rs.299/-
“Annexed: The Incredible story of the boy who loved Anne Frank” by Sharon Dogar @ Rs.299/-
“The Ascent of Man” by Jacob Bronowski @ Rs.450/-
“Goddess of the Rose: A Goddess Summoning Novel” by P.C.Cast @ Rs.350/-
“Good Business: Leadership, flow and the making of meaning” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi @ Rs.395/-
“The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party” by Alexander McCall Smith @ Rs.595/-
“How to Destroy the Universe and 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Physics” by Paul Parsons @ Rs.399/-
“Justin Bieber: Our World” by Millie Rowlands @ Rs.350/-
“The Limca Book of Records: Sports Achievers Special” @ Rs.400/-

Happy Reading and see you at the Store,

From the happy team at

twistntales

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