There's Walter, newly abandoned by his wife; there's Edith, a fiftyish virgin; there's Bunny, taking care of her mother and her mother's boyfriend; and there's Belle, whose married lover dies in the hallway wearing her dead husband Herb's pajama top. Blindly, they encounter one another in ways the reader recognizes are profound even as the characters themselves are unaware. The genius and the art in this collection derives from the possibility that these ships might actually find each other by daylight. If only these four could get together--they'd be so good for each other. "Written with an expert touch, and a wise and tender sensibility. The effect is subtle, strong, and comic."--Charles Baxter, author of BELIEVERS and BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE; "It's hard to think she is capable of writing anything that isn't immediately engaging and a joy to read. Probably someone should publish her shopping lists."--Elizabeth Berg, author of TALK BEFORE SLEEP. A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION

    I had losther smile, her friendship, her voice…But still, somewhere in my heart, I believed her to bemy girlfriend. My mute girlfriend.”Rohan is a telecom professional posted in Meerut and misses hisgirlfriend from college days, who had stopped interacting with him,without giving any reason. Although she had always stood by his sideand her eyes reflected immense love, but she remained his mutegirlfriend.The book opens with an SMS from Vaidehi to Rohan, after five longyears. But before he could reply, his mobile gets damaged and hewanders in his memories to narrate a story. About how his girlfriendbecame his mute girlfriend after the first year of their engineeringcollege.My Mute Girlfriend is a true romance story of how Rohan unravels theanswers to why Vaidehi was mute for so long, and how their life is aboutto change. But little do they know that the worst is yet to come.

    The only hitch in this perfect romance is her prospective sister-in-law who thinks Misha is everything a Bahu shouldn’t be: garrulous, geeky, gawky, gainfully employed (especially the last bit). The questions is will Misha win Didi (and the Kha-Pee Panchayat) over with her Stepford Wife Act? Will she continue to be the poster child for the inherent evils of the Bahu Brigade? Or will she learn to ‘lau’ herself before the whole world and its wife can do the same?

    Gopal Hosur, Rtd. IPS at Bengaluru ; Mr. Ramana, National Award Nominee and Scientist at Hyderabad ; Dr. Col. Prakash & Dr. Khan at International Conference of Medical Sciences and Social Sciences, Mysuru ; Sri. Somaraju, Prl District and Sessions Judge,Vijayapura ; Dr. M. S. Dayanandaswamy (Principal of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Management Studies), Dr Muddesha B T (Director of Sri Siddhartha Center for Media Studies), Dr B. Azmathulla (Professor and Placement Officer of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Management Studies) at TumkurInvited Speaker - Prajati TV & Community Radio Media coverage - Leading regional (Kannada) newspaper, The Covai PostSet in the backdrop of 1990 Calcutta, She is a story about finding one’s own identity in spite of all odds. The story spins around the life of Kusum, a brave heart whose identity is often untitled and blurred; it does not belong anywhere, definitely not under the ‘he’ or ‘she’ bracket, thanks to our social conditioning. Will she be successful in her mission? Find out in She, an utterly absorbing read that derives inspiration from Tagore’s “Ekla Cholo Re” song, which urges everyone to move on despite the fear of abandonment from others. "She is one of the finest book to read" - Sujeeth Kumar, Project Manager, MNC Bengaluru "A story often untold. Appreciate the team for presenting She in the best possible harmonious way!" - N K Narasimhan, CEO and Co-Founder, Nascor Technologies, Bengaluru "Don't miss the ending!" - Raghunath Babu Are, Employee at Microsoft, Bengaluru

    However, behind closed doors, cracks are beginning to appear in her seemingly comfortable relationship with her professionally consumed husband, Rakesh. Although Rakesh seems content with his alpha neatness-fetish-melodramatic wife and bright son; Natasha yearns for romance, passion and excitement. Ironically, the Psychologist husband fails to read between the lines and Natasha is left to her own devices to deal with her unresolved emotions. An unexpected call from India takes her through a journey of self-discovery with her devastatingly handsome work colleague, Steve. She uncovers in some aspects urban India has changed considerably but equally, deep-rooted social issues still prevail in the so called modern, educated, changing society. A chance encounter with her 'blast from the past' - Veer, adds to the emotional rollercoaster ride. Her one-man-woman status of many years has failed to equip her with vital tools to deal with the unanticipated surge of attention from Steve and Veer. As she attempts to master the finer points of courtship, flirtation and seduction; her life spirals out of control. Natasha is compelled to make tough decisions about her love, friendship, marriage and parenthood.

    Is it true? In the case of Radhika, maybe it did. She’s all ready for a fresh start in a new city. She starts living with her cousin, Meera and a series of unexpected events start to unfold which turns her life upside-down. She meets someone new, Rishi. He is very different from what she likes yet intriguing. When everything is going smooth, a lover from the past, Sameer, suddenly re-appears. Now she’s torn between the past and the present. Adding to this craziness, appear two funny characters Zain and Nancy. They are cousins and work in the same office with Radhika. Also, in the picture is Radhika’s aunt, a single lady in her fifties; who’s way too much interested in Radhika’s love life. While Nancy wants Radhika to date Sameer her aunt wants her to pair with Rishi. All entangled, no way out. Now with both the males trying hard to get her, her life becomes more troubled.

    Nakul, who lost his beloved wife after only a month of their marriage in a serial bombing attack, found it impossible to continue with his life.He takes a journey in which he interacts with people like him, who have also lost their loved ones in those blasts and decides to help them. Though he didn't realize that in the process of helping them, he was helping himself. This is his journey through the five stages of grief - DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION and ACCEPTANCE, and how he comes out of them with the help of his family and his "Grief-Mates".He thought that he had forever of togetherness with his wife, but he didn't, none of us does. And before it is too late, we should better go out there to our loved ones and tell them how much we love them. Have any of you said it lately to your wife, your husband, your children, your brother, sister or your parents, that "You mean the world to me. You have changed my life. I cannot live without you. I love you..."

    Culling over 300 pages of some of today's most thrilling writers, The Best of 2.13.61 Publications hallmarks our company's ten year existence. Excerpts include new material from Henry Rollins and Hubert Selby, Jr, as well as excerpts from Henry Miller's love letters, Nick Zedd's hilarious nihilistic New York urban spelunkings, Ian Shoales' undeniably witty social commentaries and so much more.

    Sundeep is ambitious and selfish, which leads him to achieve his goals through unscrupulous means. Swami is the exact opposite as he sticks to his morals and ethics to ensure success in his career. Swami's ideal and ethics keeps him behind Sundeep in terms of performance at the New York International Bank where they both work. Sundeep's rapid rise up the corporate ladder and his popularity with colleagues disguises his real motives and cunning mind. The story also has a main character, who is a friend and counsellor to both of them and he has his own philosophy which is based on his experience and is genuine. He always taught what he deemed right. Inspite of all the facts, the temptation of untold riches was too strong for Sundeep and he continued on his quest for more ill-gotten financial gain. All through the novel, the backdrop is the corporate bank environment, which is so polluted that the characters are portrayed as people who are ready to deviate from the righteous path at the drop of a hat. Women throw themselves at their bosses to advance their position. If God Was A Banker was published in 2007 and it won the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Book Award. The book has sold more than 260,000 books and has been a national bestseller.

    No Path in Darjeeling Is Straight is a memory of his time in the iconic town, and one of the finest works of Indian non-fiction in recent years.Parimal evocatively describes his arrival, through drizzle and impenetrable fog, at a place that was at odds with the grand picture of it he had painted for himself. And his first night there was spent sleepless in a ramshackle hotel above a butcher's shop. Yet, as he tramped its roads and winding footpaths, Darjeeling grew on him. He sought out its history: a land of incomparable beauty originally inhabited by the Lepchas and other tribes; the British who took it for themselves in the mid-1800s so they could remember home; the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway--once a vital artery, now a quaint toy train--built in 1881; and the vast tea gardens with which the British replaced verdant forests to produce the fabled Orange Pekoe.In the enmeshed lives of his neighbours--of various castes, tribes, religions and cultures--lived at the measured pace of a small town, Parimal discovered a richly cosmopolitan society which endured even under threat from cynical politics and haphazard urbanization. He also found new friends: Benson, a colleague whose death from AIDS showed him the dark underbelly of the hill station; Pratap and Newton, whose homes and lives reflected the irreconcilable pulls of tradition and upward mobility; and Julia and Hemant, with whom he trekked the forests of the Singalila mountains in search of a vanished Lepcha village and a salamander long thought extinct.With empathy, and in shimmering prose, No Path in Darjeeling Is Straight effortlessly merges travel, history, literature, memory, politics and the pleasures of ennui into an unforgettable portrait of a place and its people.

    A sparkling short story from the bestselling author of The Oyster Catcher, available exclusively in ebook.

    Join the O'Reilly family once again as they meet around the Jack O'Lantern on Halloween night and share ghost stories that will make you shiver and have you looking over your shoulder to see if there is "a little something extra" wandering through your home tonight.

    In the years (and decades) that followed, Granta established itself as the one of the most prestigious literary publications in the English-speaking world. In that time Granta has published 26 Nobel Prize for Literature winners, defined new literary genres and paved the way for generations of young novelists. To celebrate forty years of brilliant publishing, Granta 147 brings together our best fiction and non-fiction from the last four decades, along with a selection of letters from behind the scenes. This will be a collector's issue and is not to be missed.Featuring...Angela CarterKazuo IshiguroTodd McEwenBruce ChatwinJames FentonPrimo LeviAmitav GhoshRaymond CarverPhilip RothJohn Gregory DunneRyszard KapuscinskiJoy WilliamsJohn BergerGabriel García MárquezBill BufordLindsey HilsumLorrie MooreHilary MantelIan JackEdward SaidDiana AthillEdmund WhiteVed MehtaAdrian LeftwichAlexandra FullerBinyavanga WainainaMary GaitskillLydia DavisJeanette WintersonHerta Müller

    Most of his friends are dead or disappeared. Corrupt CIA Director Marcus Cain is poised to ascend to the highest levels of power, and the shadowy group known as the Circle is causing chaos across the globe.

    "Devdas: " The young boy Devdas has an ardent follower, a little girl Parvati, who is his neighbor's daughter. They grow up together in a class conscious, tradition bound, rural community. Their friendship turns into love as they mature. Will they be able to have their wish fulfilled and unite with each other for the rest of their lives? Which way their fate will take them?"Good Riddance (Niskriti): " Girish is a successful man and both he and his wife are magnanimous. They allow Girish's incompetent and poor cousin and his family to live with them as a joint family. An atmosphere of great love and understanding prevails over the joint family. But, what happens when Girish's younger brother Harish, who is also a successful man and has a wife with western education, joins the family? What events take place and what are the roles played by different family members?"Pundit (Pundit-moshai): " Brindabon was married at a young age, but was soon made by his father to desert his child bride, because of a rumor of scandal about her mother. He grows up to become a self educated and benevolent well to do man, and she grows up to be a beautiful and educated woman in a poor family. After his second wife dies leaving behind a young son, he offers to take her back. But, how she responds? Brindabon gives free education to children of the poor in the village, by teaching them himself, and is called by them as Pundit. But, does that earn him respect from the diehard snobs in the village ortheir compassion in his moment of crisis?"Chandranath: " A rich man marries a poor young woman, not knowing that her mother had a scandal of living together with a man after she became a widow. The girl, because of her humble background and the scandalous secret about her mother, considers herself much inferior to her husband and treats him with servility. How are the husband's feelings towards her? How the marriage blossoms? A kindly old man comes in their life, and what role he plays?"Debt and Payment (Dena-Paona): " Jibananda, a corrupt scion of a landlord family, marries the child daughter of a widow for dowry money and then disappears. He later inherits a large estate when his uncle dies and becomes an oppressive feudal landlord. The girl by turn of events becomes the custodian of a temple in a village, where the landlord owns some property. She is upright, educated, and a leader of the downtrodden. The landlord visits the village, but does not recognize her. The virtuous woman and the depraved man cross their path, and what does it bring to them?