Valentine Reads for 2023
50 GREATEST LOVE STORIES
by Terry O’Brien
ABOUT THE BOOK (INR 495, PP 464)
Their eyes met from across the room…A feeling of warmth took over…Locked in an embrace… Capturing a heart…
50 Greatest Love Stories brings to you the most charming and heart-warming tales that encapsulate the affection and fondness of the human heart. Witness the way two souls fall in love and the different forms in which love exists. Featuring the work of some of the greatest writers in the history of literature, from Maupassant to Mansfield to Maugham, this book will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terry O’Brien is a bestselling author of several books, an academician, a freelance media consultant and public broadcaster, a quiz enthusiast and a passionate motivational trainer. He is a man of many parts, a language expert, a versatile writer on a plethora of topics and a trainer’s trainer. He has earned a distinction in history and is an expert on current affairs for news agencies.
LOVE AND WAR IN BOSNIA
by Humayun Kabir
ABOUT THE BOOK (INR 295, PP 216)
‘With great reverence, I spread flowers on the skull, brought soil from the surroundings and made a grave for it. It was clear that she had been tortured. I also knew that there would never be a trial for the killing of this girl, but I felt we, as human beings, had done our duty.’
Bosnia is reeling under the effects of the Bosnian War and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks. Beaten and destroyed, the country needs to be brought back to life with care and compassion. Sabyasachi, a disillusioned and exhausted police officer of West Bengal cadre, lands in Bosnia on deputation duty with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.
Suzanne, a language assistant working with the UN Mission in Bosnia and a true-blue Bosnian, has experienced the war first-hand and has a past that still haunts her.
The two meet in the gloomy winter landscape of Bosnia and fall in love. Will the ghosts of the war-torn country let their love endure?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For the past undisclosed amount of years, Humayun Kabir has thoroughly bucked the system. He lives in sunny Kolkata, having spent most of his childhood in a remote village in West Midnapore in West Bengal. After completing his PhD, he joined in the State Civil Service and subsequently the Indian Police Service and served as the subdivisional police officer in several subdivisions. Afterwards, he served as the superintendent of police of several districts. His last role was as police commissioner of Chandannagar before he resigned and joined politics.
During his successful police career, Dr Kabir was an achiever, amassing a slew of impressive gruesome crimes solved, associated with controversy and political activities of the state.
Since childhood, he has been fond of writing short stories and has written a few novels in Bengali. Love and War in Bosnia is his first English-language fiction novel, based on his experiences as a part of the peacekeeping and restructuring force with the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the year 2001–02.
When he’s not writing, he can be found reading the news, engaging in social service and enjoying meaningful conversations with friends
Cold Blooded Love
by Girish Dutt Shukla
ABOUT THE BOOK (INR 295, PP 288)
Having separated from her husband Om, Ziva keeps wondering: can there be a happy forever family? Her new neighbours—Ovya and Aadit—appear to be a perfect couple, and they make her reminisce the good times she spent with her once loving husband. Soon, however, Ziva discovers that everything is not so rosy with the couple. As Ovya starts sharing her views about Aadit, the myth of perfection begins to crumble. One night, Ziva hears a penetrating scream and then Ovya goes missing. Caught in the middle of a family scandal, Ziva finds herself in a fix as she struggles with a simple question. Should she pursue her heart, or give up on her dreams and finally accept that family bliss is perhaps a misnomer?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Girish Dutt Shukla is a computer engineer by education and a digital marketer by profession. Before pursuing his passion for writing, he worked as a software engineer for two years. In June 2015, he left the job and started dabbling in writing and marketing. In his seven-year stint as a marketing professional, he has helped both established brands and startups to grow digitally with his writing skills and marketing acumen.
Girish is also a regular contributor to a variety of websites, magazines and newspapers, including The Pioneer, The Daily Guardian, ThoughtCatalog, SelfGrowth, Elephant Journal, Theravive, BestLifeOnline and HumanWindow, among many others. Through his writings, he has been promoting psychology and mental health. He has a proclivity for perceiving psyche and behaviour and hopes to study the subject further in the future.
Maroon in a Sky of Blue, his debut novel, was published in 2020. Amitabh Bachchan expressed his appreciation of the novel through a personal letter written to the author.
MY IMPERFECT LOVE
by Niharika Jindal
ABOUT THE BOOK (INR 295, PP 240)
When all you have learnt is running away, having a reason to stay is the revelation.
Ambitious, smart and overachieving Rhea is ready to pack her bags and start her glamorous new course in London School of Fashion. Her mother’s best friend and everybody’s 2.00 a.m. call, she is dependable and loved by all. Saahil, burdened by the pain of his parents’ divorce, goes through life pretending not to care about anything—his MBA, his father’s numerous girlfriends, his mother’s drunken calls and all the women he meets.
What happens when their two opposite worlds collide? Is it a disaster waiting to happen? Or can love blossom in even the unlikeliest places?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Niharika Jindal is a 30-year-old writer from Ahmedabad. After spending four years studying Psychology in Claremont McKenna College, California, she returned to India clueless about her next step. She started with a few stints in human resources, during which she met her husband on an arranged coffee date, and it was love at first sight. After many drives and dinner dates, Niharika is now happily married. However, her fairy tale was cut short when she developed a chronic back condition—which she has been battling ever since. Constantly trying to figure out a way to take her mind off the pain, her saving grace came in the form of reading, her favourite childhood pastime. She decided to give writing a shot. Niharika’s debut novel, Wake Up, Girl! was published in November 2018. The book was an instant success, and was in the Amazon bestseller list within two weeks of its release. Various influencers and Bollywood personalities have featured it on social media platforms across the country since then. In her free time, Niharika can be found reading, listening to romantic songs, having cold coffee, shopping online, catching up with old friends, doing physiotherapy and binge watching television shows with her husband.