Reader Favorites – The Shelf Chosen by You

These are the books our community can’t stop talking about. Loved, reviewed, and recommended—find your next read here.

Prey on the Prowl - A Crime Novel

Even as Detective Dhruva was enamored of Kavya, whom he rescues from her kidnapper, Radha, an alleged murderess on the run, gatecrashes into his life.But when Kavya too joins him after her man was poisoned there ensues the tussle of a love triangle, which gets unraveled in a poignant end, but not before a series of murders.So, then who could have poisoned Ranjit the realtor, Shakeel the Inspector, Pravar the criminal and Natya his accomplice?Well the needle of suspicion tilted towards Pravar that was till he perished with his mate, but then who was the one? Could it be Radha under the scanner for her role in the death of her husband Madhu and his mistress Mala, Pravar's sister?Or was it...
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Of No Avail: Web of Wedlock

Lured by the pitch - All marriages are made in heaven but some are delayed on earth: We endeavor to hasten them all - Priya goes to Renuka Marriage Bureau.

Scanning the prospects, when she spotted Venu, whom she slighted long ago, she rushes to him to bring about a dramatic encounter.

What brought about Priya’s change of heart to seek her former suitor and how Venu responds to his old flame’s fresh overtures lend suspense to their romance in this eclectic novella. 

Contents

1 – Surprises of Life

2 – Flows of Fate

3 – Wedlock in Deadlock

4 – Furies of Falsity

5 – Ordeals of Ambition

6 – Falling in Line

7 – Breaking the Barrier

8 – Making the Thaw

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Stories Varied – A Book of Short Stories

This is a collection of the author’s short stories that deals with women's dilemmas in the Indian social milieu accompanied with unique denouements. While 'Ilaa's Ire' contrasts woman's lot of the day with her eminence in the Vedic Age, '201' Qualms" depicts her predicament, torn between personal loyalty and citizen's responsibility. As "?" addresses woman's marital stress in an alien land, 'Cupid's Clue' is about her acting on rebound in her native place. Even as 'Autumn Love' lets woman discover the marital void in her life, 'A Touchy Affair' makes her amenable to her man's other woman. Just as 'Love's How's That' inflames woman's old flame, 'A Hearty Turn' brings her...
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Onto the Stage – Slighted Souls and other stage and radio plays

This is a compendium of the author’s Indian stage and radio plays:"Slighted Souls" is a poignant love story set in rural Telangana, beset with feudal exploitation of the downtrodden dalits. Besides forcing the dalits to toil in the fields as bonded labor without impunity, the land owning doras had no qualms in reducing the womenfolk of this ilk as sex slaves in the gadis, which leads to an armed resistance engulfing an young couple.Men at work on Women at work" is a tragic-comic episode depicting the fallout of sexual harassment at the workplace in the Indian urban setting with its traditional cultural underpinnings."Castle of Despair", built on the ...
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Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife (A Critical Appraisal of Islamic Faith, Indian Polity ‘N More)

The sublimity of Muhammad's preaching in Mecca and the severity of his sermons in Medina make Islam a Janus-faced faith that forever bedevils the mind of the Musalmans. This thought-provoking work, besides dissecting the anatomy of Islam, steeped in the Quran, seeks to depict the psyche of the Musalmans, shaped by the proclivities of their prophet, vicissitudes of his life and the attitudes of his detractors, which the mechanism of their umma perpetuates. More to the point, aided by “I’m Ok – You’re Ok”, the path-breaking work of Thomas A. Harris and Roland E Miller’s “Muslim Friends–Their Faith and Feeling”, this book, for the first time ever, psycho-analyzes the...
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Inane Interpolations in Bhagvad-Gita (An Invocation for their Revocation)

The Manusmriti, the social doctrine of yore, and the Bhagvad-Gita, the spiritual tome in vogue that lay down the discriminatory dharma (duties) of the four social classes (castes) have been the bugbears of the Hindu backward classes. However, to their chagrin, of late, as the latter is being mindlessly promoted even though the former was constitutionally debunked, they began advocating that it too should be dumped in a dustbin.Ironically, the improbability of their progenitor Krishna, the architect of the Gita, relegating his own ilk to the social margins failed to dawn upon these that Gita supposedly slights, even to this day! Thus, their intellectuals, instead of seeking to reclaim their p...
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Bhagvad-Gita: Treatise of Self-help

 The spiritual ethos and the philosophical outlook that the Bhagavad-Gita postulates paves the way for the liberation of man, who, as Rousseau said, ‘being born free, is everywhere in chains’. But equally it is a mirror of human psychology, which enables man to discern his debilities for appropriate redressal.All the same, the boon of an oral tradition that kept it alive for over two millennia became its bane with the proliferation of interpolations therein. Besides muddying its pristine philosophy, these insertions affect the sequential conformity and structural economy of the grand discourse. What is worse, to the chagrin of the majority of the Hindus, some of these legitimize the...
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Sundara Kānda: Hanuman's Odyssey

Whereas Mahabharata's Bhagvad-Gita is taken as a philosophical guide, Ramayana's Sundara Kãnda is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading it or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of this great epic to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds.         Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautif...
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The Truth I Must Invent

The Truth I Must Invent is a collection of narrative and philosophical poems written in free-verse style. Employing a minimalistic approach and whimsical language, Francis DiClemente explores the themes of self, identity, loneliness, memory, existence, family, parenthood, disability, gratitude, and compassion.The Truth I Must Invent examines the conflicting web of emotions all adults face and the truths that lie in between. This poetic collection peels away the layers of our individual and universal experiences, delving into our innermost thoughts with a voice that speaks to the collective.The work suggests that even in our darkest moments, joy and contentment can be found through resilience...
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Poecabulary

Poecabulary is a minimalist poetry collection that blurs the line between vocabulary and verse. Words appear in unexpected pairings, creating connections that surprise, challenge, and invite reflection. Each combination is a deliberate act of linguistic play, where alliteration, sound, appearance, randomness, rhyme, and meaning collide.The author explores how similar or opposing words interact, encouraging readers to discover their interpretations and associations. Both a playful exercise and a meditation on language, Poecabulary celebrates the power and flexibility of words.This collection will resonate with language lovers, poetry enthusiasts, and anyone curious about how words shape meani...
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Janet Does Everything: A Poetical Hodgepodge for Children, Adults and the Undecided

Janet Does Everything: A Poetical Hodgepodge for Children, Adults and the Undecided is an eclectic collection of verse in the tradition of such rhymesters as Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear and W. S. Gilbert. Subjects range from the remarkable Janet (who does everything) to Vlad the Impaler (really!) to chihuahuas encountering alien spacecraft to ravenous tigers and Old Testament prophets on vacation.Not enough? You’ll also find political and cultural critiques (sometimes brutal, but always softened by humor) and a touch of pure surrealism. Looking for overblown bogus Shakespearean verse? That’s here, too.Janet Does Everything is the work of Van Evan Fuller, who (through some remarkable coinc...
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Upriver

NCIS Special Agent Linus Schag is no stranger to violence and bloodshed, but when he’s sent to Iraq to take custody of two Navy SEALs suspected of murder, he finds himself thrust into a manmade inferno as coalition forces fight to free northern Iraq from the Islamic extremist group called ISIS.The explosion of an IED allows the SEALs, suspected of killing a fellow commando, to escape and flee up the Tigris River in a stolen Navy patrol boat. Schag pursues the SEALs in another boat assisted by an Army criminal investigator, a vengeful Iraqi interpreter, and a hostile Navy boat crew. Facing danger at each bend in the river, Schag and his companions endure ambushes, firefights, and friendly f...
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The Fourth Rising

Winner of three awards for best mystery thriller!On May 8, 1945, WWII in Europe ended with Germany’s surrender. But did the Nazi Party itself surrender? Some say no.1943: A German ship moors in a clandestine anchorage in western Mexico with a cargo of gold intended to bribe the Mexican government into declaring war on the United States. When the attempt fails, the German vessel flees leaving its gold buried somewhere along the coast of the Sea of Cortés.1997: The horrific murder of an old flame’s husband sets former war correspondent Peter Brandt on the hunt for the hidden Nazi treasure. The search takes him down a bloody trail leading from the drug cartels of Mexico to a neo-Nazi train...
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Codename Parsifal: A WWII Thriller

Named Best Military Thriller of 2023 by BestThrillers.Finalist, War & Military, 2023 Foreword Reviews Book AwardsFinalist, 2023 Hemingway Award for War FictionFinalist, 2023 Readers Favorite Award for Military FictionThe Spear of Destiny. The Roman Legionnaire's lance that pierced Christ's body as he hung on the cross.Legend claims whomever possesses it will become a great conqueror. But if they lose it, they will lose everything—including their lives.Shortly before WWII, Hitler stole the spear from a museum in Vienna. In the last weeks of the European war, he lost it. General George Patton orders an American OSS team to find the spear and recover it. Unknown to the Americans, both the...
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No Hill to Die On

A brother lost to war. A shocking claim. A deadly truth.Former war correspondent Peter Brandt’s childhood innocence died the day his older brother, Keith, died in Vietnam. Now, a quarter of a century later, Keith’s former fiancée, Rhonda White, comes back into Peter’s life with an incredible claim—Keith may still be alive.Twenty-four hours later, police find Rhonda’s body floating in San Diego Bay. Is it murder or suicide?Rhonda’s death and her claim about Peter’s brother set him on an investigation ranging from the beaches and foothills of Southern California to the mountains of Costa Rica. The deeper he digs, the more mysteries he finds: Marines who fought alongside Keith do...
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