Private and Controversial: When Public Health and Privacy Meet in India; edited by Smriti Pasreecha; HarperCollins India, 428 pages, Rs. 699.
During the pandemic, public health systems started collecting data on individuals, leading to privacy concerns. In this book, experts come together to offer a nuanced view of how privacy and public health intersect.
Ambapali: A Novel, by Tanushree Podder, Penguin Random House India, 310 pages, Rs. 350.
A retelling of the life of Ambapali, a courtesan of the Vaishali kingdom, now Bihar, from around 500 BCE. The novel follows the story of a young woman who is let down by friends, and in love, yet leads her life with determination.
The Sweet Salt of Tamil: Things We Do Not Know About Tamil Country; Navayana, 192 pages, Rs. 499.
This translation of Tho Paramasivan’s Ariyapadatha Tamilakam by V. Ramnarayan details Tamil Nadu’s cultural history. In a somewhat encyclopaedic style, it explains everything from food habits and language to clothing.
Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo; Gollancz, 496 pages, Rs. 799.
The second of the “Alex Stern” books, this comes after the 2019 book Ninth House.There is murder and dark magic lurking in the elite Ivy League, and Stern has to contend with her own demons as well as faculty members dying.
