The Best Books, Easy Chair, iPad App

Apps
Make Your Own Mag
A new app for the iPad is making a lot of waves. It’s called Flipboard, and it’s free to download from the iTunes store. What it does, very simply, is to create a kind of free magazine for you. No, we aren’t quailing in our boots just yet. This one is generated for you on the fly from the media content — articles, images, photo and video — generated by your friends on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, plus content selected by Flipboard itself.  It combines the ease of use of the iPad with quick tools that let users quickly interact with their social networks. Released a few days ago, it quickly caught the imagination of iPad owners, and its hitherto unknown creators were promptly inundated. They were not able to meet the demand and had to put a sort of waiting list in place so that users could get full functionality.

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Easy Chair

If you happen to have stubborn knees (or even if you’re tall) you know how tough getting in and out of a car can be. And if you look at this, you will immediately wonder why no one has thought of it before. Renault’s latest offering with the Clio is a swivel seat. The front passenger side turns about 75 degrees outward with the flick of a lever. It locks in that position (as well as in its standard position), making it easier for the passenger to get in and out. Part of Renault’s ‘mobility for all’ move, it is supposed to make life easier for the elderly and the handicapped.

It will be available in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland this year, we learn. And India? “These are very niche innovations, and still a long way from being introduced in the Indian market,” says Ashish Sinharoy, Renault India’s VP, Communications & Corporate Affairs. “But, the way our market is growing and with customers continuously looking for innovative things in cars, maybe not too far away!”

(Ashish K. Mishra)

Books
Reading List
The Vodafone Crossword Book Awards enters its twelfth year, and has added one more category to its prizes. In addition to fiction, non-fiction, Indian language writing in English translation and a popular award, this year will also see a prize for children’s books.

In 2011, the VCBA will have serious competition for its status as India’s most prestigious book prize, when the DSC Prize for South-Asian Literature makes its debut with a much, much bigger cheque (US$ 50,000). But, right now, here’s a brief run-through of the short-listed nominations for the best books of 2009. (We also did a quick online poll on a social network; the top picks are marked with an *.)

Fiction
The Immortals, by Amit Chaudhuri, is set in the Eighties in Bombay, and tells the story of two families who share a common bond in their pursuit of music.

Family Values, by Abha Dawesar, is the saga of a Delhi family told through the eyes of a young boy, an unflinching and dispassionate view of the heart of family life.

If It Is Sweet, by Mridula Koshy, is a debut volume of short stories, which wanders through Delhi in the minds and lives of characters as varied as their circumstances.

Nothing Is Blue, by Biman Nath, is the astrophysicist author’s first novel; it chronicles monastic life in Nalanda in the seventh century, and the visit by legendary Chinese traveler Xuanzang.

*Venus Crossing: Twelve Stories of Transit, by Kalpana Swaminathan, is a collection that seeks to capture the fleeting moments in life when the unthinkable happens.

Non-Fiction
Baulsphere, by Mimlu Sen, brings in a uniquely personal understanding of Baul life (the author is married to Baul singer, Paban Das Baul), temples, companions and music of these wandering minstrels.

Violence, Martyrdom and Partition: A Daughter’s Testimony, by Nonica Dutta, is the personal history of a daughter whose father was murdered during the partition, the violence she saw and how she then dedicated herself to a girls school her father had set up.

*Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom, by Rajni Bakshi, looks at how market evolved, and landed in crisis, how they can be socially, ethically and financially responsible, and successful alternatives to purely market driven ideologies.

The Difficulty of being good – On The Subtle Art of Dharma, by Gurcharan Das, revisits the Mahabharata to explore the idea of morality and how moral dilemmas can help business and interpersonal relations.
The Bakkarwals of Jammu & Kashmir, by Anita Sharma, is a volume of photographs and stories from traveling with the Bakkarwals, a nomadic shepherd community.

Bollywood In Posters, by S M M Ausaja, showcases a range of Bollywood posters from the time they were handmade to modern digital creations, with vignettes of stories and anecdotes about the films.

Looking East To Look West – Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India, by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, looks at the role that Singapore’s statesman had in egging on India’s “Look East’ policy, and his belief that India’s future was intertwined with Asia’s.

Translation
Othappu, by Sarah Joseph, translated by Valson Thampu, is about a young woman’s journey out of a convent and away from family, religious and social conventions in her quest for her identity.

*My Kind of Girl, by Buddhadeva Bose, translated by Arunava Sinha, brings together short stories by the celebrated Bengali writer, in delicate, old-fashioned  style.

The Hour before Dawn, by Bhabendra Nath Saikia, translated by Maitreyi SC, depicts the transformation of a woman from being a dutiful wife, to being betrayed by her husband and her revenge.

The Hour Past Midnight, by Salma, translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom, explores the lives of women trapped in patriarchal societies and their attempts to break out.

Children’s Writing
*The Beast with Nine Billion Feet, by Anil Menon, a science fiction book for young adults, is about how family relations don’t always share morality or ideaologies.

The Magic Store of Nu-Cham Vu, by Shreekumar Varma, about a mean magic store owner who does not allow children into his store, is set in Anchan Bay, a seaside village in an imaginary magical land.

103 Journeys, Voyages, Trips and Stuff, by Siddhartha Sarma, the fourth in a series, depicts inspiring and remarkable journeys, from ancient civilisation to modern times.

Taranauts: The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds, by Roopa Pai, is the first of a fantasy adventure series based in Indian mythology, set in a world of Taranauts.

The Grasshopper’s Run, by Siddhartha Sarma, a coming of age story set in World War II North East India, tells the tale of friendship between a Naga and Assamese boy.

(Saumya Roy & Shloka Nath)