Just in bestsellers:

1. The Closers by Michael Connelly, published by Warner Brothers, pp 466, price Rs 425

2. Guts!: Companies that Blow the Doors off Business-as-usual (Paperback) by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, published by Doubleday books, pp 288, price Rs 695

3. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, published by Vintage, pp 416, price Rs 450

4. Villages by John Updike, published by Ballantine books, pp 309, price Rs 450

What the books are about

Guts!: Companies...

When you’re looking for inspiration to lead your team, this is the perfect food. Be prepared for generous servings of pride of ownership, innovative approaches, hard work and a caring, human touch combined with gutsy risk-taking ability! The recipe works for all customers, whatever their mood,appetite or circumstances. On the surface, it appears to be the opposite of ‘Neutron Jack’s’ ‘tough-guy’ approach, but deep down they both share a common management style — cherishing and valuing employee contributions at all levels.

The Plot Against America:

During his long career, Roth has shown himself a master at creating fictional doppelgängers. In this stunning novel, he creates a mesmerising alternate world as well, in which Charles A Lindbergh defeats FDR in the 1940 presidential election, and Philip, his parents and his brother weather the storm in Newark. Incorporating Lindbergh’s actual radio address in which he accused the British and the Jews of trying to force America into a foreign war, Roth builds an eerily logical narrative that shows how isolationists in and out of government, emboldened by Lindbergh’s blatant anti-Semitism, enact new laws and create an atmosphere of religious hatred that culminates in nationwide pogroms.

Villages:

In this 21st novel by one of the premier chroniclers of American life, a man recalls a lifetime spent in New England communities of women. Owen Mackenzie, now in his 70s and living in the small village of Haskell’s Crossing, with his second wife, Julia, spends his days immersed in the daily routines of retirement while reminiscing about his childhood town of Willow, and the village where he spent his adulthood, Middle Falls. Though Owen studied at MIT and founded an early computer startup that made him moderately rich, his story is primarily defined by his romantic relationships.

The Closers:

LAPD detective Harry Bosch is back on the force after a two-year retirement. Assigned to the Open Unsolved (cold cases) unit and teamed with former partner Kiz Rider, Harry’s first case back involves the killing of a high school girl 17 years ago, reopened because of a DNA match to blood found on the murder gun. The blood on the gun belongs to a local lowlife white supremacist, Roland Mackey; the victim had a black father and a white mother. But the blood indicates Mackey had possession of the gun.

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