Take a peek into what really goes on in the plush world of luxury hotels in India; get inspired to look at the sunny side of life when faced with darkness; unearth the secret behind the climb and fall of the greatest theatre in the country, and flick through a collection of the best extracts of all-time classics.

The IANS bookshelf has very interesting reads to offer this weekend.

1. Book: Her Master Key; Author: Shruti Johri; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 172; Price: Rs 195

“Her Master Key” is an entertaining account of what a woman encounters during her career as a housekeeper at a leading five-star hotel.

She stumbles across extraordinary episodes of infidelity, bigotry and brings to light the absurdity of travellers. Apart from these vignettes, the book lays bare struggles of white-collared, blue-collared and non-collared staff to break the stereotypes around hotel employees.

Read some incredible and amusing stories from luxury hotels in India.

2. Book: I Tagged Her in My Heart; Author: Anuj Tiwari; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 238; Price: Rs 195

Things get broken. We repair them. They get a new shape. Perhaps a new identity. This applies to love as well. Because, you are yours before you are someone else’s. But what happens when we fall or fail in love? After two heartbreaks, Adrika, a fiercely independent career-girl, changes her hashtag on Instagram to #HappyGoLucky and dreams become her priority.

Arjun, a workaholic and socially inept, struggles with his weakness for Dimpy Aunty’s daughter Anushka and his hesitation in sharing heartaches and emotional baggage. Into this mess, steps in Dimpy Aunty, an unlikely saviour, with all her quirks and jauntiness, steering them through rough patches in unlikely ways as only she can.

Insightful, bold and witty, “I Tagged Her in My Heart” is based on a true story that will inspire many to look at the sunny side of life when faced with darkness.

3. Book: The Autograph Seeker; Author: Tony V.F.; Publisher: Amaryllis; Pages: 383; Price: Rs 399

During the British rule of India, fate throws together a diverse cast onto the stage of the San Souci Theater — Esther Leach, the Kohinoor of Bengal theatre; James Barry, the theatre manager facing bankruptcy; Alice Anderson, the enchanting Englishwomen estranged from her husband; and Baboo Bustomchurn Addy, the dark Bengali actor infatuated with Alice Anderson and ready to kill for her.

Yet, history has forgotten the cast that perished with the San Souci theatre until it’s discovered by Tony, a schoolboy in Calcutta, desperate to tell their story — of an actress who was burnt before a shocked audience; of a dangerous relationship between a married English Women and a native Bengali actor. To help Tony is an effervescent Anglo-India beauty. She’s mute. It was the end of innocence and the dawn of a glorious institution.

Unearth the secret behind the climb and fall of the greatest theatre in the country, kept hidden for the last 150 years, revealed to you through a schoolboy’s adventure. Find out what happens when a boy who talks a lot meets a girl born mute — their love tells the story in this epic coming-of-age novel.

4. Book: 50 Self-Help Classics; Author: Tom Butler-Bow Don; Publisher: Hachette; Pages: 321; Price: Rs 599

Thousands of books have been written offering the secrets to personal fulfilment and happiness.

But which are the all-time classics? Which ones can really change your life? Bringing you the essential ideas, insights and techniques from 50 legendary works from Lao-Tzu to Benjamin Franklin to Paulo Coelho, 50 Self-Help Classics is a unique guide to the great works of life transformation.