Flick through an interesting book around the life of a wife dealing with her husband’s sudden disappearance; take a joyride through some of children’s most favourite books; read a collection of stories which explore humanity’s driving obsessions of life; take a pithy look at life and its idiosyncrasies.

The IANS bookshelf has all these reads for this weekend.

1. Book: Ramona; Author: Manoj V. Jain; Publisher: Notion Press; Pages: 101; Price: Rs 125
Sitting on an armchair near the window, Ramona, the mother of a son and a cookery teacher, muses on the events that have happened in her life in the recent past. A letter from her husband, not even nearly justifying his mysterious disappearance, shocks her and turns her world upside down.

Bombarded by a thousand questions, accusations, a tumult of emotions and confusion, she begins to untie the knots one at a time with help from her family. But what she isn’t able to do over months, a stranger does within a matter of minutes.

“Ramona” is Jain’s fourth book and a sequel to the third, titled “Balraj”; the previous two are “The BNO: Sex, Life and Hookah” and “The THC, Under a Gibbous Moon”.

2. Book: Book Worms Jelly Bellies; Authors: Ranjini Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam; Publisher: Hachette; Pages: 130; Price: Rs 399
If you love to read and eat, “Bookworms and Jellybellies” is just the book for you. It is a joyride through some of children’s favourite books, with over 50 inspired recipes that can be easily whipped up in your own kitchen.

It is packed with quirky introductions, simple recipe instructions, fun trivia and beautiful colour photographs that bring the featured dishes to life. In this fresh, imaginative take on books and cooks, the authors present you recipes with their own dash of drama, adventure and twists of plots.

3. Book: PolyMorphism; Author: Indira Chandrasekhar; Publisher: HarperCollins; Pages: 176; Price: Rs 350
Taboo, desire and a dead woman’s saris layer the lives of women who board together in a widow’s household. A cinema fan encounters her idol and the cruel, fragile world that creates and holds her.

A child wonders if the discarded siblings who had once lain next to her in a petri dish were touched by the family bond that she struggles to make sense of. Lovers decide to float away into a world where the disappointments of domesticity and stale love can never touch them. A woman, resisting her family’s pressure to produce heirs, must confront a primal need to bear children.

“PolyMorphism” presents 19 stories that shift realities and twist perceptions and veer on the edge of strange, slipstream, speculative fiction.

The vulnerabilities and the wild, visceral anxieties of the characters that populate the stories come alive under the empathy they evoke. Textured by the author’s scientific research on biological molecules and deeply informed by family stories, the collection explores humanity’s driving obsessions of life, fertility and relationships with a tender, surreal expression.

4. Book: Rantings of a Mad Man; Author: Abu Malik; Publisher: Notion Press; Pages: 170; Price: Rs 300
A rib-tickling, pithy look at life and its idiosyncrasies — run after money, it will keep you fit. Have sex, it will keep you alive.

The more you look and behave like a monkey, the more successful you will be. Too much knowledge brings pain into your life. Read “Rantings of a Mad Man” for more such practical nuggets to tackle life’s endless marathon. The book urges you to make the most of your existence on earth without actually taking life too seriously.

The author’s perspectives will surprise, even shock, you at times, and definitely leave you thinking for a long, long time. Abuisms, as the author calls his words of wisdom, question popular perceptions and burst several myths in the process of unearthing life’s vital truths. Are you ready to handle the naked truth, no holds barred?