Tales of war, innovations, brainpower and economics

Go back in time to the Kurukshetra war, learn how innovators innovate. Want to know how food can increase your brainpower or why flight attendants aren't tipped? It's assorted fare from the IANS bookshelf to keep you company this weekend. Take a look.

It was the tenth night of the great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Bhishma, the venerable patriarch of the families, lies fatally wounded on the plains of Kurukshetra. While on his deathbed he offers Radheya, his nemesis, a chance to rule the Kuru kingdom by capturing Yudhishthira.

Meanwhile his young and impulsive nephew, Abhimanyu, a warrior prince, dreams of glory and yearns for a chance to save the Pandava cause.

And when the lives of these three warriors - Yudhishthira, Radheya and Abhimanyu - collide brutally on the 13th day, history is irrevocably changed.

This book attempts to reimagine one of India's greatest epics like never before to reveal how stories are created, how fact becomes fiction, how history becomes mythology and how men become legends.

This book chronicles the journey of 20 individuals who have created cutting-edge products with global appeal. The interesting part is that the innovators come from diverse backgrounds - from those who hold a PhD to those who have had no formal education at all. Despite the differences, the book explores how the passion to innovate united them to fight adversities and to dream for a better world.

The products range from a haptic shoe for the visually impaired and offline internet on mobile phones to low cost sanitary pad-making machines. Each of the stories celebrates the spirit of these individuals, who are fast breaking the status quo in the Indian innovation landscape.

3. Book: Grain Brain; Authors: David Perlmutter and Kristin Loberg; Publisher: Yellow Kite; Pages: 323; Price: Rs.399

Renowned neurologist and author Perlmutter proves in this book that the dysfunction of brain starts from daily bread. The author blows the lid off a topic that has been buried for too long: gluten and carbs destroy your brain. He explores that not just unhealthy carbs, but even healthy ones like whole grain can cause dementia, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression and other conditions related to the brain.

The book helps its readers with a four-week diet, supplements and an exercise programme for a healthy brain and how to protect and improve its functioning. The book proves that by changing what one eats, life can get longer and healthier.

4. Book: When to Rob a Bank: The Freakopedia; Authors: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner; Publisher: Allen Lane; Pages: 387; Price: Rs.625

This book is one of the series of books from the authors of Freakonomics. The authors, one being an economist and another being a writer, have interbred pop culture and economics to give it an interesting spin. This book speaks of facts and all things fun, combining them with the economics behind them. Know more of things like this: Why don't flight attendants get tipped? Why does KFC always run out of fried chicken?