Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
(Penguin Books India, Rs 499): The latest Percy Jackson adventure pits the young hero against the usual bloodthirsty monsters while he wanders the deadly realms of Tartarus. Triumph of good over evil, Rick Riordan style.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
(Random House India, Rs 499): Calorie counting may take a back seat when the Devi comes calling but Helen Fielding’s Goddess of calorie-counting is all set to charm us yet again. The third in the hilarious Bridget Jones series sees Bridget as a 51-year-old juggling two kids, Twitter, a toyboy and more. Stat warning: Keep those tissues handy, an NYT excerpt recently revealed that Bridget’s darling husband Mark Darcy is dead!

The Lowland
(Random House India, Rs 499): Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland starts off in Calcutta and the story and its people keep returning to the city, in thoughts, memories, agonies and in actuality. Also, October 15 will tell us if the Bengali beauty has bagged a Man Booker for The Lowland.

Asura: Tale of the Vanquished

(Leadstart Publishing, Rs 250): If mythology is your thing, Anand Neelakantan’s book is a good pick. Told from the point of view of the Asuras, it’s a retelling of The Ramayana from the villain’s perspective. Grab a copy, finish it overnight and head to the nearest pandal for a glimpse of the anti-hero!

New Market Tales
(Picador India, Rs 299): You’ve thronged New Market before Puja for your shopping needs. Now, sit back and let actor and JU alumnus Jayant Kripalani take you deep into its winding lanes for a clutch of nostalgic short stories about the inhabitants of this bustling bazar.

Sycamore Row
(Hachette India, Rs 350): The sequel to John Grisham’s blockbuster debut novel A Time to Kill, Sycamore Row brings back heroic attorney Jack Brigance in another courtroom drama where Ford County’s tortured history makes another grisly appearance.

Doctor Sleep
(Hodder & Shotgun, Rs 599): If you are not fond of pandal- hopping, chances are you’ll find yourself alone at home on Puja. Crack open a brand new Stephen King and you’ll stay up all night, just like the rest of the city! The King of Horror is back with Doctor Sleep, a sequel to best-selling 1997 scarefest, The Shining. Danny Torrance is now a middle-aged man desperately trying to save a 12-year-old girl from a gang of murderous ghosts.

t2 recommends: book to reread

Joi Baba Felunath by Satyajit Ray (Ananda Publishers): Durga Puja forms the backdrop of this immortal detective story set in Benaras. An attempted robbery in the Ghoshal household targets a priceless Ganesha statuette and the patriarch engages Feluda (Topshe and Jatayu in tow) to unmask the culprit. The trail leads the trio to businessman Maganlal Meghraj, one of Bengali fiction’s most memorable characters.

You’ve read the story and watched the movie, also by Ray, innumerable times, but trust us, there’s something about reading Joi Baba Felunath as the beats of dhaak waft in through your window. The English translation is titled The Mystery of the Elephant God (Penguin Books India).