Bookstrapping: Influence Empire – The story of Tencent and China’s tech ambition

A master of creating products so convenient and intuitive that billions of users want to join his network, Pony Ma is a private entrepreneur in a state dominant economy with a gift for survival.

Lulu Chen’s book is a window into the brainchild of Pony Ma, Tencent’s ‘influence empire’. Bookstrapping Rating: 4 stars

Bookstrapping: India’s Most Fearless – true stories of extraordinary courage

These ‘as-yet-untold stories’ are edge of the seat phenomenon. (Representational image: Mitul Gajera via Unsplash)

‘India’s most fearless’ – now a trilogy of books honouring our men in uniform. The third book features ten true stories, providing glimpses of the incredible heroism of Indian soldiers. Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars.

Bookstrapping: Hul Hul – The suppression of the Santal Rebellion in Bengal, 1855.

What’s absolutely astonishing about the rebellion of 1855, is that the Santals fought for a region that they were passing through. (Image: Cover of Peter Stanley's book. Amazon India)

The plot, stratagems and alliances of the rebellion itself, form the bulk of the book by Peter Stanley. Meet new heroes you probably haven’t heard of. Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Bookstrapping: The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings

Geoff Dyer’s canvas, of course, is beyond just Roger Federer; he touches upon jazz, Bob Dylan, movies, drugs, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig van Beethoven (above). (Illustration: Perrant via Wikimedia Commons 3.0)

Geoff Dyer’s category-defying piece of writing cannot sit in biography or self-help and yet has elements of both. Dyer focuses on the accomplishments of uncouth geniuses who wrote their own rules when their beautiful youths were over, writes @OfficialReetaRG Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Bookstrapping: The Man Who Bent Light by Narinder Singh Kapany

Narinder Singh Kapany (1927-2020) wrote about successfully transmitting high-quality images through a bundle of optical fibres in a 1960 edition of 'Scientific American'. (Representational image: Compare Fibre via Unsplash)

The fusion of ‘science as a universal need’ and ‘religion as a universal truth but private practice’ emerges beautifully from this book. Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Bookstrapping: Unsung Genius – A life of Jagadish Chandra Bose

A picture of Jagadish Chandra Bose in the May 1920 edition of 'Popular Science' magazine. During his lifetime, Bose received many accolades, but not the Physics Nobel Prize, which some say should have been shared with him. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

The key message in ‘Unsung Genius’ by Kunal Ghosh revolves around Bose’s enthusiasm about bringing the study of science to the masses and his passion for scientific education and public lectures, despite his failing health. Bookstrapping Rating: 3.5 stars

Bookstrapping: The Ambuja Story – How a Group of Ordinary Men Created an Extraordinary Company

Narotam Sekhsaria is chairman of ACC Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd, and Ambuja Cement Foundation. He also manages the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, a philanthropic funding agency. (Photo credit: moneycontrol.com)

A highly decorated biography, this book also features testimonials from India’s stalwarts. The man and the book have both cemented their presence. Bookstrapping rating: 3.5.