Ruskin Bond, JK Rowling, Book Aid International, the Duchess of Cornwall, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Tushar Gandhi and Vibha Malhotra in TOI's Book News of May 16-22

Weekly Book News (May 16-22) at TOI, Lifestyle

Beloved Children's book Author, Ruskin Bond, turned 88 this month. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday. 

  

A new comic book based on the life to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was released by Tidal Wave Comics on May 18th. Titled "Political Power: Volodymyr Zelenskyy" is a part of a series of comic books on political figures and politicians. The 22-page comic book tells Zelenskyy's extraordinary story from being a comedian to a wartime leader now. 

Here's some great news for the fans of Harry Potter series. Some 25 years ago the first book in the Harry Potter Series was published in 1997. Since then over 500 Million copies of the Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide, and the books have also been translated into 80 languages. And now as a part of the silver jubilee celebrations, the first book in the series "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" will be re-released in June 2022 by Bloomsbury and will contain all J K Rowling's original sketches done in 1990s. 

From "Lord of the Rings" to "Harry Potter", many books have been adapted for screen over the years. Comparing the two mediums of storytelling, that is books and films, many avid readers often complain that the books are better. Sharing her opinion about it, Actor-Producer-Author Twinkle Khanna recently said that books are usually better. 

Book Aid International is a charity that works with the publishers in the United Kingdom and its partners across the world to provide brand new books to the needy every year. Globally many people in refugee camps, community libraries, schools, hospitals, and prisons have benefitted through Book Aid International's Charity. Now the news is that Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is the new patron of Book Aid International. The Duchess takes over this role from the late Prince Philip, who was the charity's patron from 1966 till his death in April 2021.

Here's some news for the speakers of the Konkani language. Google has now added Konkani to Google Translate. Hailing the development, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant congratulated the Google team behind this initiative. 

American Author Anthony Veasna So, known for short stories, which were described by the New York Times as crackling, kinetic, and darkly comedic, and often drew from his upbringing as a child of Cambodian immigrants, won the 34th LGBTQ Triangle Award posthumously for his debut collection "Afterparties". 

While much is known about Mahatma Gandhi, little is known about his wife Kasturba Gandhi in the pages of history. And now giving a glimpse of the woman she was, a new book titled "The lost diary of Kastur, my ba", by her great grandson Tushar Gandhi will be published in June by Harper Collins India. 

The late Alyque Padamsee's new book "Let me hijack your mind" was launched at Crossword Bookstores in Mumbai on May 19th. The book is co-authored by Vandana Saxena Poria and it is published by Penguin India. The event was attended by many celebrities including Jim Sarbh, Dalip Tahil, Shiamak Dawar, and Raell Padamsee.

Also, Author-Poet-Editor Vibha Malhotra's new book titled "Loveflakes: Memories of Mirages" was launched at Kunzum Bookstores, Delhi. 'Loveflakes: Memories of Mirages" is a poetry collection wherein each poem expresses the emotions once goes through when in love.