This week’s pick of interesting reads includes a book that provides clear guidance for every stage of a woman’s financial journey, one on India’s most distinct season, and another that addresses Kerala’s achievements and challenges How to become a confident wealth builderOn the reading list this week is a book that guides women on their financial journey, one on India’s most distinct season, and another on Kerala’s achievements and challenges (Akash Shrivastav)162pp, ₹699; Aleph (Clear guidance for every stage of a woman’s financial journey)The Indian Woman’s Essential Guide to Investing and Building Wealth is designed to help women transform their relationship with money. For too long, women have been encouraged to save but not to invest. Yet saving alone is rarely enough to build real financial security. In a world of rising costs and changing economic realities, understanding investing is no longer optional — it is essential. Drawing from personal experiences, real-life financial journeys, and practical investing principles, the book shows how women can move from being cautious savers to confident wealth builders.The book deals with the fundamentals of investing, building a diversified investment portfolio, and harnessing the power of compounding to grow wealth, among other things.Whether you are in your twenties starting your career, navigating family responsibilities in your thirties and forties, or preparing for retirement later in life, this book provides clear guidance for every stage of the financial journey. Along the way, it also addresses the unique challenges women face — from the gender pay gap to career breaks for care giving.*A vivid portrait of the monsoon140pp, ₹499; Aleph (On India’s most distinct season)The Fragrance of Rain is a vivid portrait of India’s most distinct season — the monsoon. From the first crack of thunder in the salt-heavy air of Kerala, to raging storms over Mussoorie and the rain-drenched forests of Goa, award-winning author Stephen Alter follows the great weather system that has steered traders across oceans, carved river valleys, fuelled entire ecosystems, inspired generations of poets, and unsettled empires. Along the way, we meet perfumers in Kannauj who bottle the scent of rain, Nilgiri tahr grazing in cloud gardens, herpetologists tracking glowing fungi and elusive caecilians, fishermen watching the sky for warnings, and artists, musicians, and writers who have given the monsoon its enduring metaphors.Both intimate and expansive, The Fragrance of Rain offers an essential portrait of India’s defining rhythm, a force at once timeless, unpredictable, and endlessly renewing.*A look at the Kerala model320pp, ₹799; Bloomsbury (Addressing the state’s unique achievements and challenges)What began as a conversation among retired civil servants in a WhatsApp group has taken shape as a book illustrating the multiplicity of development and governance in the state of Kerala. Titled The Kerala Club: Keepers of the Flame, the newly released book reveals an insider perspective into the Kerala model through essays by eminent civil servants.Edited by former cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar and former Indian Ambassador TP Sreenivasan, the book features 29 critical and reflective essays on public administration, development policy, policing, and local self-governance in the state, with contributions from former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, former foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon, former state chief secretaries of the state SM Vijayanand and Joy Vazhayil, former National Dairy Board chairman T Nandakumar, among other senior policymakers.“When Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939 as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’, he could well have been speaking about Kerala today,” state the editors in the preface. The book provides an inimitable perspective from the drivers of Kerala’s journey as a state with a much-debated model of development and governance, addressing both the unique achievements and challenges on the way and at present.*All copy from book flap.