In Author DeskFrom political comics that fight doomscrolling to a forgotten Ottoman-Hyderabad alliance and the brutal truth behind battery metals, these books demand your attention.
We live in complicated times. Algorithms shape our attention. Democracies feel fragile. Climate anxiety is real. And even our clean-energy dreams come with hidden costs. Three new books take on these urgent themes in very different ways—through art, history, and investigative journalism.
Here’s why Touching Grass, The Indian Caliphate, and The Elements of Power deserve a place on your reading list.
Touching Grass: Comics That Confront Power and Offer Hope
In Touching Grass, political cartoonist Rachita Taneja—better known by her pen name Sanitary Panels—uses deceptively simple comics to tackle some of the most urgent issues of our time.
This is not a light-hearted collection of viral sketches. It is a sharp, unfiltered critique of authoritarianism, social injustice, and digital burnout.
Art as Resistance in an Age of Overload
Through bold, minimal artwork and cutting dialogue, Taneja addresses casteism, Islamophobia, transphobia, economic inequality, and climate anxiety. Her comics feel familiar because they reflect the conversations many of us are already having—or avoiding.
But Touching Grass goes deeper than pointing fingers. It examines a modern paradox: how do we stay informed and politically active without being overwhelmed?
We live in an era of constant notifications and endless scrolling. Social media platforms are built to keep us hooked. The more we consume, the more exhausted we feel. Taneja calls out this cycle of doomscrolling and brain rot with clarity and wit.
Why “Touching Grass” Matters
The title itself is a popular internet phrase that suggests logging off and reconnecting with the real world. For Taneja, it’s not just about unplugging. It’s about grounding ourselves in community and collective action.
At its heart, Touching Grass is surprisingly hopeful. It reminds readers that change is not driven only by politicians or institutions. It is built by ordinary people who refuse to give up.
In a world that often feels like it’s on fire, this collection of comics insists on something radical: solidarity, empathy, and the belief that we are not alone.
If you’re feeling politically exhausted but still care deeply about justice, this book speaks directly to you.
The Indian Caliphate: When Hyderabad and the Ottomans Tried to Rewrite History
History lovers will find a fascinating and little-known story in The Indian Caliphate. The book explores a dramatic moment in the early twentieth century when the fate of the Ottoman Empire and the princely state of Hyderabad became unexpectedly intertwined.
The Last Ottoman Caliph in Exile
After the abolition of the 1,300-year-old Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, Abdulmejid II—the last Caliph—was expelled from Istanbul by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Once a powerful religious and symbolic leader, he suddenly found himself in exile on the French Riviera.
Abdulmejid was not just a political figure. He was a painter, a lover of music, and deeply influenced by European culture. But he also carried the weight of history.
From exile, he began exploring ways to revive the Caliphate.
A Bold Alliance with Hyderabad
At the same time, in India, the Nizam of Hyderabad ruled over one of the largest and wealthiest princely states in the subcontinent. Hyderabad was often described as a global Muslim capital, both culturally and politically significant.
Indian politician Shaukat Ali played a crucial role in connecting the two worlds. A marital alliance was brokered between the Ottoman family and the Nizam’s household. It was a powerful symbolic union—bringing together Islam’s western and eastern centers.
For a moment, it seemed possible that Hyderabad might become the base for a renewed Caliphate. Abdulmejid’s grandson, an Ottoman prince and designated heir in Hyderabad, appeared perfectly positioned to inherit both political and religious authority.
Partition Ends the Dream
But history had other plans.
The Partition of India in 1947 and the annexation of Hyderabad by the Indian government in 1948 ended any real chance of reviving the Caliphate from Indian soil.
The Indian Caliphate shines a light on this almost-forgotten chapter. It explores the lives, ambitions, and cultural worlds of a remarkable cast of characters.
Most importantly, it challenges a common assumption: that the Islamic world’s center of gravity was only in the Middle East. For a time in the early twentieth century, India stood at its heart.
For readers interested in global history, colonial politics, and the complex intersections of religion and power, this book offers a gripping narrative.
The Elements of Power: The Dark Side of Green Energy
If you own a smartphone or have ever considered buying an electric vehicle, The Elements of Power will make you think twice.
This investigative work dives into the global race for battery metals—cobalt, lithium, copper, tin, tantalum, tungsten—and reveals the human and environmental cost behind our clean-energy ambitions.
Congo’s Hidden Wealth and Visible Poverty
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to mineral resources. Yet it remains one of the poorest in terms of infrastructure and living standards.
Beneath its soil lie vast reserves of cobalt and other metals essential for lithium-ion batteries. These batteries power everything from smartphones to electric cars.
But the extraction process tells a different story.
Children and adults often descend into dangerous, makeshift mines with rudimentary tools. Environmental regulations are weak. Communities bear the burden of pollution and instability.
The promise of green energy in wealthy nations stands in stark contrast to the realities on the ground in mining regions.
A New Global Power Struggle
The book also examines the geopolitical battle unfolding behind the scenes.
China has invested heavily in mining operations and infrastructure across Africa, Indonesia, and South America for decades. As the demand for battery metals skyrockets, the United States has begun responding with its own investments, tariffs, and strategic moves.
This scramble for resources is reshaping global alliances and rivalries, much like the oil rush defined the twentieth century.
Who Pays the Price for Progress?
The Elements of Power asks uncomfortable questions. Why are Indonesia’s ecosystems being damaged in the rush to supply metals? Why does Western Sahara remain contested while its phosphates are extracted? Why do communities at the source of these resources see so little benefit?
The book traces the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries from mine to marketplace. It highlights both the innovators pushing for decarbonization and the workers whose lives are disrupted in the process.
The message is not that renewable energy is wrong. It is that the transition is more complicated—and more ethically fraught—than many of us realize.
If you care about climate change but also about justice, this book forces you to confront the full picture.
Three Books, One Urgent Conversation
Though very different in style and subject, these three books share a common thread.
Touching Grass challenges the emotional and psychological toll of staying politically engaged in a hyper-digital world.
The Indian Caliphate revisits a forgotten moment when political ambition and religious identity collided across continents.
The Elements of Power exposes the hidden costs behind the technologies meant to save the planet.
Together, they remind us that power—whether political, cultural, or economic—is always complex. It shapes lives in visible and invisible ways.
In times of uncertainty, books like these help us slow down, think deeply, and ask better questions.
They do not offer easy answers. But they make it harder to look away.
