Every December, as the world gently dissolves into a festive fog of peppermint and algorithmically selected holiday playlists, I can’t help but think that used books are an underrated gift.

Used books are wonderful. They’re democratic, affordable, and pleasantly scented with the aroma of previous owners who apparently read while eating toast. They also contain ideas, which is more than can be said for most of the things that clutter our online shopping carts.

This year, though, something unusual happened. I wrote a book.

And now I find myself in the very funny position of saying, with as much humility as one can muster while holding a paperback with one’s own name on it: if you’re planning gifts for the holidays, consider giving people… brand-new ideas wrapped in a book that’s been deliberately priced like a used one.

Welcome to Agentland is my small attempt to explain AI agents to everyday people. It isn’t written for futurists, but for anyone who wants to understand what on earth is happening inside their inboxes and apps. The book is warm, curious, and entirely free of diagrams. It even contains jokes. (The diagrams union refused to participate.)

When I was 10 or so I first learnt about computers and its possibilities by stumbling into an essay by Sujatha in Dinamani kathir. That stayed with me for years. This book is my attempt to do something similar.

Now, I should warn you, giving someone a book these days is a radical act. In a world where most things are designed to be swiped, binged, skipped, replayed, sped up, slowed down, or recommended “because you watched something vaguely similar in 2018,” offering someone a book is like handing them a small paper shield and saying:

“Here hold this. Use this to defend your attention for a few minutes.”

And what better time than the holidays? That magical period when people are doing one of the following:

• waiting for cookies to bake
• waiting for relatives to arrive
• waiting for relatives to leave
• waiting for the New Year’s countdown while pretending not to be sleepy at 10:17 p.m.

During these moments, a book, an actual book, is a marvelous thing. It sits there patiently, asking nothing of you except perhaps the occasional chuckle and a warm lap to rest upon. It does not autoplay. It does not suggest the next chapter based on your reading history.

So if you’re looking for a small, thoughtful holiday gift, for a teenager wondering about the future, a spouse curious about AI, a friend who still remembers life before infinite scrolling, or even yourself, consider gifting this little field guide.

Kindle works. Paperback is ideal. The audiobook is on the way, for the ones who prefer their ideas narrated while folding laundry.

Welcome to Agentland. A book that wants nothing more than to distract you, briefly and delightfully, from the algorithms trying to do the same.

Book link:

Paperback and Kindle version in US – https://amzn.to/48SyHzY

Only Kindle version in India – https://amzn.to/48SyHzY