Books which came out recently:
 

1. Code-Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI, by Madhumita Murgia (2024)
We had the privilege of listening to Madhumita speak about her new book this year at the Quorum, for which we were an outreach partner. This book is a startling look at the cost of artificial intelligence, including the human costs: the North-South divides it reinforces; the intensive labour in testing conditions to create and train AI tools; and the unmitigated pace of invention that is not taking people along with it.

2. Butter, by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton (2024)
'Butter' is a story of and about women. The protagonist is a woman who has been accused of killing her ex-lovers, and is in jail. The novel explores the psyche of the woman accused of this crime, in its particular context in Japan. The language with which food is written about in the novel evokes almost physical reactions, and extends to explore the relationship between food and women, their identities, their bodies, and how they exist in society. All this, in a book that has the fast-paced quality of a thriller.

3. Sakina's Kiss, by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur (2023)
Though the cultural context of this short novel is very specific – the socioeconomic level, language, and part of India the characters come from – there is something so fundamental about its portrayal of the relationships between daughters and father figures. It's a book that sparks conversation, on the similarities and points of departure between the characters and those who read it. The ending has no resolution - it makes the reader uncomfortable, which is not entirely a bad thing. Shanbhag's great strength is bringing out the brutality of misogyny, masculinity and culture through short novels that provoke deep contemplation.

4. 2024: The Election That Surprised India, by Rajdeep Sardesai (2024)
This was another book we had the chance to explore and feature, through a conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai this November. In the book, Rajdeep is upfront about the fact that analysts do get things wrong, and explains why. The power of democracy is prevalent throughout this book, which goes on to cover themes such as poverty, education, dissatisfaction with the government because of these. These factors in turn have led to the normal Indian slowly gaining more consciousness of what their rights are, what power they should have, including through avenues like social media, which has decreased the importance of the regular media. (Consider, for example, portals like Lallan Top.)  The book also has lovely stories about people you would never expect to win elections and gain political power, and how India is transforming with the inclusion of such people in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Books which have been out for a while, but we love:
 

1. Qabar, by K R Meera, translated by Nisha Susan (2021)
A dreamlike, contemplative look at Hindus, Muslims, the legal system, and the access to property, told through the eyes of a lawyer who has problems of her own, and in many ways is as disillusioned with the system as the common reader. K R Meera's Malayalam writing, brought to life with skill and sensitivity by Nisha Susan, has a light hand, exploring in surreal yet rooted ways the people who have power, and the people who don't - readers are free to draw their own inferences on how much this is fiction and how much it overlays onto present realities. 
 

2. The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing, by Sonia Faleiro (2022)
Sonia analyses one case of murder in Uttar Pradesh, and through that is able to analyse so much more: familial relationships, the expectations placed on women, and the attention paid to certain 'cases' over others. The book is detailed, committing to telling the true stories of everyone involved, and through this personal exploration, is able to offer a new, startling perspective on the societal realities that shape the lives of countless women in India. 

 

3. Normal People, by Sally Rooney (2018)
In Rooney's coming-of-age novel for adults, so many dynamics are at play that are affecting both protagonists in a way that feels unique: whether through class or gender. As you grow up, your concept of who you are changes, and sometimes only the people who have grown up with you who can really understand why you've become the way you have, because they've been around to see you grow. As time passes, the bubble you're in often breaks, changing you as a person. School-time concerns like social popularity, grades, ambitions: the minute you come in contact with the broader world, these can often change, along with it changing your conception of who you are.
 

4. Rouge, by Mona Awad (2023)
Mona Awad's trademark visceral writing, taking you inside the mind of the characters, is back for a novel that contemplates grief, beauty standards, the marketplace of beauty products, and cults: all while taking you on a horror-like journey into the mountains, into rooms that may or may not be real, and fundamentally altering what you see when you look in the mirror. The book is as much about identity as about loss; as much about our modern obsession with women's youth and 'freshness' as about a timeless tale of a world that could, and does, exist beyond the every day. 
 

5. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd (2022)
A fair warning: if you are already experiencing intense emotion, this book will make you feel them even more, so proceed with caution. 'Heaven' is an extremely moving story about children in high school and their trials; unlikely friendships; loneliness, bullying, and how far human instinct can go, even a young age. It's a short novel that at once is shocking, heartbreaking, and moving. 

 

6. Do Not Say We Have Nothing, by Madeleine Thien (2016)
Marie and her mother invite Ai-Ming - a refugee in the wake of the Tiananmen Square crackdown - into their home in Vancouver, British Columbia. The novel tumbles through modern Chinese history, forward and back, starting from the beginning of Mao's reign in the 1940s, as Marie learns about the connection between her and Ai-Ming's families. Intensely emotional, historical, with plenty of loving detail about classical music. Thien has a new novel coming out next year! 

 

7. Activities of Daily Living, by Lisa Chen (2022)
This is a transformative story, about a fictional woman of Asian origin, living in the U. S., who becomes preoccupied with an artist, Tehching Hsieh, who is a real figure, on the margins even within the avant-garde movement, a performance artist who created high-endurance, long-duration art pieces. It's an interesting way to get to know Hsieh, through the eyes of the author. The novel is about the protagonist's obsessive project about the artist, as well as about the protagonist's  life with her aging father who is losing his memory, and dealing with this while she is trying to document, preserve, archive the life of Hsieh who has nothing physical: performances that disappear after the fact, without physica, material preservation. It's a beautifully written book, especially for those who follow and study art. 
 

8. Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants, by Mathias Enard, translated by Charlotte Mendell (2010)
In 1610, Michelangelo is invited to Constantinople by Sultan Bayezid II, to build a bridge across the Golden Horn. Beautiful, counterfactual and captivating -- Michelangelo comes alive as a person, immeasurably gifted but still insecure, deeply attached to his family, his best work still before him. Short book. Enard's love for the Middle East comes through beautifully.
 

9. Ten Cities That Made an Empire, by Tristam Hunt (2015)
A slightly academic, but immersive and novel way of looking at the British Empire through ten cities it colonised. Through each city, it's evident how Britain grows, the economic changes that happen, why each city was important, and the impact of losing each on the empire. It's an interesting way to follow British colonial policy across two hundred years. Particularly interesting is the local lore and legend of each city, obvious for those who have grown up in the city but welcome to those encountering it anew. 
 

10. Akhenaten: Dweller of Truth, by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Tagreid Abu-Hassabo (1985)
In c. 14th century BCE, Egypt, a young scribe goes to Akhenaten, abandoned city of the pharoah Akhenaten. He only wants to understand Akhenaten, a divisive enigma, and so he speaks to Akhenaten's queen, his chief of security, the High Priest, leaving us to decide whether the pharoah was a true believer after all.

 

11. Franny and Zooey, by J D Salinger (1961)
J D Salinger's novella is about Franny and Zooey, particularly Franny, a character slowly entering adulthood, disillusioned to the point where it affects her functioning, highlighting the fundamental human need to feel curious and inspired in a world that, even today, systemically discourages the pursuit of these feelings. The novella also deals with grief through Zooey's story, and how people lack the vocabulary to understand its complexity, often turning to mystical and spiritual answers when words fall short.  
 

12. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke (1929)

To end this list, another classic that feels timeless. Rilke's advice to a young soldier who wants to learn about life and love is immersive, and yet sparse. Though it has Rilke's trademark poetry, not a word feels out of place, put there just to convey a meaning. It's the kind of book that deserves re-reading - where you mark out every passage you love, go back to it over time, and find meaning in it anew, depending on where you are. A perfect book to end the year with, and with which to begin the new year.