Cookery, self-improvement and newsy non-fiction books are predicted to rule the roost this year
Like a lot of industries, English-language publishing in India is in the middle of a slow recovery following a drastically lean patch in the summer of 2020. December is typically a strong period for sales across sectors (thanks to Christmas and New Year gifting), and publishing is no different. Because of this, Indian publishers are looking forward to 2021 with a sense of cautious optimism.
(Stay up to date on new book releases, reviews, and more with The Hindu On Books newsletter. Subscribe here.)
In the second half of 2020 we saw a number of writers releasing books written during and about the lockdown; Zadie Smith and Slavoj Žižek, among them. There were also books by medical experts, breaking down the science behind COVID-19 to its basics. According to Udayan Mitra, Publisher (Literary) at HarperCollins India, this general trend will continue in 2021, and even expand in scope. Mi
Himal Southasian
12 noteworthy books on Southasia reviewed by our contributors this year.
As the year ends with a flood of the inevitable, and somewhat oddly titled, ‘best books of the year’ lists, we have instead compiled our own recommendations which we hope will serve as a starting point for richer conversations on Southasia. These books raise questions that deserve wider debate and deeper reflection. Here are 12 noteworthy books reviewed by
Himal Southasian in 2020.
Vanni: A Family’s Struggle Through The Sri Lankan Conflict by Benjamin Dix and Lindsay Pollock
‘Vanni: A Family’s Struggle Through The Sri Lankan Conflict’ by Benjamin Dix and Lindsay Pollock. Penguin Books, October 2019.
Reading recommendations from a pandemic year
Poets and politicians, sportsmen and theatre personalities look back at 2020 through the books they read Updated: December 20, 2020 12:12:44 pm
Here are the books authors read this year. (Source: Getty Images)
Aruni Kashyap
writer
I think everyone in India should read Samit Basu’s Chosen Spirits (2020, Simon and Schuster) it is an urgent and topical book set in an India of the future, a work of speculative fiction. I don’t read a lot in this genre, but I think speculative fiction has the ability to
caution us.
I have long admired Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami’s fiction but Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America (2020, Pantheon) is my first introduction to her nonfiction writing. Through a set of essays, Lalami talks about what it means to be a Muslim-American citizen, a naturalised American citizen; and how acceptance by the establishment comes with some conditions. Read