You know that awesome new-book smell that you just can’t enough of? The way the binding crackles in your palm as you leaf through the pages. And the glimmer of light on the sleek front cover. Well, what better time to enjoy new books than the beginning of the new year?
We’re in luck because a variety of new titles are taking over the shelves of our favourite bookstores, and we couldn’t be more excited! Penguin Random House is set to release a grand mix of both fiction and non-fiction works that you definitely want on your reading list. So, without further ado, here are 14 brand new books to pore through in 2018:
1. Perumal Murugan’s double-sequel to “One Part Woman”
At the end of Perumal Murugan’s “One Part Woman”, readers are left on a cliffhanger as Kali and Ponna’s intense love for each other is torn to shreds. In these two ingenious sequels that pick up the story right where “One Part Woman” ended, Murugan envisions two very different scenarios: in one, the couple must deal with new uncertainties as they try to come to terms with how irrevocably their lives have changed after the chariot festival; in the other, Ponna returns from the festival to find that Kali has killed himself in despair, and now she must face the world alone
2. “A Murder on Malabar Hill” by Sujata Massey
An amazing female sleuth takes centre stage in an unputdownable new mystery series. It is Bombay, 1921. The intrepid and intelligent Perveen Mistry, a young woman training to be a solicitor, decides to investigate a matter involving a wealthy landowner’s will. But when tensions escalate to murder, she finds herself struggling to outwit a dangerous criminal. A delicious treat that is not only a cosy mystery but also a celebration of Bombay in the 1920s and the Parsi community and their culture.
3. “Mother Earth, Sister Seed: Travels Through India’s Farmlands” by Lathika George
Gardener and author Lathika George, bestselling author of “The Suriani Kitchen”, travelled around India, from Himachal Pradesh to Tamil Nadu, from Goa to the North East, documenting the stories of farmers and agrarian communities, culminating in this wonderfully illuminating volume about the production of food in India.
4. “The Skull of Alum Bheg” by Kim A Wagner
This non-fiction book takes you back in time to the Revolt of 1857, during which the British had started collecting the human remains of Indian mutineers. Among these was an infantryman named Alum Bheg, whose skull was discovered nearly a century later – much to the barkeep’s shock – in a British pub.
5. “Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb: A Story of Defiance, Deterrence and Deviance” by Hassan Abbas
The mysterious story of Pakistan’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons in the face of severe odds. Through a series of interviews, Abbas traces the nation’s relationship with China, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, and North Korea.
6. “More Bodies Will Fall” by Ankush Saikia
A gritty thriller which takes the complex, unforgettable detective Arjun Arora around India in search of the murderer of a North Eastern girl.
7. “How India Became Democratic: Citizenship and the Making of the Universal Franchise” by Ornit Shani
This book reveals the untold story of the preparation of the electoral roll on the basis of universal adult franchise in the world’s largest democracy, and offers a new view of the way democracy captured the political imagination of its diverse peoples.
8. “Makers of Modern Dalit History” by Sudarshan Ramabadran and Guru Prakash
If Ramchandra Guha’s “Makers of Modern India” was a seminal text, this book is even more important, highlighting the contributions of Dalits that our national history forgot or erased, deliberately or otherwise.
9. “Realignment: A Foreign Policy for a New India” by Dhruva Jaishankar
This non-fiction book tries to address a specific question: What kind of power should India be on the international stage?
10. “Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World” by Ramachandra Guha
The second and final part to the most definitive biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi yet. This book will take the reader from the day he left South Africa to return to India, through the freedom struggle right up to independence, partition and his assassination. This is the most ambitious and integral book on the father of the nation.
11. “The Most Dangerous Place” by Srinath Raghavan
A riveting, overarching account of America’s presence in the Indian subcontinent. Between 1784 and now, South Asia has gone through tremendous and tumultuous changes—through its colonial days to two World Wars and an enduring Cold War—and has found itself caught in an intricate game with the United States. In “The Most Dangerous Place”, historian Srinath Raghavan paints a gripping picture of the first American traders reaching Indian harbours, and charts the United States’s political, military, economic and cultural relationships with the South Asian nations.
12. “Split: A Life” by Taslima Nasrin
A politically charged autobiography, this book plunges us deep into the life and work of one of Bangladesh’s most prominent human rights activist. Nasrin’s illustrious life – a life of exile, of $4 million defamation lawsuits, feminist critiques – jumps off the pages here.
13. “The Beauty of All My Days: A Memoir” by Ruskin Bond
An absorbing memoir by Ruskin Bond. Ruskin Bond, India’s most beloved author, is known for his innumerable stories, essays, poems and novels. A wordsmith, his life, work and philosophy open a window to a myriad world where solitude sits by tranquility to ruminate time now and then. In “The Beauty of All My Days” Ruskin gives the reader a glimpse of his unique relationships in different phases of his life; his creative self; writings and the many journeys—real as well as imaginary—that continue to remain untold and therefore unknown. Oneiric and candid, this memoir—with rare photographs—is going to be one of the most loved books of our times.
14. “Memories of Fire” by Ashok Chopra
A group of boys meet at boarding school in Shimla in the 1950s and form a friendship that lasts a lifetime, surviving distance, disparate interests and even some major disagreements. The history of India’s recent past, of the state of Punjab in particular, is ever present in this densely peopled, well-paced narrative which has a distinctive period charm.
Whether it’s to surprise a friend on their birthday, or to feed your book hoarding instincts, there’s definitely a title on this list that you’re going to enjoy. So, what are you waiting for? Go get your read on!