New books on the shelves

Fiction about the idea of belonging and exile, non fiction about the idea of Asia, and much more.

Published : Apr 04, 2024 11:00 IST - 3 MINS READ

Leech and Other Stories

Ranjan Adiga

Penguin India

Rs.399

This collection of stories is about contemporary Nepalis who are as much a misfit in Kathmandu as they are in America. A leech inside a man’s nostril reveals class divides; a man tries to come to terms with his sexuality in a conventional society; a young couple’s life is dogged by silence after they shift to America.

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Vampire

Mirza Azeem Baig Chughtai, translated by Zoovia Hamiduddin

Speaking Tiger

Rs.350

Mirza Azeem Baig Chughtai, a renowned Urdu fiction writer of pre-Partition India, was one of the earliest proponents of feminism in the subcontinent. This novel is about a 16-year-old girl, soon to be married to a man she hasn’t seen, whose life is changed irreversibly in the course of a night with a male stranger at a station master’s house.

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The Unforgettable Woman

Pankaj Giri

Bee Books

Rs.299

Set in fictional towns in Sikkim, this novel is about a senior doctor, Adarsh, whose lonely life is changed when he keeps glimpsing a woman he once knew, and who had since disappeared. It is also about Smriti, a schoolteacher, whose life takes a dramatic turn with a devastating revelation. A novel about regret, love, and forgiveness.

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Asia after Europe: Imagining a Continent in the Long Twentieth Century

Sugata Bose

Harvard University Press

Rs.699

Tracing the economic and political rise of Asia over a century, from Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905 through the Great Depression and the two World Wars to their aftermath, Sugata Bose’s expansive thesis explores the idea of Asian solidarity and universalism and how it defied Euro-American models to embrace its political, cultural, and economic diversity.

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At The Wheel of Research: An Exclusive Biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Bloomsbury

Rs.599

Read about the life and work of Dr Soumya Swaminathan, whose career has encompassed medicine, research, decision-making and philanthropy, and how she tackled challenges as chief scientist at the World Health Organisation during the COVID-19 pandemic to emerge as one of the most trusted scientific voices in the world.

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The Catalyst: Rudolf Von Leyden and India’s Artistic Awakening

Reema Desai Gehi

Speaking Tiger

Rs.799

A vivid pen-portrait of the art critic Rudolf von Leyden (1908-1983), who arrived in Bombay as a refugee from Nazi Germany, and championed the Progressive Artists Group which included avant-garde painters such K.H. Ara, M.F. Husain, S.H.Raza, and F.N. Souza.

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Fiction

This Thing Called Love

Alawiya Sobh, translated from the Arabic by Max Weiss

Seagull Books

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My Heavenly Favourite

Lucas Rijneveld, translated from the Dutch by Michele Hutchison

Graywolf Press

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After a Dance

Bridget O’Connor

Picador

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The Children’s Bach

Helen Garner

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

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Non-fiction

Twilight Prisoners: The Rise of the Hindu Right and the Fall of Democracy in India

Siddhartha Deb

Haymarket Books

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Your Wild and Precious Life: On Grief, Hope and Rebellion

Liz Jensen

Canongate Books

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The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

Jonathan Haidt

Penguin Press

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Why We Remember: The Science of Memory and How it Shapes Us

Dr Charan Ranganath

Faber & Faber

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