New books on the shelves

A Malayalam novel set in the Tamil Sangam era, the biography of an anthropologist who wrote about the Mahabharata, and many more.

Published : Aug 21, 2024 11:00 IST

The Fertile Earth

Ruthvika Rao

Hamish Hamilton

Rs.699

Ruthvika Rao’s haunting debut novel is about love across class barriers, violent uprisings, and the lure of the deep forests surrounding Irumi, a village in south India. Navigating the years between 1955 and 1990, it is as much a historical and political novel as it is a romance.

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The Day the Earth Bloomed

Manoj Kuroor, translated by J. Devika

Bloomsbury India

Rs.599

Set in the Tamil Sangam age, this novel tells the story of the itinerant lute player Kolumban. Through the search for Kolumban’s eldest son who has run away, the reader is transported in time to a landscape peopled with kings, warriors, bards, and the hard-working masses.

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The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to The Wastelands

Sarah Brooks

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Rs.799

The Great Trans-Siberian Express is on its way to the Wastelands, a land of “terrible miracles” between Beijing and Moscow. The air of mystery deepens around the passengers as an uncontrollable force tries to break in.

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Thoughts of Gaza Far from Gaza

Soumyabrata Choudhury

Navayana

Rs.299

As the terror in Gaza looms over us all, Soumyabrata Choudhury enquires into the fantasies of nationhood that plague both Israel and Palestine and explores how the media forces us to consume this ongoing catastrophe.

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But I Am One of You: Northeast India and the Struggle to Belong

Samrat Choudhury and Preeti Gill

HarperCollins

Rs. 599

How have things changed for the people of the north-eastern region in recent years, complicated as they have been by the NRC and the CAA? This anthology presents stories that reflect the unique micro-history of diverse communities from each one of the seven States.

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Iru: The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve

Thiago Pinto Barbosa & Urmilla Deshpande

Speaking Tiger

Rs.699

An intimate, captivating portrait of Irawati Karve, India’s pioneering anthropologist and philosopher who also won the 1968 Sahitya Akademi Award for Yuganta, her book of essays on the Mahabharata.

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Fiction

Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good

Eley Williams

Fourth Estate

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Monsoon

Vimala Devi, translated by Paul Melo e Castro

Seagull Books

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Toward Eternity

Anton Hur

HarperVia

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Refugee Number 33,333

Farhad Pirbal, translated by Pshtiwan Babakr & Shook

Deep Vellum

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Non-fiction

I am on the Hit List: A Journalist’s Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India

Rollo Romig

Penguin Books

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Sick of It: The Global Fight for Women’s Health

Sophie Harman

Virago

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Empire of Influence: The East India Company and the Making of Indirect Rule

Callie Wilkinson

Cambridge University Press

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The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World

Allison J. Pugh

Princeton University Press

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