The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni
A delightful, yet somber, retelling of the Mahabharata from POV of one its central, yet sidelined, characters – Draupadi. Incisive, feminist and humanising narrative.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Re-read this epic fantasy/sci-fi classic after over 2 decades. Appreciated the Arabic cultural references much better as an adult.
A Gardener in the Wasteland: Jotiba Phule’s Fight for Liberty by Srividya Natarajan & Aparajita Ninan
A passionate visual storytelling of Jyotiba & Savtribai Phule’s struggle against the scourge of caste. Includes brilliant depiction of Jyotiba’s scathingly witty dissection of the Brahminical Vedic fantasies intended to maintain their hegemony over Hindu society.
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
2nd in the incredibly imaginative hardcore sci-fi trilogy. Cixin Liu weaves a compelling tale of galactic proportions, nimbly tying together astrophysics, space tech with incisive interpretation of the human nature in face of existential threats.
The Burning God by R F Kuang
The closing chapter in the Chinese opium wars inspired high fantasy fiction trilogy. Enjoyable read although the character arc felt a tad too flat.
Victory City by Salman Rushdie
The book I enjoyed reading the most this year. Inspired by Rushdie’s visit to Hampi’s ruins of the erstwhile great Vijayanagara empire, Victory City is a tour de force of magic realism. It’s a tale of a woman imbued with qualities of a goddess told in three parts over the course of two centuries – the founding/origin myth of the empire city of Bisnaga (Victory City), its middle flourishing period, and, finally, its decline and fiery demise.
The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley’s narration, and acute psychoanalysis, of his mindbending experience of ingesting psychoactive psychedelic mescaline in 1953. Aside – Jim Morrison named his band inspired by this book.
Monstress: Volume 1 – The Awakening by Majorie Liu & Sana Takeda
A jaw-droppingly beautiful high fantasy graphic novel.
Annihilation of Caste by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
A book that needs no introduction – just read it. It’s transformational and chockfull of Aha! moments that precisely explain why Hindu society is organised the way it is.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Countless anecdotal gems from the ancient Emperor. Flip to any page and begin reading.
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Haven’t read a book with denser occult references than this one. Plodded through this one, tbh, but it’s worth reading once atleast.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Such a delightful little book! You skim through the magical existence of generations of the Buendía family without really noticing the book is completely devoid of any dialogue!
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
A warm & poignant unconventional love story, albeit platonic, deftly using video games as a great narrative instrument.