I first came across Anastasia Ryan’s work through my Instagram wanderings and was instantly intrigued by the sound of her recently released novel. Not least by its title, You Should Smile More.

In Another India, Pratinav Anil unambiguously faults Nehruvian secularism—the very mantle championed by historians such as Mushirul Hasan for whom “the congress best represented the Muslim interests from the fifties on.”

Around 14 years ago, I left my life behind in Nigeria. After almost half a decade spent in a land far from home, leaving felt crushing.

With statistics backing her up, Broussard does a stellar job of portraying this bias for the readers with stories from individuals who have faced such discrimination. The book opens with the story of Robert Julian-Borchak Williams who gets wrongfully identified by a police facial recognition technology and gets taken into custody.

There is a sense of inexorable catharsis, and dare I say— spirituality—when the protagonists begin their journey into one another since they alone embody the ideas and predicaments of the text. 

In this posthumous effort, 'Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023), Graeber posits, in characteristic fashion, that the Enlightenment would not have happened if not for the pirates around the Malagasy coast.

About the history of the ancient people, Harari skilfully depicts the men and the women, nature, and the environment of prehistoric times, their patterns, and the characteristics of the rough life in the wild-mountainous region.

Although the story doesn’t talk about how this particular cafe became a time-travelling spot to begin with, reading through to the last page made me feel that the café was always there-since the beginning of time.

Han Kang explores the nature of her existence and it is all portrayed through objects and ideas unified by a single color: white. 

This novel would become eponymous for the death of a nation and its rebirth. 

Despite these heavy themes, Babel remains inherently readable. It is quick to attract the reader’s attention and then hold it captive, making it a very difficult book to put down.

The Art Of Asking shows us how to create a close-knit family of friends and supporters by being honest

This book is a fantastic introduction to Haruki Murakami’s world of literature.

This public typewriter experiment was also a personal experience for him as he first fell in love with typewriters when he came across his grandfather’s 1930s Smith Corona. As a struggling writer at that time, this machine was what made writing to him a joyous experience.

No Longer Human is perhaps more relevant today than it has ever been.

This story, which originally began as a short story, features a headstrong heroine putting her desires above what society expects of her, in order to realise her destiny.

While going through Monsur’s autobiography, one’s attention is bound to be drawn to facts about current affairs penned with meticulous precision. He conveys his experience of 1957—the horrendous experience of losing eyesight—along with being victim to the cruelty of harsh remarks. 

"In Fool’s Paradise" is aptly named as it gives us a glimpse of post-independence Bangladesh, a young nation still struggling to find its identity amidst post-war blows.

Unlike many of the war refugees from Bangladesh in Calcutta, he felt no urge to be involved in the war. He had fled the country to save his life, not to participate in the fight.

The story begins with an unnamed battle where all men of the tiny principality of Kampili die. Their wives commit mass suicide by lighting a massive bonfire on the coast of the river Pampa and immolating themselves in the pyre.