Ring in the new year with fresh voices and bold ideas. From memoirs that bare it all to novels that reimagine history, January’s lineup is about starting strong.
We’re celebrating fresh translations, fearless memoirs, corporate dramas, and novels that refuse to be contained by genre.
Dive right in!
City Limits – Tikender Panwar
Urban planning meets political awakening in a book that challenges how we think about space, power, and belonging. Panwar dissects the invisible boundaries that define city life and who gets to cross them. Essential reading for anyone who’s ever wondered who the city is really built for.
In the Margins of Empire: A History of India’s Chicken’s Neck – Akhilesh Upadhyay
The Siliguri Corridor: a sliver of land connecting India’s northeast to the rest of the country, gets its overdue historical reckoning. Upadhyay reveals how this strategic margin shaped empire, partition, and modern geopolitics. History written from the edges, where it matters most.
The Manifestation Blueprint: Turn Your Thoughts into Reality – Himeesh Madan
Move over, vision boards. Madan offers a systematic approach to making desires materialize. From mindset shifts to actionable steps, this is manifestation stripped of mysticism and grounded in practice. A blueprint for believers and skeptics alike.
Never Say Die – Shripal Morakhia
A story of grit that refuses to quit even when logic suggests otherwise. Morakhia chronicles resilience in the face of impossible odds—whether in business, relationships, or survival itself. Inspiration for anyone who’s ever been told to give up.
The Unbecoming – Kartikeya Vajpai
Sometimes growth looks like falling apart. Vajpayi explores the messy process of shedding identities that no longer fit—careers, relationships, versions of yourself you’ve outgrown. A novel about the courage it takes to become less of who you were.
Climate Change 2100 – Chetan Singh Solanki
A scientist’s unflinching look at the world we’re hurtling toward. Solanki doesn’t just present data but he paints a portrait of 2100 that demands we act now. Part warning, part roadmap, entirely necessary for anyone planning to have a future on this planet.
An Accidental Lawyer – K.K. Venugopal with Suhasini Sen
One of India’s most distinguished legal minds reveals how he stumbled into a career that would take him to the Supreme Court. Venugopal’s memoir blends courtroom drama with personal reflection, wit with wisdom. The law as you’ve never seen it; human, humorous, and surprisingly accidental.
The Great Revival – Natarajan Srinivasan
Corporate India’s most dramatic turnaround story, told from the inside. Srinivasan chronicles how CG Power clawed its way back from the brink of collapse to billion-dollar success. A masterclass in crisis management, leadership, and strategic resurrection.
Munger Ki Rani – Manisha Rani with Sakett Saawhney
From Bihar’s heartland to reality TV stardom. The unfiltered story of Manisha Rani’s rise. Candid, charismatic, and unapologetically herself, she shares the journey that made her a household name. This is what happens when small-town dreams meet big-city lights.
Tell My Mother I Like Boys – Suvir Saran
A celebrated chef serves up the story of coming out, coming home, and coming into his own. Saran’s memoir is tender, funny, and achingly honest about identity, family, and the courage it takes to live your truth. A feast of storytelling that nourishes the soul.
Echoes of My Past – Rajendra Yadav (Poonam Saxena tr.)
A literary giant looks back without sentiment or self-mythology. Yadav’s unflinching memoir traces a life lived in service of Hindi literature and social change. Saxena’s translation brings his raw honesty and intellectual courage to a new generation of readers.
This Too Is a Story – Manu Bhandari (Poonam Saxena tr.)
The beloved author of Aapka Bunty reflects on a life of storytelling, struggle, and reinvention. Bhandari’s memoir is as much about the stories we tell ourselves as the ones we share with the world. A testament to resilience, translated with care and clarity.
Kaayaa: A Novel – Guruprasad Kaginele
The body as battlefield, temple, and prison. Kaginele crafts a narrative where physical form becomes the site of identity, transformation, and existential reckoning. A novel that asks what it means to inhabit yourself when your body feels borrowed.
The Land and the Shadows – Perumal Murugan; Translator: Gita Subramanian
Murugan returns with a haunting tale where earth and memory are inseparable. In a landscape shaped by drought, caste, and desire, shadows hold more truth than daylight ever could. Translated with precision by Subramanian, this is literature that excavates the soul of rural India.
While We Wait – Durjoy Datta
Love in liminal spaces—airports, hospital corridors, the pause before life-changing news. Datta captures the tension of waiting rooms where everything hangs in balance. A story about what happens in the spaces between certainty.
The new year not only brings in hope and a fresh start but also new voices, stories and perspectives. Whether you’re starting the year with a new read or finishing up your TBR from last year, these reads demand a space on your shelf and these stories – a place in your heart.
Here’s to a year of great reads and even greater discoveries. Happy New Year!
