2020 has been an unusual, unlucky year. But thankfully books have facilitated escapades from the pandemic, even if briefly. We’ve got you covered for every mood of the year—whether you’ve been pining for laughs for the lonely days, or on the hunt for a cosy mystery that’ll keep you warm on a winter night.
For those who are looking for a thrill
Set in 1920s Thanjavur, this slim novel follows the disappearance of a young devadasi Kanaka and the mysterious appearance of a gold statue—which the villagers believe to be her—in the temple to which she is dedicated. Girl Made of Gold is a spectacular debut—it offers much indulgence in its clever sentence constructions, measured prose and multiple perspectives while giving us a thrilling, dark mystery with historical specks.
For those who miss Friday nights with friends
Wicked, hilarious, sassy and the perfect antidote to lockdown blues. This debut short story collection features sex maps, foul-mouthed women, a Rebecca-inspired second wife looking for internet relics of the first wife, sexts between a writer and a literary agent that take a dark turn and more. Susan’s characters are inventive—who wouldn’t want to read about kerchief kumaris, hot hot Vilas and Blouse Mohan—and stories decadent.
For those who love a shot of nostalgia
I found much pleasure in Lyndem’s coming-of-age debut about a young Khasi girl growing up in Shillong. There are summers of butterflies bottled in Horlicks jars, winters of guava jelly and plums, holidays thumbing library books—Mills and Boons, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew—and the nostalgia of borrowing VCRs and sneaking magazines to school. The book explores the tussle between Khasis, non-tribals, and immigrants (Chinese, Bengali, Nepali), the Revival of 2006, insurgency, and class differences.
For those who miss their girl squad
This slice-of-life novel set in contemporary Seoul follows five women—the debt-ridden Kyuri with multiple cosmetic procedures done on her face and running a high-end room salon, the orphan artist Miho dating a rich heir, the mute hairstylist Ara who is a die-hard fan of a K-pop idol, the kind Sujin who wants to gift her friend a plastic surgery procedure and pregnant Wonna who fears losing her baby.
For those who grew up on folktales
This year’s JCB Prize for Literature winner, Moustache, translated from Malayalam, follows a lower caste man from Kuttanadu who grows out his moustache, much to the disdain of the upper caste men. It is a Russian doll of sorts—you will be mesmerised by the numerous folktales, harvest songs and myth-making, shocked at the ecological damage and annihilation of crocodiles at the core of the novel, and awed by historical figures—Tipu Sultan, Sree Narayana Swamy—and events—famines, cultural upliftment—woven into the narrative.
For an unconventional love story
Guaranteed to keep you glued to the pages, Fangs follows a three hundred-something vampire Elsie who falls in love with a werewolf Jimmy. This graphic novel is ridiculously funny that I had to pause my read several times to laugh out loud. There are dinner dates (without garlic of course), horror movie binges, and romantic strolls in this macabre, witty love story.
For a book that pierces your soul
The protagonist Giovanna comes undone when she overhears her father comparing her to estranged ‘ugly’ aunt Vittoria. As she navigates secrets betrayed by intertwined ankles beneath dinner tables, a mistress who finds a family in the wife and children of the man she loved, and lost BFFs, she feels pressured to ‘grow up’.
For those who love a good reading sprint
A Burning follows three main characters—a Muslim woman jailed for a careless Facebook comment, a hijra who can provide an alibi but at the cost of her acting career, and PT sir who becomes a pawn of the right-wing political agenda. Brisk, taut, pacy and utterly compelling, Majumdar’s debut invites to be devoured in a single sitting.
For a golden, cosy mystery to curl up in winter
You cannot go wrong with this delicious Japanese whodunnit set in the 1940s starring Detective Kindaichi—expect Sherlock Holmes in an Agatha Christie mystery. The rich patriarch of the Inugami Clan is murdered and there are a handful of suspects, an unusual will, too-many-heirs, masked men, doppelgängers and treacherous family secrets. Pair it with hot cocoa for a glorious night read.
For a chunky feminist read
Breasts and Eggs is a portrait of women in Japan, unapologetically discussing bodies, beauty standards, insecurities, bodily secretions and individualistic agency. A woman in thirties explores options of having a child through a sperm donor in the conservative society, a forty-something woman wants to have breast enhancement surgery and a teenager is anxious about puberty. This thick book will leave you contemplating, sighing and underlining as you read.
For those bogged down by pandemic cooking
This light, breezy read is a heart-warming story with a delicious, culinary stuffing. It follows a forty year old woman Shubha in America receiving mis-addressed aerogrammes containing Bengali recipes, from a mysterious sender in India. I found myself cheering Shubha’s cooking experiments, and missing her when the book ended. The best part are the detailed recipes that Datta (or The Bong Mom blogger) included in the book that make you crave a Bengali spread.
For an unputdownable read
Kiley Reid’s debut novel was one of the first books that won my heart in 2020. It follows the complicated dynamics between a financially struggling black babysitter and her white employer—a wealthy, freebie-loving blogger. There’s phone snooping, viral videos, fetishisation, white-saviour-complex, social media facades, and lots of grey areas making Such a Fun Age an entertaining, flashy and thought provoking read.
For a dark but heart wrenching read
Anappara nails it with her nine-year old narrator who lives in an unnamed city (eerily similar to Delhi). Jai—a reality-cop-TV aficionado—is determined to solve the mystery of children disappearing in his basti, with his two friends. Here Indian words su-su, ekdum-mad, mood-off sit snug within English phrases, class differences clash, djinns lurch in shadows, disharmony dribbles, and dark truths await the innocent children.
For those who love hard-hitting, realistic stories
This is a twin recommendation as both translations from Tamil are promising reads and you just can’t stop at one. In Women Dreaming, we follow three generations of women in Tamil Nadu limited by patriarchal and religious constructs. If you are short of time, consider the short stories in The Curse that made me weep more than once. There’s a woman who is too scared to sleep, a new bride faced with an unexpected comment on her wedding night, a woman who loves watching TV and more.
For those who are deep in mother-daughter drama
My copy of the book—published as Girl in White Cotton in 2019—is liberally annotated. Artist Antara is forced into a tight spot when her mother Tara suffers from memory loss, and needs her care. They are “inverses of each other” and their shared bitter past is always the elephant in the room. Burnt Sugar, shortlisted for the Booker Prize this year, is stifling, detached and claustrophobic; I was helplessly sucked into the toxicity, familiarity, loneliness, and art.
For those who want to escape into another world
The Henna Artist, set in 1950s Jaipur, follows Lakshmi, a much sought-after henna artist and confidant of rich upper-caste women, who also runs a flourishing secret side-business of contraceptive tea sachets. Read the novel, soon to be adapted into a TV series, to get lost in intricate mandalas, henna designs to woo men, lavish parties, and discussions on Shakespeare.
For those who love a chunky memoir
The first volume of Obama’s presidential memoir is a door stopper. He recalls his formative years that laid the foundation of his politics, and writes about reading Marx and Woolf to woo girls, with equal ease. A Promised Land is peppered with family anecdotes and is a deep examination into Obama’s political decisions.
For the literary fiction enthusiast
Shuggie Bain, winner of the Booker Prize 2020, is for the patient reader. Set in 1980s Glasgow, it follows a young queer boy Shuggie who has to deal with an abandoning father, alcoholic mother, and older siblings who do not want to take responsibility. With a weighty plot and grim, gritty details, the novel explores Scottish working class, Thatcher's politics, poverty, unemployment and sexuality.
For those missing wedding parties
A fun riot with divorce-matchmaking services, a week-long Delhi wedding, wedding planners, reality TV pitches (that you’d crave whether or not you loved Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking), designer clothes and posh clubs. I love how Basu explores second chances at love, and what better setting than a big, fat, Indian wedding for that?
For those looking for a bit of inspiration
In this part memoir, part self-help book, Doyle opens up about divorcing her unfaithful husband and finding love and a marriage with soccer star Abby Wambach. She urges to unleash our true, untamed self, and offers reflections on spirituality, motherhood, cultural conditioning and societal expectations.
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