MUST READS OF 2009

New year!!!!New books!!!!!!New reviews!!!!!!

The publishing trend in India had seen a marked increase in 2008 and the graph continues to rise in 2009. This year promises to deliver some hard punches which book lovers like me are gladly waiting for. If 2008 was the year of debutante authors, 2009 gives more power to the pen of the big names in the game.

It sure is an an exciting time to be a writer in India, with a number of publishing houses going all out to get their voices heard. In the process, its the reader who derieves the maximum benefit, being treated to a variety of subjects. However, the trend as I see will be focussed on writing that is contemporary, entertaining and showcasing how the world is changing inside and outside the home.

From the fiction stable, you can look forward to Siddharth Dhanwant Sanghvi's "The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay" (Penguin India) which has also been short listed for Man Asian prize. The book is a take on contemporary urban Mumbai society.

Fasten your seat belts as the original poster girl of indian writing is set to return to fiction after more than a decade. Yes you got it right. Shobhaa De is coming out with her novel "Sethji". Get set for a roller coaster ride as Shobhaa promises to be at her best.

Booklovers missing Ashok Banker do not have a long wait ahead. You can watch out for his "The Ganesha Palindrome". He follows this with two books "The Revenge of Ravana" and "Sons of Sita" in continuation with his successful Ramayana series. And the man who literally put India on the world map as far as contemporary english writing is concerned, Upamanyu Chatterjee is also coming out with a book from the Penguin stable late in 2009. Surely a delightful news. Among the other major fiction releases of the year are Ira Trivedi’s The Great Indian Love Story, and The Middleman by Sankar.

Tarun Tejpal is all set to release his second book "The Story of my Assassins" (a story of five men charged with conspiracy to kill a journalist) with Harper Collins. Another must read from the same publishing house should be Mukul Deva's "Salim Must Die" (which begins with the death of Osama Bin Lade and tells a story of international terrorism aided by ISI). Apart from these two biggies, readers are in for delight with the likes of Rana Dasgupta, Anita Nair and Advaita Kala (a sequel to her best selling chick lit 'Almost Single') coming out with their books from Harper Collins.

Random House India has all the reasons to be enthusiastic this year as books coming out from their stable are as diverse and different as chalk and cheese. "Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueeniddin, a collection of stories set in feudal pakistan looks all set to take the bookstores by storm. The author is being touted as the hottest talent of 2009. Abraham Verghese's book "Cutting the Stone" set in the world of medicine is another book to look out for in this year.

Hachette India is coming out with "Daughters of Shame" by the best selling author of 'Shame' Jasvinder Sanghera. From Bloomsbury comes Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows, a tale set between Nagasaki and 9/11 in India, Pakis­tan, New York and Afghanistan.

As was in 2008, this year too the debutante authors are all set to bare their fangs. Coming out first is "The Marriage Bureau for Rich People" (Hachette India) by Farahad Zama, an investment banker. As the name suggests, the book is about a marriage bureau set to cater the indian client. Penguin hopes to make a splash with the first time author Ali Sethi's book "The Wish Maker" set against the turbulent background of modern pakistan. At Rupa, it is Himani Dalmia's novel "Life is Perfect" a depiction of life in modern Delhi on which high expectations are placed. Harper Collins, in the meanwhile, is heavily relying on journalist Pinki Virmani's "Deaf Heaven" which talks about the dilemmas faced by modern women and Chandrahaas Chowdhury's "Aarzee the Dwarf" to make all the right noises. The latter promise to be refreshingly different.

So lots to chew on this year too. Happy reading!!!!!!!!

P.S. non fiction titles follow in the next post.

YEARBOOK 2008

For every book lover in India, the year 2008 was punctuated with lots of delights and disappointments. With as many as 17 indian authors making their debut, the indian writing scene has never looked this better. (at the last count, it was 17, apart from two debutante authors from our neighbouring countries. please let me know if i have miscalculated the number).

The highlight of the year, undoubtedly was, Aravind Adiga winning the Booker Prize for his debut novel, 'The White Tiger'. The book captured the imagination of the younger generation with its dark, real and stark portrayl of urban India. Inspite of receiving a lot of flak frommeminent writers, Adiga's book remains one of the most widely read books of 2008, and one of my personal favourites. A must read.

In this time of "techie lit" spawned off by Chetan Bhagat, 2008 was no different. Karan Bajaj, Mainak Dhar and Durjoy Dutta (with co writer Maanvi Ahuja) made their presence felt with 'Keep off the Grass', 'Funda of mixology: what bartending teaches that IIM doesn't and 'Of course I love you till I find someone better' respectively. Needless to say, all the books did well, though personally, I found Karan's book a lot more sensible and a worthy read.

The year also saw a doctor turned writer in Anirban Bose, out with his first novel 'Bombay girls, Bombay rains' based in a medical college. (a nice change from IITs and IIMs). As far as the content is concerned, well read it for yourself.

As many as four bloggers (yes you heard it right) made their debut on the publishing front. Meenakshi Madhvan Reddy with 'You are here' (www.compulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com), Preeti Shenoy with '34 bubblegums and candies' (www.justamotheroftwo.blospot.com), Meenu Mehrotra with 'Lilacs bllom in my backyard' (www.meenumehrotra.com) and Novoneel Chakraborty with 'A thing beyond forever' (www.nbconline.blogspot.com).
Highly recommended out of these from my side is Preeti Shenoy's book for its simple realistic content and easy language.

Advaita Kala's book 'Almost single' was easily one of the breeziest reads of 2008, as was Anuja Chauhan's 'The Zoya Factor'. Both books are on the best seller list and are slated to be made in to movies in the near future. Anita Jain's 'Marrying Anita' reminded me of Kavita Daswani's book 'For matrimonial purpose' considering that the protagonists in both books are over 30, single and looking for a life partner. I found Anita's book a little stale.

'Homespun' by filmaker and writer Nilita Vachani and 'Dowry Brides' by Shoban Bantwal are two books which i have still not managed to read and are high on my priority list.

Bubbles Sabharwal, an eminent Delhi based theatre personality also released her book 'Tomorrow's Promise', a story stemming out from a personal tragedy. And since we are talking about famous people, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's daughter, Daman Singh also unveiled her debut novel 'Nine by Nine' this year.

Not to be left far behind in cashing on the thriving indian publishing front, Shaadi.com, world's largest matrimonial site, unveiled its member Ravinder Singh's debut novel 'I too had a love story'. The book, based on real life incidents ,talks about finding love online and internet marriages.

From across the border, London based Paistani coloumnist released his first book 'A case of exploding mangoes' a satirical novel centered around the events before and after General Zia ul Haq's mysteroius death in the 1980s. Its a beautiful book with an amazing blend of wit and humour.
Tahmima Anam's 'A Golden Age' is a poignant saga of a Bangladeshi woman and her struggles during and after the war of independence of 1971. another brilliant debut of 2008. It will surely tug at your heart strings.

2008 has truly been the year of debutantes.