Promising books to read in 2019

Former Booker-winner Salman Rushdie's 2019 book 'Quichotte' is inspired by Miguel De Cervantes' 'Don Quixote' and it is a modern-day retelling of the classic. The story follows an ageing salesman who falls in love with a TV star; he drives across the US in order to win her hand. 'Quichotte' pronounced as "key-SHOT", will release in August 2019. The book is long-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize.

(Photo: Penguin Hamish Hamilton)

'The Testaments' is the much-awaited sequel of Margaret Atwood's best-selling dystopian novel 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The book 'picks up the story 15 years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead,' reads the book's blurb. Published by Nan A. Talese, 'The Testaments' will release on September 10, 2019.

(Photo: Nan A. Talese)

Historian and writer William Dalrymple’s latest work ‘The Anarchy’ is expected to release on September 10. The book explores how the East India Company took over India leading to the birth of the British. ‘The Anarchy’ is published by Bloomsbury. Commenting on the book, the publisher said in a statement,"In his most ambitious and riveting book to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power."

(Photo: BCCL)

Write India author Amish Tripathi’s new book ‘Raavan: Orphan of Aryavarta’ released in July this year. The book was originally titled 'Raavan: The Orphan of Aryavarta', but was later changed to 'Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta'. After ‘Scion of Ikshvaku’ in 2015 and ‘Sita: Warrior of Mithila’ in 2017, this book is the third in the Ram Chandra series. The book tells Raavan’s story from his childhood till the incident where he abducts Sita.

(Photo: Westland Publication)

‘Eat, Pray, Love’ author Elizabeth Gilbert is back with a new novel titled 'City Of Girls' this year. The book is ‘a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don’t have to be a good girl to be a good person’, reads a statement on the author’s official website.

(Photo: Bloomsbury)

Man Booker Prize-winner Marlon James' 2019 epic fantasy novel 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' is set in the back-drop of Africa. It is the first book in The Dark Star Trilogy, and it has been compared to George RR Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ and JRR Tolkien’s works. The book is set at a time when there is a political upheaval and rumours of an impending war between rival kingdoms in pre-colonised Africa. The story is centred on a young, gay, tough and unsentimental hunter named Tracker. He has “a nose for finding what would rather stay lost” and so he is hired on a mission to find a child who went missing three years ago, while the reason of finding him is still unknown. Tracker slowly realises that he is not the only one in search of the lost boy as he meets various characters on his journey— from the shape-shifting man-cat Leopard to Bunshi the witch-- and joins their gang to find the boy. Just as the characters are able to change their form and elements, their intentions and loyalties are also shifting and slippery. Will they find the boy—dead or alive? Who is the missing boy and why is he needed? These are some of the vital questions which keep the readers hooked to know more.

(Photo: Riverhead Books)

Jessica Francis Kane's 2019 novel 'Rules for Visiting' is a deeply funny novel. As the title suggests, the story revolves around 40-years-old May Attaway, a university gardener who feels more comfortable and at home in the company of plants than people. But when May gets an unexpected leave from her job, she decides to reconnect with four of her once close friends, meeting each of them one-by-one. And so she sets out on an adventure of her own, reconnecting with her old friends over a period of one year. The book released in May this year.

(Photo: Penguin Press)

International bestselling author, Samantha Shannon's 2019 book 'The Priory of the Orange Tree' is a fantasy novel about the women who must fight dragons in order to save the world. Fans of fantasy-fiction would like to add this book to their reading list.

(Photo: Bloomsbury Circus)

In her new book ‘We are Displaced’, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai talks about her experience of travelling across the world and meeting refugees in camps which makes her ponder her own displacement. "In We are Displaced, which is part memoir, part communal storytelling, Malala not only explores her own story of adjusting to a new life while longing for home, but she also shares the personal stories of some of the incredible girls she has met on her various journeys - girls who have lost their community, relatives and often the only world they've ever known," publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Hachette India said in a press release. The book released in India on January 9, 2019.

(Photo: W&N)

T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel 'On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous' is a tale of family and first love. The book 'is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation,' reads the book's blurb.

(Photo: Random House UK)

'Aranyaka' is a book by Amruta Patil and Devdutt Pattanaik. 'Aranyaka is a graphic novel about the great forests within us, and without. It is about food, feeding and love. Braiding the stories of three spirited rishikas—Katyayani the Large, Maitreyi the Fig and Gargi the Weaver—it explores the fears and hungers that underpin all human interactions,' reads the book blurb.

(Photo: Devdutt.com)

Award-winning novelist and playwright, Cyrus Mistry’s new novel ‘The Prospect of Miracles ‘ will release in December 2019. Set in Kerala, the story opens with the death of a charismatic priest, Pastor Pius Philipose. While people mourn his passing, the pastor’s wife tells readers the truth about the guy that the priest truly was.

(Photo: Aleph TV/ YouTube)

Popular celebrity dietician Rujuta Diwekar’s latest book ‘Notes for Healthy Kids’ released earlier this year. The book aims at clearing confusions regarding the various diet trends; it instead provides practical guidelines for kids’ diet merging nutrition science with our grandmothers’ time-tested wisdom. The book is for both parents as well as kids.

(Photo: Westland Publication)

Bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni‘s latest book is a retelling of the epic Ramayana through Sita’s point of view. ‘The Forest of Enchantments’ is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women's struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men,’ reads the book blurb. Published by HarperCollins India, the book released in January 2019.

(Photo: HarperCollins India)

The author of ‘Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows’, Balli Kaur Jaswal is back with another book this year. ‘The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters’, as the title suggests, is a story of three British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters— Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirnia—who don’t get along too well. They are asked by their ailing mother to travel together to Golden Temple in Amritsar for her last rites, a wish that the sisters can’t deny how much ever they want to. And so begins their journey of discovering a past that they were unaware of.

(Photo: William Morrow)

Award-winning Malayalam writer K. R. Meera’s new book is a collection of three acclaimed novellas— ‘Slowly Forgetting’, ‘The Deepest Blue’ and ‘The Angel’s Beauty Spots’. Translated by J. Devika and edited by Mini Krishnan, the book will release in June 2019.

(Photo: Wikipedia)

Saikat Majumdar’s new book ‘The Scent of God’ is about Anirvan, a young boy studying in an elite all-boys’ school run by Hindu monastic order. While Anirvan is fascinated by the spiritual life and dreams of becoming a monk one day, he is drawn to a fellow student and they develop an intimate relationship. A series of events leads the boys to lose touch with each other only to reconnect years later. But this time, will they be able to live their lives together in a world that doesn’t recognise their love?

(Photo: Simon & Schuster India)

Pavan Varma’s ‘The Ramcharitmanas: Select Stanzas’ is a translation of Tulsidas’ Ramayana. In the book, Varma explores the spirit of the best stanzas of the original masterpiece and highlights its philosophical significance and artistic brilliance.

(Photo: Bandeep Singh)

'The White Book' is a meditation on colour, beginning with a list of white things. It is a book about mourning, rebirth and the tenacity of the human spirit. It is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty and strangeness of life,’ reads the book blurb. Written by Han Kang, winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2016, originally in Korean the book is translated by Deborah Smith.

(Photo: Granta (Faber))

Leila Slimani’s novel ‘Adele’ is a daring story of a woman’s exploration of addiction and sexuality, in order to feel alive. The story revolves around Adele, who happens to have it all in life—a surgeon husband and a son—but she is bored with her life. Her insatiable need for sex makes her explore one-night stands and have extra-marital affairs until she is entangled in a trap of her own deeds.

(Photo: Faber & Faber)

Melinda Gates is the wife of one of the richest man in the world, Bill Gates. Apart from this, she is also the co-partner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In this book, she shares her journey of emerging from her famous husband’s shadows to becoming an advocate for women. The book released in April 2019.

(Photo: Bluebird)

Award-winning British author Ian McEwan is back with her new novel ‘Machines Like Me’. Set in an alternative London in 1980s, this is an unlikely love-triangle between humans and a robot. ‘Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Miranda's assistance, he co-designs Adam's personality. This near-perfect human is beautiful, strong, and clever—a love triangle soon forms. These three beings will confront a profound moral dilemma,’ reads the book blurb. The book released in April 2019.

(Photo: Nan A. Talese)

Actor, filmmaker, and activist Amber Tamblyn’s book ‘Era of Ignition’ is a deeply personal probe of feminism during the troubled times of today's #MeToo storm. 'Era of Ignition' is published by Crown Archetype.

(Photo: Crown Archetype)

This is a new non-fiction book is a collection of essays, speeches and meditations written by Toni Morrison. The writings interrogate the world that we live in discusses race, gender and globalisation.

(Photo: Vintage Digital)

The story revolves around 16-year-old Bri, who dreams of becoming one of the biggest rappers inspired by her late legendary father who died before could make it big. At the same time, Bri’s mum loses her job and Bri is labelled as a hoodlum in school—the frustration of her circumstances make her pour her anger in her debut song which goes viral for the wrong reasons. She finds herself at the centre of a controversy, at a time when her family is facing an eviction notice. She now has no choice but to make it big, even if it costs her to become someone that she isn’t.

(Photo: Walker Books)

‘Small Days and Nights’ is a touching fictional story of Grace who returns to Pondicherry for cremating her mother, escaping a failing marriage and how her life changes. In Pondicherry, she discovers that she has inherited a property on the Madras beach and that she has a sister, Lucia, who has Down Syndrome and lives in a residential facility.

(Photo: Bloomsbury Circus)

Writer, journalist, and activist, Nayantara Sahgal in this new novel shares her thoughts on what may happen if a country’s rulers try to wipe out selected portions of the country’s history and side-line a specific community.

(Phoyo: Nayantara Sahgal/ Facebook)