William Dalrymple

» India: A Sacred Geography by Diana L. Eck: The book is the summation of a lifetime of study, observation and travel and reminds us of a much older and more profound India underlying the media-land of call centres and software firms.

» Among history books I enjoyed Faramerz Dabhoiwala’s The Origins of Sex — a fascinating look at the 18th century sexual revolution.

» John Zubrzycki’s The Mysterious Mr Jacob, about one of the most intriguing characters in early 20th century India, a diamond dealer, spy and fixer who inspired Lurgan Sahib, one of the central characters in Kim.

» Joseph Anton was a masterly piece of work. This comes closest to the warm, witty raconteur you meet socially, and it exemplifies all the qualities which makes Salman Rushdie one of the great conversationalists of our time.

» The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers: Clearly an autobiographical first novel of pellucid and poetical beauty set in the Iraq war which reads as if Cormac McCarthy had just been enlisted in the US army. It’s an utterly brilliant book, my favourite novel this year and a very worthy winner of the Guardian First Book Prize. Read it.

 

Namita Gokhale

» 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami: “It is not that the meaning cannot be explained. But there are certain meanings that are lost forever the moment they are explained in words,” writes Murakami. This multi-layered book is incredibly sophisticated and complex and yet heart-rendingly human and simple. It was my number one read of this year, even though it was first published in 2011.

» Dharmanand Kosambi – The Essential Writings, edited by Meera Kosambi: Dharmanand Kosambi was a distinguished scholar of Buddhist studies, and this insightful compilation of translated autobiographical and other writings, including “Bodhisattva: A play”, was revelatory in many directions and yet another reminder of the depth of thought and scholarship in the Indian languages. It was of even greater interest because of the theme of “The Buddha in Literature” which is one of the important strands of the Jaipur Literary Festival, 2013.

 

Basharat Peer

» Passage of Power by Robert Caro: It’s the fourth volume in Caro’s brilliant series on Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States. I liked Caro’s art. It takes the reader through the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of Johnson’s career. It was most interesting to read the vivid narrative of Kennedy’s assassination. Caro explored the important period in Johnson’s life when he became President after Kennedy’s death and how he transformed a nation.

» Between Clay and Dust, by Musharraf Ali Farooqi: It is very moving and wise. The story revolves around a wrestler Ustad Ramzi and a courtesan Gohar Jan. It artistically brings out the fanatical attachment and rigidity of Ramzi to his art, status and power, and its fallout on his relationships.

 

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

» The Ramayana in Bengali by Krittibas (a 15th century text): It is a wonderful and sometimes humorous retelling of the epic with a Bengali folk tale atmosphere in places. I am using it as the base for my upcoming novel on the Ramayana as told from Sita’s point of view.

» San Miguel by T.C. Boyle: It is a historic novel about Will Waters, a veteran of the Civil War, and Herbie Lester, a World War I veteran suffering from shell shock. It’s about how they establish their own private idylls on the desolate Channel Islands off the California coast. I liked it because of the amazing setting, women characters and recreation of historic times.

 

Ashok K. Banker

» Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society And Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine: I love reading scientific non-fiction. Science and neurobiological findings now prove beyond doubt that the so-called “differences” we are indoctrinated into believing about men being from Mars and women being from Venus are nothing more than sexist claptrap. The fact is that we are created equal, biologically speaking, but it’s our upbringing and brainwashing of parents, elders, community and society that indoctrinate the genders into believing they are born different. The author provides all the scientific evidence that proves or disproves theories we believe to be true, then sums it up in each chapter with end notes that are quite literally mind opening. She uses humour to leaven the scientific explanations and the book is more enjoyable than anything else I’ve read this year.

» Vagina: A Biography by Naomi Wolf. The earlier book led me to this. It is not from this year, but equally good in a similar vein.

 

Manju Kapur

» Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie: We have often heard public statements from Salman Rushdie about those years [of the Fatwa] from time to time but to read about it in a book was different. He is an extremely good non-fiction writer. The book has all the charm of gossip and yet it is wonderfully weaved together as a story. I just couldn’t put it down and finished it in three days. As a result, I couldn’t do anything else during those three days!

» Nacropolis by Jeet Thayil: This Booker-nominated work from Thayil is an original voice. The book seemed authentic in its approach and the writer knew what he was talking about. There were no pretenses in the book. Nacropolis is imaginative and well written. It is a wonderful account of a part of Mumbai most people don’t know about. The book has passion and variety.

As told to Smitha Verma, V. Kumara Swamy and Sonia Sarkar in New Delhi