Article /
Books /
Book Releases
Five Books To Look Forward To In January 2018 |
After a significant year for publishing in India, the upcoming month of
January in 2018 will set the literary mood for a new beginning. The Jaipur
Literature Festival will see the release of several significant books, apart
from hosting over 200 sessions that will witness participation from writers and
thinkers from across the world. With a lot taking place simultaneously and
options as diverse as ever, bookworms have quite a choice to make.
The IANS recommendations for January pares a long list to present the five
most promising titles that bookworms must take note of.
Here are the five books that we cannot wait to read this January:
1. "Why I Am A Hindu", by Shashi Tharoor (Aleph) In "Why I Am a
Hindu", Tharoor gives us a profound book about one of the world's oldest and
greatest religions. Starting with a close examination of his own belief in
Hinduism, he ranges far and wide in his study of the faith. He looks at the
myriad manifestations of political Hinduism in the modern era, including
violence committed in the name of the faith by right-wing organisations and
their adherents. He is unsparing in his criticism of extremist "bhakts", and
unequivocal in his belief that everything that makes India a great and
distinctive culture and country will be imperiled if religious fundamentalists
are allowed to take the upper hand.
2. "Pakistan's Nuclear Bomb", by Hassan Abbas (Penguin) In
"Pakistan's Nuclear Bomb", Abbas profiles the politicians and scientists
involved in the development of the country's atomic bomb and the role of China
and Saudi Arabia in supporting its nuclear infrastructure. Drawing on extensive
interviews, the book also unravels the motivation behind the Pakistani nuclear
physicist Dr A.Q. Khan's involvement in nuclear proliferation in Iran, Libya and
North Korea, and argues that the origins and evolution of the Khan network were
tied to the domestic and international political motivations underlying
Pakistan's nuclear weapons project and its organisation, oversight and
management.
3. "Small Acts of Freedom", by Gurmehar Kaur (Penguin) In
February 2017, Gurmehar Kaur, a 19-year-old student, joined a peaceful campaign
after violent clashes at a Delhi University college. As part of the campaign,
Kaur's post made her the target of an onslaught of social media vitriol. Kaur,
the daughter of a Kargil war martyr, suddenly became the focal point of a
nationalism debate. Facing a trial by social media, Kaur almost retreated into
herself. But she was never brought up to be silenced. "Real bullets killed my
father. Your hate bullets are deepening my resolve," she wrote at the time.
Today, Kaur is doubly determined not to be silent. "Small Acts of Freedom" is
her story.
4. "Keepers of the Kalachakra", by Ashwin Sanghi (Westland) A
seemingly random selection of heads of state is struck down like flies by
unnamed killers who work with the clinical efficiency of butchers. Except that
they leave no trace of their methods. Sanghi returns with another quietly
fearsome tale -- this time of men who guard the "Kalachakra" -- The Wheel of
Time. Sanghi describes a world of people at war with one another -- a
boomeranging conflict of faiths that results in acts of such slow and planned
human cruelty that they defy imagination. Zigzagging from Rama's crossing to
Lanka to the birth of Buddhism; from the charnel-grounds of naked tantric
practitioners to the bespoke suits of the Oval Office; and from the rites of
Minerva, shrouded in frankincense, to the smoke-darkened ruins of Nalanda, the
mystery novel is a journey that will have you gasping for breath.
5. "Diwali in Muzaffarnagar", by Tanuj Solanki (HarperCollins)
Friendship between two teenage boys dissolves in the aftermath of an act of
violence typical of the place they live in -- the north Indian town of
Muzaffarnagar. A young man comes to the same town to celebrate Diwali with his
family and learns that, given his roots, his cosmopolitanism might not be an
option any more. A young woman, hitherto unburdened by family duties, grapples
with the absence of grief upon her father's death. Elsewhere, a recently married
couple is pulled apart by a crisis rooted in the woman's traumatic childhood. In
Solanki's book of short stories, young men and women travel between the past and
the present, the metropolis and the small town, and the always-at-odds needs of
life: Solitude and family.
TAGS:
Book releases 2018,
Book releases,
Book releases in January 2018,
Books,
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors /contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy/opinion of webindia123.com / Suni systems Pvt. Ltd. Webindia123.com / Suni systems Pvt. Ltd and its staff, affiliates accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of the use of all or any part of the material published in the site. In case of any queries,or complaints about the authenticity of the articles posted by contributors, please contact us via email.