It is that time of the year once more. The time when one year draws to a close and the next is all set to begin, bringing with it its own share of joy and sadness, laughter and tears. The time of the year when we look back through the months and pick out the most memorable highlights. At this point, when events that took place throughout the year are being discussed, debated and looked back upon, let us discuss a pivotal question that is making the rounds in the community of bibliophiles: what are the most compelling reads of 2018? From new novels from beloved writers to compelling non-fiction examinations of our modern world, 2018 has already delivered some excellent reads. And so, without further delay, let me go through my list of favourites from this year’s offerings of new releases.
1. The Sadness of Beautiful Things by Van Booy
Van Booy’s latest story collection was also one that I’d been eagerly waiting for, and it certainly did not disappoint. 'The Sadness of Beautiful Things' is a collection of true stories and anecdotes told to him during the course of his travels. Some have a tinge of otherworldliness about them and others, a tinge of science fiction. In contrast, there are also some stories that read like fables; both compelling and deeply reflective. As a whole, the collection is both moody and poignant and calls to be read in the winter with coffee close at hand.
2. A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
What will you sacrifice to reach your ambitions? This is the question the novel asks over and over again as it takes readers through the journey of a writer, Maurice swift, as he uses several people to rise to the top. Swift, an aspiring writer, meets celebrated German novelist Erich Ackermann. Recognising him to be a lonely man, Swift uses his desire to be loved, to tease out the secrets that Ackermann has been carrying with him for many years, only to then go ahead and write a book about them, ending Ackermann’s career and beginning his own. Beginning from there, the author takes us through several people who form stepping-stones to Swift’s career, the rungs in his “ladder to the sky”. This is a dark, psychological thriller which is impossible to put down.
3. Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
Controversial is the mildest way to describe Anand Giridharadas’s book that’s bound to cause a stir across the political spectrum. In it, he directly challenges the seemingly altruistic way global elites and “thought leaders” try to "change the world" via philanthropy and other means, all while, in his words, dodging taxes, eroding public institutions, and the democratic process — the very things they claim to hold dear. The elite citizens of the world are philanthropic more often than not — but in ways that ultimately serve only to protect and further their interests and cement the status quo. His insider’s perspective coupled with interviews with the very people he criticises — some of whom wrestle with very the contradictions he cites— makes this his most ambitious and timely book to date.
4. All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy
'All the Lives we Never Lived' is a deeply compelling story of Myshkin and his mother, Gayatri, a rebellious artist who abandons motherhood and marriage to follow her desire for freedom during the Second World War and Indian Independence. Cut to present day. Elderly Myshkin receives a bulky envelope in the mail that prompts the journey he’s been waiting for his whole life: to find out who his mother really was, and understand why she made the choices she did, choices that changed his life. This is a book that illustrates vividly the tensions between women’s desires and the world’s expectations of them. What I found the most surprising is the way in which the author talks about the disturbing consequences of Gayatri’s choices while at the same time urging the readers to empathise with her choices.
5. Those Who Knew by Idra Novey
Having fallen in love with the author’s writing style and compelling themes, I’d been waiting for the release of 'Those who Knew' to grab a copy. This is one of the season’s most-talked-about novels about power imbalances and the risks of speaking up in a profoundly divided country. In this case, in an unnamed island country 10 years after the collapse of a US-supported regime. When a young woman, who has been assisting a powerful senator on the campaign trail is found dead, Lena recalls her own fraught history with the senator and the violent incident that ended their relationship. Why didn’t Lena speak up then? This all too timely novel is a gripping and unnerving reflection of our times. It speaks about power and silence, how the former is so often achieved by securing the latter, and the various reasons people might have for staying silent. Moreover, the book is not only an important book about silence and its consequences, but also a sheer pleasure to read because of the author’s eloquent prose.
6. Silicon States: The Power and Politics of Big Tech and What It Means for Our Future by Lucie Greene
If our faith in governments and its institutions are eroding, who is poised to take over? Big Tech — that’s Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook— have done a very good job at making us believe they’re friendly egalitarian democratizers, so should they fill the gap, take the reins and assume responsibility? After all, they’re pro-LGBT, pro-sustainability, pro-social good. Not so fast, warns world-renown futurist Lucie Greene. Via candid interviews with corporate leaders, influential venture capitalists, scholars, journalists, activists, she explores exactly what’s at stake if we continue to let the largely unregulated Big Tech determine our futures.
7. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
Why is one dinner party a roaring success and another dull and awkward? Why is an acquaintance’s wedding in a backyard more memorable than your good friends’ celebration at the Ritz? Sure, people and their chemistry together play a big part in making gatherings rewarding and fun. But what if we could distill the key elements that inspire a good time, and apply them to make all our gatherings transformational? Conflict resolution specialist Priya Parker (M.I.T. and Harvard Kennedy School alum) has overseen peace processes in the Arab world and facilitated race relations on American college campuses. Her research draws on myriad customs from around the world to offer insights and inspiration on making our most basic human need — relating to others — more meaningful.
8. Backtalk by Danielle Lazarin
There are 16 stories in this book’s 237 pages; together, they leave you with a sense of crystalline fragments, sharp-edged shards of stories and experiences that paint a fractured picture of life as a woman and a girl. There are stories of friendship, loving and barbed, of the tender violence of familial love, and of the freedom and pain of loneliness. There’s a little bit of romance, too, but at the center are always Lazarin’s vibrant, peculiar, brilliant girls and women navigating, getting what they want in the world. This is a powerful and beautiful collection. (Please read it even if you are not a woman. Come on.)
9. When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought by Jim Holt
In this book, Jim Holt approaches some of the biggest questions on the blurry boundary between science and philosophy, not as a journalist making a beeline for empirical truth, but as an essayist, circling and spiraling toward understanding. This is an engaging collection (and not too technical), and his writing is lucid. This book also offers a collection of biographical sketches of some of the greatest thinkers from the last century, including Benoit Mandelbrot, Alan Turing, and the titular pair, specifically the unlikely friendship they developed at Princeton in the '40s. Together these essays create a complex portrait of the great minds of the 20th century and an illuminating exploration of their ideas. However, the one unfortunate fact about this book is that it is an overwhelmingly mail collection.
10. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama’s memoire, which was recently released in November, is the only book in this list that I haven’t read yet (hence, it is at the bottom of the list). I thought it rather unfair to be promoting and recommending books that I haven’t verified as being amazing reads. However, considering both the author and the subject matter, this book is sure to be a powerful read. Other readers have described it as an interesting glimpse into Obama’s opinions and worldviews, and what it means to live as a powerful woman of colour in a US that is becoming increasingly polarised.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to hit the bookshops (or Amazon/Flipkart if you prefer shopping online) and grab your next amazing read.
Disclaimer: There are, of course, books that aren’t on this list that you might think are interesting reads. I certainly do not claim to have read every book that came out the past year. However, I assure you that of the ones I did pick up, these are the best ones. If you find other interesting 2018 releases, do drop it in a comment below.