Books

Year in review: Ten great book reviews of 2025
By
The Editors
A selection of Himal’s most-read book reviews of the year
People in rickshaws and bikes waiting in the Delhi traffic
By
Sohel Sarkar
Four new books spotlight mobility in post-liberalisation cities across India and Pakistan, showing how everyday movement, inequality and aspiration shape urban citizenship beyond “world-class” infrast ...
Arundhati Roy rests her chin on her hand and looks directly at the camera. She is seated indoors in front of shelves filled with multiple copies of 'The God of Small Things', whose covers are blurred in the background.
By
Supriya Nair
‘Mother Mary Comes To Me’, Arundhati Roy’s memoir of love, loyalty and the larger-than-life Mrs Roy, puts into perspective a whole career of writing about the problem of belonging
A member of the hijra community dances at a religious procession in Maharashtra, wearing a bright green and red sari. Drummers surround them and celebrate in the street. A yellow signboard with Marathi text is visible in the background under a clear blue sky.
By
Rahul Rao
Four new books open up debate on why same-sex marriage has come to anchor queer politics in India, and how the notions and politics of Southasian queer life shift across local, diasporic and transnati ...
People gather at night around the obelisk commemorating the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, decorated with colourful garlands. Two men pose for a photo in front of the monument while another person takes their picture. One of the men wears clothing featuring an image of B R Ambedkar.
Alpa Shah’s ‘The Incarcerations’ examines the Bhima Koregaon case – as a symbol of how dissent and democracy are under assault in Modi’s India
A hand holds a bottle of Johnson’s baby powder in the foreground, with several other Johnson’s baby care products blurred in the background.
By
Disha Shetty
Two new books look at how Johnson & Johnson for decades put profits ahead of patients – including with contaminated baby power and faulty hip implants – and expose the failures of pharmaceutical regul ...
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