2018 was a busy year. On most days, I found it incredibly difficult to cook my dinner, make my bed, or even watch the TV. Not because I was being my usual lazy self, but because I had a ridiculously long list of books in my reading list. These were my go-to places after a really, really long day at work and my conversation-starters. If you are looking for reading recommendations for your Christmas vacations (or gift ideas for your book-loving friend), this list of fiction and non-fiction books from 2018 will come in handy.
1. Educated By Tara Westover
Image Credits: Tara Westover on Facebook
Educated is a gripping memoir of a woman who broadens her horizon through education. Born to a father who doesn’t believe in conventional education and living, author Tara Westover goes to school for the first time when she is 17. However, with a hunger to create new possibilities for herself, Westover is adamant on finding greater meanings. One of the best reads of 2018, the book is the journey of a woman and her transformation through education to become the person she wants to be.
Price: Rs 599. Buy it here.
2. The Great Believers By Rebecca Makkai
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Image Credits: Rebecca Makkai on Facebook
The Great Believers is an intertwined tale of the two protagonists (a man and a woman) who have survived the AIDS era, but at the cost of insurmountable pain and loss of loved ones. Set in the 1980s in Chicago, the book by Rebecca Makkai looks back to the time of the outbreak of the epidemic when people were losing their friends and family while the government did little to nothing. What makes it a good book is how it thoughtfully reminds us that even after a crisis is over, the aftershocks remain for generations.
Price: Rs 2,310. Buy it here.
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3. All The Lives We Never Lived By Anuradha Roy
Image Credits: Anuradha Roy on Facebook
A tale of love and loss, the novel is a beautiful work of fiction that carefully places history in the story with great details. The protagonist is a nine-year-old boy, Myshkin, whose mother (and later also his father) leaves him to work with the Indian spies. The story is narrated by an older Myshkin who traces back his childhood. The story is a heart-wrenching tale of families falling apart, of breaking the barriers of patriarchy and of freedom.
Price: Rs 294. Buy it here.
4. Becoming By Michelle Obama
Image Credits: Michelle Obama on Facebook
Becoming is a revealing memoir by Michelle Obama on the trials and tribulations of her life and her journey from a Chicago girl to the First Lady of the White House. One of the best reads of the year, the book has brilliant details about the love life of the Obamas, Michelle’s insights on parenting, her dislike for politics, and what it was like to be married to the President of the United States.
Price: Rs 603. Buy it here.
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5. Nobody Cares By Anne T. Donahue
Image Credits: Anne T. Donahue on Twitter
Anne T. Donahue’s debut novel is a witty collection of the first world problems of the internet generation. Reading this book will make you feel like you are having a heart-to-heart conversation with your best friend about life. With the book, Donahue reminds us that shit happens to everybody but this shouldn’t make you harsh on yourself because no one cares about it.
Price: Rs 1,073. Buy it here.
6. Jasoda By Kiran Nagarkar
Image Credits: Kiran Nagarkar on Facebook
One of the best books of 2018, Jasoda is an unforgiving account of a rural woman fighting against patriarchy. Jasoda is the hero of her own story who finds herself trapped in several obstacles because of the harsh realities of life but she survives them all. What’s heart-breaking is that the author has chosen reality over emotions through the course of the novel and at points that hits the reader hard.
Price: Rs 389. Buy it here.
7. A Place For Us By Fatima Farheen Mirza
Image Credits: Fatima Farheen Mirza on Twitter
In her bewitching debut novel, Fatima Farheen Mirza describes how members of a family can have different interpretations of the same event happening in a house. The family saga is centred around an Indian-American Muslim home, where a strict father emphasises so much on family values and culture that the youngest son decides to run away. It’s an emotional turmoil filled with tales of love, cruelty, forgiveness, and homecoming.
Price: Rs 389. Buy it here.
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