HT reviewers pick their best reads of 2023

HT reviewers have been devouring everything from Booker-nominated novels and collections of short stories to works of micro-history translated from the Persian, essays that meld memoir and marine biology, and poems from Gaza. From linguistics to a novel that could be read as a critique of cancel culture, and plenty of literary fiction, this is an exceptional reading list. Click on the link under each picture to learn about that reviewer’s favourite read of the year

ARUNIMA MAZUMDAR

So much to read; so little time! (neelsky / Shutterstock)

Reviewer’s pick: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Courtesy the reviewer)

A retired man reminisces about his school days and the repercussions of his conduct in this Booker Prize winning novel from over a decade ago.

CHINTAN GIRISH MODI

Reviewer’s pick: Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (Courtesy the reviewer)

A novel about a Jain family in the UK that shows how sport can help an individual process grief

Reviewer’s pick: Yellowface by RF Kuang (Courtesy the reviewer)

On this year’s celebrated novel Yellowface by RF Kuang that mimics woke social media outrage against the backdrop of friendship and jealousy in the publishing world

LAMAT R HASAN

Reviewer’s pick: Mufti Syed Waliullah Farrukhabadi’s Tarikh-i-Farrukhabad (Courtesy the reviewer)

The anecdotes about chieftains and their chelas, the ode to Farrukhabad, and the art of expressing time through chronograms make Tarikh-i-Farrukhabad a compelling read

MAJID MAQBOOL

Reviewer’s pick: Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha (Courtesy the reviewer)

The story of a girl sent away to live with foster parents in rural Ireland and the work of a poet from Gaza keep the reader hooked

MIHIR CHITRE

Reviewer’s pick: The Power of Babel by John McWhorter (Courtesy the reviewer)

A book that travels across continents to explain the various aspects and quirks of language

PRAHLAD SRIHARI

Reviewer’s pick: Silver NItrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Courtesy the reviewer)

A search for a lost horror film leads the protagonists into a world of Nazi occultism in a novel that explores the legacy of colonialism in Mexico

SAIKAT MAJUMDAR

Reviewer’s pick: The Blue Women by Anukrti Upadhyay (Courtesy the reviewer)

A collection of short stories that marks women as pervasive and self-destructive forces of nature

SAUDAMINI JAIN

Reviewer’s pick: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Courtesy the reviewer)

The Bee Stingis about family and friendship and climate change, and the heaviness of existing in the world now

SHIREEN QUADRI

Reviewer’s pick: Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (Courtesy the reviewer)

A taut, and well-wrought work of psychological fiction told from the first-person perspective of an unnamed narrator

SIMAR BHASIN

Reviewer’s pick: Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal,among others (Courtesy the reviewer)

Three novels that delve into the multiple histories of immigration

SUHIT BOMBAYWALA

Reviewer’s pick: Pyre by Perumal Murugan (Courtesy the reviewer)

A gut-wrenchingly tragic story about caste-crossed lovers Saroja and Kumaresan who pay the price of forbidden love

SYED SAAD AHMED

Reviewer’s pick: How Far the Light Reaches; A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler (Courtesy the reviewer)

10 essays that profile “the ocean’s strangest creatures” and weaves them with personal stories

TEJA LELE

Reviewer’s pick: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Courtesy the reviewer)

A book that strikes the right chord at a time when women are angrier than ever before about everything from sexual violence to domestic inequality

IN MEMORIAM

Sankar Ray was a long time contributor to the Hindustan Times Books page. (Courtesy the subject)

Every review he wrote displayed the depth of his knowledge and the breadth of his reading. His contributions enriched the Books page immensely.