Books Read in 2026

Read or reading in 2025 (14 +10 + 2; NF 4)

ENGLISH FICTION (7)  

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (5): (Flights by Olga Tocarzuk [Translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft]), [Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec], The Zone by Sergei Dovtalov, Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki [Translated from the Japanese by Anthony Chambers], Enemies, A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer [Translated by Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shub],
                                                                                                                                                                        

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (1): (Overstory by Richard Parker),

 
ENGLISH POETRY (1=0+1) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (0): 

POETRY IN ENGLISH (1): A Street of Clocks by Thomas Lux,  


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (3=0+0+3)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY (2):  (Vasistha's Yoga translated by Swami Venkatesananda), (India by Al-beruni),

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (0):  

 
NON-FICTION - HISTORY / ARTS/ OTHER (1): (A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry by Gregory Orr), On Writing by Stephen King, 

MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (2=0+1+1)

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 0+ Poetry: 1 + Non-fiction: 1):

 (Sanskriti ke Char Adhyay by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar), (Jhankar by Maithalisharan Gupta)

 
Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 0 + Non-fiction: 0): 

Books read in 2025

 Read or reading in 2025 (32 = 21 + 11; NF 3) 

ENGLISH FICTION (19) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (16): Amulet by Roberto Bolano,  A Dog's Heart by Mikhael Bulgakov [Translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield],  No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai [Translated from the Japanese by Donald Keene], Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami  [Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel], The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov [Translated from the Bulgarian by Angela Rodel], (Winter by Karl Ove Knaussgaurd), Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Kiromi Kawakami  [Translated from the Japanese], The Rings of Saturn by S. G. Sebald [translated from the German by Michael Hulse], | The Suitcase by Sergei Dovtalov, Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb [translated into English by Adriana Hunter], Pushkin Hills by Sergei Dovtalov [translated from the Russian into English by Katherina Dovtalov],  Life and Political Reality by Shahidul Zahir [translated from the Bengali into English by V. Ramaswamy and Shahroza Rahmin], Scene 75 by Rahi Masoon Raza [Translated from Hindi/Urdu by Poonam Saxena], Divorce by Cesar Aira [Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews], Thirst for Love by Yukio Mishima, Strike Your Heart by Amelie Nothomb,
                                                                                                                                                                        

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (3): David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Blind Man with a Pistol by Himes, Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah,

 
ENGLISH POETRY (6=2+4) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (2): A Tree Within by Octavio Paz, The Gypsies and Other Narrative Poems by Alexander Puskin [Translated from the Russian by Antony Wood], 

POETRY IN ENGLISH (4): Ellipses by Fady Joudah, The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry,  The Veil by Denis Johnson, Lice by W. S. Merwin, 


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (1=0+1+0)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY (0):  

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (1):  Formula by Albert-László Barbási,
 
NON-FICTION - HISTORY / ARTS/ OTHER (0): 

 
MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (6=1+5+2)

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 1+ Poetry: 5 + Non-fiction: 0):

Pratinidhi Kavitayein by Ageya, Magadh by Srikant Verma, (Kashi ka Assi by Kashinath Singh), Hunkar and Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, 

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 1 + Non-fiction: 1): (Lilavati by Bhaskaracharya).

  

Books read in 2024

 

Read in 2024 (25 = 15 + 10; NF 6) 

ENGLISH FICTION (11) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION -- (10): Independent People by Halldor Laxness [Translated from the Icelandic by J. A. Thompson], Cowboy Graves by Roberto Bolano, Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić [translated from the Croatian], Vegetarian by Han Kang, We by Yevegeny Zaymatin, Goat Days by Benyamin, Pedro Paramo by Juan Ralfo,  The Story of Layla & Majnun by Nizami [Translated from the Persian in prose form by  Rudolph Gelpke, Zia Inayat Khan and Omid Safi], Tristana by Benito Perez Galdos, At the Door and Other Stories by Boris Pilnyak [Translated from the Russian],                                                                                                                                                                              

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (1):  Karma Cola by Gita Mehta.

ENGLISH POETRY (7=2+5) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (2):  (The Lusiads by Camoles (translated from the Portuguese)), Poem of the Deep Song by Garcia Lorca,

POETRY IN ENGLISH (5): The Book of Cat Poems (anthology), Nur Melange (anthology of Ghazals); The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry, Selected Poems by Thomas Lux, The Double Truth by Chard deNiord,


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (3=0+0+3)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY (0):  

 

 POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (0):  

 
NON-FICTION - HISTORY / ARTS/ OTHER (3): The World of Yesterday: Memories of a European by Stefan Zweig, A Little History of Poetry by John Carey, Rhyme's Reason by John Hollander, 

MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (4=0+3+1)

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 0+ Poetry: 2 + Non-fiction: 1):

Rekha by Bhagvaticharan Varma, Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Saaye mein Dhoop by Dushyant Kumar, 

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 1): Poems from the Sanskrit [Translated by John Brough].

Top 5 reads (among the books read for the first time)

 Independent People by Halldor Laxness [Translated from the Icelandic by J. A. Thompson],

 The World of Yesterday: Memories of a European by Stefan Zweig,

Vegetarian by Han Kang,  

We by Yevegeny Zaymatin, 

Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić [translated from the Croatian]

 

Books read in 2023

 

Read in 2023 (50 = 27 + 23; NF 12) 

ENGLISH FICTION (14) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (9): Sweet Bean Paste by Durian [Translated from the Japanese], The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima [Translated from the Japanese by Ivan Morris], Pyre and One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan [Translated from the Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan], The Red Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk [Translated from the Turkish by Ekin Oklap], Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov [Translated from the Bulgarian by Angela Rodel], Peach Bosson Paradise by Ge Fei [translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse], Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth [Translated from the German by Joachim Neugroschel],                                                                                                                                                                              

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (5):  Victory City by Salman Rushdie, The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen, Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, House of Caravans by Shilpi Suneja.

ENGLISH POETRY (16=10+6) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (10): Cronopios and Fomas by Julio Cortazar [in Spanish and in English, translated from the Spanish by Paul Blackburn], Gilgamesh [translated by David Ferry], Poem of the Deep Song by Federico Garcia Lorca [translated from the Spanish Poema del Canto Jondo by Carlos Bauer], (Poems of Fernando Pessoa: Alberto Ceiro, Alvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis, Fernando Pessoa, Bernado Soares [edited and translated from the Portuguese by Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown])

POETRY IN ENGLISH (6): Wasteland and other poems by T. S. Eliot, Opened Ground by Seamus Heaney, Double Truth by Charles DeNiord, Sweet Ruin by Tony Hoagland, A Nostalgiac's Map of America and The Country Without a Post Office by Agha Shahid Ali,


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (12=2+4+6)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY (2): In Light of India by Octavio Paz [translated from the Spanish by Eliot Weinberger], Jafarnama by Guru Gobind Singh [Translated from the Persian]

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (4):  The Life and Legacy of G.I. Taylor by G. Batchelor, Science and Cooking: Physics meets Food, from Homemade to Haute Cuisine by Michael Brenner, Pia Sorensen and David Weitz, (Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking by Krish Ashok),  On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee,
 
NON-FICTION - HISTORY / ARTS/ OTHER (6): A History of the World in Six Glasses and (An Edible History of Humanity) by Tom Sandage, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel,  How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco, Milk: A 10,000 year Food Fracas by Mark Kurlansky, Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami

MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (8=1+7; 0)

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 1+ Poetry: 7 + Non-fiction: 0):
 (Ret Samadhi by Geetanjili Shree), 

Pallav by Sumitranandant Pant, Selected Poems of Firaq Gorakhpuri, ed. Urdu and [translated from the Urdu into English by K.C. Kanda], Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Madhushala by Harvinash Rai Bachchan, Kamayani by Jaishankar Prasad, Jafarnama by Guru Gobind Singh [Translated from the Persian]
Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 0): 

Books Read in 2022

 

Read in 2022 (24 = 13+ 11; NF 5) 

ENGLISH FICTION (7) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (7): 2666 by Roberto Bolano [Translated from the Spanish], The Gambler and The Double by Dostoevsky [Translated from the Russian]), (The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera), A Woman Betrayed by Simone de Beviour [Translated from the Russian], Theorem by Pier Paolo Pasolini [Translated from the Italian], The Legend of the Holy Drinker by Jospeh Roth.

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (0):   

ENGLISH POETRY (8=2+6) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (2):  Travels to the Deep North by Basho (translated by Sam Hamill),

POETRY IN ENGLISH (6): frank sonnets by Daine Suess, American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin and Hip Logic by Terrance Hayes, Selected 100 Poems by Seamus Heaney, First Course in Turbulence by , Lice by W. S. Merwin, 


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (5=0+2+3)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY / HISTORY (0):  

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (2): Voyages through Turbulence, The Life and Legacy of G.I. Taylor by G. Batchelor, 
 
NON-FICTION - OTHER (3): (Essays by Nabokov), Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dreams by Naguib Mahfouz, 


MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (4=1+3; 0 )

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 1 + Poetry: 3 + Non-fiction: 0): Talkhiyan by Sahir Ludhyanvi, Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Saaye mein Dhoop by Dushyant Kumar, Nirmala by Prem Chand,

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 0): 

Books Read in 2021

Read in 2021 (11 = 8+ 3; NF 3) 

ENGLISH FICTION (5) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (3): Samarkand [Translated from the French], The Aunt Who Wound not Die by Shirshendu Mukherjee [Translated from the Bengali], (Laila and Majnun by Nizami [Translated from the Persian]),

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (2):  Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste,  (Go Tell it On the Mountain by James Baldwin),

ENGLISH POETRY (3=2+1) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (2):  (Without End: New and Selected Poems by Adam Zagajewski (translated by Blackburn)), (Rhymes of Whimsy: The Complete Abol Tabol  by Sukumar Roy (Translated from the Bengali by Nilandri Roy),

POETRY IN ENGLISH (1): Lice by W. S. Merwin, 


ENGLISH NON-FICTION (3=2+0+1)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY / HISTORY (2):  (Vasistha's Yoga translated by Swami Venkatesananda), (India by Al-beruni), 

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (0):
 
NON-FICTION - OTHER (1): The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris, 


MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18): 

LITERATURE: NON-INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0): 

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (0=0+0; 0 )

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 0 + Poetry: 0 + Non-fiction: 0):

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 0): 

(If I am through more  than 50% of the book, it goes into the list of the year past, otherwise it appears in the new list next year. See here for the books read in 2020, with a selection of my favorite reads from the year past.)