1. short story collections
dark satellites by clemens meyer (trans. katy derbyshire): stories about marginal people in germany; deals with isolation, loneliness, friendship
landour bazaar by ruskin bond: stories from the garhwal himalaya; they’re the sweetest and he’s the sweetest; there are also a few essays thrown in; and also there is literally anything you could pick by ruskin bond and it’ll be lovely
the adivasi will not dance by hansa sowvendra shekar: stories set in jharkhand in india about people dealing with poverty, isolation, and generally living in a, well, polluted mining state
stories by ritwik ghatak: a collection of his best stuff; mostly set in india between the 1950s and 1970s; really touching
public library by ali smith: stories about reading, language, the library; just generally about how books affect us
after the quake by haruki murakami: five stories about lives after the kobe earthquake; shows how different lives are affected by the disaster
the assassination of margaret thatcher and other stories by hilary mantel: i don’t know how to summarise these so i’m just going to add a link to a review here
two stories by sally rooney: it has mr salary and colour and light, which are both classic rooney and really great; about people and meeting people and love
literary occasions by v. s. naipaul: essays on writing, fiction, what it means, and what we do with it. again, i really like naipaul, so i would recommend anything by him
bookshops by jorge carrión: about bookstores as institutions; what they mean culturally, politically, and socially; really well-written
notes from a small room by ruskin bond: on living alone and writing
essayism by brian dillon: essays about essays and writing; what the essay is, how different people approach it, what we do with it; i really enjoyed reading this
yuganta by iravati karve (trans. norman brown): essays that are commentaries on the mahabharat, very thoughtful and extremely interesting; it’s a favourite
the book of indian journeys edited by dom moraes: an anthology of essays on travelling in india
everybody loves a good drought by p. sainath: articles from his research on poverty in rural india; about how trickle down theories and programmes don't work; also about how policies perform on the ground
the anthropocene reviewed by john green: the podcast was turned into a book which released in may 2021; essays about "the human-centred planet"; very hopeful and thoughtful essays; i love the podcast and i'm excited for the book as soon as my local store gets it
on photography by susan sontag: on the ethical and moral dilemmas of photography and documentation; deals with it both as art and as a way to represent facts;, very thought-provoking
also here are a bunch that are on my list for the recent future
the writer and the world by v. s. naipaul
funny weather by olivia laing
languages of truth by salman rushdie
