• “The first stroke of good luck in my life was to be born in Singapore,” writes diplomat and writer Mahbubani, who served as president of the UN Security Council. His memoir, Living the Asian Century: An Undiplomatic Memoir, (Hachette) traces a personal journey as well as the rise of Singapore as a rich Asian power.
  • Growing up in the Marxist stronghold of Kannur in Kerala, Ullekh N.P. had always been fascinated with Cuba and its leader Fidel Castro. The journalist and writer finally visited the island in 2023, capturing its vibrant history, resilient public institutions, and enduring political spirit in his new book, Mad about Cuba: A Malayali Revisits the Revolution (Penguin).
  • After her revenge saga featuring Lilith, the first woman in Eden, earlier this year, Shinie Antony is back with an anthology in a similar vein. Hell Hath No Fury (Hachette), edited by Antony, has 13 authors telling stories of women out for blood. The characters inhabit the grey zone between love and hate.
  • The narrator of Devi Yesodharan’s The Outsiders (Penguin), Nita, a teacher from Kerala, has just taken a job in Dubai. But can an immigrant fit in? Her job as a live-in tutor for a young girl puts her in an unfamiliar situation. Nita starts telling the child’s mother a story from ancient India, where Darius, a sailor, arrives at an Indian port seeking his fortune. As she tells this tale, making it up as she goes, she finds that she’s narrating the story of all outsiders.