Books

12 books to read: The best reviews of May

Updated on May 30, 2026 05:23 pm IST

The long life of the Declaration of Independence, wartime survival in Ukraine, the joy of soccer fandom, early human societies and more.

HT Picks; New Reads

This week’s pick of interesting reads includes a book on understanding money in an unstable world, a collection of unsettling stories, and a volume that traces the old Indian routes through which people and wealth travelled. (Amit Sharma)

Published on May 30, 2026 04:42 am IST

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera: “I’ve never liked being pigeonholed”

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera (Jaipur Literature Festival)

Published on May 30, 2026 04:40 am IST

Review: The Complex by Karan Mahajan

A woman in a Delhi balcony, 1980s. (David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Published on May 30, 2026 04:02 am IST

Review: The Indian Caliphate by Imran Mulla

Osman Ali Khan, the last nizam of Hyderabad (HT Photo)

Published on May 30, 2026 03:26 am IST

Review: Heart the Lover by Lily King

The story begins in a lecture room probably much like this one. (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 29, 2026 04:16 pm IST

Postcards: the return of a lost bit of ephemera

Postcards from colonial India (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 28, 2026 04:35 pm IST

Reading Goa: of strong emotions and romantic memories

A view of Fort Aguada in Goa (Shutterstock)

Published on May 28, 2026 02:05 pm IST

Report: Bazm-e-Virasat

A session featuring actor Jaideep Ahlawat in conversation with casting director Mukesh Chhabra. (Courtesy Bazm-e-Virasat)

Updated on May 28, 2026 04:37 pm IST

Layla Tazhibayeva: “Kazakhs think the kobyz can drive away bad spirits”

Layla Tazhibayeva in performance (Jodhpur RIFF)

Updated on May 26, 2026 04:21 pm IST

Lee Child: “Reacher lives on in my head”

Lee Child talking to Britain's Queen Camilla during a reception for authors at Clarence House, London on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Aaron Chown/AP)

Updated on May 25, 2026 04:02 pm IST

HT Picks; New Reads

On the reading list this week is a book that guides women on their financial journey, one on India’s most distinct season, and another on Kerala’s achievements and challenges (Akash Shrivastav)

Published on May 22, 2026 09:37 pm IST

Marcia Hutchinson: “The urge to write never really left me”

Author Marcia Hutchinson (Rik Jundi)

Published on May 22, 2026 09:36 pm IST

Review: The Good Reporter by Disha Mullick, Geeta Devi et al

The Khabar Lahariya home page

Published on May 22, 2026 09:35 pm IST

Review: Dastan-E-GuruDutt by Mahmood Farooqui

Guru Dutt (SL Purohit/HT Photo)

Published on May 22, 2026 09:31 pm IST

Noa Avishag Schnall: “It’s important to focus on the Palestinians”

Author Noa Avishag Schnall (Jaipur Literature Festival)

Published on May 22, 2026 11:07 am IST

Where books meet brewing history in Zurich

The library at the B2 Boutique Hotel (Das Bild)

Updated on May 21, 2026 05:10 pm IST

Review: The Shortest History of Turkey by Benjamin C Fortna

The Republic Day parade in front of the parliament building in Ankara, Turkey. (Shutterstock)

Published on May 21, 2026 01:14 pm IST

Sanjoy K Roy: 'More and more, I allow my decisions to be ruled by my instinct'

Author Sanjoy K Roy (Jaipur Literature Festival)

Updated on May 20, 2026 06:25 pm IST

Priyambada Jayakumar: “MS himself critiqued the Green Revolution”

Author Priyambada Jayakumar (Courtesy Jaipur Literature Festival)

Updated on May 19, 2026 08:34 pm IST

Review: Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

The women in the novel eventually gather in Karadj, a city in Iran. (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 18, 2026 03:59 pm IST

HT Picks; New Reads

On the reading list this week is a tale about a young magician, a book that traces trauma in Indian lives, and a novel about immigration and identity. (Akash Shrivastav)

Published on May 16, 2026 03:06 pm IST

Deepa Anappara: “Female explorers were seen as having loose morals”

Author Deepa Anappara (Courtesy Jaipur Literature Festival)

Published on May 16, 2026 03:04 pm IST

Review: Rao Bahadur MV Dhurandhar by Sandeep Dahisarkar

Self Portrait of a Painter by MV Dhurandhar (Wikimedia Commons)

Published on May 16, 2026 02:59 pm IST

Review: An Accidental Lawyer by KK Venugopal

Former Attorney General of India, KK Venugopal in a picture dated July 6, 2018. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Published on May 16, 2026 02:57 pm IST

Teddy Bear on the War Front and other poems by Sukrita Paul Kumar

An abandoned teddy bear (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 15, 2026 09:42 pm IST

Report: Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival 2026

Academic Ruvani Ranasinha in conversation with International Booker Prize winning translator Deepa Bhasthi (right) at the Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival 2026 (Courtesy Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival)

Published on May 14, 2026 05:27 pm IST

Excerpt: The Memory of Shadows and Other Folktales from the Northeast

Bodo girls doing a traditional dance. (Shutterstock)

Published on May 14, 2026 03:09 pm IST

Busybee and Bolshoi in old Bombay

Behram Contractor aka Busybee, 1999. (Courtesy Sooni Taraporevala)

Updated on May 14, 2026 01:06 pm IST

Excerpt: Trauma Nation; Fighting India’s Silent Epidemic by Nishtha Lamba

“Kabir described himself, in different contexts of the interview, as a ‘good man’. He was not praising himself; it was his moral anchor. His understanding of himself as a ‘good man’ became the very grounds on which the abuse flourished.” (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 12, 2026 11:30 pm IST

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