Kala Ghoda Poems – Arun Kolatkar

India
Poetry

Exploring the locale of Kala Ghoda in South Bombay, Kolatkar subverts the elitism associated with the area. Focusing upon figures like the street dog, a Municipal worker, a prostitute, and the beloved idli vendor who frequents the locale, Kolatkar produces one of the finest works of Indian literary modernism.

My Notorious Life by Madame X – Kate Manning

USA
Historical Fiction

This story is set in the late 1800s NYC and is about an Irish immigrant who became a midwife. One would say that she lived a “scandalous” life as she was a woman who was running her own private clinic and providing a space to conduct abortions from her house. She defies the rules and marks her territory in a city that didn’t appreciate women gaining power. 
Inspired by a true story, although the plot was modified.

My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell

UK
Autobiography

This autobiographical piece focuses upon the lives of the author and his family, as they relocate from bleak England to the sunny Greek Island of Corfu. Durrell humorously elaborates upon their interactions with a variety of unusual pets that they adopt, including a tortoise who loves strawberries, a monstrous looking pigeon named Quasimodo, and their peculiar dog Roger.

Drifting House – Krys Lee

South Korea
Literary Fiction, Anthology of Short Stories

The book deals with the idea of ‘unsettlement’. It’s prose is derived and desperate, reflecting upon the human condition of homelessness. The tales deal with shame, hunger, and regret amidst introspecting on what it means to belong and the compromises that one takes. 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

USA
Comedy, Sci-Fi

With outlandish plot lines set in outer space, it is the absurdity that makes HGTTG hilarious. The eccentric characters — from a depressed robot to a two-headed, idiotic galactic president — are written in a satirical, non-matter of fact way. Alongside Adams’ sharp wit and gallows humour, they come to mark the brilliant ridiculousness of this book.

Escape – Manjula Padmanabhan

India
Dystopian Fiction

In a society where “replacing anyone is possible”, science & technology play favourites. Escape critiques the sexualised, inferior status of women. Following the journey of the singular female character in the novel, Padmanabhan presents the image of a wasteland – the ironic plight of a male-only country.