Reading List For 2020

On this page you’ll find my reading list for the year 2020.

This list is aspirational, which means I might not be able to get through every book I’ve listed here. Most of these are also pretty heavy reads in terms of subject matter, so I’ll certainly be taking breaks from them to dip into some fun YA fiction and trashy thrillers.

The purpose of this list is twofold. First, I want to know more about the lives and times of people who led popular mass movements against injustice in the twentieth century. Second, I want to understand the ideology and methods of the followers of Hindutva, a dangerous ideology that is currently tearing India apart.

With that out of the way, here’s the list.

English

1. Gandhi Before India by Ramachandra Guha

2. Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World by Ramachandra Guha

3. Awakening Bharat Mata by Swapan Dasgupta

4. Being Hindu by Hindol Sengupta

5. The Hindu Way by Shashi Tharoor

6. You Don’t Look Like a Muslim by Rakshanda Jalil

7. Coming Out as Dalit by Yashica Dutt

8. There’s Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Bajpayee

9. How to be a Dictator by Frank Dikotter

10. Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India by Gail Omvedtt

11. Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Vol. 1 by Gopal Sarvepalli

12. Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Vol. 2 by Gopal Sarvepalli

13. Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Vol. 3 by Gopal Sarvepalli

14. America in the King Years 1954–63 by Taylor Branch

15. America in the King Years 1963–65 by Taylor Branch

16. America in the King Years 1965–68 by Taylor Branch

Hindi

1. वे दिन by Nirmal Verma

2. परिन्दे by Nirmal Verma

3. पंद्रह कहानियाँ by Saadat Hassan Manto

4. रेत-समाधी by Geetanjali Shree

5. बारामासी by Gyaan Chaturvedi

6. मैला आँचल by Phaneeshwarnath Renu

7. गोदान by Premchand

8. गबन by Premchand

9. सेवासदन by Premchand

10. कर्मभूमी by Premchand

Punjabi

1. ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਪਾਪੀ by Nanak Singh

2. ਚਿੱਟਾ ਲਹੂ by Nanak Singh

3. ਮਿੱਟੀ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਾਤ by Amrita Pritam

4. ਪਿਂਜਰ by Amrita Pritam

5. ਰਸੀਦੀ ਟਿਕਟ by Amrita Pritam

Stretch Goals

1. The RSS: A View to the Inside by Walter K. Andersen & Shridhar D. Damle

2. How the BJP Wins by Prashant Jha

3. The Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar

4. Hindutva by V.D. Savarkar