This is the time of the year when I usually like to make a tentative list of books I plan to read in the coming year. So here are, in no particular order, the books on my reading list for 2023.

My amazing friend Snehal Kulkarni had gifted me four books by noted Marathi writer Prakash Narayan Sant that I could not finish reading this year. So naturally, they are pretty high on my list of books to read in 2023.

My old publisher Juggernaut had sent me (on my request) two books from their non-fiction catalogue – South Vs North: India’s Great Divide by Nilakantan RS and Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban. I am looking forward to read both of them. Around the same time, I had also ordered Empire of Pain – The Secret History of Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe. The owners of the infamous Purdue Pharma, I was intrigued about this family after watching the Hulu series Dopesick and this book would be pretty high on my non-fiction reading for next year.

I plan to continue reading on my two subjects of interest- Economics and Psychology. Yesterday I came across The Joyless Economy- The Psychology of Human Satisfaction by Tibor Scitovsky and The Moral Economy- Why Good Incentives Are No Substitutes for Good Citizenship by Samuel Bowles on Nikhil Rajadhyaksha’s TL. I found both of them interesting and may add them to my list. On the economics list, I also plan to read more from Thomas Piketty whose A Brief History of Inequality was one of the highlights of my 2022 reading.

Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death- Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business was one of the best books I read in 2022. I plan to read Technopoly- The Culture of Surrender to Technology by the same author. Similarly, Jon Ronson’s So You Have Been Publicly Shamed was very interesting and I think at least one more book from Mr Ronson, most probably Men who Stare at Goats, deserves to be on this list.

The good people at Indic are sending me my friend Dr Vikram Sampath’s new book Bravehearts of Bharat -Vignettes from Indian History. On the Indian writing scene, I cannot think of a man I respect and admire more than VS and I am really looking forward to reading his latest.

As a huge fan of the film, I plan to read the behind-the-scenes story Blood, Sweat and Chrome- the Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchnan. My good friend Dheeraj Jindal had sent me Sholay: The Making of a Classic by Anupama Chopra earlier this year. It will be pretty early in my 2023 reading list. On the autobiographical accounts side, I was intrigued about Mozart in the Jungle- Sex, Drugs and Classical Music by American oboist Blair Tindall after watching a few episodes of the Amazon Series based on the book. I also read some good reviews about American journalist Michael Ausiello’s memoirs of his time with his late husband Spoiler Alert- The Hero Dies (it is also being made in a film with Jim Parsons of the Big Bang Theory playing the Ausiello). I am planning to read/listen to both books. I also have American playwright Arthur Miller’s autobiography Timebends on my Kindle, partially unread. I plan to finish reading it this year.

On fiction side, I have not yet read the last two books The Dark Hours and The Desert Star by my favorite Michael Connelly. I plan to repair this omission soon. On the serious part of fiction reading list, I have Cormac Mc’Carthy’s Blood Meridian and The Passengers, Eric Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five and my friend Anosh Irani’s short story collection Translated from Gibberish. I hope I will get around to reading these in 2023 too.

Juggernaut publisher Chiki Sarkar spoke well of the Slough House series of spy thrillers by Mick Herron and I am definitely planning to read Slow Horses, the first book from that series.  A few years ago, I had read and enjoyed Black Water Lilies by French writer Michael Bussi. I am planning to check out his Don’t Let Go this year.

I guess, that’s it for now. Would be fun to see how many of these make to the reading list of 2023. Onwards!