What Bengaluru writers loved reading in 2025

Bengaluru’s literati reveal what books excited them the most

Mamta Sagar, poet

Kannada author Vinay Gunte’s collection of short stories — ‘Banada Karadi Mattu Itara Kathegalu’ — was one of the best books I read in 2025. His style of expression in Kannada is unique and fresh. He tackles topics like marginalisation and discrimination in urban settings.

I also reread ‘The Hindi Public Sphere 1920-1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism’ by Francesca Orsini. She was invited to India for a conference but after she landed in Delhi, the government did not allow her to enter the country, and sent her back to London.

Apparently, they found her book offensive. It is important today to respond to the injustices happening around us. I also revisited books by Manto and Ismat Chughtai.

Anita Nair, novelist

My pick is ‘James’ by Percival Everett. I received this book very early, in January 2025, and despite the 50 odd books I read this year, nothing quite compared to this brilliant and at times heart-wrenching novel.

A reimagining of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ but told through the perspective of the fugitive slave Jim. The original, which I read and re-read as a child, suddenly acquired claws and fangs and became an account of brutal white supremacy that saw slaves as less than human.

In many ways, it is the story of the oppressor and the oppressed played out in different parts of the world, including India.

Harini Nagendra, author

I enjoyed reading all the books from the ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ series by Richard Osman. The series is centred on a retirement home, where a group of pensioners, comprising a former spy, nurse, psychiatrist, and union leader, come together to solve murders. The series keeps getting better with every new book. I love the way Osman writes about older people. It is great to read how they all put their heads together to use their experiences and skills to uncover the identity of the killers.

Madhu Y N, author

This year, I read the English translation of the popular Malayalam novel ‘Chemmeen’ by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. The iconic Malayalam film of the same name is an adaptation of the 1956 book.

I like the way the author writes about the class struggles of that era and region. It is a tragic love story of a Muslim trader, Pareekutty, and Karuthamma, daughter of a fisherman. 

I also read the English translation of the 1949 Hindi novel ‘Gunahon Ka Devta’ by Dharamvir Bharati. It is titled ‘Chander and Sudha’ in English. Chander is in love with his professor’s daughter, but due to circumstances, convinces her to marry another man. The consequences are catastrophic. I enjoyed reading how the author describes the clash of ideals in this romance novel. 

In Kannada, I read ‘Jeevarathi’ by J N Tejashri. It tells the multigenerational story of a family of farmers living in Kodagu. The writer is a poet, so the prose reads like poetry. It is narrated like a collage of pictures, rather than as a novel.  

Nataraj Huliyar, author

The best book I read this year was B M Basheer’s ‘Agnipatha’, a Kannada novel that portrays the communal tensions, the loss of innocence, and paradoxes of contemporary Indian society. The narrative is uncomplicated yet tense, which makes it more compelling. A distinct Kannada poet, the author is a desk editor at ‘Vartabharati’, a Kannada daily.