VRINDA NABAR

is former Chair of English, Mumbai University

My reading this year was eclectic, something “old”, something new, and here are three books I would particularly recommend. Billy Collins: Sailing Alone Around the Room; New and Selected Poems (2002) celebrates one of America’s best-loved poets. In Black Water Lilies (Michel Bussi, 2016), the French village of Giverny, once home to Claude Monet, becomes the centre of a gripping murder mystery. Art, Monet’s luminous landscapes, and human folly dominate this dark narrative of love and betrayal. 13 days uncover events that span two generations, keeping us on edge and jolting us with the unexpected denouement. Finally, every book lover should read My Life with BOB by Pamela Paul, editor of The NYT Review of Books, my only pick among this year’s releases. The salacious-minded should note that BOB is no male hunk but an acronym for “The Book of Books” – Paul’s record of books read over nearly three decades, and a throwback to the kind of endearing, hand-written journals one kept in a time before tablets and e-readers. My Life with BOB maps Paul’s own inner odyssey, connecting her reading with different phases in her life. Paul has commented on literary pretension (her own included) with refreshing self-deprecation: at Brown University, eg, “You didn’t talk about liking a book: you ripped it to pieces”. Books one knows leap out of chapters but the many unknowns are a humbling reminder of how much remains unread.