Book of the year picks for 2025 from authors, chefs and cultural voices

Contradictions and convictionsNot one of us lives without contradictions but I have to confess having those contradictions forced into your brain through merciless text and indisputable logic is anything but comfortable That is why I owe Manu Joseph a debt of gratitude for forcing me to reexamine the ease with which I adapt to inequity with his book Why The Poor Donrsquot Kill Us The Psychology of IndiansRead just this one line in an avalanche of words to know why this is lsquoThe Book of the Yearrsquo for me ldquoThe worst truth of this new order is that they who received the finest education and other opportunities and who consider themselves the most intelligent and informed among Indians have been shown as inaccurate unreliable and incompetent political analysts of their own nationrdquo I am who Manu Joseph writes about And I have tried and failed to fix myselfBittu Sahgal editor Sanctuary AsiaHospitality mattersFor me Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara stands out as the book of the year because it captures a fundamental shift in how modern restaurants are thinking about service and experienceThe author goes beyond food and technique to focus on something far more lasting how guests feel when they walk through your doors and long after they leave The book is a powerful reminder that hospitality isnrsquot about grand gestures alone but about intention empathy and attention to detail It reinforces the idea that creating memorable moments often comes from small thoughtful actions doneconsistentlyHussain Shahzad executive chef Paparsquos The Bombay Canteen O Pedro amp VeronicarsquosKeeping it realHaving read it many years ago I decided to read Rohinton Mistryrsquos Such a Long Journey again in 2025 I thoroughly enjoyed it with its realistic setting of a typical Parsee colony baug Plus it included a few historical events during Indira Gandhirsquos Prime Ministerial regimeVispi Balaporia president Asiatic Society of MumbaiRostov and RoyThe first book is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Itrsquos a beautifully written poetic book about resilience and resistance in the face of extraordinary challenges Count Alexander Rostov a Russian aristocrat is caught in the throes of the Russian Revolution and must give up everything that defines him But his charm grace and encyclopaedic knowledge prove the enduring strength of the human spirit in the face of appalling adversity I must add another book by my friend Anindyo Roy mdash The Viceroyrsquos Artist It captures Edward Learrsquos time in India beautifully and in poignant detailTasneem Mehta director Dr Bhau Daji Lad MuseumGandhi Tagore and the restWith a thousandplus collection I didnrsquot really have lsquoA Book of the Yearrsquo But yes there are books for all times each one carrying a quiet impact Throughout 2025 I have mostly read Mahatma Gandhi Rabindranath Tagore and Friedrich Nietzsche as a way of returning to the influences that have shaped me What was particularly interesting was how Tagore and Gandhi debated their differences through their writings and yet maintained such enormous respect for each other No acrimony no impunity mdash just a genuine exchange of ideas and intentions In fiction I returned to the works of Isaac Babel and Richard Yates both writers with an amazing sense of nuance and observation and who did not receive their dues in their lifetimeMurzban Shroff authorFor planet EarthOne of the most vital and necessary books that I had the privilege of reading this year was Sunil Amrithrsquos The Burning Earth An Environmental History of the Last 500 Years I read it in March while preparing with Ravi Agarwal and Amruta Nemivant an international anthology of essays around the climate catastrophePractices of Hope In October The Burning Earth most deservedly won the prestigious British Academy Book Prize Surveying and annotating humankindrsquos brutal exploitation of the planet across the oceans and the continents during the last halfmillennium Amrith weaves together the themes of empire colonialism war genocide and environmental violence to present the tragic portrait of a species mdash our own mdash whose greatest triumphs are its greatest disasters He shows how our unchecked greed for resources has brought nature to the edge of collapse while trampling human dignity and freedom underfoot Sustained by rigorous extensive research and written with persuasive eloquence the book is absolutely required readingRanjit Hoskote poet art critic and cultural theorist