That time of the year is back!

Some of you might have already collected a few of the below-listed titles, whereas others might have come here to find out which ones to add to your 2025 TBR (to-be-read) list.

If you’re a non-fiction reader and love to read widely about topics like food, politics, nature, or psychology, you’ll definitely find some interesting titles. And if you’re someone who struggles with reading non-fiction books (like me), pick the one that interests you the most and start early in the year.

First, we have three non-fiction books by our beloved Ruskin Bond, who turned ninety this year and published three books with his pearls of wisdom.

{Here’s a list of Best Non Fiction Books of 2023.}

1. Hold On to Your Dreams: A Letter to Young Friends by Ruskin Bond

On the occasion of turning ninety, the author penned down this heartfelt letter to his young readers and shared bits and fragments about his early life and the lessons that accompanied it. He wrote about his love for nature, reading and writing, and his adventures as a young adult. His trademark simplicity in his writing is always heartwarming and quite a feast for a first-time non-fiction reader. Even experienced non-fiction readers should pick up his books for a bit of solace amongst all the heavy subjects that usually surround us.

2. The Hill of Enchantment: The Story of My Life as a Writer by Ruskin Bond

Almost everyone in this country and beyond, be it a reader or not, is enchanted by the magic created by Ruskin Bond. There’s something in his aura that gently invites you to glimpse into his life as a writer who is forever mesmerized by the mountain he can see from his window which also acts as a muse for him. On the occasion of turning ninety, Bond shares about his journey as a writer and his experience in publishing in both India and abroad. This book is a perfect piece to start your year with as it provides motivation and inspiration to keep loving your craft and to keep working on it, no matter what.

3. How to Be Happy by Ruskin Bond

Before you turn your head thinking this book claims to be a manual to teach you how to be happy all the time, know that the author of this book does nothing as such. Ruskin Bond has written about happiness before and his philosophy doesn’t change when he writes about it again in this particular book. He writes about the fleeting feeling that we call happiness and helps a reader understand it better.

{Here’s a list of Best Fiction Books of 2024.}

Memoirs, Biographies, and Autobiographies

As a reader, we often love to read about the people in the real world whom we find intriguing and want to know more about. While reading one book about them might not tell you everything about the person, you might still get some insights into how they navigated through the ups and downs of their lives. Here are a few memoirs and biographies that you might find interesting to read.

4. An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

In her first non-fiction expedition, the author well-known for her mythological tales, delves into the lives of two majorly successful personalities in modern-day India – Sudha and Narayana Murthy. One of its kind, this book focuses not only on their respective journeys but also on how they met and the romance that made them India’s one of the first power couples. The book continues through their journeys to marriage as well as parenthood.

5. Kamal Haasan : A Cinematic Journey by K. Hariharan

This biography serves as a much-desired window into the life, the thoughts and the movies of Kamal Hasaan. Right from his larger-than-life role in Chachi 420, Kamal Hasaan is known for his immersive acting that often touched the hearts of countless fans across the country. This book explores his journey through movies by diving into some fifty films out of his massive count of almost 250 movies. If you want to read about an actor and how his passion gave him the courage to make it through whatever cinema threw his way, this book sounds like a perfect read for you.

6. Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

In a stabbing attack on the author in 2022, his life is, once again, heavily under the public gaze. The horrific and violent incident shocked the world mostly because it wasn’t just an attempted murder of an author but it was an attempt at murdering the freedom of speech we have as citizens of the world. Recovering from this traumatic incident (or maybe as part of his recovery process), Salman Rushdie penned down his personal account of the incident that shook the world.

7. Snakes, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: My Early Years by Romulus Whitaker with Janaki Lenin

Romulus Whitaker found his obsession with snakes from quite an early age onwards. He recounts certain anecdotes from his childhood where he found a shed snakeskin under a rock and brought back a dead snake to show his mother at home. In this honest memoir, he talks openly about his fascination with psychedelic drugs and of course, his obsession with snakes. He writes about his growing up in various places (first in America and then in India) and how he became known as the snake boy/man of India.

8. The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian by Neha Dixit

The award-winning journalist, Neha Dixit, traces the story of one faceless, poor, Muslim Indian woman, from the early 1990s to the present day. While the book majorly focuses on the several jobs Syeda X had to do to earn a living just enough to survive, it also includes a cast of characters that paint a vivid picture of the lives that are often hidden from elite Indians. The book is treated with empathy, insight and tons of research to bring forth the story of countless such unknown Indians who are constantly struggling to survive in the new urban India that neglects them.

9. The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary

In this heart-wrenching memoir, Zara Chowdhary recounts her experience of being one of the survivors of the brutality of the train fire in 2002 which was a result of communal violence in India. This book traces the bloody history of India that forced the author’s family’s lives to crumble. It is an eye-opener for all and shows how the largest democracy in the world often neglects certain sections of society while moving along in a different direction altogether. Written with a lot of heart and pain, this memoir is one of the must-reads.

{Do you have an inclination towards writing non-fiction? Here’s a list of 10 Types of Non-Fiction Writers in India.}

Historical Chronicles

A non-fiction book list without historical accounts about India is utterly incomplete especially when we have monumental authors who love to explore and write about India (its ancient and modern times) through their extensive research and love for the country. Here are a few books that graced the shelves in 2024 that deal with history and attempt to collect it in words.

10. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity by Manu S Pillai

As the subtitle hints, this book is an exhaustive exploration of the evolution of religions in India from the sixteenth century when European missionaries started arriving in India. The author is a methodical writer and scholar who deals with facts as well as beliefs and opinions and then chronicles the history of India through a unique lens only he can see. As we’ve seen in his previous works, Manu Pillai is thorough with his research and understands what he is presenting to his readers with much clarity and structure.

11. The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple

Another award-winning author and chronicler of Indian history came up with this book that traces how India has always been the heart of the world. The Golden Road shines light upon India which has been responsible for major cultural exports (of religion, art, technology, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, language and literature) throughout Eurasian regions. Drawing from his lifelong scholarship of India’s rich history, the author attempts to reinstate India as the superpower it has always been.

Conversations and Essays

12. The Architecture of Modern Empire: Conversations with David Barsamian by Arundhati Roy

This edition is a series of interviews and conversations between Arundhati Roy and David Barsamian related to Indian nationalism, the U.S. empire, and her works as a writer. Using her intricate and lush language with her understanding of architecture, Arundhati Roy touches upon subjects such as war, nationalism, rising fascism, resistance, solidarity, freedom, and the capacity to imagine a world much different and better than what we live in.

13. Essays on Violence: Pollution, Sacrifice and Madness by Priyadarshini Vijaisri

This collection of essays explores the interconnected histories of caste-based violence and ideas and processes in India. Based on deep research and data on Indian traditions that include a lot of violence, be it sacrificial, the author connects the variety of violence India faces today as a result of its highly charged political, religious, and regional differences.

{Here’s a guide on How to write a non-fiction book proposal.}

Last but not the least…

14. Unashamed: Notes from the Diary of a Sex Therapist by Neha Bhat

Thanks to the few good aspects of the internet, India has been breaking barriers to start conversations about a lot of taboo topics such as sex and sexuality. Neha Bhat, @indiansextherapist on Instagram has been doing exactly. In this book, she dismantles the stigma around sex and sexuality. The book dives deep into the psychology of shame and helps people understand the intricacies of these topics without the feeling of shame attached to it. She fearlessly works with the reader to simplify and understand the concepts that have been hidden under the rug in Indian societies.

15. The Hormone Shift: A Decade-by-Decade Guide by Dr Tasneem Bhatia

The Hormone Shift is a much-needed manual for women to navigate through the perilous phases of menopause and regain their power in a step-by-step guide. There’s not much knowledge, education or understanding among Indian women about how their bodies work and this book is such a great start to help women understand their bodies. Backed with expert-led research and details, this book almost serves as a roadmap to managing hormones and health for women.

There you go, a list of non-fiction titles by Indian authors in 2024 at your disposal. Take your pick and disappear into the new year with one of these titles. If you have come across any other amazing new non-fiction titles this year, let us know in the comments below!