A cool page turner: Check out these new books set to release in 2026

This is sensitive storytelling about a queer boy who grew up in Nepal and India, and came to New York to pursue his dreams in fashion. Gurung bares his soul in this tell-all that tracks his inspirational, meteoric rise, dressing American icons like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama.
Expected: TBA

Aamchi Mumbai 
Gulzar, translator: Rakhshanda Jalil (HarperCollins India)

With 30 short stories and 70 poems in a bilingual edition, the legendary poet, lyricist, and filmmaker pays a fitting tribute to Mumbai. Since the 1950s, when he first arrived in the city, he has written about the struggles and hopes of the city-dwellers in his films and poems with profundity. 
Expected: February

Love Sex India: The Agents of Ishq Anthology
Edited by Paromita Vohra (Westland Books)

The anthology consists of real-life stories about the experiences of love and sex while living in India. Powerful, intimate, and honest, the stories range from cheeky first-date tales to those about heartbreaks, tender friendships, exploitation, queerness, and thrilling kinks.
Expected: January 

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew 
Rahul Akerkar (HarperCollins)

One of Mumbai and India’s most celebrated and inspirational chef-restaurateurs opens the melting pot of his life’s adventures in this ambitious memoir. It’s an insightful story about India’s food and drink landscape as much as it’s Akerkar’s bold, uninhibited life in and outside the kitchen.
Expected: TBA

First Person 
Rituparno Ghosh, translator: Arunava Sinha (Simon & Schuster India)

One of the earliest openly queer filmmakers in India, Ghosh introduced nuanced ideas of freedom of choice and identity in his films. He wrote a weekly Sunday column for the Bengali magazine Robbar. An English translation of his memoir, comprising the column pieces, will be out in 2026. 
Expected: October

Light and Thread 
Han Kang, translated by Maya West, e. yaewon, and Paige Aniyah Morris (Penguin)

Since her 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature win, this is Kang’s first title. The collection includes her Nobel Lecture, where she expresses reliving moments of wonder. In the essays, poems, diary notes, and photographs, she traces the connections between her exterior and interior worlds further.
Expected: March

Absolute Jafar 
Sarnath Banerjee (HarperCollins)

An Indo-Pakistan romance that withstands years of toxic nationalism, only to emerge in a third region, Europe, this is easily one of Banerjee’s most personal works that is rich in detail, humanity, wit and imagination. 
Expected: January

Abandoning a Cat 
Haruki Murakami (Penguin)

The master storyteller is back with this meditation on memory, where he recalls his equation with his father, and the arrival of a cat into the scenario. He also delves into the reasons behind the distance between father and son, in classic Murakami style
Expected: September

Kishori Amonkar 
Shailaja Khanna (Westland Books/ekada)

An Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur Gharana, Amonkar was most revered for her khayals, alongside her performances of thumris and bhajans. Music critic Khanna has put together the legendary singer’s first ever biography, introducing readers to her quiet magnetism and her unique way of thinking about art and life. 
Expected: Third/Last quarter

The Longevity Code
Pullela Gopichand and Sophia Pathai (Penguin)

An evidence-based reframe of how we think about aging, performance, and resilience that blends cutting-edge science with elite coaching wisdom to deliver a personal, practical, and transformative guide to living stronger, longer, and with more clarity and purpose.
Expected: TBA

We, The People of India
TM Krishna (Westland Books)

Carnatic singer and author TM Krishna will release his third book to open his account for 2026. “The book looks at the formative symbols of our secular Republic in an aesthetic, historic, and contemporary context,” Krishna revealed. 
Expected: January

Also check out

>> The Godrej Story by Anand Kumar (Westland)
>> Of Least Concern by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (Westland)
>> Not Quite Family by Khaled Mohamed (HarperCollins)
>> Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif (Penguin)
>> The Steps by Sylvester Stallone (Hachette)
>> Wahid Shaikh vs The State by Wahid Shaikh with Amrit BLS (Roli)

Children’s corner

>> Unlocking the Animal World by Ingrid Newkirk (HarperCollins)
>> Magnificent Murals - Buddhist Art of Ajanta by Ashwin Prabhu (Tulika)
>> Death Comes to Matheran by Shabnam Minwala (HarperCollins)
>> Under Pressure: Freddie Mercury by Shyamala S (Niyogi Books)

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