The only problem with books is that occasionally you're trapped in a complete waste of time. Perhaps expectations from that book or from that author were unachievably high. Perhaps it was just poorly written. Since you're bound to find dozens of lists of best books of the year - highly subjective in any case - here are my disappointments of 2018.

1. The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi and his India, by Shashi Tharoor. I'm no fan of the PM. However, Modi has dominated Indian life since May 2014, like it or not, and while much is written about him, rarely has anyone gone behind the veil and seen what makes him tick. That is why I read through the entire book and, in the end, felt cheated. Tharoor gives you no insight into Modi: his inner life, or what makes him attractive to his followers. The book is well-researched, no doubt by a team of interns painstakingly researching Modi on Google and YouTube.