Undercover

Helen Macdonald: “We suffer in silence for the most part”

Helen Macdonald talks about ‘the archaeology of grief’, the influence of Shakespeare and why parrots are vindictive. Excerpts from an interview with Nandini Nair

Steve McCurry: “You are delighted and horrified in India. You are never bored here. It takes you on a journey of discovery”

Steve McCurry speaks to Open about the perils of globalisation, his love for the monsoons and what’s next. Excerpts

Poetic Justice

A political thriller that bears the quiet elegance of its erudition with remarkable lightness

Pot over Plot

Anita Nair creates a series of odes to food in her new book

God and Machine

Technology creates circles of hell in Manjula Padmanabhan’s latest in a science fiction series

A City in Memory

Predictability makes a ruckus in Kunal Basu’s new novel

Taliban in Jane Austen’s London

The story of an unknown founder of modern Iran and his love for England

Reporter’s Diary

Angst apart, Barkha Dutt’s first book is rich in atmospherics and hyperbole

Best of 2015 Books: My Choice