Six new books tackle caste, horror, Afghanistan, Gaza, policing, philosophy

Six new books released this week cover a range of themes, from caste and state power to folk horror and the lives of Afghan women under Taliban rule, according to Frontline.

The debut fiction titles include Rajesh R. Varma's "The Red Badge" on Kerala's caste system, Satyajit Sarna's "Redtooth" about trekkers trapped in a Sikkim mountain hut, and Nadia Hashimi's "City of Widows" about Afghan women refusing to sell their souls to the Taliban. Survivors of the Darkness by Wesam Afifa narrates 20 months of cruelty faced by a Gaza-born journalist held in Israel from March 2024.

Non-fiction arrivals are Yashovardhan Azad's "Policing the Republic", which draws on four decades of experience to expose the nexus of politics and crime, and Sundar Sarukkai's "Homo Philosophicus", an exploration of philosophy as a human instinct spanning Nyaya logic and Buddhist thought. Upcoming titles from Colson Whitehead, Sigrid Nunez, and Alejandra Kamiya are also noted.