Christopher Plummer, In Spite of Myself: The actor’s tell-all autobiography, as tell-all as it can get, candid to say the least, from the Canadian childhood to the stage in London to the dizzying heights of Hollywood

Gene Wolfe, Home Fire: Like all Wolfe stuff, a sci-fi love story set in the complexities of future

Miguel Syjugo, Illustrado: Garnering international prizes and acclaim before its publication, Ilustrado has been called “brilliantly conceived and stylishly executed . . . It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humor” (2008 Man Asian Literary Prize panel of judges)

Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro, Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: In a typical Lapierre fashion, a humanist investigation to the Bhopal gas tragedy

Terry Pratchett, A Blink on the Screen: A collection of unpublished short stories, not all of them related to Discworld

Kunal Basu, The Yellow Emperor’s Cure: A Venetian in Peking looking for a cure for syphilis

Shyam Selvadurai, Cinnamon Gardens: Colonial Ceylon, Women’s Emancipation, and a closeted Sri Lankan man in love with a British

David Mitchell, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet: A time-spanning love story and a love letter to imperial Japan, especially the island port of Dejima

Diana Eck, India A Sacred Geography: A spiritual journey to the pilgrimage site of India. A monumental work of travel and scholarship

Tony Morrison, A Mercy: Not as breathtaking as The Bluest Eye or Beloved perhaps, but equally reverting and important

Chetan Raj Shrestha, The King’s Harvest: Two novellas set in Sikkim

Cyrus Mistry, Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer: Parsi corpse bearers, a history, a love story, a revolt

JRR Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun: Posthumously published, edited by Christopher Tolkien, it is not as great as The Children of Hurin

Janice Pariat, Boats on Land: Stories set in the northeast and beyond, lyrical

Umberto Eco, Turning Back the Clock: A collection of essay written over time, on assorted subjects, as is Eco’s wont