Talat Rahim introduces the nation to the world of ‘civil serpents,’ sinister ministers and other curious creatures in her debut book on Pakistan’s bureaucracy.

In Nine Lives, William Dalrymple travels to India (and dips into Pakistan) to determine if thousands of years of spirituality still have the legs to compete with materialism.

Ali Eteraz recounts the spiritual journey that led him to Islam, post-modernism and reform.

By the standards of literature and academia, J.D. Salinger and Howard Zinn were larger-than-life, known as much for their personalities as their work.

Renowned Pakistani authors choose their favourite reads of 2009.

Boom Boom Shahid Afridi captures the excitement and unpredictability of Pakistan’s most famous cricketer.

The tension between competing secular and religious forces trying to define Pakistan’s identity is explored in Farzana Sheikh’s Making Sense of Pakistan.

Journalist Imtiaz Gul’s book on extremism in FATA is a valuable account of how militants took over the tribal areas and are threatening Pakistan.

The Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories does a fine job of translating both the icons and forgotten gems of Urdu literature.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s The Settler’s Cookbook is a memoir of her family’s migration from India to Uganda and finally England. It also includes recipes that are a fusion of Indian, African and English cuisines.