The Babu's off to drown his sorrows in Thomas Pynchon's reassessment of George Orwell as the world marks his centenary.

The shortlist for the Samuel Johnson Prize (for non-fiction) is out--Claire Tomalin's Samuel Pepys and Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson made the cut. The Babu felt a patriotic pang on behalf of Ramachandra Guha (A Corner of a Foreign Field) and William Dalrymple (White Mughals) (okay, his passport's British, but the heart that beats behind his Fabindia kurta can be claimed by the subcontinent), who received longlist nominations but not the final nod.

Father Dearest: in which Neelima Dalmia Adhar proves that she can wield a hatchet just as well as the next neglected child, especially if it's going to come down on the neck of her father, the late R K Dalmia. V V in the Business Standard on the book that's got the Indian gossip circuit all hot and bothered.