Aravind Adiga White Tiger
, winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, is a look at the “new India” through the eyes of Balram Halwai, the son of a rickshaw driver. Called a “White Tiger” because he is the best student in his school, he uses his wits to get himself hired as a chauffeur for the richest man in his rural area. With his new job comes a move to Delhi, where Balram is exposed to the culture of the new India, with an economy that is driven by American outsourcing.
This “new India” is the true protagonist of Adiga’s novel. Told in a series of letters, the structure of the novel allows for Adiga to look at different aspects of the new insurgent India, similar to the way Slumdog Millionaire
The Black Book is the 5th in Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series, and is, by far, the most complex yet. The main plot line concerns a ‘little black book’ found on a policeman after he is assaulted. The information contained in the black book leads to a reopening of an arson/murder case from five years previous. On top of this are laid several minor plot lines that make this a deeper, more complex book than Rankin’s previous works - Rebus’ brother returns, his relationship with his girlfriend craters, and he enlists a (reformed?) pedophile to help him with the case. One gets the sense that Rankin is really coming into his own with 
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I should have known better when I saw the quote from Jonatham Lethem on the front cover, “Sloane Crosley is another mordant and mercurial wit from the realm of Sedaris and Vowell.” Oh great, I thought. Another collection of smart and witty essays that might make you laugh out loud but are so ephemeral that they are completely forgotten a minute after you finish them. 
, her first book, which I quite enjoyed) but I have read everything by Sedaris, excepting his most recent book, in an effort to ‘get it.’ I still don’t understand the appeal. If you’re into that sort of thing you’ll probably like 
