Books and Authors 2026: How the Question Is Asked
In bank and SSC current affairs, a books question has one of three shapes: "Who wrote X?", "The book X is about whom?", or "Who released the book X?". So every row below gives the title, the author, and the release event. Every entry was taken from an official release (PIB, the Vice-President's Secretariat, the Booker Prize Foundation, the Pulitzer Board, nobelprize.org or the Sahitya Akademi list via PIB) and checked on 17 October 2026. We do not copy unverified "book lists" from coaching PDFs.
Top 5 to remember: Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles = Ram Nath Kovind (autobiography, released by PM Modi, Aug 2026). Apnapan = Shivraj Singh Chouhan (May 2026). The Sage who Reimagined Hinduism = Shashi Tharoor (on Sree Narayana Guru, Feb 2026). Tides of Time = Sudha Murty (murals in Parliament, Apr 2026). Taiwan Travelogue = Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (International Booker 2026).
Books and Authors 2026 List (Month-Wise)
| Month (2026) | Book | Author | Released by / where | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan (5 Jan) | Khutbat-e-Modi: Lal Qila Ki Faseel Se | Compilation of PM Narendra Modi's speeches | Dharmendra Pradhan (Education Minister) | Urdu compilation of PM's Independence Day speeches, 2014-2025 |
| Jan (7 Jan) | Sing, Dance and Lead: Leadership Lessons from the Life of Srila Prabhupada | Hindol Sengupta | Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan | Leadership lessons from ISKCON founder |
| Feb (19 Feb) | The Sage who Reimagined Hinduism: The Life, Lessons and Legacy of Sree Narayana Guru | Dr. Shashi Tharoor (MP) | Vice-President, India International Centre | Kerala social reformer Sree Narayana Guru |
| Apr (1 Apr) | Tides of Time: Bharat's History through Murals in Parliament | Sudha Murty (Rajya Sabha MP) | Vice-President, Samvidhan Sadan (Lok Sabha Secretariat publication) | History told through Parliament's murals |
| Apr (22 Apr) | Smart Calories and Common Sense: An Evidence-Based Guide to Indian Diets | Dr. Anoop Misra | Dr. Jitendra Singh (MoS, Science & Technology) | Indian diets and nutrition |
| May (22 May) | The Library Man of India: The Story of P.N. Panicker | P. P. Sathyan | Vice-President | Founder of Kerala's library movement (Reading Day, 19 June) |
| May (26 May) | Apnapan | Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Union Agriculture Minister) | Former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, with H. D. Deve Gowda | His 35-year association with PM Modi |
| Jun (24 Jun) | VIP Culture in India: Power, Privilege and the Distance from Democracy | Nabam Rebia and Sandeep Kumar | Vice-President | VIP culture and democracy |
| Jun (25 Jun) | Sanskritir Ratna Bhandar: Bhaowaiyar Itibritto | Dr. Jayanta Kumar Roy (MP) and Sangita Roy | Vice-President | Bhawaiya folk music of North Bengal |
| Jul (14 Jul) | The Voice of Justice: Justice Gavai Speaks | Edited by Prof. S. Sivakumar | Vice-President | Speeches of former CJI B. R. Gavai |
| Jul (17 Jul) | RSS @100: A Century of Service, Unity & Sacrifice | Shyam Jaju and Anupam Trivedi | Vice-President | 100 years of the RSS |
| Aug (12 Aug) | Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles | Ram Nath Kovind (14th President) | PM Narendra Modi, Vigyan Bhavan | Autobiography of former President |
| Aug (25 Aug) | K. Rajaram - Political and Social Luminary | Ranimainthan | Vice-President | Tamil Nadu leader K. Rajaram |
| Sep (15 Sep) | A Century of Service - The RSS in 100 Acts of Seva | Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan (former Governor, Telangana) | Vice-President | RSS service activities |
Banking-exam extra: PIB (7 August 2026) said Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah would release Operational Risk Management - A Practical Guide to Urban Co-operative Banks by G. P. Mistry, a former RBI Deputy General Manager.
Prize-Winning Books and Authors of 2026
| Prize | Book | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Booker Prize 2026 | Taiwan Travelogue (tr. Lin King, from Mandarin Chinese) | Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (Taiwan) | 19 May 2026 |
| Pulitzer Prize 2026, Fiction | Angel Down (a novel in a single sentence) | Daniel Kraus | 4 May 2026 |
| Pulitzer Prize 2026, History | We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution | Jill Lepore | 4 May 2026 |
| Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 | (for her whole work) | Anne Carson (Canada) | October 2026 |
| Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 (English) | Crimson Spring (novel) | Navtej Sarna | Announced 16 Mar 2026 |
| Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 (Hindi) | Jeete Jee Allahabad (memoir) | Mamta Kalia | Announced 16 Mar 2026 |
| 60th Jnanpith Award (for 2025) | (lifetime contribution, Tamil) | R. Vairamuthu | Announced 14 Mar 2026 |
| Booker Prize 2026 | Shortlist out; winner due November 2026 | - | Update pending |
For all 2026 prizes (Nobel, Padma, Oscars, Magsaysay), see our awards and honours 2026 list.
Famous Books and Authors (Static GK Still Asked)
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Wings of Fire | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (with Arun Tiwari) |
| The Discovery of India | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| My Experiments with Truth | M. K. Gandhi |
| Gitanjali | Rabindranath Tagore |
| Anandamath | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay |
| The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy (Booker 1997) |
| Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie (Booker 1981) |
| The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga (Booker 2008) |
| The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai (Booker 2006) |
| Heart Lamp | Banu Mushtaq (International Booker 2025, Kannada) |
| Tomb of Sand | Geetanjali Shree (International Booker 2022, Hindi) |
| Arthashastra | Kautilya (Chanakya) |
| Indica | Megasthenes |
| Godan | Munshi Premchand |
How to Remember Books and Authors 2026 (Tricks)
- Former office-holders write about themselves: Kovind (autobiography), Gavai (speeches), Tamilisai (RSS seva).
- "VP released most of them": if a 2026 question asks "released by", the Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan is the most frequent answer in this list.
- Two RSS books: RSS @100 (Jaju and Trivedi, July) vs A Century of Service - The RSS in 100 Acts of Seva (Tamilisai, September).
Common Mistakes in Books and Authors Questions
- Confusing Ram Nath Kovind's autobiography with a biography written by someone else. It is his own autobiography, released by PM Modi.
- Mixing up Sudha Murty's Tides of Time (Parliament murals) with her earlier fiction.
- Giving the 2025 International Booker (Heart Lamp) for 2026. The 2026 winner is Taiwan Travelogue.
- Writing Shashi Tharoor's book is on Swami Vivekananda. It is on Sree Narayana Guru.
Books and Authors 2026 Questions with Answers (Practice Set)
- Who wrote Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles? Answer: Ram Nath Kovind.
- Who released Kovind's autobiography in August 2026? Answer: PM Narendra Modi.
- Apnapan (2026) was written by which Union Minister? Answer: Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
- Shashi Tharoor's 2026 book is about which reformer? Answer: Sree Narayana Guru.
- Tides of Time: Bharat's History through Murals in Parliament is written by? Answer: Sudha Murty.
- The Library Man of India is about whom? Answer: P. N. Panicker.
- Which book won the International Booker Prize 2026? Answer: Taiwan Travelogue (Yáng Shuāng-zǐ).
- Who won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 in English? Answer: Navtej Sarna (Crimson Spring).
- Sing, Dance and Lead draws lessons from whose life? Answer: Srila Prabhupada.
- The Voice of Justice is a collection of speeches of which former CJI? Answer: B. R. Gavai.
Practise current affairs in the IBPS SBI PO Current Affairs Mock Test (August 2026) and SSC GA Mock Test: Current Affairs June-July 2026.
Books and Authors 2026 FAQs
Which are the important books and authors of 2026 for exams?
Ram Nath Kovind's autobiography Triumph of the Indian Republic, Shivraj Singh Chouhan's Apnapan, Shashi Tharoor's book on Sree Narayana Guru, Sudha Murty's Tides of Time, and prize winners such as Taiwan Travelogue (International Booker 2026).
What is the name of Ram Nath Kovind's autobiography?
Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, in August 2026.
Who won the International Booker Prize 2026?
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, announced on 19 May 2026.
Which book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2026?
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus, a World War I novel told in one long sentence.
Practice Next
- Mock tests: IBPS SBI PO Current Affairs Mock Test (August 2026), Banking PO and Clerk Current Affairs Mock Test (September 2026) and SSC GA Mock Test: Current Affairs June-July 2026.
- Related notes: awards and honours 2026, important days list 2026, president of India list 1950 to 2026 and banks headquarters and taglines 2026.
- Exam details: SSC CGL 2026.
- Browse all study notes.