293 ratings | 112 reviews | avg rating:3.69

more photos (1)

Annie’s Year In Books

Annie’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Annie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Annie’s 2025 Year in Books

Annie Zaidi’s Followers (356)

Annie’s Bookshelves

to-read (2)
currently-reading (0)
read (680)
arabic-literature (1)
contemporary-indian-fiction (2)
crime-fiction (1)
hindi-poetry (1)
historical-fiction (1)
memoir (1)
protest-human-rights-india (1)
See all bookshelves »

Annie’s Friends (639)

Bhaskar Em.

1,047 books | 1,424 friends

Dion

396 books | 250 friends

Vivek Tejuja

416 books | 286 friends

Prakriti

581 books | 120 friends

Anant

471 books | 329 friends

Sayantan Ghosh

887 books | 302 friends

Usman Bhat

194 books | 7 friends

Tuhina

437 books | 11 friends

More friends…

Annie Zaidi

Goodreads Author

Born

Dukhti-rag, India

Website

http://www.anniezaidi.com

Twitter

anniezaidi

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction, Drama

Member Since

July 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/anniezaidi

edit data

Annie Zaidi writes poetry, essays, fiction, and scripts for the stage and the screen.

She is the author of The Comeback (2025), City of Incident: A novel in twelve parts (2021), and Prelude to a Riot, which won the Tata prize for fiction (2020). She is a recipient of the Nine Dots prize (2019) for Bread, Cement, Cactus: A memoir of belonging and dislocation.

Her other books include Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales (collection of essays, short-listed for the Crossword Book Award (non- fiction) in 2010, Gulab (novella), Love Stories # 1 to 14 (short stories), and The Good Indian Girl (co-authored with Smriti Ravindra), and Crush (poetry).

She is also the editor of 'Unbound: 2,000 Years of Indian women's Writing' and of 'Equal Halves' ...more

495 posts
Annie Zaidi's Blog

A prize for short fiction

One of the good things that happened over the last year: my short story, ‘Zinnias in the Graveyard’, won third prize (shared with Brecht De Poortere) at the Hudson Review Short Story competition 2024-25. It took a while but the story has finally been published in the Summer 2025 issue of the Hudson Review. Here's a brief excerpt: The last gardener Shafiqa had hired asked for three

View more on Annie Zaidi's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 25, 2025 06:21

View all 495 posts »

Combine Editions
Annie Zaidi’s books

Average rating: 3.66 · 1,916 ratings · 370 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Prelude to a Riot 3.97 avg rating — 564 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gulab 3.27 avg rating — 132 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love Stories # 1 to 14 3.62 avg rating — 118 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bread, Cement, Cactus 3.81 avg rating — 102 ratings — published 2020 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unbound: 2,000 Years of Indian Women’s Writing 3.81 avg rating — 86 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales 3.64 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 2010 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Incident - A Novel in Twelve Parts 3.70 avg rating — 77 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bad Boy's Guide To The Good Indian Girl by Annie Zaidi (Goodreads Author), Smriti Jaiswal Ravindra 3.18 avg rating — 80 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Comeback : A Novel 3.93 avg rating — 29 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crush: 50 Poems by Annie Zaidi (Goodreads Author), Gynelle Alves (Illustrator) 4.08 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Annie Zaidi…

rss
Annie’s Recent Updates

Annie Zaidi has read Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14 hours, 47 min ago · 1 like · like
Annie Zaidi has read The Day I Became a Runner: A Women's History of India through the Lens of Sport by Sohini Chattopadhyay	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A good book about female atheletes in India and the politics surrounding their bodies, their status at home and in the country. Some of these essays are eye-opening and others, quite moving. I had first begun to think about women and their physical c ...more
Dec 22, 2025 05:42AM · 3 likes · like · see review
Annie Zaidi has read The Hyderabadis: From 1947 to the Present Day by Daneesh Majid	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 22, 2025 05:37AM · 2 likes · like
Annie Zaidi has read The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857 by Kim A. Wagner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 15, 2025 07:33AM · like
Annie Zaidi has read Requiem in Raga Janki [Hardcover] NEELUM SARAN GOUR by Neelum Saran Gour	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A fine book! It is a fictionalised biography of a complex woman who survived all sorts of assaults on her body and her heart, and was one of the best known singers of her time. I especially enjoyed the poetry and the banter between Janki and Akbar Il ...more
Dec 10, 2025 01:51PM · 2 likes · like · see review
Annie Zaidi has read The Hour Past Midnight by Salma	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 10:49AM · like
Annie Zaidi has read Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets by Lakshmi Holmström	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 10:48AM · like
Annie Zaidi has read The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I'd read and reviewed this book back when it was first published. Stumbled upon my own review of it after all this time and thought it was worth sharing some parts of it here, for whoever hasn't read it: Roopa Farooki's The Flying Man brings us a str ...more
Dec 02, 2025 10:37AM · 2 likes · like · see review
Annie Zaidi has read The Odd Book of Baby Names by Anees Salim	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 12, 2025 10:58AM · like
Annie Zaidi wants to read Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Nonfiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 12, 2025 10:57AM · like

More of Annie's books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Indian Readers: 2013, dely is coming!	205	290	Dec 31, 2013 10:09AM
Indian Readers: Who do you think is the newest kid on the block in Indian English Literature?	59	384	May 02, 2015 05:31AM

Annie’s Quotes

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
― Franz Kafka

4738 likes

“A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
― Dinah Maria Craik

tags: misattributed

1118 likes

“I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.”
― George Eliot

tags: love

1737 likes

“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”
― Erica Jong, Fear of Flying

tags: love, risk

787 likes

“There is no more disastrous mania, no more dangerous whim, than the speculation over roads not taken.”
― Juan Gabriel Vásquez, The Sound of Things Falling

Annie Zaidi’s Followers (356)

Annie Zaidi

Goodreads Author

rssAnnie’s Recent Updates

Topics Mentioning This Author

rss
Annie’s Recent Updates