For all those eagerly looking forward to making the most of summer by indulging in reading some new offerings, April is — for all intents and purposes — the month of joy. With an ever-expanding list of books releasing during the month, bookworms may be faced with a platter that is as wide as it is varied.

As marketing and hype gain prominence in the publishing industry, it is perhaps the worst of times to judge a book by its cover — or author or publisher, for that matter. More books hit the stands today than ever earlier and many-a-reader falls prey to the marketing honchos behind these book covers, only to be left with a sense of regret later.

Here are the five books across genres that we can't wait to read in April:

"Maid in India" by Tripti Lahiri (Aleph)
This is a pioneering book in many ways that attempts to capture the complex and troubling relations between the maids and their masters in India. The author travelled widely to the villages from where women make their way to work in upper class homes in cities and metropolises. The author points out in the book that life largely depends on maids as more and more women work in the mainstream.

What is also interesting is that Lahiri provides a historical layer to her offering by reminding the readers that for much of India's independence, only a handful could afford to have servants.

"Maps of Delhi" by Pilar Maria Guerrieri (Niyogi)
This publication presents an exquisite study of the maps of Delhi, from the onset of the 19th century till the Master Plan for 2021. It is dubbed by its publisher as the first organised collection of the city's maps. The author has described each map individually in the book, elaborating on its idiosyncrasies, aesthetic details, and rich historical information. The book also includes a chronology of magnificent ancient and modern hand-drawings as also digital maps of the city.

The book reveals, as A.G. Krishna Menon notes in the foreword, the charm of printed maps and the many pleasures and insights they offer when they are physically handled.

"Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid (Penguin Random House)
In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet — sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors — doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through.

"Exit West" follows these remarkable characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are.

"A History of Indian Sports Through 100 Artefacts" by Boria Mazumdar (Harper)
This book brings together rare objects — tickets, scorecards, telegrams, letters, newspaper reports — and facts from the annals of Indian sporting history. There is a wealth of tales and nuggets within these pages: the Mohun Bagan team defeating the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1911 to lift the IFA Shield, Ranji's love poems for Mary Holmes, the 1932 cricket tour of England, India's hockey exploits at the Olympics, Lata Mangeshkar's special disc in honour of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team and more.

Contemporary history and legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra, Sania Mirza, Viswanathan Anand and the exploits at the Paralympics 2016, also claim their space in this archive. Profusely illustrated and beautifully designed, this seems like a collector's edition that no sports lover can resist.