4.25/5 for
Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages
Popsci that is at least 80% sci, a good read. The weakest parts of the book for me were the some times strained attempts to lighten the tone, the "pop" parts, and some of the political asserttions. Language and politics are inseparable, of course, but at times the presentation of the author's own political pov felt a bit jarring juxtaposed with quite densely academic writing on what might be called forensic linguistics. Those minor niggles aside, it was overall a thoroughly satisfying and challenging read.
Now on to something MUCH less dense,
Lonesome Lake by Lesley Appleton Jones