On two nights in December 2000, some of India's most distinguished musicians performed at a concert with Remember Shakti, the fusion group founded by John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. The result was an extraordinary moment of creativity, play, and bliss.

For those unfamiliar with Hindi film music, this compilation serves as a brilliant introduction. Almost all the great ones are here: Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Lata and Asha, Mohammed Rafi, and the incomparable Kishore Kumar. There's an astonishing range of styles and influences here, and somehow it is all unquestionably Indian. If this strikes your sweet spot, go looking for some Hemant Kumar.

Trollope's an author I overlooked (dazzled as I was by Thackeray) until a friend persuaded me to crack open one of his novels. I've been hooked ever since. Trollope turns his unforgiving, compassionate eye on the world he lives in, and we are the richer for it. Try this, and then read the Palliser novels, starting with Can You Forgive Her?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Arthur C. Clarke wrote. He was talking about imagining the future, but many of us use computers every day and have no idea how they really work - they may as well be little magical boxes. Petzold provides a narrative that lucidly explains what actually happens when you press a key; this is also an inspiring history of insight and invention that the non-techie reader can understand. And if you're a geek, you really need to read this now.

A prickly farce that swerves into tragedy and out again without missing a beat. The film is colourful, funny, and fast enough that it is sometimes dismissed as merely frivolous by over-serious moralists, but it contains more truth in its gaudy heart than many sermonizing dramas. It's directed by Pedro Almadovar, it has a leopardskin-lined cab, an angry woman with a gun, and Carmen Maura. You can't ask for much more.