Books from India

This collection of poems explores the complexities of love, loss, and self-discovery. Through raw and honest verse, the authors delve into the experiences of young women navigating relationships, identity, and the challenges of growing up. It's a powerful exploration of vulnerability and resilience.

Mika Moon has spent her life obeying the first rule of witches: stay hidden, stay apart, never let anyone see what you can do. Orphaned as a baby in India and raised in England at arm's length by her guardian Primrose, she films tongue-in-cheek "witch" videos online as a private joke — until one of them draws a very real invitation. She is asked to come to Nowhere House, a rambling English estate, to teach three young witches to control their magic: ten-year-old Rosetta, eight-year-old Terracotta and seven-year-old Altamira. What she finds is not a school but a household — a retired actor, his husband, a housekeeper, and Jamie Kelly, the prickly librarian who is certain a stranger like Mika is a threat to the children he has helped raise.

• found family
• grumpy sunshine
• slow burn
• forced proximity

Sera Swan, once a powerful witch, lost most of her magic and was exiled after resurrecting her great-aunt. Now, she reluctantly helps run an enchanted inn, dealing with quirky guests and a talking fox, all while longing for her lost future. When she discovers an old spell that could restore her powers, a handsome and icy magical historian, Luke Larsen, arrives and might hold the key to its secrets. Despite his initial disinterest, Luke finds himself drawn into Sera's madcap world, and together they navigate reclaiming her magic and staying ahead of a watchful Guild, discovering the strength of their unexpected family along the way.

• second chance
• found family
• grumpy sunshine
• slow burn

Rupi Kaur's second collection is organized around the life cycle of a flower — wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming — using that arc to chart a passage through heartbreak toward growth. In spare free verse and accompanying line drawings, the poems move through the pain of a lost love and the slow work of recovery, then outward to larger themes: migration and displacement, the sacrifices of immigrant parents, ancestry and roots, womanhood, and the hard-won return to self-worth. Kaur honors where she comes from even as she reaches for who she is becoming. Warm, direct, and accessible, "the sun and her flowers" deepens the concerns of her debut into a wider meditation on loss, belonging, and renewal.

Arundhati Roy's first memoir traces how she became the writer she is, shaped by her formidable mother Mary, her shelter and her storm, from childhood in Kerala to adult life in Delhi.

In 1969 Kerala, twins Estha and Rahel see their family upended by a cousin's arrival and their mother's secret affair with an untouchable carpenter. The Love Laws demand a price, and the twins are still paying it in 1993.

• forbidden love
• family saga
• dual timeline
• coming of age

This novel follows a young man from a rural background as he navigates college life in Delhi and a complicated relationship with a sophisticated girl. It's a story about ambition, love, and the challenges faced when different social worlds collide.

• coming of age

Born at the exact moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai finds his life handcuffed to his nation's — and discovers he is one of 1,001 children granted magical gifts by that midnight hour. Narrating his teeming family saga across Partition, war, and upheaval, Saleem circles his rival and dark twin, Shiva. Salman Rushdie's Booker Prize-winning magical-realist masterpiece, where one man's story becomes a country's.

• family saga

A boy travels to a moon made of stories to save his father's gift of storytelling from a villain determined to silence it forever.

• quest

Balram Halwai, a village boy turned driver for a rich family, narrates over seven nights how he escaped the Great Rooster Coop of Indian servitude, and why that escape left him a murderer.

• epistolary
• unreliable narrator
• morally grey
• anti hero

Krish, a Punjabi boy, and Ananya, a Tamilian girl, fall in love while studying in Delhi. Their relationship faces a major hurdle: their families, deeply rooted in their distinct cultural traditions, are not ready to accept their inter-caste marriage. This story follows their determined efforts to bridge the cultural divide and win their families' approval.

• forbidden love
• forced proximity

An 80-year-old woman in northern India finds a new zest for life after her husband's death, much to the bewilderment of her modern daughter. Defying expectations, she embarks on a journey to Pakistan to confront the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences during the Partition. Geetanjali Shree navigates these serious subjects with a playful spirit and inventive language.

• family saga
• coming of age

Ashwin Sanghi's "The Krishna Key" delivers an electrifying blend of mythology, history, and suspense. The story follows a quest where ancient secrets linked to Lord Krishna's legendary wisdom are uncovered through a modern thriller. This book bridges the past and present with imaginative twists, offering a compelling mystery.

• quest
• mystery box
• dual timeline

Journey through the epic Mahabharat as seen through the eyes of Draupadi, a woman of fire and spirit. From her unusual birth to her life as the wife of five brothers and her central role in a kingdom's downfall, this novel explores her strength and resilience amidst war and betrayal. Discover the story of a legendary woman and the events that shaped ancient India.

• betrayal
• sacrifice
• revenge

Experience the spiritual depth and lyrical beauty of Rabindranath Tagore's "Gitanjali" (Song Offerings). This collection features devotional songs that explore the heart of Bengali poetry and spiritual expression. It includes both original Sanskrit verse and English translations, offering a journey into profound themes.

Two young people, Sonia and Sunny, are drawn to each other on a train, despite a past attempt by their grandparents to set them up that backfired. Sonia, back in India after studying in Vermont, fears a dark spell, while Sunny, a journalist in New York, is escaping family conflict. Together, they navigate the alienations of the modern world in search of happiness.

• second chance
• fish out of water

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize: An "extraordinary" novel "lit by a moral intelligence at once fierce and tender" ( The New York Times Book Review ). In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, an embittered old judge wants only to retire in peace. But his life is upended when his sixteen-year-old orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's chatty cook watches over the girl, but his thoughts are mostly with his son, Biju, hopscotching from one miserable New York restaurant job to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS. When a Nepalese insurgency threatens Sai's new-sprung romance with her tutor, the household descends into chaos. The cook witnesses India's hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge revisits his past and his role in Sai and Biju's intertwining lives. In a grasping world of colliding interests and conflicting desires, every moment holds out the possibility for hope or betrayal. Published to extraordinary acclaim, The Inheritance of Loss heralds Kiran Desai as one of our most insightful novelists. She illuminates the pain of exile and the ambiguities of postcolonialism with a tapestry of colorful characters and "uncannily beautiful" prose ( O: The Oprah Magazine ). "A book about tradition and modernity, the past and the future—and about the surprising ways both amusing and sorrowful, in which they all connect." — The Independent

For more than thirty years, the insights of Osho have delighted and challenged spiritual seekers. Everyday Osho represents the essence of these insights an understanding that synthesizes a wide range of spiritual and philosophical traditions -- with the contributions of modern science and psychology. This inspirational volume offers readers daily choices by living fully in the here and now, challenging them to embrace a new way of being that integrates body, mind, and spirit.

A ten-year-old schoolboy in the fictional town of Malgudi navigates friendship, cricket matches, first crushes, and the growing pains of adolescence under British rule. As his circle of friends shifts and he matures, Swami's adventures capture a timeless sense of childhood wonder set against the backdrop of colonial India.

• coming of age
• found family

This novel follows the intertwined lives of two cousins, Sudha and Anju, from their childhood in Calcutta to their adult lives in America. Bound by a shared secret and a deep affection, they navigate the complexities of family expectations, cultural traditions, and personal desires. Their journey explores the enduring strength of their bond as they seek to define their own identities and happiness across continents.

• family saga
• coming of age

In his groundbreaking book Do Epic Shit, Warikoo dropped this truth bomb: ‘Three relationships determine our life's course - time, money, and ourselves.’ Now, in his third book, Make Epic Money, he dives deep into the complex world of money to provide you with the ultimate personal-finance blueprint. Drawing on a lifetime of experience of financial highs and lows, he shares everything he has learnt about money that he wishes someone had taught him when he was young. Prepare to unlock the secrets to financial well-being with this no-nonsense guide. Say goodbye to confusing jargon and hello to practical advice. Discover how to earn, spend and make your money work just as hard for you as you do for it.

Step into the vibrant, imaginary city of Malgudi, where R. K. Narayan masterfully brings to life a diverse cast of characters. This collection of short stories, spanning nearly forty years, offers a colorful and insightful look into the essence of India and the universal human experience. Discover powerful, magical portraits that reveal the heart of a nation and its people.

Set in contemporary India, "The Romantics" follows Samar, a young Brahmin intellectual grappling with his society's uncertain future and fracturing caste system. He finds himself powerfully drawn to Western literature and its themes of self-discovery, creating a tension between his heritage and his aspirations. The story explores his journey as he navigates these conflicting influences.

• coming of age
• fish out of water

A Pallava prince sails to Cambodia carrying a secret that will seed wars centuries later; a Buddhist monk treks from China to India in search of knowledge that could make an emperor invincible; a Neolithic tribe guards a sacred inheritance. Centuries on, as troops mass along the Indo-China border, reclusive scientist Dr. Raja Rao deciphers ancient texts under the watch of foreign agents, and Wing Commander Paramjit 'Pam' Khurana is thrown into a mission whose true prize is far older than she knows. Sanghi links the Pallava kingdom, Cambodia, and China across time, cutting between Xuanzang's seventh-century pilgrimage and a present-day military crisis in a thriller about power, heredity, and forgotten science.

• quest
• mystery box

"The bastard son of Kaushal has returned. And along with the royal estate, wants to claim his half-brother's widow...Shunned as a child by his father's royal family, Hiten is requested to return and inherit the well-known Kaushal estate because of his half-brother's death.But the self-made rich, powerful and ruthless businessman isn’t interested in the inheritance. All he wants is revenge. Closure. And his target is his half-brother's widow, the woman he once deeply loved and worshiped before she betrayed their love.Ten years ago, Meenakshi Mahasena broke the heart of the handsome orphan boy who grew up with her at her modest family estate. Instead of marrying him as she had promised, she married the rich heir of the neighboring prosperous estate.And now, on the verge of losing everything, Meena must somehow stop the man she had once promised to love until forever from destroying her.A PASSIONATE TALE OF REVENGE, LOVE & REDEMPTION.Note: This is a full-length, standalone romance novel.

A manual for relating to the brain in a revolutionary new way, Super Brain shows you how to use your brain as a gateway for achieving health, happiness, and spiritual growth. The authors are two pioneers: bestselling author and physician Deepak Chopra and Harvard Medical School professor Rudolph E. Tanzi, one of the world's foremost experts on the causes of Alzheimer’s. They have merged their wisdom and expertise for a bold new understanding of the “three-pound universe” and its untapped potential. In contrast to the “baseline brain” that fulfills the tasks of everyday life, Chopra and Tanzi propose that, through a person’s increased self-awareness and conscious intention, the brain can be taught to reach far beyond its present limitations. “We are living in a golden age for brain research, but is this a golden age for your brain?” they ask. Super Brain explains how it can be, by combining cutting-edge research and spiritual insights, demolishing the five most widespread myths about the brain that limit your potential, and then showing you methods to: -Use your brain instead of letting it use you -Create the ideal lifestyle for a healthy brain -Reduce the risks of aging -Promote happiness and well-being through the mind-body connection -Access the enlightened brain, the gateway to freedom and bliss -Overcome the most common challenges, such as memory loss, depression, anxiety, and obesity Your brain is capable of incredible healing and constant reshaping. Through a new relationship with your brain you can transform your life. In Super Brain, Chopra and Tanzi guide you on a fascinating journey that envisions a leap in human evolution. The brain is not just the greatest gift that Nature has given us. It’s the gateway to an unlimited future that you can begin to live today.

When fire meets gasoline... sparks fly. But will they burn together in HATE or DESIRE?Naina didn't believe in love or marriage. And then, she met a handsome, charming stranger who drew out her passion and stole her heart. She almost fell in love, when shocking truth got revealed.Naina's power-hungry politician father had promised her in marriage to Shiv Jaipal, a ruthless, powerful man also known as the devil. Forced into a hasty marriage, Naina is taken away and held as the devil's captive.She hated and feared the devil, but why did she also feel angry and betrayed by him?And when he vowed to possess her body, heart and soul, why did she fear he might succeed?Will she fight the devil? Or will she give in to his dark desires... even though she knows she is going to escape him no matter what?The Devil's Desire is a standalone passionate romance and book two of The Devils Series.

Pankaj Mishra recounts his journey through the Himalayas, India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, seeking to understand the enduring relevance of Buddhism in a world grappling with suffering. He intertwines his personal travels with the historical and philosophical exploration of Gautama Buddha's teachings. This book offers a deep dive into spirituality, travel, and the search for meaning across cultures.

• quest