Recommendations based on The Great Indian Novelby Shashi Tharoor

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Hungry Tide

    by Amitav Ghosh
    A story of love, loss, and discovery set in the Sundarbans region of India.

    Off the easternmost corner of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans, where settlers live in fear of drowning tides and man-eating tigers. ... (Goodreads)

  2. A Suitable Boy

    by Vikram Seth
    Epic story of a young woman's search for love and her family's struggle for acceptance in 1950s India.

    In 1951, 19-year-old Lata Mehra attends the wedding of her older sister, Savita, to Pran Kapoor, a university lecturer. Lata’s mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, says that it is time for Lata to be married as ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Malgudi Days

    by R.K. Narayan
    A captivating collection of stories set in a fictional South Indian town, exploring the lives of its eccentric inhabitants.

    Four gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennial Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India “the writer has only to look ... (Goodreads)

  4. The White Tiger

    by Aravind Adiga
    An exploration of the Indian class system, told from the perspective of a lower-caste man.

    The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of ... (Wikipedia)

  5. A Fine Balance

    by Rohinton Mistry
    A gripping story of four unlikely lives intertwined in the tumult of India's caste system.

    The book exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency called by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Mistry was generally critical of Indira Gandhi in the book. ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Train to Pakistan

    by Khushwant Singh
    Peasant villagers in India during partition, forced to confront the brutality of sectarian violence.

    “In the summer of 1947, when the creation of the state of Pakistan was formally announced, ten million people—Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs—were in flight. By the time the monsoon broke, almost a ... (Goodreads)

  7. Swami and Friends

    by R.K. Narayan
    A group of friends living in a small Indian town experience adventures and growth.

    The story revolves around a ten year old school boy named Swaminathan and his friends. Throughout the novel he is called as Swami . All the events take place in Malgudi , A fictional town. Swami ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Sea of Poppies

    by Amitav Ghosh
    A colorful adventure across the Indian Ocean, bringing together a diverse ensemble of characters.

    At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Her destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean shortly before the outbreak of the Opium Wars in China. In a time of colonial ... (Goodreads)

  9. Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT

    by Chetan Bhagat
    Three friends at IIT navigate their way through college, learning life lessons along the way.

    The book is narrated by Hari, with some small passages by his friends Ryan and Alok, as well as a letter by Hari's girlfriend Neha Cherian. It deals with the lives of the 3 friends, whose elation on ... (Wikipedia)

  10. The Glass Palace

    by Amitav Ghosh
    Epic tale of a family's journey through Burma, India, and Malaya during the British colonization.

    Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create ... (Goodreads)

  11. Ghachar Ghochar

    by Vivek Shanbhag
    A family's rise from poverty to wealth leads to a tangled web of relationships and secrets.

    The novel is the first-person account of an unnamed, sensitive young man. He regularly visits an old-world coffee shop in Bangalore where he is drawn towards a laconic waiter named Vincent, who the ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Family Matters

    by Rohinton Mistry
    Follows the lives of the Parsi family, navigating complex relationships in Bombay.

    Nariman Vakeel is a 79 year-old Parsi widower beset by Parkinson's disease and haunted by memories of the past. He lives with his two middle-aged step-children. When Nariman's illness is compounded ... (Wikipedia)

  13. I Am the Messenger

    by Markus Zusak
    An unassuming young man is unexpectedly thrust into a journey of redemption and courage.

    During a visit to the bank, the protagonist Ed Kennedy, a nineteen-year-old Australian taxi driver, accidentally foils a robbery. After speaking to the police, he is interviewed by local media and ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Oath of the Vayuputras

    by Amish Tripathi
    An epic adventure of revenge, redemption and self-discovery.

    ONLY A GOD CAN STOP IT. Shiva is gathering his forces. He reaches the Naga capital, Panchavati, and Evil is finally revealed. The Neelkanth prepares for a holy war against his true enemy, a man whose ... (Goodreads)

  15. Kafka on the Shore

    by Haruki Murakami
    A surreal journey of self-discovery, exploring the boundaries between the real and surreal.

    Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between both plots, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters. The odd-numbered chapters tell the 15-year-old ... (Wikipedia)

  16. A Prisoner of Birth

    by Jeffrey Archer
    A man is wrongly convicted of murder and seeks revenge against those who framed him.

    After proposing to his childhood sweetheart Beth Wilson, Danny Cartwright takes her and her brother Bernie to celebrate at a nearby pub. In the pub, they are accosted by four people. Danny, Beth and ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Midnight's Children

    by Salman Rushdie
    A magical tale of India's history told through the story of a boy born at the stroke of midnight.

    Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Palace of Illusions

    by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
    A narrative of a brave woman's journey through Indian mythology, coming to terms with her fate.

    A reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat—told from the point of view of an amazing woman. Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Immortals of Meluha

    by Amish Tripathi
    Epic adventure of an ancient warrior, seeking to protect a kingdom from evil forces.

    Meluha is a near perfect empire, created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram , one of the greatest Hindu kings that ever lived. However, the once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Secret Adversary

    by Agatha Christie
    A mysterious adventure to uncover a secret society, prevent a world war, and solve a murder.

    In the Prologue, a man quietly gives important papers to a young American woman, as she is more likely to survive the sinking RMS, Lusitania, in May 1915. In 1919 London, demobilised soldier Tommy ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Castafiore Emerald

    by Hergé
    Adventure and mystery unfold as the intrepid detectives Tintin and Snowy solve a crime.

    The classic graphic novel. When Tintin and Captain Haddock happen across a community of gypsies they invite them home... just as Bianca Castafiore, the famous opera singer, decides to visit Tintin. ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

    by Howard Pyle
    Legendary outlaw Robin Hood fights injustice and defends the oppressed with his band of merry men.

    The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the ... (Goodreads)

  23. The Shooting Star

    by Hergé
    Tintin and his friends race to find a meteorite that has fallen to Earth, but they are not the only ones searching for it.

    Hergé’s classic comic book creation Tintin is one of the most iconic characters in children’s books. These highly collectible editions of the original 24 adventures will delight Tintin fans old and ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Body in the Library

    by Agatha Christie
    A mysterious body found in a tranquil country library, investigated by a detective couple.

    The maid at Gossington Hall wakes Mrs Bantry by saying, “There is a body in the library!” Dolly Bantry then wakes her husband, Colonel Arthur Bantry to go downstairs. He finds the dead body of a ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Mahabharata

    by Vālmīki
    Epic poem of ancient India, recounting a legendary war between two branches of a royal family.

    Originally published in the year 1951, the huge popularity of the book has resulted in the book being re-printed several times. Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: "What is not in ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

    by Arundhati Roy
    Exploration of the lives of a diverse group of characters in India, searching for identity and purpose.

    The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes us on a journey of many years – the story spooling outwards from the cramped neighbourhoods of Old Delhi into the burgeoning new metropolis and beyond, to the ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Namesake

    by Jhumpa Lahiri
    A young Indian-American's journey of reconciling two different cultures and his own identity.

    The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, a young Bengali couple, leave Calcutta , India, and settle in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Ashoke is an engineering student at the ... (Wikipedia)

  28. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

    by Douglas Adams
    Quirky sci-fi adventure following a group of time travelers seeking to save the future.

    Arthur Dent , Ford Prefect , Trillian , and Zaphod Beeblebrox leave the planet Magrathea on the Heart of Gold . A Vogon ship attacks them, and Arthur's attempt to have the ship's computer make him a ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Oliver Twist

    by Charles Dickens
    An orphan's journey of survival and resilience in the face of poverty and injustice.

    Oliver Twist is born into a life of poverty and misfortune, raised in a workhouse in the fictional town of Mudfog , located 70 miles (110 km) north of London . , , , He is orphaned by his father's ... (Wikipedia)