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10 Must-Read Biographies of Indians Who Transformed The Nation

Here’s a list of 10 biographies of pioneering Indians -- from Dr Ambedkar and Satyajit Ray to APJ Abdul Kalam and Kapil Dev -- that will leave you inspired.

1. Dilip Kumar: The Definitive Biography by Bunny Reuban

2. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye by Andrew Robinson

3. The Man Who Knew Infinity (Srinivasa Ramanujan) by Robert Kanigel

4. Sir C V Raman by Uma Parameswaran

5. Beyond the Last Blue Mountain (JRD Tata) by R M Lala

6. Gandhi Before India (M K Gandhi) by Ramachandra Guha

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8 Library Cafes Across India to Bookmark For Your Travels

7. Waiting for a Visa – BR Ambedkar

8. Wings of Fire – An Autobiography by APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari

9. Straight from the Heart: An Autobiography – Kapil Dev

10. The Race of My Life by Milkha Singh

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100 Best Books and Novels by Indian Authors

In a country as large and diverse as India, there is always a story waiting to be told. Which is why, we’ve saved you the trouble and put together some of the timeless gems that are available in Indian English writing today. Here are our top 100 picks, written by critically-acclaimed Indian authors, or authors of Indian origin.

In this brilliant retelling of the Ramayana, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel: this is Sita’s version. The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity, and honour, it is also about women’s struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men, as Chitra transforms an ancient story into a gripping, contemporary battle of wills.

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The Far Field by  Madhuri Vijay 

Latitudes of Longing by  Shubhangi Swarup

An astounding exploration of intense longings, Shubhangi Swarup’s novel begins in the depths of the Andaman Sea, and follows geological and emotional faultlines through the Irrawaddy delta and the tourist-trap of Thamel, to end amidst the highest glaciers and passes of the Karakorams. The story sweeps through worlds and times that are inhabited by: a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who talks to them; Lord Goodenough who travels around the furthest reaches of the Raj, giving names to nameless places; a geologist working towards ending futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a superstitious dictator and a mother struggling to get her revolutionary son released; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who turns first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents.

Paper Moon by  Rehana Munir 

When her estranged father passes away, Fiza, fresh out of college, discovers that he has left her a tidy sum in the hope that she will open a bookshop… Overnight, Fiza’s placid life is thrown into a whirl of decor decisions and book-buying sprees, unconventional staff and colourful patrons, small pleasures and little heartbreaks, as the store — Paper Moon — begins to take shape in a charming, old Bandra mansion. To top it all, she is being wooed by Iqbal, a mysterious customer who frequents the shop, and Dhruv, her ex-boyfriend, her feelings for whom are still confused.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters  by  Balli Kaur Jaswal 

The Shergill sisters never needed each other–until they did. Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina Shergill have never been close but when their mother dies, she has only one request: that they take a pilgrimage across India to carry out her final rites. While an extended family holiday is the last thing they want, each sister has her own reasons to run away from her life. Rajni is the archetypal know-it-all eldest but her son dropped a bombshell before she left and, for the first time, she doesn’t know what the future holds. Middle sister Jezmeen, always a loudmouth, has translated her need for attention into life as a struggling actress. But her career is on the skids after an incident went viral and now she’s desperate to find her voice again. Shirina, the golden child, has confounded expectations by having an arranged marriage and moving to the other side of the world. But her perfect life isn’t what it seems and time is running out to make the right choice. As the miles rack up on their jaunt across India, the secrets of the past and present are sure to spill out.

Adulting by  Neharika Gupta 

Social media manager and popular blogger Aisha is flirty and flamboyant … even as she battles personal demons that tell her she must stop eating if she wants to stay pretty.

Ruhi couldn’t be more different from her friend Aisha. Working at Literacy Publishing, she feels grossly underappreciated by the editor-in-chief, who happens to be her mother. What keeps her going are her own ambitions – and her handsome author Tejas.

Bestselling novelist Tejas has a bad case of writer’s block. He leans on Ruhi for emotional support before getting enamored by Aisha as he struggles to live up to everyone’s expectations, including his own.

The Swap by  Shuma Raha

There is nothing really wrong with Priya Bakshi and Akash Srivastav’s six-year-old marriage … except that Priya is having an affair. And Akash, too, seems to be on the lookout for sexual adventure. When Tarun, their richer, older, and manipulative friend, tells them about Delhi’s couple-swapping parties, Akash wants to jump right in. With some reluctance, Priya agrees to give him company. Soon, Priya and Akash find themselves in a world of swinging couples and sexual abandon, joined by friends who are equally keen to test the waters. But as the clothes come off and the secrets begin to tumble out, it seems that none of them will emerge unscathed.Witty and racy, The Swap is a sparkling social novel about sex, marriage, and morality.

Bhaunri by  Anukrti Upadhyay

Can too much love be a dangerous thing? Bhaunri is married, as is the custom in her tribe of nomadic blacksmiths when she is still a child. When she is finally sent away to her husband’s home as a young woman, she finds herself drawn deeply and powerfully towards the gruff and handsome Bheema. Bheema, however, is far from the ideal husband, and when he strays one time too many, Bhaunri’s love for him begins to fester and grow into something dark and fearsome.

The Twentieth Wife by  Indu Sundaresan 

Mehrunnisa – the Sun of Women – one of India’s most legendary and controversial empresses … a woman who overcame insurmountable obstacles through sheer brilliance and determination … whose love shaped the course of the Mughal Empire. She is the twentieth wife. The daughter of refugees from Persia, growing up on the fringes of Emperor Akbar’s opulent palace grounds, Mehrunnisa first encounters Prince Salim on his wedding day. Eight years old at the time, she decides that she too will one day become Salim’s wife – unaware of the great price she and her family will pay for this dream.

Those Pricey Thakur Girls by  Anuja Chauhan

From the bestselling author of The Zoya Factor and Battle for Bittora …

Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.

Baaz by  Anuja Chauhan

The USSR-backed India-Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying the Gnat, a tiny fighter plane nicknamed ‘Sabre Slayer’ for the devastation it has wreaked in the ranks of Pakistan’s F-86 Sabre Squadrons. Flanked by his buddies Raks, a MiG-21 Fighter, Maddy, a transport pilot who flies a Caribou, and fellow Gnatties Jana, Gana, and Mana, Shaanu has nothing on his mind but glory and adventure – until he encounters Tehmina Dadyseth, famed bathing beauty and sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism and whose eyes fill with disillusioned scorn whenever people wax eloquent about patriotism and war…Pulsating with love, laughter, and courage, Baaz is Anuja Chauhan’s tribute to our men in uniform.

The Radiance of a Thousand Sons by  Manreet Sodhi Someshwar 

Niki’s determination to complete her dead father’s unfinished book, his life’s work, takes her from India to New York City where her pursuit of a mysterious immigrant woman turns into an obsession that begins to imperil her daughter, her marriage, and, eventually, Niki herself. When a blizzard blankets NYC, Niki finds herself on a path where the present and past collide violently. Propulsive and poetic, this elegant literary thriller melds the fervour of Punjab with the frenzy of New York. Spanning the cataclysms of Partition and 9/11, via the brutality of Emergency and the pogrom of 1984, the novel explores the impossible choices women are forced to make in the face of violence, the ties that connect them across ages, and the secrets they store.

Jorasanko by  Aruna Chakravarti 

A sensitive portrayal of the hopes and fears, triumphs and defeats experienced by the women of the Tagore household. in a sprawling novel that spans a unique phase in the history of Bengal and India, Aruna Chakravarti provides a fascinating account of how the Tagore women influenced and were in turn influenced by their illustrious male counterparts, the times they lived in and the family they belonged to. Jorasanko mirrors the hopes and fears, triumphs and defeats that the women of the Tagore household experienced in their intricate interpersonal relationships, as well as the adjustments they were continually called upon to make as daughters and daughters-in-law of one of the most eminent families of the land.

The Mountain of Light by  Indu Sundaresan 

The much-awaited novel from the author of the bestselling Taj trilogy! Told in her inimitable trademark style, Indu Sundaresan’s The Mountain of Light is a wondrous and historically rich tale, as clear and as dazzling as a diamond itself.

Koi Good News? by  Zarreen Khan 

When Mona Mathur of Dehradun had married her college sweetheart Ramit Deol of Amritsar, there were two things she wasn’t prepared for:1. The size of the Deol family – it put any Sooraj Barjatiya movie to shame2. The fertility of the Deol family – they reproduce faster than any other species are known to mankind for four years now, Mona and Ramit have done the unthinkable and remained childless. Of course, that also means that they’ve battled that one question day in and day out: ‘Koi Good News?’ It doesn’t matter that they have been happy to be child-free – they are married; they are expected to make babies. After all, there are grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, and even colony aunties in waiting.

The Gypsy Goddess by  Meena Kandasamy

Village landlords force peasants to break their backs in the paddy fields or suffer beatings as punishment. So it is little wonder that the communist party begins to gain traction, a small spark of defiance spreading from villager to villager. As communities across the region begin to take a stand against the landlords, the landlords vow to break them: party organizers suffer grisly deaths and the flow of marketplace food dries up. But intimidation only serves to make the villagers’ resistance burn more fiercely. Finally, the landlords descend on one village to set an example to the others.

Nobody Killed Her by  Sabyn Javeri 

The nation sinks deep into mourning as news of former Prime Minister Rani Shah’s assassination arrives. Intelligence agencies, opposition leaders, the army top brass, her closest relatives – all seem to be shifting in their chairs even as special investigative teams gear up to file a report. Conspiracy theories abound for there were many who stood to gain if she pulled out of the imminent elections. The needle of suspicion points most immediately to Madam Shah’s close confidante Nazneen Khan, who was seen sitting right beside her in the convoy and, oddly, escaped the bomb blast unscathed. Sabyn Javeri’s tale of intense friendship between two ambitious women unfolds in a country steeped in fanaticism and patriarchy. Set against a backdrop of intrigue and political machinations, this is a novel about love, loyalty, obsession, and deception.

Daura by  Anukrti Upadhyay

A journey into the dark heart of the desert. A young District Collector is posted to one of the furthest outposts of rural Rajasthan and finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the lives and troubles of the common people there. Then one day, with the help of a mysterious musician, the Sarangiya, he has an encounter with beauty in its purest, most absolute form – an encounter that precipitates a dangerous descent. The pages from the journal he keeps are combined with the narratives of various people around him to create a compelling account of his slide away from reality.

Ghachar Ghochar by  Vivek Shanbhag ,  Srinath Perur

Cuckold by  Kiran Nagarkar 

The time is the early 16th century. The Rajput kingdom of Mewar is at the height of its power. It is locked in a war with the Sultanates of Delhi, Gujarat, and Malwa. But there is another deadly battle being waged within Mewar itself. who will inherit the throne after the death of the Maharana? The course of history, not just of Mewar but of the whole of India, is about to be changed forever

The White Tiger by  Aravind Adiga

Winner of the 2008 Booker Prize, now a major Netflix film starring Priyanka Chopra and Rajkumar RaoMeet Balram Halwai, the ‘white tiger’: servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer…

The White Tiger  is a tale of two Indias. Balram’s journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing, and altogether unforgettable.

Selection Day by  Aravind Adiga 

Serious Men by  Manu Joseph

The Illicit Happiness Of Other People by  Manu Joseph 

Rumi: A New Translation by  Farrukh Dhondy 

Marked by the lyrical beauty and spiritual insight, a deep understanding of human suffering that coexists with rapturous abandon, the poems of Jalaluddin Rumi continue to be relevant almost eight centuries after they were composed, with contemporary audiences finding new meanings in them. Rumi’s poems bring together the divine and the human, the mystical and the corporeal to create a vivid kaleidoscope of poetic images.

India’s Most Haunted by  K. Hari Kumar 

There are places where the past lingers, making shapes in the moonlight and blowing in the curtains even as the air goes suddenly still. K. Hari Kumar, the bestselling author of spine-chilling horror fiction, brings you the terrifying tales of some of India’s most haunted places – including Bhangarh Fort, Malabar Hill’s Tower of Silence, and Jammu and Kashmir’s notorious Khooni Nala. Whether you read them at night or in daylight, these stories will remain with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Best Indian Short Stories by  Khushwant Singh

Dopehri by  Pankaj Kapur 

The Belated Bachelor Party   by  Ravinder Singh

Parliamental by  Meghnad S.

Raghav Marathe, cynical millennial turned reluctant policy analyst, arrives in Delhi with his boss, Prabhu Srikar of the RJM party, and a first-time MP with a tendency to throw up. As they navigate their way around Parliament, handling backroom deals, nepotistic party heads, and laws that seem to be tailor-made to benefit the ruling party, they learn that politics and idealism don’t always go together. While Srikar tries to adapt to his new avatar and lie low, Raghav uses his Twitter alter ego, @Arnavinator, to vent his frustration and spread chaos.But when a new bill that threatens freedom of expression is bulldozed through with impunity, Srikar and Raghav must make a choice – to compromise on their values or to stand up for what is right. But at what cost? And can they and their unlikely allies – a jaded lawyer, an ambitious journalist and a rising YouTube star – really make a difference?

Best Indian Short Stories: Volume 2 by  Khushwant Singh 

India’s Wars by  Arjun Subramaniam

The Japanese Wife by  Basu Kunal

An Indian man writes to a Japanese woman. She writes back. The pen-friends fall in love and exchange their vows over letters, then live as man and wife without ever setting eyes on each other – their intimacy of words tested finally by life’s miraculous upheavals.The twelve stories in this collection are about the unexpected. An American professor visits India with the purpose of committing suicide, and goes on a desert journey with the daughter of a snake-charmer. A honeymooning Indian couple is caught up in the Tiananmen Square unrest. A Russian prostitute discovers her roots in the company of Calcutta revolutionaries. A holocaust victim stands tall among strangers in a landscape of hate. These are chronicles of memory and dreams born at the crossroads of civilizations. They parade a cast of angels and demons rubbing shoulders with those whose lives are never quite as ordinary as they seem.

14: Stories That Inspired Satyajit Ray by  Bhaskar Chattopadhyay 

Narasimha by  Kevin Missal 

Narasimha, once a brave soldier, has left the war and lies low as a physician in a village. But a familiar face from his past seeks his help to stop the tyranny of the blind usurper Andhaka. If Narasimha refuses, the world might just end. What will he do? And why did he leave the war in the first place? Prahlad, the interim king of Kashyapuri, is torn between the ideals of his unrighteous father and his love for Lord Vishnu. Whom will he choose? Hiranyakashyap, the ruler of the Asura Empire, wants to avenge the death of his wife. To do that, he must go through the Trials and get the ultimate weapon – the Brahmastra. But the Trials have sent so many others to their death. Can Hiranyakashyap survive?

Pather Panchali by  Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Pather Panchali is a vivid, moving and authentic portrayal of the life of a Brahmin household seen through the eyes of the two young children of the family, Opu and his elder sister Durga. Few authors in any literature can rival Bandhopadhyaya’s understanding of the child mind.

Ivory Throne by  Manu S. Pillai 

In 1498, when Vasco da Gama set foot in Kerala looking for Christians and spices, he unleashed a wave of political fury that would topple local powers like a house of cards. The cosmopolitan fabric of a vibrant trading society – with its Jewish and Arab merchants, Chinese pirate heroes and masterful Hindu Zamorins – was ripped apart, heralding an age of violence and bloodshed. One prince, however, emerged triumphant from this descent into chaos. Shrewdly marrying Western arms to Eastern strategy, Martanda Varma consecrated the dominion of Travancore, destined to become one of the most dutiful pillars of the British Raj. What followed was two centuries of internecine conflict in one of India’s premier princely states, culminating in a dynastic feud between two sisters battling to steer the fortunes of their house on the eve of Independence.

The Twice-born by  Aatish Taseer 

When Aatish Taseer first came to Benares, he was eighteen, the Westernized child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician, raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition. Known as the twice-born – first into the flesh, and again when initiated into their vocation – the Brahmins are a caste devoted to sacred learning. But what Taseer finds in Benares, the holy city of death, is a window on an India as internally fractured as his own continent-bridging identity. At every turn, the seductive, homogenizing force of modernity collides with the insistent presence of the past. From the narrow streets of the temple town to a Modi rally in Delhi, among the blossoming cotton trees and the bathers and burning corpses of the Ganges, Taseer struggles to reconcile magic with reason, faith in tradition with hope for the future and the brutalities of the caste system, all the while challenging his own myths about himself, his past, and his countries old and new.

Solo by  Rana Dasgupta 

Before the man lost his sight, he read this story in a magazine. A group of explorers came upon a community of parrots speaking the language of a society that had been wiped out in a recent catastrophe. Astonished by this discovery, they put the parrots in cages and sent them home so that linguists might record what remained of the lost language. But the parrots, already traumatised by the devastation they had recently witnessed, died on the way. Wondering if, unlike these hapless parrots, he has any wisdom to leave to the world, one-hundred-year-old Ulrich embarks on an epic armchair journey through the twists and turns of his country’s turbulent century – and through his own century of lost love and failed chemistry – and finds his way to an astonishing epiphany of redemption and enlightenment.

Sex, Scotch & Scholarship by  Khushwant Singh  

In this anthology, which comprises some of Khushwant Singh’s best writing, you can look forward to some talk of sex, a little of scotch and much scholarship. The collection attempts to mirror the author’s concerns and passions-his love of nature, his anguish over the situation in Punjab, his interest in religions of the world, and his scholarly research on the one into which he was born, Sikhism.

Darkness by  Ratnakar Matkari 

A boy who can predict the exact date a person will die… An elderly woman who knows that death is close, but learns how to cheat it… A child with a dangerous friend who happens to be invisible… A ghost who can’t stop reliving his suicide over and over again…People you’ll wish you never have to meet, and stories you’ll never forget.

Accidental Magic by  Keshava Guha 

Dozakhnama by  Rabisankar Bal

Who tells the greatest story God or Manto? Dozakhnama: Conversations in Hell is an extraordinary novel, a biography of Manto and Ghalib and a history of Indian culture rolled into one. Exhumed from dust, Manto’s unpublished novel surfaces in Lucknow. Is it real or is it a fake? In this dastan, Manto and Ghalib converse, entwining their lives in shared dreams. The result is an intellectual journey that takes us into the people and events that shape us as a culture. As one writer describes it, I discovered Rabisankar Bal like a torch in the darkness of the history of this subcontinent. This is the real story of two centuries of our own country.

Shivaji: The Great Maratha  by  Ranjit Desai 

 Young Shivaji reaches Pune, a dying fort city, with his mother Jijabai and lights the first lamp within its ruins. While his father Shahaji Bhosle is away on deputation by the Adil Shah sultanate after having failed in a revolt against it, Shivaji learns how an empire is built from the ground up. Thus begins the life of the Great Maratha. What awaits Shivaji is nothing short of the vast scroll of history, and it takes him from Surat to Thanjavur and all the way to Aurangzeb’s durbar in Agra. He dreams of freeing his land from the clutches of Mughal rule, and though he suffers many defeats and personal losses along the way he never gives up his vision of Hindavi Swaraj. Amidst political intrigue and a chain of skirmishes, Shivaji becomes a leader, a warrior and a tactician par excellence, driven by immense pride and love for his motherland.

Inheritance by  Balli Kaur Jaswal

Fifteen-year-old Amrit disappears from her house in the middle of the night and returns a different person. Over the next two decades, her actions affect three generations of her Sikh family in Singapore. When Narain, her brother, leaves his new life in America to take care of her, he must find his place again in a country and a community that will not accept him for who he is. Gurdev, the eldest, raises his three daughters with fear and caution over what they might become. And Harbeer, whose wife has left him, is the unyielding patriarch who must reconcile his pride and learn to cope with his own demons.

Sugar bread by  Balli Kaur Jaswal 

Ten-year-old Pin knows she must not become like her mother Jini but doesn’t know why. She tries to figure out her mother’s moods through her cooking, even as she fights other battles-being a bursary student in an elite Christian school, facing hateful racial taunts from Bus Uncle and classmates like Abigail Goh.

When her meddlesome Nani ji Kulwant moves in, installing portraits of Sikh gurus whose features seem the change according to the atmosphere in the house, she brings with her a new set of rules. And old secrets begin to tumble out.

Strangers to Ourselves by  Shashi Deshpande

 Set in Mumbai, Shashi Deshpande’s novel tells the story of an unlikely love between two unusual people. Tender and tempestuous by turns, it draws you into the conflicts, languid pleasures and sharp sorrows of falling in love with a stranger who can never entirely be yours.

Ravan and Eddie  by  Kiran Nagarkar

An extremely funny novel about two larger-than-life heroes and their bawdy, Rabelaisian adventures in post-colonial urban India. Ravan and Eddie remain one of the finest books written with Mumbai as a backdrop. It’s uproariously funny, outrageously irreverent … [and] reveals the city as a character, an actor, a living being.

The Extras by  Kiran Nagarkar 

Ravan and Eddie are back! They’ve been mortal enemies since birth because of a bizarre family feud. But now Ravan and Eddie’s lives converge as they share an obsession: having grown up in Bombay, the city of dancing movie stars and glitzy glamour, both dream of strutting down the road to superstardom. Can Ravan (a lowly taxi driver) and Eddie (a bouncer-cum-bartender at a speakeasy) rise from their dusty CWD chawls to the glittering heights of international fame?

Home Boy by  H.M. Naqvi 

Rollicking, bittersweet and sharply observed, Home Boy is at once an immigrant’s tale, a mystery, a story of love and loss as well as a unique meditation on Americana and notions of collective identity. It announces the debut of an original, electrifying voice in contemporary fiction.

Girl in White Cotton by   Avni Doshi 

Antara has never understood her mother Tara’s decisions – walking out on her marriage to follow a guru, living on the streets like a beggar, shacking up with an unknown artist, rebelling against society’s expectations … But when Tara starts losing her memory, Antara searches for a way to make peace with their shared past, a past that haunts them both.

As she relives her childhood in Pune in the eighties, the time she spent at a Catholic boarding school in the hills of Maharashtra, and her years as a young artist in Bombay, Antara comes up against her own fears and neuroses, realizing she might not be so different from Tara after all.

The Last Queen by  Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 

The latest from the bestselling author of The Forest of Enchantments …

While we have all heard tales of Rani Lakshmi Bai and Padmavati, not many of us are familiar with another Indian queen.

Daughter of the royal kennel keeper, the beautiful Jindan Kaur went on to become Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s youngest and last queen; his favorite. She became regent when her son Dalip, barely six years old, unexpectedly inherited the throne. Sharp-eyed, stubborn, passionate, and dedicated to protecting her son’s heritage, Jindan distrusted the British and fought hard to keep them from annexing Punjab. Defying tradition, she stepped out of the zenana, cast aside the veil, and conducted state business in public. Addressing her Khalsa troops herself, she inspired her men in two wars against the ‘firangs’. Her power and influence were so formidable that the British, fearing an uprising, robbed the rebel queen of everything she had, including her son. She was imprisoned and exiled. But that did not crush her indomitable will.

The Householder by Amitabha Bagchi

With uncommon acuity, Amitabha Bagchi writes of a world where favours are currency, where access to power sometimes feels like a prerequisite for survival, where power can be both total and ephemeral. The Householder is a view from within this world, an examination of the moral condition of our times.

Above Average by  Amitabh Bagchi 

Lyrical, spare, and charmingly self-deprecatory Amitabha Bagchi’s debut novel is a deeply funny account of growing up intelligent, sensitive, ambitious, and confused.

What Maya Saw: A Tale of Shadows, Secrets, Clues by  Shabnam Minwalla 

Almost from the moment, Maya steps into St Paul’s College, she is afraid. Everywhere she goes, she encounters questions and secrets. Not to mention the Shadows – a bunch of drop-dead gorgeous students who she realizes will do anything to keep their youth and beauty. Even kill. Maya wants no part in this sinister adventure. She would much rather be shopping for shoes, munching brownies and shedding her geeky image. But the teenager soon finds that she doesn’t have a choice. Only Maya can see the Shadows for what they really are. Only she can unravel the trail of clues laid long ago by a dead priest. This is why both the forces of good and evil need her so badly. Unsure about whom she can trust and believe, Maya launches into a clue hunt across Mumbai – and in the process, learns about love, friendship and growing up.

The Mountain of Light  by  Indu Sundaresan 

Battle For Bittora by  Anuja Chauhan 

Twenty-five-year-old Jinni lives in Mumbai, works in a hip animation studio and is perfectly happy with her carefree life. Until her bossy grandmother shows up and announces that it is Jinni’s ‘duty’ to drop everything and come and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from their sleepy hometown, Bittora. Jinni swears she won’t but she soon ends up swathed in cotton saris and frumpy blouses, battling prickly heat, corruption and accusations of nymphomania as candidate Sarojini Pande, a daughter of the illustrious Pande dynasty of Pavit Pradesh. And if life isn’t fun enough already, her main opposition turns out to be Bittora ex-royal, Zain Altaf Khan – an irritatingly idealistic though undeniably lustworthy individual with whom Jinni shares a complicated history.

A Feast Of Roses by  Indu Sundaresan

In this lush and romantic sequel to The Twentieth Wife , Mehrunnisa, the first woman Jahangir marries for love, is now Empress Nur Jahan. As a mark of his love, he transfers his powers of sovereignty to her. This is the story of the strength of character and cunning one woman has to demonstrate to get what she wants, sometimes at great personal cost, even almost losing her daughter’s love. But she never loses the love of the man who bestows this power upon her: Emperor Jahangir.

Shadow Princess by  Indu Sundaresan 

The Mughal Empire is crumbling. With the death of his beloved queen Mumtaz, Emperor Shah Jahan slowly loses interest in everything, while his sons conspire and scheme to gain control of the empire. Princess Jahanara is only seventeen when the weight of the imperial zenana is thrust upon her. Shah Jahan’s favorite daughter is the most important woman in the harem and is forced to remain at the Mughal court all her life, caught up in the intrigues and power politics of her siblings, sacrificing her own desires for the sake of her father.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by   Balli Kaur Jaswal 

Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Pick! Balli Kaur Jaswal’s sexy, lively book is a thought-provoking East-meets-West story about community, friendship, and women’s lives at all ages—a spicy and alluring mix of  Together Tea  and  Calendar Girls.

The Glass Palace by  Amitav Ghosh 

The Hungry Tide by  Amitav Ghosh 

From the author of The Glass Palace and Jungle Nama , the widely-acclaimed bestseller. The Hungry Tide is a rich, exotic saga set in Calcutta and in the vast archipelago of islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Cut Like Wound by  Anita Nair

Chain of Custody by  Anita Nair

Alphabet Soup for Lovers by  Anita Nair 

Idris: Keeper of the Light by  Anita Nair

The year is 1659. Idris, a Somalian trader, is in Kerala to attend the Mamangam festivities. By a strange twist of fate, he meets his nine-year-old son whose existence he had been unaware of. In an attempt to keep his son close to him, Idris embarks with him on a voyage that ends in the diamond mines of Golconda. Packed with passion, adventure, and fascinating aspects of life in the seventeenth century in southern India, Idris is a page-turner that will intrigue and excite readers everywhere.

The Liberation of Sita by  Volga 

Valmiki’s Ramayana is the story of Rama’s exile and returns to Ayodhya, of a triumphant king who will always do right by his subjects. In Volga’s retelling, it is Sita who, after being abandoned by Purushottam Rama, embarks on an arduous journey towards self-realization. Along the way, she meets extraordinary women who have broken free from all that held them back: husbands, sons, and their notions of desire, beauty, and chastity. The minor women characters of the epic as we know it — Surpanakha, Renuka, Urmila, and Ahalya — steer Sita towards an unexpected resolution. Meanwhile, Rama too must reconsider and weigh his roles as the king of Ayodhya and as a man deeply in love with his wife.

Red Maize by  Danesh Rana

The Golden Pigeon by  Shahid Siddiqui 

The Sibius Knot by  Amrita Tripathi 

The Second Coming by  Shubha Menon 

Mad Girl’s Love Song by   Rukumini Bhaya Nair

The Namesake by  Jhumpa Lahiri 

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri 

A couple exchange unprecedented confessions during nightly blackouts in their Boston apartment as they struggle to cope with a heartbreaking loss; a student arrives in new lodgings in a mystifying new land and, while he awaits the arrival of his arranged marriage wife from Bengal, he finds his first bearings with the aid of the curious evening rituals that his centenarian landlady orchestrates; a schoolboy looks on while his childminder finds that the smallest dislocation can unbalance her new American life all too easily and send her spiraling into nostalgia for her homeland…

Anita and Me by  Meera Syal 

It’s 1972. Meena is nine years old and lives in the village of Tollington, ‘the jewel of the Black Country’. She is the daughter of Indian parents who have come to England to give her a better life. As one of the few Punjabi inhabitants of her village, her daily struggle for independence is different from most. She wants fishfingers and chips, not chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not the usual interminable Punjabi festivities – but more than anything, she wants to roam the backyards of working-class Tollington with feisty Anita Rutter and her gang.

Blonde, cool, aloof, outrageous and sassy, Anita is everything Meena thinks she wants to be. Meena wheedles her way into Anita’s life, but the arrival of a baby brother, teenage hormones, impending entrance exams for the posh grammar school and a motorcycling rebel without a future, threaten to turn Anita’s salad days sour.

The Wounds of the Dead by  Vikram Paralkar 

A surgeon working in a dilapidated clinic in the hinterland is visited in the dead of night by a family – a man, his pregnant wife and their eight-year-old son. Victims of a senseless attack, they reveal to the surgeon wounds that they could not possibly have survived. In a narrative that blends medicine and metaphysics, the surgeon is then issued a preposterous task: to mend the wounds of the dead before sunrise so that the family can return to life. But this is not the only challenge laid before him, and it is only as the night unfolds and morning dawns that the surgeon realizes just how intricately his future is tied to that of the dead.

Moustache by  S. Hareesh

No Presents Please: Mumbai Stories   by  Jayant Kaikini

One Point Two Billion by  Mahesh Rao

Ice Boys In Bell Bottoms by  Krishna Shastri Devulapalli 

A Southern Music by  T.M. Krishna

Farthest Field by  Raghu Karnad 

The photographs of three young men had stood in his grandmother’s house for as long as he could remember, beheld but never fully noticed. They had all fought in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces and onto the front line. Manek, dashing and confident, was a pilot with India’s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby’s pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq and the green hell of the Burma battlefront.

The Henna Artist by  Alka Joshi

Think Like a Monk by  Jay Shetty 

In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk in the Vedic tradition to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Drawing on ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, “ Think Like a Monk ” reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us.

The lessons monks learn are profound but often abstract. Shetty transforms them into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve focus, improve relationships, identify our hidden abilities, increase self-discipline and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can – and should – think like a monk.

Things No One Else Can Teach Us by  Humble the Poet 

Hit Refresh: A Memoir by Microsoft’s CEO   by  Satya Nadella 

Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life by  Humble the Poet 

Inferior by  Angela Saini 

From intelligence to emotion, for centuries science has told us that men and women are fundamentally different. But this is not the whole story.

Shedding light on controversial research and investigating the ferocious gender wars in biology, psychology and anthropology, Angela Saini takes readers on an eye-opening journey to uncover how women are being rediscovered. She explores what these revelations mean for us as individuals and as a society, revealing an alternative view of science in which women are included, rather than excluded.

Quantum Marketing by  Raja Rajamannar

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22 Famous Indian Authors (And Their Best Books)

I realized India has a rich literary tradition  and is home to some of the best and most imaginative authors out there. More  people should read  these books. The sun goes down in a different way in India. And you can feel the same warm, exotic glow by sitting back and opening a book through which monsoons and smells of spices will flow. Of course, I haven’t read all the authors from this list (I intend to). But this is to serve as a reference for anyone interested in  Indian literature  who wants to go deeper and learn about its most distinguished literati, both classic and contemporary.

22 Famous Indian Authors And Their Notable Works:

1. rabindranath tagore.

This was the first Indian author I’ve ever read. I remember sitting on a bus going to my office in Chandigarh and reading Gitanjali and Stray Birds in an old paperback version. These poems changed my life and opened me up to something I’ve never experienced before. Tagore was born in 1861 and during his life, he wrote hundreds of poems, books, and articles. His father knew Persian and could recite the poetry of Hafiz by heart. You can see that many of these Sufi mysteries are also detectable in the great author’s work. It is always related to The Power of Love and the closeness to God. Later in life, Tagore visited the tombs of Saadi and Hafiz in Shiraz and admired these poets greatly. He was also deeply influenced by Baul mysticism, Sahaja Buddhism, Vedanta Philosophy, and the Upanishads. He was knighted by the British Empire in 1915, but within a couple of years, he resigned the title as a protest against British policies in India (especially the massacre in Amritsar in 1919, which grounds I walked during my stay in Punjab). Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1913).

Notable works:

Quote from the author:.

“The small wisdom is like water in a glass: clear, transparent, pure. The great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable.”

2. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Krishnamurti was a great Indian writer and philosopher  who later in life moved  to the USA. You can still find many recordings of his talks and lectures on YouTube (highly recommended). His interests were wide-ranging and included psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, societal change, and human relationships. I’ve learned a lot about meditation and the nature of consciousness from him. This includes the principle of non-grasping and non-judgment which serve me well to this day. He was one of the first people to bring Eastern thought to the West. His thesis was that a revolution in society can only be brought about at the level of an individual. By changing ourselves for the better we can change society as a whole. He pledged no allegiance to a nationality, caste, or religion and spent the later years of his life traveling around the world and giving lectures to large and small groups.

“You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing, and dance, and  write poems , and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.”

3. Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat is a modern author, columnist, screenwriter, and television personality, especially known for his  books geared toward young readers from the Indian middle class. He’s  one of the most popular writers  in the country and his books sold over 7 million copies all over the world (he writes primarily in English). The New York Times called him “the biggest-selling English language novelist in India’s history”. Interestingly, instead of literature, he studied mechanical engineering and business management. At some point, he even applied to work in investment banking for Goldman Sachs. He wrote his first books while still working for the company but later quit his full-time job and focused on writing . Many of his books  served as an inspiration for Bollywood films  and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. However, in 2017 he was accused of plagiarism (regarding two of his books) and is now involved in a legal trial.

“Pretty girls behave best when you ignore them. Of course, they have to know you are ignoring them, for otherwise, they may not even know you exist.”

4. Aravind Adiga

5. shashi tharoor, 6. amrita pritam.

Pritam, born in 1919 was a novelist, essayist, and poet who, unlike many of the authors on this list wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. She is known as the most prominent Punjabi poet who is loved both by Indians and Pakistanis. She lived a long life during which she produced over 100 books of poetry , fiction, and biographies, as well as a collection of beautiful Punjabi folk songs. Her works have been translated into many Indian and foreign languages. Her book Pinjar (The Skeleton) was groundbreaking and ultimately got adapted into an award-winning movie in 2003. She has been often compared to Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batlavi and was the most prominent voice for the liberation of women in Punjabi literature.

“Warish Shah I call out to you, Rise from your grave, speak out and turn, Another page of the Book of Love”

7. Kamala Markandaya

“For where shall a man turn who has no money? Where can he go? Wide, wide world, but as narrow as the coins in your hand. Like a tethered goat, so far and no farther. Only money can make the rope stretch, only money.”

8. Khushwant Singh

9. r.k. narayan.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami is mostly known for his fiction works related to the South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading English language author in India along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. It might come as a surprise, but he was a close friend of Graham Greene, who helped him to get publishers for his first books . The  fictional town Malgudi was first introduced in his book  “Swami and Friends”. The made-up town had a pristine historical record dating back to the times of Ramayana and Buddha. He loved to show the humor of everyday life and has been often compared to William Faulkner. He wrote for over sixty years and lived to be 94.

10. Salman Rushdie

This author should not require an introduction. Rushdie first came on the map with his novel “Midnight’s Children” (1981) for which he won the Booker Prize. His works are a great combination of magical realism and historical fiction and are often set on the Indian subcontinent. His novel “The Satanic Verses”, put him in mortal danger from assassins who haunted him for many years on orders from Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa, condemning the author to death, for his “blasphemous” novel which ostensibly offended the Prophet. He wrote many novels afterward and has been ranked 13th on the list of the best British writers since 1945.

11. Arundhati Roy

“To love. To be loved. Never forget your insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty in its lair. Never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

12. Vikram Seth

Born in 1952 in Calcutta, Seth is a part novelist, and part travel writer known mostly for his first novel “The Golden Gate” and the epic novel “A Suitable Boy”. The author was raised in London and graduated from Oxford, and Stanford where he studied economics. It took him a long time to get the attention of the public and some of his first volumes did not attract critical attention. The first book that conquered the hearts of readers was a humorous travelogue “From Heaven Lake.” His books are most often written in verse but his book of prose “A Suitable Boy”, which has 1349 pages, is often compared to the works of Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens.

“But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they’re bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they’re good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of Middlemarch.”

13. Anita Desai

“Isn’t it strange how life won’t flow, like a river, but moves in jumps, as if it were held back by locks that are opened now and then to let it jump forwards in a kind of flood?”

14. Jhumpa Lahiri

Although she was born in London, and now has American citizenship, her background is ethnically Indian (her parents come from West Bengal). Her work often explores the Indian immigrant experience in America. Her book “Interpreter of Maladies” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the PEN/Hemingway award. Moreover, her second novel “The Namesake” was made into a popular movie of the same name. In 2011 she moved to Rome and since then she has translated a few Italian books into English. Her forthcoming book is going to be written in Italian as well.

15. Amitav Ghosh

Ghosh is mostly known for his English works of fiction. He’s also the winner of the prestigious Jnanpith Award for his outstanding contribution to literature. He was born in Calcutta in 1956 but later moved with his family to New York, USA, where he joined The Queen’s College as a distinguished professor of comparative literature. He’s also been a visiting professor in the English department at Harvard University He later returned to India where he began working on his Ibis Trilogy. He wrote eight novels (the most famous one being the “Sea of Poppies”), as well as 6 works of nonfiction including many notable collections of essays. In his works, he often deals with epic themes of history, memory of political struggle, and communal violence which include elements of anthropology as well as art.

“What would it be like if I had something to defend – a home, a country, a family – and I found myself attacked by these ghostly men, these trusting boys? How do you fight an enemy who fights with neither enmity nor anger, but in submission to orders from superiors, without protest and conscience?”

16. Ruskin Bond

17. kiran desai.

Kiran is the daughter of Anita Desai, already mentioned in this list. Her novel “Inheritance of Loss” which took her seven years to complete won the Man Booker Award in 2006. She received many other accolades (including praise from Salman Rushdie) for her works and has been named as one of the 20 most influential Indian women. She was born in Delhi but later on, she moved to India and then to the United States where she studied creative writing  at Bennington College, Hollins University, and Columbia University. Despite publishing just two books, she’s still one of the most  widely-known English language writers from India

“Could fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss? Romantically she decided that love must surely reside in the gap between desire and fulfillment, in the lack, not the contentment. Love was the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself.”

18. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Chitra is an author and poet who was born in Kolkata but now holds American citizenship as well. She received many awards and many of her books are currently turned into movies and TV shows. Her works are set both in India and the United States and often depict the life of immigrants. What’s quite distinctive about her work is that she writes in many genres and for many audiences including adults and children. She penned a dozen books of fiction, a couple of books for young adults and children, and many books of poetry.

19. Nirad C. Chaudhuri

Chaudhuri lived to be 101 years old, and he almost lived in three different centuries. He was born in 1897 still in British India and died in 1999 in Oxford, England. He wrote both in English and Bengali. His books often touch upon the themes of the history and cultural changes in India, especially in the context of the British Empire. His magnum opus “The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian” attracted many admirers over the years, including Winston Churchill. It’s an autobiography of Chaudhuri from his birth to the age of 50. The book brought about much controversy and was a great account of how colonial rule worked.

20. Mahatma Gandhi

This man doesn’t need any introduction. He played a huge role in a political movement that ultimately led to the liberation of India from the British Empire. Most people know him for his political activism and service to his country. But he was also an avid writer who left behind many interesting books that chronicled his fight for independence and his philosophy. His book “The Story of my experiments with Truth” is a collection of 105 essays covering different aspects of his life and the development of his philosophy. Another book called “Hind Swaraj” was written in 1909 but already sketched out a dream of a free India.

Notable Works:

21. dilip hiro.

“When asked about the extent to which the British decision to quit India was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s 1942 movement, Attlee’s lips widened in the smile of disdain and he uttered, slowly, “Minimal.”

22. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Chatterji could be as well in the first place on this list as he is the most popular, and the most translated Indian author of all time. He was born in Bengal at the end of the 19th century and remains the most widely known novelist in the Bengali language. His works mostly deal with the day, often tragic life of the villagers of his native land. He received little formal schooling but was endowed with a love of literature from his father. He later improved his writing skills  under the tutelage of Kishorimohan Mukherjee. From then on, he was involved in the fight for independence and established himself as one of India’s most famous writers.

“They’ll have the sweet, intimate memories of a lost paradise, and beside it a sea of sorrow… People looking on from the outside think all is lost… What remains when everything is lost can be held in the palm, like a jewel. It can’t be flaunted in a pageant, so the lookers-on are disappointed and jeer as they return home..”

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121 Best Indian Books Written in English: A List of Must-Read Novels by Indian Authors (2024)

Are you confused about which book to read next? Are you searching for the best Indian books and novels by Indian authors to read? Do you have a particular genre in mind?

Don’t Worry!

Indian English Literature has come a long way – from just a few English books releasing a year previously to thousands of new titles launching every year now.

In 2020, India’s book market is valued at an with an estimated Rs 739 billion . India ranks second, after the US, in English language publishing with over 9000 publishers.

From a humble start in the 20th century, after Independence, India published 21,600 new English titles in 2010.

With so many books releasing and Indian literature developing by leaps and bounds, it can be a daunting task to find the best Indian novels amongst the lot.

To make this easier, we have compiled this list of “Best Indian Books” of all the different categories and genres.

Also Read : 75 Best Indian Authors in English: The Most Definitive List

NOTE : We have not included books by many award-winning authors of Indian-origin like Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children), Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), V.S. Naipaul (A Bend in the River), Rohinton Mistry (A Fine Balance) etc.

Table of Contents

(Click on an genre to navigate to the particular section)

• Literary Fiction
• Religion and Mythology
• Historical Fiction
• Mythological Fiction
• Thriller and Mystery
• Sci-Fi and Fantasy
• Biography and Memoir

Best Indian Classics

The guide by r.k. narayan.

The Guide  is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works, the novel is based on Malgudi, the fictional town in South India.

The novel describes the transformation of the protagonist, Raju, from a tour guide to a spiritual guide and then one of the greatest holy men of India.

The novel brought its author the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award for English.

MALGUDI DAYS BY R.K. NARAYAN

Malgudi Days  is a collection of short stories by  R.K. Narayan  published in 1943.

The book includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi, located in South India. Each of the stories portrays a facet of life in Malgudi.

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF AN INDIAN PRINCE BY MULK RAJ ANAND

The Private Life of an Indian Prince   is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1953. This book deals with the abolition of the princely states system in India.

UNTOUCHABLE BY MULK RAJ ANAND

Untouchable  was inspired by Anand’s aunt’s experience when she had a meal with a Muslim woman and was treated as an outcast by his family.

The plot of this book revolves around the argument for eradicating the caste system.

TRAIN TO PAKISTAN BY KHUSHWANT SINGH

Train to Pakistan  recounts the Partition of India in August 1947.

Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Singh digs into a deep local focus, providing a human dimension which brings to the event a sense of reality, horror, and believability.

GODAN BY MUNSHI PREMCHAND, TRANSLATED BY JAI RATAN

Godan  is a Hindi novel by Munshi Premchand, translated into English as  The Gift of a Cow .

It is themed around the socio-economic deprivation as well as the exploitation of the village poor. It was translated into English in 1957 by Jai Ratan.

THE ROOM ON THE ROOF BY RUSKIN BOND

The Room on the Roof  is the story of an orphaned Anglo-Indian boy, Rusty, living in a European colony in Dehradun with his guardian Mr. Harrison, who wants him to stay away from Indians and groom him as a pure Englishman.

Related: A list of Ruskin Bond’s Best Books

THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF FELUDA BY SATYAJIT RAY

Between 1965 and 1992, Satyajit Ray wrote a total of 35 Feluda stories, featuring the master sleuth Pradosh C. Mitter, AKA Feluda.

These stories are now available in 2 volumes of  The Complete Adventures of Feluda . They were translated into English by Gopa Majumdar.

COMBAT OF SHADOWS BY MANOHAR MALGONKAR

Manohar Malgonkar’s  Combat of Shadows  is the tale of an Anglo-Indian woman, Ruby Miranda, who dreams of becoming a pucca memsahib to an Englishman but has to face the reality of racial discrimination prevalent in pre-independence India.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN BY NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI

The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian  is an astonishing work of self-discovery. In this book, he mingles the growth and changes of India’s politics, societies, and national feelings with those of his own personality. It is a serious and introspective narrative and historical testimony.

Back to Top

Best Indian Literary Fiction Novels

The god of small things by arundhati roy.

The God of Small Things  by Arundhati Roy is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel, whose lives are destroyed by the “Love Laws” that are laid down by society.

The book explores how small things affect people’s behaviour and their lives. It won the Booker Prize in 1997.

THE WHITE TIGER BY ARAVIND ADIGA

The White Tiger  provides a darkly humorous perspective of India’s class struggle in a globalized world. The novel has been well-received, making the New York Times bestseller list in addition to winning the Man Booker Prize.

It is a first-person narrative of Balram Halwai, an impoverished young man from a small village who moves to Delhi to work as a chauffeur for the rich.

THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS BY KIRAN DESAI

The Inheritance of Loss  by Kiran Desai follows the journey of Biju, an illegal immigrant in the US who is trying to make a new life; and Sai, an Anglicised Indian girl living with her grandfather in India.

The major theme is colonialism and the effects of post-colonialism.

A SUITABLE BOY BY VIKRAM SETH

A Suitable Boy  by Vikram Seth is set in a newly post-independence, post-partition India.

The novel follows the story of four families over a period of 18 months, and centres on Mrs Rupa Mehra’s efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter, Lata, to a “suitable boy”.

It is one of the longest novels published in a single volume in the English language.

SEA OF POPPIES BY AMITAV GHOSH

At the heart of the story of  Sea of Poppies  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 and onboard are a diverse cast of characters.

Another famous novel by Amitav Ghosh is “The Hungry Tide”.

NARCOPOLIS BY JEET THAYIL

Narcopolis  by Jeet Thayil is about the lives of a few people, bound together by a common passion – Opium, and about Bombay, in a way we have never heard of before.

Bombay is stripped of its glamour, riches, beaches, and skylines and we are taken to Shuklaji Street, to Rashid’s opium den, and are impelled to see the other side of Bombay.

THE GREAT INDIAN NOVEL BY SHASHI THAROOR

The Great Indian Novel  is a satirical novel by Shashi Tharoor which takes the story of the Mahabharata and recasts and resets it in the context of the Indian Independence Movement and the first three decades post-independence.

FASTING, FEASTING BY ANITA DESAI

Fasting, Feasting  by Anita Desai is the story of a family living in a small town in India, where provincial customs and attitudes dictate the future of all children: girls are to be married off and boys are to become as educated as possible.

THE HOUSE OF BLUE MANGOES BY DAVID DAVIDAR

A gripping family chronicle, David Davidar’s  The House of Blue Mangoes  spans nearly half a century and three generations of the Dorai family as they search for their place in a rapidly changing society.

The novel brings vividly to life a small corner of India while offering a stark indictment of colonialism.

VANITY BAGH BY ANEES SALIM

Vanity Bagh  is about the life of a boy from the minority community. The book is not about hope. It is about hopelessness.

More than anything else, it is about distress and religious intolerance that can divide humanity and win elections.

Best Books on Indian History

Related: 53 Best Books on Indian History (The Complete Guide)

EARLY INDIA FROM THE ORIGINS TO AD 1300 BY ROMILA THAPAR

Romila Thapar’s Early India  explores India’s past quite vividly, helping readers to visualize the formation of a nation and how it grew and flourished over generations.

It explores all varieties of hue that India represented from then to now and documents India like it has never been documented before.

HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL INDIA BY SATISH CHANDRA

History of Medieval India provides a comprehensive overview of the history of medieval India.

It covers the thousand-year period between the eighth and the eighteenth century.

It deals with the histories of many known and lesser-known kingdoms. Kingdoms included are the Cholas, Rajputs, Turks, Vijayanagara, Bahmanis, Mughals, Marathas etc.

FROM PLASSEY TO PARTITION: A HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA BY SEKHAR BANDYOPADHYAY

From Plassey to Partition  is an eminently readable account of the emergence of India as a nation.

It covers about two hundred years of political and socio-economic turbulence – 1757 to 1947 – and maps a wide and often complicated terrain of historical happenings.

It presents the entire history of the rise of various Indian freedom fighters. It also talks of the Partition that led to the creation of India and Pakistan.

INDIA’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE BY BIPAN CHANDRA

Bipin Chandra’s book,  India’s Struggle for Independence , is a well-documented history of India’s freedom struggle against the British rule.

It is one of the most accurate books which has been painstakingly written after thorough research based on legal and valid verbal and written sources.

The book also explains in detail Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation and the civil disobedience movements.

INDIA’S WAR: WORLD WAR II AND THE MAKING OF MODERN SOUTH ASIA BY SRINATH RAGHAVAN

In  India’s War , historian Srinath Raghavan paints a compelling picture of battles abroad and of life on the home front, arguing that the war is crucial to explaining how and why colonial rule ended in South Asia.

LAND OF THE SEVEN RIVERS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIA’S GEOGRAPHY BY SANJEEV SANYAL

In  Land of the Seven Rivers , Sanjeev Sanyal sets off to explore India and look at how the country’s history was shaped by, among other things, its rivers, mountains and cities.

HIMALAYAN BLUNDER: THE ANGRY TRUTH ABOUT INDIA’S MOST CRUSHING MILITARY DISASTER BY BRIGADIER JOHN DALVI

Himalayan Blunder  dealt with the causes, consequences and aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962, which ended in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army inflicting a defeat on India.

Brigadier Dalvi served in the Indian Army and gives a first-person account of the war.

The book was banned by the Indian Government after its publication.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NETAJI? BY ANUJ DHAR

What Happened to Netaji  talks about the controversy surrounding the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and lights the factual position with regard to the air crash theory.

It provides three prominent theories of Bose’s death zeroing in on what has come to be known as the Faizabad angle of the Bose mystery.

AN ERA OF DARKNESS: THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA BY SHASHI THAROOR

In this explosive book,  An Era of Darkness , bestselling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India.

Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for the Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule.

Best Indian Books on Religion and Mythology

The complete works of swami vivekananda.

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda  is an 8-volume set and contains all the books, lecture, discussions, prose, poetry, and letters written by Swami Vivekananda, a spiritual teacher who introduced Hindu philosophies such as Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.

MAHABHARATA BY C. RAJAGOPALACHARI (Translator)

Originally published in the year 1951, this book is an abridged English retelling of Vyasa’s  Mahabharata .

The Mahabharata is not a mere epic; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women, and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems.

YAJNASENI: THE STORY OF DRAUPADI BY PRATIBHA RAY

Yajnaseni  makes a determined effort for a balanced portrayal of the epic character of Draupadi and brings to the surface the broader and deeper aspects of her mind that lay submerged in the majestic sweep of the grand Mahabharata.

It was translated into English by Pradip Bhattacharya.

RAMAYANA (Series) BY ASHOK K. BANKER

Ashok K. Banker’s  Ramayana Series  is a retelling of Valmiki Ramayanam .

It is a set of 8 books – Prince of Ayodhya, Siege of Mithila, Demons of Chitrakut, Armies of Hanuman, Bridge of Rama, King of Ayodhya, Vengeance of Ravana and Sons of Sita.

MYTH = MITHYA: A HANDBOOK OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY BY DEVDUTT PATTANAIK

In  Myth = Mithya , Devdutt retells sacred Hindu stories and decodes Hindu symbols and rituals, using a unique style of commentary, illustrations and diagrams.

The aim is not to outgrow myth, but to be enriched and empowered by its ancient, potent and still relevant language.

my HANUMAN CHALISA BY DEVDUTT PATTANAIK

In  my Hanuman Chalisa , acclaimed mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik demystifies Hinduism’s most popular prayer for the contemporary reader.

His unique approach makes the ancient hymn accessible, combined as it is with his trademark illustrations.

Best Indian Historical Fiction Novels

The devil’s wind by manohar malgonkar.

The Devil’s Wind  by Manohar Malgonkar tells the story of Nana Saheb, who played a leading role in the 1857 War of Independence.

It provides a sympathetic portrait of a man whom the British portrayed as a great villain.

The book is written as an autobiography in which Nana Saheb describes his life in his own words.

CHANAKYA’S CHANT BY ASHWIN SANGHI

In  Chanakya’s Chant , Ashwin Sanghi takes the greatest strategist of Indian History, Chanakya and makes us question –

“What if Chanakya were alive today?”; “What if he were a player in today’s politics?”; “Would his brilliance and principles be relevant even in today’s murky politics?”

TAJ MAHAL TRILOGY BY INDU SUNDARESAN

The Taj Mahal Trilogy  is a woman-centric tale of power, passion and love.

The first part,  The Twentieth Wife , narrates the story of Mehrunnisa, the powerful wife of Jahangir.

The second part,  The Feast of Roses , narrates the story of Mumtaz Mahal.

The third part,  Shadow Princess , is the story of Jahanara, the daughter of Shah Jahan and the sister of Aurangzeb.

HARAPPA: CURSE OF THE BLOOD RIVER BY VINEET BAJPAI

Harappa: Curse of the Blood River  knits 3,700 years of powerful ancient and modern-day characters and a nail-biting conspiracy – all in one literary thriller.

It is the first among a series of four books. A saga of violence and deceit, gods and demons, love and ambition.

EMPIRE BY DEVI YESODHARAN

Devi Yesodharan’s  Empire  is the tale of an archer and warrior in the empire of Rajendra Chola, who ruled a vast empire from 1014-44.

This warrior is not from South India but rather a Greek woman, who has been surrendered in defeat by a raiding party bested by the Cholas.

ZELALDINUS: A MASQUE BY IRWIN ALLAN SEALY

Zelaldinus  is a fictional story which involves the great Mughal Emperor Akbar, and a current-generation tourist Irv. Together they rediscover the gloomy city of Fatehpur Sikri; a city which was abandoned soon after its completion.

Best Mythological Fiction Books by Indian Authors

Shiva trilogy by amish tripathi.

The Shiva Trilogy  by Amish Tripathi is on a radical idea that all Gods were once human beings; it was their deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods.

The three books of the trilogy are – The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras.

ASURA: TALE OF THE VANQUISHED BY ANAND NEELAKANTAN

Anand Neelakantan’s  Asura: Tale of the Vanquished  depicts the tale of Ramayana from the viewpoint of Ravana and a common Asura, Bhadra.

The book attempts to highlight the voice of the vanquished as opposed to the victor’s version of Ramayana that is commonly known.

THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS BY CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI

The Palace of Illusions  is a rendition of the Hindu epic Mahabharata as told from Draupadi’s viewpoint, namely, that of a woman living in a patriarchal world.

The novel traces Princess Panchaali’s life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom.

THE ARYAVARTA CHRONICLES BY KRISHNA UDAYASANKAR

The Aryavarta Chronicles   (Trilogy)  isn’t the usual tale of Mahabharata.

Rather, it is a completely new myriad of characters woven into the familiar story of the Kauravas and the Pandavas seen through the eyes of Govinda Shauri.

THUNDERGOD: THE ASCENDANCE OF INDRA BY RAJIV G. MENON

Thundergod  by Rajiv G Menon is the story of Indra, born of a prophetic union between the Earth Goddess Gaia and Daeyus, chief of the Devas.

It is a compelling saga, blended by history, spiced by legend and mutated by myth.

KARNA’S WIFE: THE OUTCAST’S QUEEN BY KAVITA KANE

Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen  tells the extraordinary story of Karna, the unsung hero of the Mahabharata, through the eyes of his wife Uruvi, bringing his story to the reader from a unique perspective.

SARASWATI’S INTELLIGENCE BY VAMSEE JULURI

The Kishkindha Chronicles  re-imagines the ancient prehistory of India from a startlingly new perspective that will make us rethink what it means to be human and animal. 

Saraswati’s Intelligence  is the first book in the trilogy.

Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta by Amish

Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta is worth every minute that you spend reading it.

With the classic combination of action and adventure doused in a generous dose of mythology and fantasy, the book appeals to almost every kind of reader.

That Amish decides to pour in a generous amount of information and detailing is like the icing on top.

Keepers of the Kalachakra by Ashwin Sanghi

Keepers of the Kalachakra  is a historical cum mythological cum science-fiction thriller which revolves around an ancient concept in Vajrayana Buddhism – the  Kalachakra .

The writing makes use of many mystical concepts, scientific theorems & research, historical incidents and, conspiracy theories which Ashwin blends in beautifully with the story.

Best Romance Novels by Indian Writers

Related: Best Indian Romance Novels | A List of 20 Romantic Books

THE ONE YOU CANNOT HAVE BY PREETI SHENOY

Preeti Shenoy’s  The One You Cannot Have  handles the delicate subject of love failure and depression and puts a different spin on things.

It gives us a message that if the situations are handled in a more mature way all these lives can be saved.

I TOO HAD A LOVE STORY BY RAVINDER SINGH

Not all love stories are meant to have a perfect ending.  I Too Had a Love Story  by Ravinder Singh is one such saga.

It is a tender and heartfelt tale of Ravin and Khushi — two people who find each other on a matrimonial site and fall in love until life puts their love to the ultimate test.

THIS IS NOT YOUR STORY BY SAVI SHARMA

This is Not Your Story  follows the story of 4 youngsters – Shaurya, Miraya, Anubhav and Kasturi, and how they tackle their problems and conquer life.

The book explores what it takes to dream fearlessly and giving love a second chance.

Another good book by Savi Sharma is Everyone Has A Story .

THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS BY DURJOY DATTA

The Girl of My Dreams  by Durjoy Datta is the story of Daman who suffers a memory lapse after he wakes up from a coma following a car accident.

All he remembers now is a name — Shreyasi, a girl who was in the same car and whose hazy face now haunts his dreams.

IT’S ALL IN THE PLANETS BY PREETI SHENOY

It’s All in the Planets  is the story of how four people’s lives and their two love stories coincide to bring a permanent change in all their lives.

It is a very fresh and unique love story which transcends age and geographical boundaries and makes you go all gooey in the heart.

SORRY YOU’RE NOT MY TYPE BY SUDEEP NAGARKAR

Sorry, You’re Not My Type  is the story of one of the reputed Delhi-based college music band, VAYU – Vikrant, Anamika and Yuvi, and they will make you believe ‘When your passion and purpose is greater than your fears, you find a way to overcome them’.

THOSE PRICEY THAKUR GIRLS BY ANUJA CHAUHAN

Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan , set in 1988, revolves around the Thakur family of Hailey Road, which includes Justice Laxminarayan, his wife and their five daughters who are named alphabetically – Anjini, Binodini, Chandrakanta, Debjani and Eshwari.

2 STATES: THE STORY OF MY MARRIAGE BY CHETAN BHAGAT

2 States: The Story of My Marriage  by Chetan Bhagat is about a couple coming from two different states in India, who face hardships in convincing their parents to approve of their marriage. The book is partly autobiographical.

A HALF-BAKED LOVE STORY BY ANURAG GARG

A Half-Baked Love Story  unfolds a candid narration by a love-struck, dumbstruck and spellbound guy, Aarav, who confesses every last detail of his love story to his drunkard friends on a New Year’s night. The tale of his first love Anamika.

JUST MARRIED, PLEASE EXCUSE BY YASHODHARA LAL

Just Married, Please Excuse  by Yashodhara Lal is the story of a young couple, a quick-tempered big-city girl and a laidback desi boy, who must learn to adjust to married life and to each other with a little help from their idiosyncratic staff, Zarreena and Vinod, their nutty friend Vivi and, of course, their respective families.

Best Indian Thriller and Mystery Novels

Spy in the amber by manohar malgonkar.

Spy in Amber , first published in 1971, is set during the time when tensions between India and China were at their peak.

Hidden away from the world, in the deep belly of the Himalayas lies the Ragyabas monastery which has a treasure worth millions in its possession.

Fearing a Chinese invasion, the head monk decides to hand over the treasure to India for safekeeping. But, the Chinese have different plans.

SACRED GAMES BY VIKRAM CHANDRA

Sacred Games  draws the reader deep into the life of Inspector Sartaj Singh, and into the criminal underworld of Ganesh Gaitonde, the most wanted gangster in India.

It is a story of friendship and betrayal, of terrible violence, of an astonishing modern city and its dark side.

BYOMKESH BAKSHI (SERIES) BY SHARADINDU BANDYOPADHYAY

In the early thirties, a detective by the name of  Byomkesh Bakshi  made an unobtrusive entry into the world of Bengali fiction.

Within days he was a household name, courtesy of his cerebral skills and the exciting situations he found himself in. The English version is translated by Monimala Dhar.

IF GOD WAS A BANKER BY RAVI SUBRAMANIAN

If God Was A Banker  by Ravi Subramanian revolves around two management graduates who are in the rat race for success.

Sundeep is ambitious and selfish, which leads him to achieve his goals through unscrupulous means. Swami is the exact opposite as he sticks to his morals and ethics to ensure success in his career.

MURDER IN A MINUTE BY SHOUVIK BHATTACHARYA

In  Murder in a Minute , when a young woman is found lifeless in a pool of her own blood, everyone is convinced that it is her college sweetheart who murdered her.

The victim’s step-brothers, Rishabh and Arya aren’t so convinced. They embark on a journey to unearth the truth, a journey riddled with fallacies and conspiracies, planted intentionally to trap them.

MARRY ME, STRANGER BY NOVONEEL CHAKRABORTY

Marry Me, Stranger  is the story of Rivanah Bannerjee, a young and independent girl living alone in Mumbai.

Her life is in danger. Someone has been following her around, watching her every move, trying to get control over her life.

PATANG BY BHASKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

In  Patang , a man is found brutally murdered, his body posed like a kite on the tallest cell tower in the city.

As one corpse after another turns up in the unlikeliest of places, maverick investigator Chandrakant Rathod has to pit his sharp instincts against the machinations of the sadistic, ruthless killer.

THE MURDER OF SONIA RAIKKONEN BY SALIL DESAI

In The Murder of Sonia Raikkonen , late one November night, the mutilated corpse of a young Finnish tourist is found in a public garden in Pune.

It looks like a case of brutal rape and murder, but Senior Inspector Saralkar and PSI Motkar find themselves probing further….delving deeper.

DEAD IN A MUMBAI MINUTE BY MADHUMITA BHATTACHARYA

In  Dead in a Mumbai Minute , detective Reema Ray is given the case of the year – the murder of Ashutosh Dhingre, former assistant to fading Bollywood superstar Kimaaya Kapoor.

The location of the crime is Kimaaya’s private island. The suspects – her house guests, and Kimaaya herself!

A CUT LIKE WOUND BY ANITA NAIR

A Cut Like Wound  begins on the first night of Ramadan when a young male prostitute is killed and burnt alive.

As bodies begin to pile up one after the other, and it becomes clear that a serial killer is on the prowl, Inspector Borei Gowda recognizes a pattern in the killings which no one else does.

Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books by Indian Writers

Professor shonku by satyajit ray.

Professor Shonku  is a fictional scientist created by Satyajit Ray in a series of Bengali science-fiction books published from 1965.

His full name is Trilokeshwar Shonku, and by occupation, he is an inventor. Professor Shonku was translated into English by Sukanya Jhaveri in 1981.

GAMEWORLD TRILOGY BY SAMIT BASU

Three books, The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore’s Secret and The Unwaba Revelations, form the three parts of  The GameWorld Trilogy .

The trilogy narrates the reawakening of the terrible rakshas, Danh-Gem, and the arrival of a hero to face him.

THE RISE OF SIVAGAMI BY ANAND NEELAKANTAN

Anand Neelakantan’s  The Rise of Sivagami  is a prequel to the epic Indian movie Bahubali: The Beginning.

The story revolves around Sivagami, a character of Baahubali. It also tells the readers more about Kattappa, another important character of the story.

THE DEVOURERS BY INDRA DAS

The Devourers  is set during the reign of the Mughal Empire in the seventeenth century and extends to modern India.

It features Shape-shifters, more specifically werewolves, and explores the concepts of love, cannibalism, and what it means to be human.

It is told in a multi-layered manner, alternating between different time periods and perspectives.

DARK THINGS BY SUKANYA VENKATRAGHAVAN

Combining fantasy with the rich tapestry of folklore,  Dark Things  is a strange fairytale wrought of intrigue and enchantment, of shadows and secrets, of evil and those who battle it.

CULT OF CHAOS BY SHWETA TANEJA

Cult of Chaos  is the story of Tantriks, who are now overground. They have their own council, police and justice systems.

It narrates the story of Anantya Tantrik who struggles to stop the madness of White and Red Tantriks who are facing off, and of a Black tantric who is brewing some dangerous shakti.

SAVAGE BLUE BY VIKRAM BALAGOPAL

Savage Blue  by Vikram Balagopal is the story of two people – Akila Raina, who disappeared when she was only ten, and Shyam, who was with her that fateful night.

Now twenty years later, Akila has mysteriously reappeared, grown-up and gorgeous. She tells him of surreal worlds, her travels between them and her encounters with strange creatures.

NINE TRILOGY BY SHOBHA NIHALANI

For thousands of years, the wisdom of the  NINE  has protected mankind from destroying itself.

But a vengeful ancient spirit has returned to shatter the peace. With the help of magical powers, he has possessed a young man and mobilised black yogis to destroy the  NINE .

SKYFIRE BY AROON RAMAN

Skyfire  is set in May 2012 when India is hit by a series of freak weather disturbances and startling epidemics that threaten to bring the country to its knees.

At the same time, children are vanishing from the slums of the capital and nobody seems to care.

Now it is upon journalist Chandrasekhar, historian Meenakshi Pirzada and intelligence operative Syed Ali Hassan to follow the leads and solve the mystery.

ALICE IN DEADLAND (TRILOGY) BY MAINAK DHAR

Civilization as we know it ended more than fifteen years ago, leaving as it’s legacy barren wastelands called the Deadland and a new terror for the humans who survived- hordes of undead Biters. 

Alice in Deadland  is the story of Fifteen-year-old Alice who has spent her entire life in the Deadland learning how best to use guns and knives in the ongoing war for survival against the Biters.

Best Indian Humour Books

Serious men by manu joseph.

Serious Men  tells the story of Ayyan Mani, a middle-aged Dalit, who works as an assistant to a brilliant Brahmin astronomer at a scientific institute in Mumbai.

Furious at his humble situation in life, Ayyan develops an outrageous story that his 10-year-old son is a mathematical genius – a lie which becomes increasingly elaborate and out of control.

DORK TRILOGY BY SIDIN VADUKUT

The three books of  Dork Trilogy  are – Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese , God Save the Dork and Who Let The Dork Out?

It narrates the adventures and misadventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese; a stupendously naïve but academically gifted young man (he was ranked 41st in his class).

This trilogy is for all of those who’ve ever sat depressed in cubicles…and wanted to kill themselves with office stationery.

MRS FUNNYBONES BY TWINKLE KHANNA

Full of wit and delicious observations,  Mrs Funnybones  captures the life of the modern Indian woman — a woman who organizes dinner each evening, even as she goes to work all day, who runs her own life but has to listen to her Mummyji, who worries about her weight and the state of the country.

GONE WITH THE VINDALOO BY VIKRAM NAIR

Gone with the Vindaloo  is 2 stories running parallel – One is in the Mahadev household, where the cook Pakwaan is trying to learn cooking from his father and yearns to one day make the Vindaloo that his grandfather was most known for.

The parallel story is indeed about Pakwaan’s grandfather, Kalaam.

THE COMPETENT AUTHORITY BY SHOVON CHOWDHURY

The Competent Authority  is a satire on almost all the power circles of our country – the government, the bureaucracy, the police, the army, social workers, spiritual gurus and others.

In the 2030s, India has been nuked by the Chinese and is in a pitiable state. Pakistan ceases to exist after being bombed by the Americans.

With this backdrop, Shovon contrives a humorous story defacing the power mongers.

Best Chick-lit Novels by Indian Writers

Trust me by rajashree.

Set against the backdrop of the Hindi film industry,  Trust Me  is a comic story about love, heartbreak and friendship.

The protagonist, Parvati, decides to go off men when she is dumped by her boyfriend.

PIECE OF CAKE BY SWATI KAUSHAL

Piece of Cake  is the story of Minal who wants it all – a successful career, a lifestyle to match, and a totally cool guy who’ll buy her diamonds, bring her flowers, and laugh at her jokes.

But given the unending record of her life’s embarrassments, it’s not going to be that simple.

THE ZOYA FACTOR BY ANUJA CHAUHAN

The Zoya Factor , written in the first person, is the story of a cricket-hating ad-executive, Zoya, who is forced to become a part of the Indian cricket team, not as a player nor a cheerleader nor a physiotherapist nor a psychiatrist but as a lucky charm.

ALMOST SINGLE BY ADVAITA KALA

Almost Single , a heartfelt and wickedly funny cross-cultural debut novel, introduces a smart, irreverent young woman, Aisha Bhatia, searching for independence and matrimony in a culture-bound by tradition.

CONFESSIONS OF A LISTMANIAC BY MEENAKSHI REDDY MADHAVAN

Confessions of a Listmaniac  is the story of seventeen-year-old Layla who knows that journal writing is way retro but thinks, why not recreate the whole blog thing in a notebook?

Layla’s journal entries often morph into quirky lists that record her observations on her life and times.

I QUIT! NOW WHAT? BY ZARREEN KHAN

I Quit! Now What?  is the story of a marketing professional Nimisha, who after having worked 7 years with her current company, is still not treated the way she deserves to be treated and that makes her upset.

ENCOUNTERS OF A FAT BRIDE BY SAMAH VISARIA

Encounters of a Fat Bride  is the story of Madhurima Pandey, a twenty-five-year-old single girl who is gradually coming to terms with the annoying ‘you’re next’ nudges from family and friends.

But soon they realize that chances of finding a groom for her are slim – mainly because she’s not.

At 93 kilos, she knows she isn’t the ideal weight for marriage, even if her family believes she’s the ideal age.

Best Biographies and Memoirs by Indians

The story of my experiments with truth by mahatma gandhi.

The Story Of My Experiments with Truth  is the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921.

It was written in weekly instalments and published in his journal Navjivan from 1925 to 1929. The English translation was done by Mahadev Desai.

PLAYING IT MY WAY BY SACHIN TENDULKAR

Playing It My Way  is the autobiography of the God of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.

The book summarises Tendulkar’s early days, his 24 years of international career and aspects of his life that have not been shared publicly.

MY DAYS: A MEMOIR BY RK NARAYAN

In My Days: A Memoir , R.K. Narayan in his usual winning, humorous style, shares his life story, beginning in his grandmother’s garden in Madras with his ferocious pet peacock.

LONE FOX DANCING: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY RUSKIN BOND

In this brilliantly readable autobiography,  Lone Fox Dancing , one of India’s greatest writers shows us the roots of everything he has written.

He begins with a dream and a gentle haunting, before taking us to an idyllic childhood in Jamnagar by the Arabian Sea, where he composed his first poem, and New Delhi in the early 1940s, where he found material for his first short story.

WINGS OF FIRE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY A. P. J. ABDUL KALAM

In  Wings of Fire: An Autobiography , A. P. J. Abdul Kalam examines his early life, effort, hardship, fortitude, luck and chance that eventually led him to lead Indian space research, nuclear and missile programs.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI BY PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA

Autobiography of a Yogi  presents a fascinating portrait of one of the great spiritual figures of our time.

With engaging candour, eloquence, and wit, Paramahansa Yogananda narrates the inspiring chronicle of his life.

Recorded here are his meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank, the Catholic stigmatist Therese Neumann, and other celebrated spiritual personalities of East and West.

THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER BY SANJAYA BARU

The Accidental Prime Minister  is a 2014 memoir by Sanjaya Baru, who was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media advisor from May 2004 to August 2008.

The book alleges that Manmohan was not entirely in control of his cabinet, or even the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Instead, significant power was wielded by the Congress party’s president Sonia Gandhi.

OUR MOON HAS BLOOD CLOTS: THE EXODUS OF THE KASHMIRI PANDITS BY RAHUL PANDITA

The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists.

But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried. 

Our Moon Has Blood Clots  is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants.

RAJINIKANTH: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY BY NAMAN RAMACHANDRAN

Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography  recounts Rajini’s career in meticulous detail, tracing his incredible cinematic journey from his very first film, Apoorva Raagangal, in 1975 to memorable forays into Bollywood to the mega-hits.

Along the way, the book provides rare insights into Rajini’s personal life.

VEERAPPAN: CHASING THE BRIGAND BY K. VIJAY KUMAR

No other bandit in recent times has captured the public’s imagination as much as Koose Muniswamy Veerappan.

Be it his trademark moustache, stories of his daring escapades or his ruthless massacre of officers, Veerappan continues to fascinate, even thirteen years after his death. 

Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand  is a lucid and incisive account of the rise and fall of India’s most dreaded forest brigand.

Best Indian Self-Help Books

The monk who sold his ferrari by robin sharma.

A wonderfully crafted fable,  The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari  tells the extraordinary story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life.

On a life-changing odyssey to an ancient culture, he discovers powerful, wise, and practical lessons that give us the wisdom to create a life of passion, purpose, and peace.

WHO WILL CRY WHEN YOU DIE? BY ROBIN SHARMA

In  Who Will Cry When You Die? , Robin Sharma offers 101 simple solutions to life’s most complex problems, ranging from a little-known method for beating stress and worry, to a powerful way to enjoy the journey while you create a legacy that lasts.

YOU CAN WIN BY SHIV KHERA

In  You Can Win , Shiv Khera reveals that all success is deliberate and there is nothing magical about winning.

Using common sense and varying lessons taken from ancient wisdom to modern philosophy, he shows how we can deal with issues of our daily lives, and how we can turn otherwise bad situations into good ones.

INNER ENGINEERING: A YOGI’S GUIDE TO JOY BY SADHGURU

In  Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy , Sadhguru presents readers with a path to achieving absolute well-being through the classical science of yoga.

It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy.

CHANAKYA’S 7 SECRETS OF LEADERSHIP BY RADHAKRISHNAN PILLAI

Chanakya’s 7 Secrets of Leadership  puts forth a model for leadership drawn from the teachings of Chanakya who lived in the 4th Century BC, was prime minister and guru to one of India’s most powerful and successful emperors.

13 STEPS TO BLOODY GOOD LUCK BY ASHWIN SANGHI

In  13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck , Ashwin Sanghi explores that critical, much-longed-for element called luck.

Through entertaining and informative anecdotes, narrations of personal experiences and vignettes of homespun wisdom, Ashwin gives us a whole new insight into how people can work towards being lucky.

THE HABIT OF WINNING BY PRAKASH IYER

In  The Habit of Winning , you’ll find stories that can change the way you think, work, live.

Stories about leadership and teamwork, self-belief and perseverance. Life lessons from cola wars and cricket, Olympic heroes and ordinary folks.

THE WELLNESS SENSE BY OM SWAMI

Expounding on the esoteric aspects of ancient wisdom, in simple terms,  The Wellness Sense  shows you how to take care of yourself better and how to lead a healthier life in our present world — a world where we have all the comforts yet we are restless.

We have organic breakfast on the table but no time to eat it, we have the comfiest mattress but little sleep.

Best Indian Books on Travel and Places

Around india in 80 trains by monisha rajesh.

Taking a page out of Jules Verne’s classic tale, Around the World in 80 Days , Monisha Rajesh embarked on a 40,000km adventure  Around India in 80 trains .

Travelling a distance equivalent to the circumference of the Earth, she lifted the veil on a country that had become a stranger to her.

WHEN THE ROAD BECKONS BY RAVI MANORAM

When the Road Beckons  is an inspiring odyssey that promises to transform a generation.

Caught in the inescapable hurricane of life, the protagonist decides to snap out of the everyday mendacity and go on a 4000 km motorbike journey across Ladakh.

FOLLOWING FISH: TRAVELS AROUND THE INDIAN COAST BY SAMANTH SUBRAMANIAN

In a coastline as long and diverse as India’s, fish inhabit the heart of many worlds — food of course, but also culture, commerce, sport, history and society.

In  Following Fish , journeying along the edge of the peninsula, Samanth Subramanian reports upon a kaleidoscope of extraordinary stories.

HOT TEA ACROSS INDIA BY RISHAD SAAM MEHTA

There’s not a highway, road or dirt track in India where you can’t find a cup of chai whenever you want it.

And with those cuppas come encounters and incidents that make travelling in India a fascinating adventure.

In  Hot Tea Across India , Rishad takes you across the length and breadth of India, from Manali to Munnar, from the Rann of Kutch to Khajuraho, with a wonderful combination of wit, sensitivity and insight.

BATTLEFIELDS & PARADISE BY SABIR HUSSAIN

Battlefields and Paradise  is a travelogue in which the author writes about his trip from Delhi to Turtuk which is India’s northernmost point on the LoC.

On his journey, he rides a very ordinary bike, travels solo, engages in passionate talks with ordinary Kashmiris while learning about their daily lives and a bit or two about the politics of the state.

BUTTER CHICKEN IN LUDHIANA: TRAVELS IN SMALL TOWN INDIA BY PANKAJ MISHRA

In  Butter Chicken in Ludhiana , Pankaj Mishra captures an India which has shrugged off its sleepy, socialist air and has become instead kitschy, clamorous and ostentatious.

Pankaj paints a vivid picture of a people rushing headlong to their tryst with modernity.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO GANGA BY RUSKIN BOND

The Ganges is a river which has held India’s heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history.

In  All Roads Lead to Ganga , Ruskin Bond captures the breathtaking beauty and splendour of Ganga, describing with nostalgia and affection the places and people he has lived with and encountered for over forty years.

THE HEAT AND DUST PROJECT BY DEVAPRIYA ROY

Saurav and Devapriya junk the swivel chairs, gain a couple of backpacks and set out on a transformational journey across India.

On a very, very tight budget: five hundred rupees a day for bed and board. And  The Heat and Dust Project  begins.

IF IT’S MONDAY IT MUST BE MADURAI BY SRINATH PERUR

This entertaining travelogue around ten conducted tours contains myriad riches: of hanging on to a camel in the Thar; rediscovering music on the trail of Kabir; joining an ancient pilgrimage, and hunting for sex in Tashkent.

THE LAND OF FLYING LAMAS BY GAURAV PUNJ

Beyond the hill stations, the mall roads and the ‘points’ is the ‘other Himalaya’ – a Himalaya where flowers bloom in the green rolling meadows, the streams are bubbly, no-pedal boats ply in the lakes, the glaciers can be felt and the passes crossed to more magical lands –  The Land of Flying Lamas .

We hope that you liked this list of the best English Novels by Indian Authors.

Other lists in this series:

75 of the Most Famous Indian Writers

11 Apps and Websites to Read Free Books Online

A Short Quiz on Books by Indian Authors

Rajmohan’s Wife by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay in 1864

The Travels of Dean Mahomet by Sake Dean Mahomed in 1794. It was not a novel but an autobiographical

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

1. The Guide by R.K. Narayan; 2. Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan; 3. The Private Life of an Indian Prince by Mulk Raj Anand; 4. Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand; 5. Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh; 6. Godan by Munshi Premchand; 7. The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond; 8. The Complete Adventures of Feluda by Satyajit Ray; 9. Combat of Shadows by Manohar Malgonkar; 10. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad C. Chaudhuri

The Pulitzer Prize is only given to Americans. The Indian-Americans who have won the Pulitzer for writing are: 1. Jhumpa Lahiri for her short story collection Interpreter of Maladies in the year 2000; 2. Siddhartha Mukherjee for his book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer in the year 2011; 3. Vijay Seshadri for his collection of poems 3 Sections in the year 2014

1. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy in 1997; 2. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai in 2006; 3. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga in 2008

Well, it’s not the US. The answer is INDIA. According to the NOP World Culture Score Index, India is the country that reads the most. An average Indian reads for 10 hours 42 minutes per week.

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About the Author

Father to Ahaana. Husband to Mayuri. Co-founder at bookGeeks. Engineer at BMM.

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Bhutan’s drukyul’s literature & arts festival to be back this august, spiritual novels: 7 best spiritual fiction books, swami vivekananda books | a list of 28 best books, related articles, kozhikode becomes india’s first unesco ‘city of literature’.

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10 Best Biographies of Indian Personalities You Should Read

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Famous person biographies are always a source of inspiration. The biographies will inform you about the controversies and dark sides of a person you may not be familiar with. Some people write biographies to dispel myths about themselves, while others seek to provoke criticism. Here is a list of the best biographies of Indian personalities that you should definitely sit down and read.

Also read: 15 Best Biographies and Autobiography Books for your TBR List

1. The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of The Genius Ramanujan – Robert Kanigel

Source: Wikipedia

A Life of the Genius: The Man Who Knew Infinity –  Robert Kanigel wrote Ramanujan, a biography of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, in 1991. The book details his upbringing in India, as well as his mathematical accomplishments and collaboration with mathematician G. H. Hardy.

2. Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India – Joseph Lelyveld

In this biography of the many biographies of Mahatma Gandhi, Lelyveld has attempted to present a very unbiased and rooted Gandhi in flesh and bones. Gandhi appears in this biography more as a human and less as a God. It was interpreted as a way of presenting Gandhi in a “ perverse ” manner which in fact was a misinterpretation of an honest writeup.

3. Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan – Shrabani Basu

“Spy Princess,” tells the story of Noor’s life from birth to death, using information from her family, friends, witnesses, and official documents, including recently released personal files of SOE operatives. It’s the story of a young woman who lived with grace, beauty, courage, and determination, and who bravely gave up her life in the service of her ideals. “Liberte” was her final word.

4. The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani – Hamish McDonald

The Australian author wrote this biography of Dhirubhai Ambani, his struggles, and his journey towards success. Apparently, this book hurt the sentiments of the Ambani family and could never be published in India. It is still considered one of the most interesting biographies written about an Indian personality.

5. Beyond the Last Blue Mountain – R. M. Lala

An in-depth and unforgettable portrait of India’s most illustrious and revered industrialist. This superb biography, written with J.R.D. Tata’s cooperation, tells J.R.D.’s story from birth to 1993, the year he died in Switzerland. This biography is a must-read thus making its way on to our list of best biographies of Indian personalities.

6. Vivekananda: A Biography – Swami Nikhilananda

Swami Vivekananda’s (1863 – 1902) vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture, deep spiritual insight, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, and colourful personality are presented in this engrossing biography. Swami Vivekananda, India’s first spiritual and cultural ambassador to the West, preached Vedanta’s universal message: the Godhead’s non-duality, the soul’s divinity, the oneness of existence, and religious harmony. Swami Vivekananda’s life is chronicled in this 256-page book, which includes 28 photographs and an appendix with Swami’s most important teachings.

7. Nani A. Palkhivala: A life – M V Kamath

Nanabhoy Palkhivala’s life is chronicled in this biography. He was a staunch supporter of civil liberties, a foresighted economist, and a renowned lawyer. M.V. Kamath depicts all facets of this charismatic personality in this detailed book. Interviews, letters, and archival material from a variety of reliable sources are used to compile this comprehensive book. Before writing this book, Kamath conducted extensive research into Nani’s life, as evidenced by the large amount of information intertwined with the biography. While the book provides details about specific events in Nani’s life, it also highlights Indian history that was relevant to those events, providing context.

8.   Karmayogi: A Biography of E. Sreedharan – M.S. Ashokan

Source: Wikibio

Sreedharan’s years with the Railways, the construction of the Kolkata Metro and the Konkan Railway, followed by the Delhi Metro, and the many metro projects he is currently involved with are all chronicled in this fascinating book. This is the uplifting story of a very private person who has become an icon of modern India because of his uncompromising work ethic, adapted from a bestselling Malayalam biography.

9. Indra Nooyi – A Biography –  Annapoorna

The life of Indra Nooyi is chronicled in Indra Nooyi: A Biography. Her life is chronicled in the book, from her early years in Chennai to her struggles to make a name for herself in the corporate world. It chronicles her journey from the time she moved to the United States, married, and rose steadily to her current position as CEO of the world’s second-largest food and beverage company. Rajpal published Indra Nooyi: A Biography as a paperback in 2013.

10.  Kalpana Chawla: A Life –  Anil Padmanabhan

Kalpana Chawla, who was born into a conservative family in a Haryana provincial town, aspired to be a star. She became the first PBI – Indian woman to travel to space, and even more remarkably, to travel twice, through sheer hard work, indomitable intelligence, and immense faith in herself. Journalist Anil Padmanabhan interviews people who knew her family and friends at Karnal, as well as NASA colleagues, to create a moving portrait of a woman whose life was a shining affirmation that if you have a dream, you can achieve it no matter how difficult it is.

These were some of the best biographies of Indian personalities that one should read in order to gain a better understanding of famous people, history, and various unjust social practises.

I am a writer and an athlete. I spend my mornings drinking a hot cup of coffee and working out. Being a perfectionist, I also indulge in immense self-criticism.

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Aug 24, 2024

8 Indian-origin authors who are famous around the world

Famous authors.

Today, India is shining globally with its art, culture, writing, and much more. Here we mention 8 Indian-origin authors who are read widely across the globe.

Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is a celebrated Indian author known for his insightful writings on history, culture, and the environment.

amitav_ghosh1/Instagram

​Amish Tripathi

Amish Tripathi was the author who started a new era of mytho-fiction writing and reading in India. His ‘Shiva Trilogy’ was a super hit among the Indian and international audiences and the storytelling was simply immaculate.

authoramish/Instagram

​Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat and his novels have a different grip on young adults and teenagers. And the charm of his writing isn’t limited to India. Bhagat has fans in India and abroad and is read widely by people.

chetanbhagat/Instagram

​Arundhati Roy

The author of ‘The God of Small Things’, Roy also reached her global stage when she won the Booker Prize in 1997 and became the first female Indian author to be awarded.

arundhatiroyfc/Instagram

​Anita Desai

Anita Desai, the author of the famous book ‘Clear Light of Day’ is famous for her sensitive and emotional portrayals of the lives of women. She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize thrice.

Ulf-Andersen/Getty

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​salman rushdie.

Salman Rushdie is a famous name in Indian and international literary circles. His fame is both positive and troubled owing to his book ‘Satanic Verses’. His most recent novel ‘Knife’ is a memoir much loved by his audience.

SalmanRushdie/X

​Aravind Adiga

When people in literary circles hear ‘White Tiger’, they instantly connect the name to Aravind Adiga. He is a successful author and is known far and wide for his flow of writing and presenting pressing topics with a sense of relatability.

AravindAdiga/X

Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor, the man with the name ‘India’s Shakespeare’ is not just a famous politician, but also an acclaimed author. He has written about history, politics, culture, and much more. ‘Why Am I a Hindu’ remains one of his most famous novels.

Thanks For Reading!

Next: 8 opening quotes from books that feel sad and haunting at the same time

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The Indian Authors platform is all about the Indians who write. You will read about Indian poets, novelists, non-fiction authors and literary personalities. We write about any Indian who has made a significant or even a little but important contribution to the ongoing idea of Indian Literature. Languages, region and philosophy may be different but one thing that remains common among the Indian authors is their will to contribute the best they can to the progress of an idea called India. We will celebrate their will and we will bring to light their contributions.

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