INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE WINNER 2022 – Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka – winner of Booker Prize for Fiction 2022
M Is for Mummy by Katy Cox
BESTSELLERS OF 2021 – Make the most of the Great Indian Festival!
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach – one of the most inspiring reads – makes the perfect gift! All of Richard Bach’s books are worth reading and owning.
Tuesdays With Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson – most gifted book around!
A Man Called Ove – Bhavneet and many of our members loved this must have! To quote her:
My heart melted with every single incidence. His character kept shaping up till the last word of the last chapter. From a bitter oldie to the large hearted grandpa, I fell in love with him. And it reminded me time and again, not to a judge anyone by the outlook. There is always depth to each human.
Anxious People: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller from the author of A Man Called Ove – “Funny and unpredictable” says Asha’s 23 yo nephew who is an avid reader!
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards And Apologies by Fredrik Backman
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (Mahima gifted this to Asha)
RECENT BOOKS ON EVERYONE’S TBR LIST!
The Maid: A gripping read in mystery books, the hotly-anticipated debut for 2022 and an instant Sunday Times Top 5 bestseller
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid. In case you haven’t read any of his previous books, you can find them all here.
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: The phenomenal Korean bestseller recommended by BTS
SOME OF THE BOOKS THAT OUR MEMBERS ARE GIFTING EACH OTHER FOR SECRET SANTA
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens. Must must read. The movie is incredible as well. Bestseller indeed!
She Erased Her by Himanshu Rai
The Last Mrs Parrish: A gripping, addictive psychological suspense thriller with a shocking twist – a Reese Witherspoon pick!
Man’s Search For Meaning
You Can Heal Your Life
Three Cups Of Tea
One in a Million: Heartwarming and uplifting, the perfect feelgood, funny romantic read
The Guest List: From the author of The Hunting Party, the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and prize winning mystery thriller in 2021
The Last Thing He Told Me: The No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
The Choice: A true story of hope by Edith Eger
The Pact We Made: LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHOR’S CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD
The Dalai Lama’s Cat: A Novel
The Gifts of Imperfection
Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking: The Science of Indian Cooking – the bestseller on food, the definitive book for every Indian kitchen,
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh. A Partition book Asha has read many a time.
Some books that we are intrigued by…
Luckiest Girl Alive: Now a major Netflix film starring Mila Kunis
Riding Pillion with George Clooney: And Other Stories
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel – Bhavneet has this one and enjoyed it thoroughly!
A scintillating tale of the most popular Hollywood actress Evelyn Hugo. Her scandalous multiple weddings and even more her controversial love life. Behind all that glam and fame, there is a fighter, there is a girl who knows life is never black and white, there is headstrong woman who knows what she wants and will make it happen. And now at 80 year old, she wants the world to know her real self. She hires Monique from the Vivant magazine to share her story. This could lifetime opportunity for Vivant and Monique. Monique is junior writer, not even qualified even to write the story. When Evelyn asked for her specifically, it shocked everyone, specially Monique.
I went through all the turbulence of emotions with Monique while Evelyn was going through her life journey and when the climax reached, I got goosebumps.This book kept me on the edge till I finished it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. There is no amount of review that could justify the novel.
A Woman is No Man: an emotional and gripping New York Times best selling debut novel
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel
Yuval Noah Harari Box Set (Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for 21st Century)
Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
The Zanzibar Wife
All of Deborah Rodriguez’ books intrigue us!
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Tales from the Cafe: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Persepolis
Bizarre Romance
Ghostly: A Collection of Ghost Stories
Crying in H Mart – One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2021
My Mother’s Lover and Other Stories by Sumana Roy
Missing: What happens when a wife goes missing. by Sumana Roy
The Cat People by Devapriya Roy
The Book Of Dog edited by Hemali Sodhi
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
The Song Of The Cell: An Exploration Of Medicine And The New Human
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
AN EDUCATED WOMAN IN PROSTITUTION
THRILLERS/CRIME
Girl A: The Sunday Times and New York Times global best seller
The Woman in the Window:
The Silent Patient
The Girl on the Train:
Gone Girl
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Dan Brown books
Robert Ludlum books
James Patterson books
Alex Cross Run (James Patterson)
Agatha Christie books
Agatha Christie – The World’s Favourite: And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Dead Men Tell Tales: The Memoir of a Police Surgeon
FICTION
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Stationery Shop of Tehran
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Mountains Sing
The Henna Artist: A Novel: 1 (Jaipur Trilogy) by Alka Joshi
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World: by Elif Shafak SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
Elif Shafak’s books are always on the current reading list of many of our avid reader members!
FUNNY BOOKS
Sue Townsend books (the Adrian Mole series is very popular)
P.G. Wodehouse books – Jeeves’ sense of humour is legendary!
The Adventures of Tintin is evergreen and hence being included here!
UPDATE: Asha visited her mom in-law in Diwali 2021 and decided to share some of her incredible collection here!
Indian authors:
She has quite a lot of books by Amitav Ghosh (even Asha does!):
Gun Island: A Novel
Sea of Poppies
The Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery
She has some books by Neel Mukherjee:
The Lives of Others (Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014)
A State of Freedom
The Emperor Of All Maladies: A Biography Of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee (winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
Other bestsellers/award winning books/nominees she has:
The Only Story by Julian Barnes (The Sunday Times Bestseller)
Looking For Alaska by John Green
The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
The Pagoda Tree by Claire Scobie
About Grace by Anthony Doerr
Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks (The Sunday Times Bestseller)
Actress by Anne Enright (LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE)
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo (A GUARDIAN ‘ONE TO LOOK OUT FOR 2020’) – Asha read a review somewhere and it’s a must must must read!!!!!
Circe by Madeline Miller (Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019)
Death Of A River Guide by Richard Flanagan (FROM THE WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014)
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid (Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize)
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017)
Less by Andrew Sean Greer (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2018)
The Return: Fathers, Sons And The Land In Between by Hisham Matar (WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY)
The Corset: Victim Or Villain? Mad Or A Murderer? by Laura Purcell (from the prize-winning author of The Silent Companions)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Last Train To London by Meg Waite Clayton
White Chrysanthemum: Two Sisters, One Soldier, No Escape by Mary Lynn Bracht (Winner of the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Debut Novel)
When Breath Becomes Air THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
Half of a Yellow Sun: The Women’s Prize for Fiction’s ‘Winner of Winners’
Other genres our members are reading…
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
You’re stuck with me for life! by Venuka Goyal (has interesting reviews on amazon)
Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley
Written in the Stars by Divya Anand (kbc member too!)
Colleen Hoover’s books
MYTHOLOGY
Devdutt Pattanaik’s books – NEW RELEASE MARCH 2024 – Sati Savitri
The Mahabharata Secret
Harappa – Curse of the Blood River
Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple (Harappa)
Pralay: The Great Deluge (Harappa)
The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret
The Secret of the Druids (Mahabharata Quest Series Book 2)
Valmiki’s Women
The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattnaik
The Liberation of Sita (PERENNIAL 10) by Volga
Yashodhara: A Novel by Volga
HISTORICAL FICTION
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s books
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
NON FICTION/REAL STORIES
THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES by Siddhartha Mukherjee. More from this renowned author:
The Song of the Cell : An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
The Gene : An Intimate History
Letters to Self by Narendra Modi (Fingerprint Publishing)
Narendra Modi books
BUSINESS BOOKS
Build (Lead Title): An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Play It Right: The Man Who Beat the Odds on Wall Street
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future (With a special Epilogue for India) by Indra K. Nooyi
Titan: Inside India’s Most Successful Consumer Brand by Vinay Kamath.
#Tatastories: 40 Timeless Tales to Inspire You by Harish Bhat. (asha’s dad is reading this)
Broke to Breakthrough: The Rise of India’s Largest Private Dairy Company
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks by Alok Kejriwal (disclaimer – author is asha’s close friend)
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES/BIOGRAPHIES
Educated: The international bestselling memoir – acclaimed and Rashi says it’s a must read for all of our members!
BECOMING – by Michelle Obama
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
It’s Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
COFFEE TABLE BOOKS
Portrait of Rajasthan (Portrait of Series)
The Best of RK Laxman – The Common Man Series (paperback)
Great Paintings: The World’s Masterpieces Explored and Explained (DK)
Books on Van Gogh’s Art
Photographs from the Edge: A Master Photographer’s Insights on Capturing an Extraordinary World
SELF-HELP
Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
Courage To Be Disliked, The: How to free yourself, change your life and achieve real happiness (Courage To series)
The Courage to be Happy : True Contentment Is Within Your Power
List Happy: 75 Lists for Happiness, Gratitude, and Wellbeing – asha has ordered this one for herself!
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. All of Dale Carnegie’s books come highly recommended.
The Introvert’s Edge to Networking : Work the Room. Leverage Social Media. Develop Powerful Connections by Mathew Pollard
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg – it’s been quoted as “the wisest book on grief” which the author wrote after she lost her husband.
Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever
Make Your Bed: Feel grounded and think positive in 10 simple steps Bhavneet has this book!
The 48 Laws Of Power (The Modern Machiavellian Robert Greene, 1) Shreya Jain recommends this.
If you have ever wondered why not the kindest, smartest, most hardworking, polite and generous people advance the most in professional or social setup, this book is a great read. Not for the faint hearted though. Even if you don’t want to follow these rules as they may seem immoral and not agreeing with your conscience, it is good to recognise the power plays we may be faced with in life.
SPIRITUALITY
NEW RELEASE: Unburden: A Book of Joyous Awakenings by Nithya Shanti
Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman’s Quest for Enlightenment
The Cave: An Internet Entrepreneur’s Spiritual Journey (disclaimer – author is asha’s close friend!)
Hinduism Beyond Ritualism by Vineet Agarwal Seema Ambi has shared a detailed review in the group. Excerpts from it:
Two chapters really caught my attention: Dance and Music, and Feminine Energy. The author has very well explained the concepts of vocal music and instrumental music along with seven shrutis (shruti means to listen): sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni-sa. The Indian dance form, the Natyshastra is also mentioned with the importance of mudras (hand gestures). There is a movie in Kannada called Aanand Bhairavi and since then I wanted to know more about Indian classical music and dance. This book gives me the exact information that I was searching for.I always wondered in an Indian male-dominated society why we worship goddesses. And I got my answer here. In Hinduism energy means feminine, the Prakriti that is procreation and the Purusha, purely depends on this feminine energy. The author has mentioned many stories.
It’s all in one book where your search ends. The search on Hinduism, the search on spirituality, and the search on the concept of Veda and Upanishads.
Youth and Truth: Unplug with Sadhguru & Flowers on the Path (recommended by Shraddha)
Sadhguru books recommended by Tejaswi : Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny | Spirituality, Self-improvement & Self help books by Sadhguru
Death; An Inside Story: A book for all those who shall die by Sadguru: Spiritual Book that talks about life’s amazing secret, Motivational Book for transformation, Non-fiction.
Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy
Enlightenment: What It Is (In The Presence of the Master Book 1) Kindle Edition
Pebbles Of Wisdom
Eternal Echoes: A Book of Poems:
Mystic’s Musings recommended by Komal Garg
ART/COLOURING
Exotic Kingdom: An Inspiring Coloring Book – This book has brought out the budding artist in Bhavneet!
NEW RELEASES!
A COUNTRY CALLED CHILDHOOD: A Memoir by Deepti Naval
Love Unsolicited: Love doesn’t come easy by our very own kbc member SNEHLATA AGARWALA. [Also available on KINDLE.]
Synopsis (shared by author):
Mahi, a small-town girl, finds herself falling for the campus heartthrob, Vivaan.
Vivaan, who loves his image as the Casanova of the college, has difficulty keeping his feelings in check where Mahi is concerned.
Falling hopelessly in love, they decide to tie the knot once they accomplish their dreams. But destiny has other plans, and Mahi is forced into an arranged marriage with Aryan, the Collector and most eligible bachelor of her town. Will Mahi accept Aryan as her fate, or will she take destiny into her own hands?
Set in India, ‘Love Unsolicited’ is a beautiful story of love, friendship, jealousy, and relationships. It will make you believe that though love doesn’t come easy, it always finds its way.
A Second Cup of Tea (kindle) – an anthology by the HIVE which features stories by kbc members Priya Sood and Anshu Bhojnagarwala! This is the sequel to Tea with a drop of Honey.
Chemical Khichdi: How I Hacked My Mental Health by Aparna Piramal Raje
The 7 Sins of Being a Mother by Tahira Kashyap Khuranna
JOURNALS
Journaling is an art that is back with a bang. There are many many kinds of Journals for Adults available based on different themes. Gratitude journals are bestsellers.
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
