The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

20.2 - Rookie at the Top - Insiyah's Task: Going Back to India

Since 2008, I've routinely gone to India at least once a year, and the frequency of my trips have only increased in later years. My last trip was ended in January 2020, and trips after that were cancelled as Covid-19 put a halt on all international travel. Since then, August 2021 is the first time I've gotten to go to India since, and my oh my did it feel good.

This is a one book task. Your book must be above 300 pages.

Read a book set at least 50% in India that was written by an author born in India. Areas that are currently recognised as Indian territory will work. Places that were previously recognised as Indian, but are not currently Indian territory will not work. (Eg. While Lahore was previously Indian territory, it now is in Pakistan, and thus does not meet the task requirements.)

Required: If the setting or author's birthplace is not clearly indicated in the book description/metadata and the author's Goodreads author page, provide a reference when you post to verify location.

Authors that make the cut


Salman Rushdie
Rohinton Mistry
Megha Majumdar
Deepa Anappara
Anita Desai
Kiran Desai
Farahad Zama
Chetan Bhagat
Ravinder Singh
Amish Tripathi
Vikas Swarup
Aravind Adiga
Vikram Seth
Arundhati Roy
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Manjiri Prabhu
Alka Joshi
Indu Sundaresan
M.M. Kaye
Diksha Basu
Anitha Perinchery

You may want to check out the India Shelf for books you may find yourself interested in.

This thread is now open!

do you have any recommendations? most of the authors I'm finding on best indian fiction lists were not actually born in India....

Dee wrote: "do you have any recommendations? most of the authors I'm finding on best indian fiction lists were not actually born in India...."

Here are some suggestions. The authors were all born in India, and I know these particular books are set in India:

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
A Burning by Megha Majumdar
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

On the lighter side:
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

I have found Q & A Vikas Swarup as another suggestion

Aravind Adiga is great too

Both work :)

I am surprised to find that my regional library system has Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. I will be reading that one.

Sonali Dev is listed as being born in India. She writes Jane Austen Retellings:
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Recipe for Persuasion
Incense and Sensibility

A couple others I found:

The White Tiger (some editions are 300+ pages, some are not)

A Fine Balance

TraceyL wrote: "Sonali Dev is listed as being born in India. She writes Jane Austen Retellings:
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Recipe for Persuasion
[book:Ince..."

Make sure that these are set in India as well, because they seem to mainly be set in California.

TraceyL wrote: "Sonali Dev is listed as being born in India. She writes Jane Austen Retellings:
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Recipe for Persuasion
[book:Ince..."

but none of them are set in India as far as I can tell - not to hit the 50% mark...she was one of my first considerations

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi was good. I'll be reading the sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, for this task.

Years ago I read The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan. I had expected it to be light chick-lit type of book, but it was more serious and involved in the history of the region than I had expected. I might reread it for this task. I've forgotten a lot of it, unfortunately! She wrote sequels, too.

Dee wrote: "TraceyL wrote: "Sonali Dev is listed as being born in India. She writes Jane Austen Retellings:
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
[book:Recipe for Persuasion|5269..."

Oh, duh. Silly me.

Insiyah wrote: "If you're into romance novels, I would recommend checking out Ravinder Singh and going from there. Chetan Bhagat is a bestselling novelist in India as well, though pe..."

Thanks for the recommendation Insiyah - unfortunately it looks like all of Ravinder Singh's books are under 300 pages.

Amy wrote: "The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi was good. I'll be reading the sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, for this task."

Amy wrote: "The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi was good. I'll be reading the sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, for this task."

Kicking myself for reading both of those already lol!

Try these:

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Both authors were born in India, both books are set in India, and most (if not all) editions of both books are over 300 pages.

If anyone is looking for a cozy mystery Manjiri Prabhu has a series that will work. I haven't read anything by her, but I'm planning on reading The Cosmic Clues for this task. Her wiki page shows her birth in India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manjiri...

Both The Far Pavillions, Volume 2 and Shadow of the Moon by M.M. Kaye will work for this.

There are probably others she wrote that are set in India as well.

I've found Destination Wedding by Diksha Basu!, set at a wedding in India, and the author is originally from New Delhi, and most editions are over 300 pages. Looks like most of her other work is set in India too.

please can i have One Monsoon in Mumbai
by Anitha Perinchery approved

A google search brings up this "Born and raised in India, Anitha moved to the United States in 1999 to complete her Internship and Fellowship in New York"

GR insists on banning links

Marie (UK) wrote: "please can i have One Monsoon in Mumbai
by Anitha Perinchery approved

A google search brings up this Born and raised in India, Anitha moved to the United States..."

Approved :)

Insiyah wrote: "Marie (UK) wrote: "please can i have One Monsoon in Mumbai
by Anitha Perinchery approved

A google search brings up this Born and raised in India, Anitha moved t..."

thanks

Can you confirm that Kashmir is currently Indian territory?

Death In Kashmir

Hi :)

My apologies for the late reply - the notification seems to have gotten lost. Yes, the book works since Gulmarg is in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Happy reading!

Thanks.

Does The Hungry Tide work? It is off the coast of India

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

Robin P wrote: "Does The Hungry Tide work? It is off the coast of India

GR description -
Off the easternmost corner of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as..."

Unfortunately, this book will not work - the GR setting says "Sundarbans (Bangladesh)".

Insiyah wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Does The Hungry Tide work? It is off the coast of India

GR description -
Off the easternmost corner of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny ..."

Ok, I first assumed it would be in India because of the author but I see that setting now, thanks.

Does anyone know if Sea of Poppies would count? The location on GR is India/Calcutta, but the description says part of it is at sea and part in Canton, China. Is it at least 50% in India, or is the sea in the book Indian territory?

I think you can safely go for it :) Enjoy the book!

Cool, thank you!