There’s nothing like good ol’ rain and a nice book that you cosy up with for the afternoon. But with a million recommendations, how do you know which ones are right fit for you and your chai? Here is The Bombay Circle Press’ list of books famous in India for their monsoon reads with a cup of chai.
- Eternally Single, Rosa Álvarez by Neerja Pawar
Rosa Álvarez leads two lives.
One is deceptively normal. A respectable physiotherapist living in Los Angeles: the city of fish tacos and famous bigwigs. She works hard at her job, loves living the single life, and has a trip home to Mexico at the very top of her priority list.
The other is her mother’s worst nightmare.
For one, the first is a lie. She does love her job, but its uniqueness would put any good chick flick to shame. She hasn’t been on a date in five years, at least, not any good ones. And she will do anything to avoid a trip to her sleepy hometown.
But when a notorious man from her past shows up in LA, Rosa’s secret life starts unravelling. There’s also the matter of the really annoying actor (who just so happens to be annoyingly good-looking) she keeps bumping into whom she cannot seem to shake off.
- The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond
In exchange for her lucky leopard’s claw pendant, Binya acquires a beautiful blue umbrella that makes her the envy of everyone in the village, especially Ram Bharosa, the shopkeeper. It is the prettiest umbrella in the whole village and she carries it everywhere she goes.
The Blue Umbrella is a short and humorous novella set in the hills of Garhwal. Written in simple yet witty language, it captures life in a village—where ordinary characters become heroic, and others find opportunities to redeem themselves.
- Ishqiya by Multiple Authors
A woman as intoxicating as the flower she’s named after.
A man on a journey to put his loved one to rest.
A life-changing train ride during the Bombay monsoons.
Indians believe size matters. We do everything big—from our bhaturas and jalebis, to our statues and stadiums. So why should our love be any different? Ishqiya is a collection of eight bold and heartwarming stories about love, lust, and everything in between.
- Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written—that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers.
In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In A Choice of Accommodations, a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In Only Goodness, a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had, is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in Hema and Kaushik, a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.
There’s a special place in our hearts for these famous books in India. Not only are they the perfect read, one in particular takes you back to your childhood. If you liked our list of books famous in India for their monsoon reads, check out our breezy summer reading list recommendation.