Amitav Ghosh – Flood of Fire

The opium war story continues to be deftly shaped by a master storyteller. It provides a terrific insight into a time and place in Indian history.

Atul Gawande – Being Mortal

The story of growing old is deeply felt, and touchingly told, and asks the essential question of doctors: what do you do when the treatment hurts, rather than helps, an aging patient?

Sunjeev Sahota – The Year of the Runaways

Shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker. A sprawling story of 13 young men escaping from an Indian past and looking for a new life in England.

Mindy Kaling – Why Not Me?

A hilarious, tongue-in-cheek look at beauty, weight, relationships and other angst matters

Anuradha Roy – Sleeping on Jupiter

Longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker. A dark story about the sticky threads of religion, love and loss

A Greek presidential guard stands as he seen through the remains of a European Union flag half-burnt by protesters in Athens, on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. About 8,000 people took part in subdued demonstrations in Athens as austerity-weary unions held a strike for May Day. The country’s main labor unions protested soaring unemployment, which is the highest in the 27-country European Union, and the austerity measures the conservative-led government is enacting in return for crucial bailout loans. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Sujata Massey – The Kizuna Coast

A Rei Shimura mystery (#11)

Set in Japan, amateur sleuth Rei sets out to investigate the suspicious disappeareance of a young woman

Salman Rushdie – Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

Narrated by people born 1,000 years hence, looking back on a battle waged over 1,001 nights by a motley of real and mythical characters engaged in saving the world

Jay Antani – The Leaving of Things

A young Indian American teenager comes to terms with who and where he belongs when he is forced to live in India

Raj Kamal Jha – She Will Build Him a City

A beguiling tale about the intersecting lives of a man, woman and child in a city rife with violence and humanity

Sejal Hadani – Trail of Broken Wings

Buried secrets are exposed and humiliations and retaliations are aired as three sisters unite at their father’s coma bed

Pans

Akhil Sharma – Family Life

A deeply personal tragic story told in a dispassionate, almost clinical manner. It seemed as though the author could not connect with his culture or his emotions.

Kunal Nayyar – Yes, My Accent is Real

Kunal Nayyar’s personal story failed to be a compelling one. The narrative lacked depth and comic timing.

…You Are Our Business Model!

More people are reading India Currents than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organizations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Our independent, community journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $5, you can support us – and it takes just a moment to give via PayPal or credit card.