The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck

Germinal — Émile Zola

The Dispossessed — Ursula K. Le Guin

The Mother — Maxim Gorky

The Jungle — Upton Sinclair

God's Bits of Wood — Ousmane Sembène

A Grain of Wheat — Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Animal Farm — George Orwell

The Iron Heel — Jack London

News from Nowhere — William Morris

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists — Robert Tressell

Hard Times — Charles Dickens

The Ragged Dick — Horatio Alger

The Golden Notebook — Doris Lessing

Woman on the Edge of Time — Marge Piercy

The Handmaid's Tale — Margaret Atwood

The Trial — Franz Kafka

Les Misérables — Victor Hugo

Godan — Munshi Premchand

Coolie — Mulk Raj Anand

Untouchable — Mulk Raj Anand

Mother of 1084 — Mahasweta Devi

Tamas — Bhisham Sahni

The White Tiger — Aravind Adiga

The Time of the Doves — Mercè Rodoreda

The Tin Drum — Günter Grass

Midnight's Children — Salman Rushdie

The Factory — Hiroko Oyamada

The Stone Diaries — Carol Shields

Starting The Idiot by Dostoevsky.

The Indian reading community has several fan favorites, Dostoevsky, Camus, Roy and the like. That's great and these authors have written some incredible books.

But I've seen a lot of posts here asking for recommendations on 'unconventional' or rather less commonly read books. Just today, there was a post asking for 'niche' books.

I want to make it clear that these books are not necessarily uncommon on a global basis. Lonesome Dove for instance seems to have made a resurgence and Ficciones is a Latin American classic.

Nevertheless, here are some books that I think are not particularly commonly read in the Indian context that I think are brilliant.

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The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson

This is one of the best-selling books in the Nordics, particularly Sweden. It's an epic adventure set in the Viking Age and it's about Orm Tostesson, who's kidnapped as a kid from Denmark then is setup as an oarsmen on a dragon boat for the Vikings. His adventure spans the Mediterranean, Moorish Spain, and Eastern Europe. It's a fun, adventurous and great.

Bengtsson was awarded Sweden’s prestigious De Nio Grand Prize for his literary career and this is a great read.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Chabon is a rare author who has won the Pulitzer Prize, Hugo, and the Nebula, amongst others.

This book won the Pulizer and it's about Jewish cousins in New York City who create a popular comic book superhero during the Golden Age of comics and set in the backdrop of World War II.

It's warm, nostalgic, and just so wonderfully written.

The Revenant by Michael Punke

This is a bit different from the other books. It's a gritty frontier survival story based on the real life of frontiersman Hugh Glass, who is mauled by a bear and his two companions leave him for dead after robbing him. He is furious and driven by sheer willpower and revenge, he treks across hundreds of miles of wilderness. Pretty awesome in my opinion.

There was a movie made on this book and the movie won several academy awards.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

This has seen a recent resurgence. McMurtry is an incredibly underrated author and several of his books have been made into movies and shows. In fact, he also wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain which won several awards. This one was made into a show back in the day, and Netflix is looking at doing another one.

This is an anti-Western that's about two aging Texas Rangers as they drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. Incredible characters, great humor and very immersive. It's a cozy read in that the book is immersive and feels cozy, but the story itself isn't a bed of roses.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende is an incredible author. This is a multi-generational story with magical realism set in Chile (although it remains unnamed). It's in the backdrop of post-colonial political upheaval and seen through the eyes of the various generations. I love how she weaves in magical realism in the everyday lives (ghosts, telekinesis etc.) and it's simply brilliant.

The book won the Best Novel of the Year in Chile and Allende was awarded Chile’s National Literature Prize and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor was an incredible talent. In fact, so much of her writing influenced early McCarthy and I would argue had she been alive, she'd have left him behind in dust (and I say this as a huge McCarthy fan).

This is a collection of her Southern Gothic short stories with dark humor and moral complexity. It won National Book Award for Fiction. It doesn't include her longer works (e.g., Wise Blood).

One of the things I like about her work is how you have grace shining upon the less fortunate. It's a constant theme in her books.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer for a different book (Demon Copperhead) but I'd say this is the better book. The story is about an evangelical missionary family that moves to the Belgian Congo in the 1950s, when it's getting from under the yoke of colonialism.

The entire story is told from the perspective of the 4 or 5 women and it's a fascinating story. The backdrop is political turmoil but the story is about personal tragedy spanning decades and in some ways, western cultural arrogance. Brilliant.

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

This is one of my most favorite books of all time. Borges was nominated for Nobel a few times and never won, which I think is a shame.

These are incredible short stories exploring labyrinths, infinite libraries, time, and metafiction -- there's a reason he's considered one of the founding authors of postmodernism. His books will bend your brain. In my view, this is one of the defining works of 20th century world literature.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Another talent who was not appreciated when he was alive. The book won the Pulitzer after Toole died, and this is one of the funniest books you'll ever read.

Our MC is Ignatius, who's an eccentric, arrogant scholar living with his mother in 1960s New Orleans. He thinks of society as evil and generally incompetent and sees himself as a modern day philosopher. And of course, our fearless hero is out there waging a noble war against the vices and poor tastes of this society. Brilliant.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

Enriquez is another incredible Latin American author. Magical realism with horror woven in. She won Spain’s prestigious Premio Herralde de Novela and several other awards for this book.

It's set in Argentina's military dictatorship and the story is about a father with terrifying abilities attempting to protect his son from an elite cult.

It's a dark fantasy with elements of cosmic horror but the setup is what makes it terrifying.

I went into this book expecting a story about a man hunting a whale, but I got something so much more than that. It’s honestly crazy how a novel published in 1851 can feel so timeless.
What I love most about Moby-Dick is how Melville turns a relatively simple premise into something philosophical, almost existential at times. There’s so much here about obsession, fate, religion, death, and humanity’s need to find meaning in a world that doesn’t always offer any. Ahab is such a fascinating character, and watching his obsession consume him and everyone around him is genuinely haunting.
I’ll admit, some chapters can be a real test of patience. Melville will spend pages discussing whales, whaling, and pretty much everything related to them. But even with those slower sections, there’s something strangely hypnotic about his writing. The book can be hilarious, bizarre, poetic, and deeply philosophical, sometimes all within a few pages.
And Ishmael is such a great narrator. His observations and the way he looks at the world make the whole experience feel so much more intimate despite the enormous scale of the story.
What I appreciate most is that Moby-Dick never feels like it’s trying to be just one thing. It’s an adventure novel, a philosophical exploration, a tragedy, and occasionally something that feels almost absurd. It’s messy, ambitious, and unapologetically weird, and that’s precisely what makes it so special.
I can understand why it’s not for everyone, but there’s something incredible about a book that dares to be this much. An unforgettable reading experience and one of those novels that reminds you why literature is such a beautiful art form.

What should my next read be????? This is all I’ve read in the past few months

a collection of twisted, uncanny, and incredibly imaginative short stories by Argentine author Silvina Ocampo around the cruelty lurking in our everyday realities.

this book was opened with an introduction by Helen Oyeyemi who recalls the incident where Ocampo was denied the National Prize for Literature because her stories were "far too cruel", and this particular collection was chosen at her her behest with her translator to comprise of her "cruelest stories".

now, this reputation of cruelty is very interesting because her stories embody cruelty beyond the traditional sense of the word. the descriptions are never grotesque. here, the background is ordinary lives, mundane details, familiar events, and unassuming objects that slowly shift and mutate into cruel, sinister forms evading detection. there is a distortion of reality while still being completely tethered to it, there is never a full departure into fantasy or even a full embrace of traditional elements of horror and the surreal. the cruelty resides through the actions of the characters -- who out of self-preservation, or out of perversion, or due to naivety and innocence, or for reasons beyond comprehension, engage in cruel acts.

there is a pervasive feeling of ambiguity, Silvina Ocampo never imposes any sort of judgment on the events and actions of the characters. the ambiguity is both moral and narrative -- the motives are never quite clear or singular, neither is the concept of time and identity. it is filled with premonitions; it is filled with dreams (often nightmares). here, people embody another, or, sometimes create the other, and lovers flirt by talking about death. some regret their acts of cruelty, others refuse to admit it.

the narration is rather matter-of-fact, and there is always uncertainity around the events -- whether they are real, supernatural, imagined, or dreamt. a lot is simply left for interpretations, hence, rereads are rewarding (i reread a few already, some or rather most stories are incredibly short).

she was a contemporary of Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares (also her husband) but did not receive the same acclaim, especially compared to Borges who prefaced this edition and called her one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language.

my favourite stories were "The House Made of Sugar", "Magush", "Thus Were Their Faces", "Cornelia Before the Mirror", and "Icera".

and i loved it overall, i do wish i had paced myself more and read it more slowly. but i can always do what when i reread. she is incredibly, so so imaginative and i love her prose.

she reminded me, especially in her preface to this, of Clarice Lispector, especially her short stories which also revolve around domestic realities that follow a psychological and metaphysical breakdown. i could also see the clear influence of Ocampo on Samanta Schweblin who is a contemporary Argentine horror author (i'm pretty sure Schweblin cited Ocampo specifically as one of her key influences but i'll have to check). so fans of Borges, Clarice Lispector, and Samanta Schweblin should check her out.

also, this is exactly the same as the NYRB edition "This Were Their Faces", except unlike the NYRB edition, this doesn't mention the name of the collection and year the stories are form in the table of contents.

I might be a bit late to the party considering the show ended in 2020 but I recently watched the sitcom ‘The Good Place’. I went in blind, the max I knew was a random meme I saw on IG and that it starred Kristen Bell (whom I know as the actress who voiced Anna in Disney Frozen) and Jameela Jamil (whom I know just being on the pop and political side of the internet), and the show AMAZED me. I haven’t watched a sitcom, A COMEDY SHOW this well researched and deep. From quoting actual philosophers to making complex arguments about morals, ethics and philosophy so approachable and entertaining, the show had it all.

Without spoiling much, the basic premise of the show is that a person is sent to the good place (pretty much a stand in for conventional heaven) by mistake and now she has to actually become a good person by learning and applying ethics and morality, while trying not to get caught and sent to the bad place for eternity.

I was amazed by how well researched it was. The show takes you from Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy to even Sartre’s Existentialism and Camus’ Absurdism. Obviously, it won’t exactly be like reading texts in depth but if you’re a beginner or just want to see a fun rendition of concepts you’re already familiar with, I’d 100% recommend the show!

The show is just 4 seasons, 13 episodes each (your usual 22-26 minutes length mostly). It doesn’t overstay its welcome and leaves you with a profound sense of belonging, awe and peace. Avoid any and all spoilers and trust me you won’t be disappointed.

Link for the trailer: https://youtu.be/29iKAAeRvI4?si=k3uEGWZNbCsffvjG

I don't want to pile them up, and I already have 4-5 book on my TBR. But these two are always 400rs-500rs or 500rs+ on Amazon so I want to buy atleast one.

I have ordered 1984, the complete guide to stoicism. What would reddit recommend?

I'm curious about the book price in India. I bought five new books at Indira Gandhi International airport this week. The price was affordable compared to my home country, Indonesia. After googling, these whole NEW books in total approximately were USD 89 or IDR 1,6

million. However, I got them merely USD 22 or

IDR 386,000 in India. Indonesia and India are

both developing countries, but for educating

their citizens, India is just amazing. Any

thoughts, fellas?

I've been buying books only from Amazon, cocoblu retail seller to avoid pirated and never had an issue. Today i brought LOTR set from the same seller but it seems a little off. May be it's the quality of the book set or something i don't know.

The krange one beside reckless

I love reading non fiction but when you read a lot of non-fiction( history, politics, Data, science , journalism investigation etc), you tend to forget a huge chunk of the details, statistics, and specific arguments over time. If we forget most of what we read, what is the actual, tangible benefit of reading it ? How can I form better opinions regarding a topic when I don't remember the facts regarding it or even different opinions?

A good year so far. I read across different genres and went beyond my comfort zone (sci-fi, popular science, philosophy). With two more months in the year, I’m thinking of getting into poetry.
How’s your year going ?

I had ordered the Green Lantern Rebirth Compendium from Bookchor on 31st August. They had mentioned the shipping time will be 25-27 days on their store page.

I asked for an update on 22nd September and they said it will take about 10-12 days more to ship. I got no updates so I asked again for one on 5th October and they it's imported and taking more time than expected and will take another week to arrange.

On 12th I asked again for an update and they said they will check with the team and let me know.
On 15th I asked if they were able to get any estimate for when can I expect the book, and lo and behold, it will take another 10-15 days. I just asked them to cancel the order and refund the money.

I only ordered from them because it was 1200 cheaper than Bookswagon and I had previously bought some books from them in 2023. Now it's out-of-stock/out-of-print everywhere.

Never buying from them again.

5 out of 5. Quite interesting book . This is story of time travel, tragedies, the end of the world, love stories and all kinds of stuff that happens when someone has power to change with time. Interesting science fiction read. Also it has parallel running plots which merge later. If you have seen Loki serial and liked it you would definitely love this book.

Hey guys! I need some recommendations for underrated unpopular and niche books. Books that are not famous on bookstagram. Something that you've found while exploring bookstores and bookfairs. I'm soo tired of seeing the same books everywhere even in book fairs. I'm also discovering new genres so every genre is welcomed..

A little bit about me

So, this is Sahil!

I've been thinking about sharing my reading experiences because I've noticed that many people are often conflicted about whether they should read or buy a particular book, or whether it's even worth their time. So, I thought I'd share my two cents and hopefully help you get a better idea of what to expect.

Why?

Honestly, I don't know. I just want to let some thoughts out. I've also been thinking about reading more books and reviewing each one I finish. Hopefully, this will help me stay accountable and make reading a consistent habit.

Anyway, this will be a spoiler-free review.

The book: A Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

I got this book around August 22nd and, as usual, put it aside. Then, on Monday, October 5th, I finally decided to pick it up. I ended up reading around 80 pages that day, and by the end of the week — Friday, to be precise — I'd devoured all 463 pages.

Why? Again

Perhaps I loved it too much. Maybe it had simply been a while since I'd last picked up a book. Or perhaps I was trying to prove to myself that I could still sit down and finish one.

Whatever the reason, I did it, and I'm glad I did.

What's it about?

Who killed Luke Ryder?

That's the question that has haunted the Howard family for 20 years. The case remains unsolved, but now it's being reopened on television. Six experts from different fields come together to reinvestigate the murder, examine the evidence, explore the possibilities, and try to uncover the truth.

Sounds interesting, right?

Well, it is. And what makes it even more interesting is how the story is told.

You aren't reading conventional chapters filled with paragraphs and dialogue. Instead, the book is written in the format of a television series script. Rather than traditional chapters, you get episodes, cliffhangers, montages, and tension that keeps building as the investigation progresses.

The dialogue-driven format also makes it a relatively easy read. It feels less like reading a conventional novel and more like watching a crime documentary unfold on the page.

Parameters :

1. Engagement — Very good

This book does a great job of keeping you invested. The plot is intricately woven, the mystery gives you plenty to think about, and the twists keep you questioning your assumptions. You'll constantly find yourself trying to piece together the clues and figure out what really happened.

1. Length — A little long, but justified

At 463 pages, it's definitely a substantial read. There are moments when the additional information might feel a little unnecessary, but considering that the entire premise revolves around investigating a cold case, exploring different possibilities is part of the process.

Whether every detail earns its place is debatable, but the length didn't stop me from finishing it in a week.

1. Execution — Good to very good

Did I see the ending coming?

Honestly, I had a vague idea of what might have happened, but I wouldn't say I had everything figured out. Even when you start forming theories, the execution keeps you questioning whether you're actually on the right track.

If I had to choose between nice, good, very good and excellent, I'd put the execution somewhere between good and very good.

And that's all I have to say for now. Next up I'll be talking about " A murder in dehradun ". If you wanna discuss we can do it in my dms or here in the comments however I would like to keep it spoiler free here.

And I need advise which one i should read ? " Don't let her stay by Nicola Sanders OR A study in scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. ✌🏻

Got this recommended by the librarian based off my previous borrowings. My first classic besides Orwell. Camus is something, someone so articulate about their feelings it feels shivering. The narrator halfway through loses himself, and I am am on the verge of losing myself anyways. It's like reading myself from the 3rd person perspective. My mind already stimulated and depressed, provided with more stimulants. My heart in a ache from ego that I knew existed but never acknowledged. It hurts, it hurts goddamn. It hurts to flip the page and read myself again through space and time. I guess I will immortalise my misery by keeping and creating new ones and die in the palms of ego thainking that is all I was worth.