Malgudi Days

R K Narayan was an Indian writer known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

The fictional town of Malgudi was first introduced in Swami and Friends. Narayan’s The Financial Expert was hailed as one of the most original works of 1951 and Sahitya Akademi Award winner The Guide was adapted for film and for Broadway.

Narayan highlights the social context and everyday life of his characters. In a career that spanned over sixty years Narayan received many awards and honours including the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, India's third and second highest civilian awards. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament.

The book Malgudi Days includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi. Each of the stories portrays a facet of life in Malgudi. The New York Times described the virtue of the book as "everyone in the book seems to have a capacity for responding to the quality of his particular hour. It's an art we need to study and revive."

The Jungle Book

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King". He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature, and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift". In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize and its youngest recipient to date.

The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of short stories. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. A major theme in the book is abandonment followed by fostering, as in the life of Mowgli. Another important theme is of law and freedom; the stories are not about animal behaviour, still less about the Darwinian struggle for survival, but about human archetypes in animal form. They teach respect for authority, obedience, and knowing one's place in society with "the law of the jungle", but the stories also illustrate the freedom to move between different worlds, such as when Mowgli moves between the jungle and the village.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Mark Haddon is an English novelist, best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award ,Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize for his work.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as "mathematician with some behavioral difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. The boy suffers from Asperger's syndrome and is a difficult child having typical traits and characteristics. He relaxes by groaning and doing math problems in his head, eats red-but not yellow or brown-foods and screams when he is touched. Strange as he may seem, other people are far more of a conundrum to him, for he lacks the intuitive "theory of mind" by which most of us sense what's going on in other people's heads.

When his neighbor's poodle is killed and Christopher is falsely accused of the crime, he decides that he will track down the killer. His investigations lead him to unexpected discovery that changes his life. Though Christopher insists, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them,"the novel brims with touching, ironic humor.

The Alchemist

Paolo Coelho is a Brazilian novelist, writer and lyricist. He is widely known for “The Alchemist”, which was originally written in Portuguese. It has been translated and published in English in 1993.

The Alchemist follows the journey of a shepherd boy named Santiago who dreams that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. The book is about his adventures as he goes about in search of the treasure.

Santiago’s journey teaches us about the wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the signs along life’s path, and following our dreams.

My Man Jeeves

“My Man Jeeves” is a collection of short-stories. Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (P G Wodehouse) was an English author known for novels and short stories with elaborate plots, and for a unique writing style based on a combination of very formal language, references to classical literature, and contemporary club-room slang. Extensive usage of similes, metaphors, epithets and clichés make for very interesting reading. This book will introduce the reader to a unique style of British humor.

The stories in this collection are built around Bertie Wooster and his resourceful and wise valet, Jeeves, who provides suggestions whenever Bertie or his friends are in trouble. PG Wodehouse, though well known for his novels and short stories, was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies.

The Time Machine

H G Wells was an English writer, popularly known as “Father of Science Fiction”. His other popular science fiction works include “The Island of Doctor Moreau”, “The Invisible Man” and “The War of the Worlds”. He has written books in multiple genres like short stories, novels, social commentary, biography, satire.

The Time Machine is based on the concept of “time travel” where the operator uses a vehicle to travel purposefully into a time in the future and return. The term “time machine” coined by H G Wells is now commonly used to describe this concept. This novel describes the time travel and the adventurous experiences of a scientist and inventor who has invented such a machine. He comes across some imaginary characters that will transport the reader to a world of fantasy.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie was an English writer, well-known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. In 1971 she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.

'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' is a murder mystery and Agatha Christie introduces the detective Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp and Arthur Hastings in this book. Murder occurs in a country house and the potential suspects are limited by the circumstances and they are all concealing secrets. Death occurs due to poison, and the detective gathers all the suspects together one final time to unveil the solution to the mystery.

Animal Farm

George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is characterized by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. In addition to Animal Farm, he has written books like Nineteen Eighty-Four, Coming up for air, Homage to Catalonia and other books.George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is characterized by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. In addition to Animal Farm, he has written books like Nineteen Eighty-Four, Coming up for air, Homage to Catalonia and other books.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novel by George Orwell. The fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell believed that the Soviet Union had become a brutal dictatorship, built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror.

Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, when the UK was in its wartime alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and the British people and intelligentsia held Stalin in high esteem, a phenomenon Orwell hated.Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, when the UK was in its wartime alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and the British people and intelligentsia held Stalin in high esteem, a phenomenon Orwell hated.

Wings Of Fire

Every common man who by his sheer grit and hard work achieves success should share his story with the rest for they may find inspiration and strength to go on, in his story. The 'Wings of Fire' is one such autobiography by visionary scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who from very humble beginnings rose to be the President of India. The book is full of insights, personal moments and life experiences of Dr. Kalam. It gives us an understanding on his journey of success.

Dr. Kalam by narrating his life journey evokes the reader to identify with one’s inner fire and potential, for he was of the firm belief that each one of us was born with the strength and potential to make a tangible change in the world. How he inspired himself to achieve dreams and how he went about accomplishing so much is what the book captures nicely

The book recollects many anecdotes and stories from childhood, his time at school and college. The time spent at the Langley Research Center, NASA and Wallops Flight Facility gets a lot of attention.

Personal tragedies have not been left out. The time when he lost his father and how he felt when conferred with many awards like the Padma Bhushan have been written in much detail.

The second half of the book deals with Dr Kalam, the scientist who made a significant contribution in developing the countries guided missile program, a pioneering effort for the security of the nation. It's not with reason that he was nicknamed as the 'Missile Man of India'. The book also contains 24 photographs at various stages of his life.

Authored by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Mr. Arun Tiwari, the 180 page book 'The Wings of Fire' was first published in the year 2000. Mr Tiwari is a well-known missile scientist who has worked with Dr. Kalam. Having become a bestseller, the book has even been translated into thirteen languages, which includes Chinese and French.