Indian Literature

Ganga, joyful goddess of the river, serves as caretaker to the mischievous godlings who roam her banks. But when their antics incur the wrath of a powerful sage, Ganga is cursed to become mortal, bound to her human form until she fulfills the obligations of the curse. Though she knows nothing of mortal life, Ganga weds King Shantanu and becomes a queen, determined to regain her freedom no matter the cost. But in a cruel turn of fate, just as she is freed of her binding, she is forced to leave her infant son behind. Her son, prince Devavrata, unwittingly carries the legacy of Ganga’s curse.

Mike reunites with his wife and his friend, Paul, aboard the Guardian only to find that things have gone from bleak to hellish on earth. Rampaging hordes of Genogerians plague the planet, as does an invasion from Progerians hell-bent on knuckling under the will of man through their relentless assault. Yet this may not be the worst of it, as an insidious "ally" has lent their support. At what cost can a planet on the brink come back from such desperate odds?

Combining mystery and mythology, this epic fantasy is a global best seller with over 300,000 copies sold. India, 3400 BCE. The ancient kingdom of Mithila is divided by corruption, resentment, and poverty. An abandoned baby is found in a field protected by a vulture from a pack of wolves. Soon adopted by the rulers of the land, she is named Sita, and raised as a princess and beloved daughter.

Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He instead imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know....

This book is about taking charge of ourselves, thanking our bodies and making peace with the fact that it's not the hormones, it's us. What can we do about our food, sleep, exercise and relationships that will make us feel good, help us overcome the conditions of PCOD and hypothyroid, and, most importantly, get off drugs and stay off them for good?

In 1885, while The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was becoming one of the best-selling American classics of modern times, Mark Twain began this sequel in which Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim head west on the trail of two white girls kidnapped by Sioux warriors. Fifteen thousand words into the work, Twain stopped in the middle of a sentence, never to go back. The unfinished story sat on dusty shelves for more than a hundred years until author Lee Nelson decided to finish it.

India is often reputed to be the home of the fairy tale. Here are some of the best from the sub-continent, from the Jatakas to the folktales of Kashmir. You'll hear stories about the evil magician Punchkin, the magic fiddle, and more.

From the acclaimed Ojibwe author and professor Anton Treuer comes an essential book of questions and answers for Native and non-Native young listeners alike.

In this explosive conclusion to the Indian Hill series we find Mike, Tracy, Drababan, BT and the entire crew of the now destroyed USS Guardian hurtling through space, head on into their destiny. But will it be the one they seek or the destruction of all they know and have ever known.

Accomplished film and television writer Andrew Fenady has been honored with the Golden Boot Award for his contributions to the Western genre. Also a popular novelist, Fenady shines when telling this story of a cowboy who just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the world. Raised by Kiowa Indians before being taken in by a wealthy rancher, Shannon has never been able to claim what is rightfully hers.

Ayukta is finally sitting down with her wife Nadya to respond to a question she’s long avoided: Should they have a child? The decision is complicated by a secret her family has kept for centuries, one that Ayukta will be the first to share with someone outside their bloodline: the women in her family inherit a mysterious tapestry, through which each generation can experience the memories of those who came before her. Ayukta invites Nadya into this lineage, carrying her through its past.

Kalki Hari arrives at Indragarh to find out that his brother has been taken prisoner, his beloved is about to be butchered and the city is embroiled in a ghastly war with the Naga queen and Dakshini king. Armed with a mighty sword forged by a god, he fights to take the city back from his nemesis, the evil Kali. But the Avatar of Vishnu is at a crossroads. It is his destiny to fight the last battle with Adharm and obliterate evil from this world. However, he has stumbled upon a terrible truth over the course of his journey ... a truth that may change everything.

Born in the quiet village of Shambala, Kalki Hari, son of Vishnuyath and Sumati, has no idea about his heritage until he is pitted against tragedies and battles. Whisked into the province of Keekatpur, which is under the fist of Lord Kali, Kalki sees the ignominy of death trumping life all around him. He learns that he has been born to cleanse the world he lives in, for which he must journey to the North and learn the ways of Lord Vishnu's Avatar; from an immortal who wields an axe.

Larry McMurtry continues the story of Tasmin Berrybender and her family in the Wild West of the 1830s. This is the point in time when mountain men and trappers like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, though still alive, are already legendary figures, and when the clash between the Indian tribes and the encroaching white Americans is about to turn into tragedy.

When heartache and loss invade Karen Pierce's carefully ordered world, she is devastated. Her plans and dreams for the future seem distant and unattainable, and she is bound by a promise to care for two young adults who are struggling with a loss of their own. Continuing their journey north to the goldfields seems their only option, and Adrik Ivanov agrees to be their guide. With the constant threat of winter hastening their pace, Adrik wonders at the wisdom of their decision.

James Fenimore Cooper was the most popular American writer of his day, but today he is best known for The Last of the Mohicans. A part of his Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when France and England battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies.

In this incandescent novel, V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man, an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.

At 16 Diksha, like any girl her age, finds her life revolving around school, boys and endless hours of fun with her best friend. But one day all that changes. What starts as an innocent crush explodes into something far beyond her control. Eighteen years later she finds herself at the crossroads of life. Urged by a twist of events, a wish list is born. But can a wish list help her piece her life back together? Will she succumb to the tangled mess of an extramarital relationship?

Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him - people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George.

Exuberance and dread, attachment and estrangement: in this novel, Jhumpa Lahiri stretches her themes to the limit. In the arc of one year, an unnamed narrator in an unnamed city, in the middle of her life’s journey, realizes that she’s lost her way. The city she calls home acts as a companion and interlocutor: traversing the streets around her house, and in parks, piazzas, museums, stores, and coffee bars, she feels less alone.