Shelfari Book Activity

Maximum City

by Suketu Mehta

A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider’s view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door... (learn more about this book)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

by Katherine Boo

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people... (learn more about this book)

Holy Cow

by Sarah Macdonald

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when a poor palm reader at the airport read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country,... (learn more about this book)

City of Djinns

by William Dalrymple, Olivia Fraser

Sparkling with irrepressible wit, City of Djinns peels back the layers of Delhi's centuries-old history, revealing an extraordinary array of characters along the way-from eunuchs to descendants of great Moguls. With refreshingly open-minded curiosity, William Dalrymple explores the seven... (learn more about this book)

The Places in Between

by Rory Stewart

In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities... (learn more about this book)

Seven Years in Tibet

by Heinrich Harrer

This real-life adventure is the story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian who, during World War II, escaped from a British internment camp in India and walked across the Himalayas. Harrer eventually arrived in Tibet, where he spent seven years with the Dalai Lama.

(learn more about this book)

Great Railway Bazaar: Book 1

The Great Railway Bazaar

by Paul Theroux

In this unique and hugely entertaining railway odyssey, Theroux vividly recounts his travels--and the people, places, and landscapes he encountered--on the Orient Express, the Khyber Mail, and the Trans-Siberian Express, through such countries as Turkey, Iran, India, Southeast Asia, Japan, and... (learn more about this book)

Man-Eaters of Kumaon

by Jim Corbett

Jim Corbett was every inch a hero, something like a "sahib" Davy Crockett: expert in the ways of the jungle, fearless in the pursuit of man-eating big cats, and above all a crack shot. Brought up on a hill-station in north-west India, he killed his first leopard before he was nine and went... (learn more about this book)

River Town

by Peter Hessler

A New York Times Notable Book Winner of the Kiriyama Book Prize In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path... (learn more about this book)

Lonely Planet Journeys

The Age of Kali

by William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple chronicles ten years of living and traveling in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India. Here he discovers a region falling into a time of darkness, discord and disintegration which according to ancient Hindu cosmology is known as the Age of Kali. Despite the area's strife and... (learn more about this book)