Fiction shelf

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming - a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path. 

One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4407.American_Gods)

Bhima: Lone Warrior - M. T. Vasudevan Nair

This is the story of Bhima, the second son, always second in line - a story never adequately told until one of India's finest writers conjured him up from the silences in Vyasa's narrative. M.T. Vasudevan Nair's Bhima is a revelation: lonely; eager to succeed; treated with a mixture of affection and contempt by his Pandava brothers, and with scorn and hatred by his Kaurava cousins. Bhima battles incessantly with failure and disappointments. He is adept at disguising his feelings, but has an overwhelmingly intuitive understanding of everyone who crosses his path. A warrior without equal, he takes on the mighty Bakasura and Jarasandha, and ultimately Duryodhana, thus bringing the Great War to a close. However, all of Bhima's moments of triumph remain unrecognized and unrewarded. If his mother saw glory only in the skills of Arjuna and the wisdom of Yudhishtira, his beloved Draupadi cared only for the beauteous Arjuna. Bhima: Lone Warrior is the Mahabharata as only MT could tell it. It is a masterpiece of Indian literature.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18481907-bhima-lone-warrior)

Byomkesh Bakshi - Saradindu Bandopadhyay

Detective fiction has never lacked devoted fans. The undying popularity of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot vouch for that fact. In the early thirties, a detective by the name of Byomkesh Bakshi made an unobtrusive entry into the world of Bengali fiction. He preferred calling himself a satyanneshi, a seeker of truth, and within days was a household name, courtesy his cerebral skills and the exciting situations he found himseft in. In the tradition of Doyle and Christie, Byomkesh is accompanied on his adventures by his friend, Ajit, Slightly obtuse and the perfect foil to him. 

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/459578.The_Menagerie_and_Other_Byomkesh_Bakshi_Mysteries)

Collected Works - Upendrakishore Roychoudhury

This book is a selection of the best of stories by Upendrakishore Roychoudhury, and the most fascinating of his characters: Goopy and Bagha, dedicated but unsuccessful musicians who are cast out of their homes because their music drives their families and neighbours crazy; Tuntuni, the little bird; the clever fox; Majantali Sarkar, the cat; the intrepid Granny Hunchback; and many others.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2715594-goopy-gyne-bagha-byne)

Daytripper - Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba

The Eisner Award winning DAYTRIPPER follows the life of one man, Bras de Olivias Dominguez. Every chapter features an important period in Bras' life in exotic Brazil, and each story ends the same way: with his death. And then, the following story starts up at a different point in his life, oblivious to his death in the previous story-and then also ends with him dying again. In every chapter, Bras dies at different moments in his life, as the story follows him through his entire existence-one filled with possibilities of happiness and sorrow, good and bad, love and loneliness. Each story rediscovers the many varieties of daily life, in a story about living life to its fullest-because any of us can die at any moment.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8477057-daytripper)

Gora - Rabindranath Tagore 

Gora (1910) is Tagore's fifth novel and is generally considered his masterpiece. With its epic dimensions and the broad canvas of the social, cultural, religious and political life of the nineteenth century urban middle class Bengal, it was a landmark in the history of the Bengali novel. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1268541.Gora)

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny 

Lord of Light (1967) is a science fantasy novel by American author Roger Zelazny. It was awarded the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and nominated for a Nebula Award in the same category. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13821.Lord_of_Light)

Srikanta - Saratchandra Chattopadhyay

Srikanta, the narrator of Saratchandra's epic novel, is an aimless drifter, a passive spectator to his own life, a weak and impressionable soul who cannot survive without the support of an individual stronger than himself. As a child he idealizes the chaste and selfless Annada Didi. Arriving in Burma as a young man looking for new experiences, Srikanta meets the rebellious Abhaya who rejects her violent, bigamous husband to live openly with her lover. Srikanta then experiments with becoming a sanyasi, is bewitched for a while by the Vaishnavi, Kamal Lata, and wanders on till his directionless existence finally finds a focus— when he resigns himself to life with the notorious but stunning Pyari Baiji, breaking free of the social values he grew up with. Through his dynamic and arresting characters, Saratchandra brings alive nineteenth-century Bengal, rife with prejudices and ready for change. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1417962.Srikanta)

The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud

Set in modern-day London, this first book in a gripping new trilogy introduces young magician's apprentice Nathaniel. Humiliated by a hotshot wizard, Nathaniel summons the not-so-tame djinni, Bartimaeus, and sends him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/334123.The_Amulet_of_Samarkand)

The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum

The Bourne Identity is a 1980 spy fiction thriller by Robert Ludlum that tells the story of Jason Bourne, a man with remarkable survival abilities who suffers from retrograde amnesia, and who must seek to discover his true identity. In the process, he must also reason out why several shadowy groups, a professional assassin, and the CIA want him dead. The story takes readers on a suspenseful and action-packed journey into a world of deceptions and conspiracies, offering a compelling psychological portrait of Bourne, and giving them the chance to experience from his point of view the life-or-death decisions he makes as he seeks to piece together the dangerous puzzle of his missing past. It is the first novel of the original Bourne Trilogy, which also includes The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7869.The_Bourne_Identity)

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth

One of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is the electrifying story of the struggle to catch a killer before it's too late. It is 1963 and an anonymous Englishman has been hired by the Operations Chief of the O.A.S. to murder General de Galle. A failed attempt in the previous year means the target will be nearly impossible to get to. But this latest plot involves a lethal weapon: an assassin of legendary talent. Known only as The Jackal this remorseless and deadly killer must be stopped, but how do you track a man who exists in name alone? The Day of the Jackal made Frederick Forsyth a world-famous writer overnight and changed the modern thriller. Its appeal is simple - it's just one of the most exciting books ever written.

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/540020.The_Day_of_the_Jackal)

The Last Frontier - Alistair Maclean

An undercover mission beyond the Iron Curtain to recover a defected scientist goes disastrously wrong – a classic early Cold War thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149611.The_Last_Frontier)

The Periodic Table - Primo Levi

'So it happens, therefore, that every element says something to someone'

Inspired by the rhythms of the Periodic Table, Primo Levi assesses his life in terms of the chemical elements he associates with his past. From his birth into an Italian Jewish family through his training as a chemist, to the pain and darkness of the Holocaust and its aftermath, Levi reflects on the difficult course of his life in this heartfelt and deeply moving book. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/427282.The_Periodic_Table)

All snippets/brief reviews are from Google books (https://books.google.co.in)