Recommendations based on "Either/Or: From the bestselling author of THE IDIOT"

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature!From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice.It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

This powerful, gripping thriller from a New York Times bestselling author shows the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths—and the undeniable power of hope.Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one thing she’s learned as editor of her school newspaper is that a journalist’s job is to find the facts and not let personal biases affect the story. But all that changes the day she finds the body of a murdered boy.Jawad Ali was fourteen years old when he built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb. A jetpack that got him arrested, labeled a terrorist—and eventually killed. But he’s more than a dead body, and more than “Bomb Boy.” He was a person with a life worth remembering.Driven by Jawad’s haunting voice guiding her throughout her investigation, Safiya seeks to tell the whole truth about the murdered boy and those who killed him because of their hate-based beliefs.This gripping and powerful book uses an innovative format and lyrical prose to expose the evil that exists in front of us, and the silent complicity of the privileged who create alternative facts to bend the truth to their liking.

“Divakaruni tells the story of India’s independence through the eyes of three sisters, each of whom is uniquely different, with her own desires and flaws. I cheered for them and cried with them as they move through the history of their country that is at once devastating, inspiring, and triumphant. You will, too.”— Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling authorSet during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.India, 1947.In a rural village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor.Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor, though society frowns on it.Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status.Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals.Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them, bringing the events of their country closer to home.As Priya determinedly pursues her career goal, Deepa falls deeply in love with a Muslim, causing her to break with her family. And Jamini attempts to hold her family together, even as she secretly longs for her sister’s fiancèWhen the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic—and dangerous—change is in the air. India is now for Hindus, Pakistan for Muslims. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on different paths. They fear for what will happen to not just themselves, but each other.Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni outdoes herself with this deeply moving story of sisterhood and friendship, painting an account of India’s independence simultaneously exhilarating and devastating, that will make any reader—new or old—a devoted fan.

“Surrender to this strange, beguiling world and be swept away on the wings of story. . . . It is difficult to imagine that many contemporary writers could give us a novel that provides so much deep satisfaction.” —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book WorldA sweeping panoramic portrait of a complex, multiethnic society in flux, A Suitable Boy tells the story of ordinary people caught up in a web of love, ambition, humor, sadness, prejudice, reconciliation, the most delicate social etiquette, and the most appalling violence.Vikram Seth’s novel is, at its core, a love story: the tale of Lata’s—and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra’s—attempts to find a suitable boy for Lata, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. Set in the early 1950s in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, this compelling story takes us into the richly imagined world of four large extended families and spins a compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves.

"Effortlessly charming and deeply moving, The Girlfriend Act has so much heart and humour" - Ann Liang, author of If You Could See The Sun Aspiring actress Farah Sheikh is tired of being in the background. Ex-child star Zayan Amin needs a break from the spotlight. And after a disastrous audition where she's told she doesn't "fit the aesthetic" for her university's play, Farah meets The Tragedies. A group of West London theatre kids rejected from the stage for similarly dubious reasons. Together, Farah and The Tragedies find themselves in the limelight and get the chance to perform. But, there's a catch. Recently disgraced child star, Zayan, will be involved. The deal: Zayan regains popularity via the publicity of his new romance, and in exchange, he'll star in (and more importantly, fund) a play for The Tragedies. Can Farah uphold her side of the bargain, and prove her critics wrong? "A heartfelt celebration of the communities we are born into and the families we choose for ourselves. A stunning debut with an everlasting impact." - Ananya Devarajan, author of Kismat Connection

'Miraculous' OMAR EL AKKAD 'Heartbreakingly urgent' JUSTIN TORRES 'Quite astonishing' JOY WILLIAMS 'Read it, read it, read it' RABIH ALAMEDDINE 'I wept at its ending' LYDIA KIESLING The intimate, sweeping tale of one man’s restless search for home, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope. All his life, exile has been the shadow stitched to the sole of Sufien’s shoe. Born in Palestine on the precipice of 1948’s Nakba, Sufien is forced to leave the only home he’s ever known, the one on the hill with a beautiful blue door. This is the precise moment when time stops making sense. He spends the rest of his life propelled forward, always on the way – although in search of what, he is never quite sure. In the dusty, oil-rich desert of Kuwait, he meets his first love and decides he must leave his family. In a small Italian university town, he spends his youth wrapped up in the sweet promise of the West and the forgetful assurance of wine. When life takes him to a gritty New York, he discovers his true vocation and falls for a Jewish woman born into a wholly different world. Finally, he finds himself recalled to the wild, vast open skies of the desert, in Arizona. The lyrical pages of Paradiso 17 weave in and out of time and space, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning. They are haunting, haunted with grief, struck through, as Dante once wrote, with 'the arrow that the bow of exile / shoots first', and yet they throb with light – not just the light that Sufien sees as he approaches his own end, but the brilliant light of a life lived. Like all of our dead, Sufien still speaks, the book begins. Listen, this is his story. ‘There is something miraculous about Paradiso 17 ... an unforgettable story’ OMAR EL AKKAD, author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This 'A gripping story of a soul in exile' JUSTIN TORRES, author of Blackouts ‘A searing portrait ... of a man reeling from home to home after the loss of Palestine’ HALA ALYAN, author of I’ll Tell You When I’m Home ‘An intense, fearless, lyrical and quite astonishing novel’ JOY WILLIAMS, author of Harrow ‘Paradiso 17 is remarkable ... read it, read it, read it’ RABIH ALAMEDDINE, author of An Unnecessary Woman ‘Paradiso 17 took my breath away ... I wept at its ending’ LYDIA KIESLING, author of Mobility

Bhima, the unforgettable main character of Thrity Umrigar’s beloved national bestseller The Space Between Us, returns in this triumphant sequel—a poignant and compelling novel in which the former servant struggles against the circumstances of class and misfortune to forge a new path for herself and her granddaughter in modern India."It isn’t the words we speak that make us who we are. Or even the deeds we do. It is the secrets buried in our hearts."Poor and illiterate, Bhima had faithfully worked for the Dubash family, an upper-middle-class Parsi household, for more than twenty years. Yet after courageously speaking the truth about a heinous crime perpetrated against her own family, the devoted servant was cruelly fired. The sting of that dismissal was made more painful coming from Sera Dubash, the temperamental employer who had long been Bhima’s only confidante. A woman who has endured despair and loss with stoicism, Bhima must now find some other way to support herself and her granddaughter, Maya.Bhima’s fortunes take an unexpected turn when her path intersects with Parvati, a bitter, taciturn older woman. The two acquaintances soon form a tentative business partnership, selling fruits and vegetables at the local market. As they work together, these two women seemingly bound by fate grow closer, each confessing the truth about their lives and the wounds that haunt them. Discovering her first true friend, Bhima pieces together a new life, and together, the two women learn to stand on their own.A dazzling story of gender, strength, friendship, and second chances, The Secrets Between Us is a powerful and perceptive novel that brilliantly evokes the complexities of life in modern India and the harsh realities faced by women born without privilege as they struggle to survive.

'A moving exploration of family, migration, class, queerness and belonging... beautifully rendered' JESSICA ANDREWS 'A deeply observant, perceptive writer' JOANNA CANNON 'Evocative, layered and emotionally resonant... deserves to be on your reading list' GLAMOUR 'Masterful... It will stay with you long after you finish it' JJ BOLA 'Love was a tightrope between freedom and control. He didn't know how others seemed to walk it with ease' ------------------------------------------------------------------ Elom can't make sense of love. It's like a language he can't speak, though he's heard the words before. He wants to feel understood - by his well-meaning yet misapprehending family, his self-assured partner Ben, and his boisterous friends - but he never knows the right thing to say. How can you know yourself, in a world that's constantly changing? Set across Ghana and Scotland, this is an intimate portrait of one man's search for belonging, a family's attempt to love, and the choices that make a life. ------------------------------------------------------------------ GLOWING READER REVIEWS 'Fiamanya's writing is just gorgeous - it's tender, it's unflinching, and it's totally immersive' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'This is one of the best books I've read this year, and I truly hope more people discover it' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'All in all this was an absolutely stunning debut novel, I cannot wait to read more of Fiamanya's work in the future' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking, this took my breath away. Wow, what a gorgeous novel. I can't recommend this enough' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'Ingeniously structured, thought-provoking and utterly addictive, Good People will have everyone talking' PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN'What a spectacular triumph. This is the Afghan novel I have been eagerly waiting for' KHALED HOSSEINI, bestselling author of THE KITE RUNNER'A thrilling tour de force of a novel. I'll be recommending this book to everyone' ANN PATCHETT, bestselling author of TOM LAKE'Brilliant. The best debut I've read in a very long time' MONICA ALI, bestselling author of LOVE MARRIAGE___________________________________________________________________________Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family.What's the truth? Depends on who you ask.The Sharaf family live in an exclusive neighbourhood in Virginia, where the father is a successful businessman and the children attend the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father's eye. The family's arrival in America, as refugees from war-torn Afghanistan, feels far behind them.But when Zorah dies in an unthinkable tragedy, everyone is left reeling and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs' happy household was anything but, and soon the veneer of the model immigrant family starts to crumble. Those who knew her best - and those who didn't know her at all - all have an opinion on who Zorah really was, and what really happened to her . . .A kaleidoscopic, urgent narrative, told through the chorus of voices surrounding the Sharafs, Good People is a riveting, provocative and unforgettable story of community, family and identity.'A remarkable, unsettling snapshot of our complicated times' AMEER PANDYA, author of OUR BEAUTIFUL BOYS

The Simoqin Prophecies marks the debut of an assured new voice. Written with consummate ease and brimming with wit and allusion, it is at once classic SFF and subtle spoof, featuring scantily clad centauresses, flying carpets, pink trolls, belly dancers and homicidal rabbits. Monty Python meets the Ramayana, Alice in Wonderland meets The Lord of the Rings and Robin Hood meets The Arabian Nights in this novel-a breathtaking ride through a world peopled by different races and cultures from mythology and history.