Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to India. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll be visiting.

These are some of our favorites about India, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.

You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!

Recommended books to read before traveling to India:

Fiction:

• Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Nonfiction:

• India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Behind by Katherine Boo (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

More book suggestions:

• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Passage to India by E.M. Forster (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• India: A Portrait by Patrick French (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India by Diana Eck (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• India: A Million Mutinies Now by V.S. Naipaul (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah McDonald (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (Amazon)
• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Strange Kind of Paradise by Sam Miller (Amazon)
• Following Fish by Samanth Subramanian (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Free Man: A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi by Aman Sethi (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Chasing the Monsoon: A Modern Pilgrimage Through India by Alexander Frater (Amazon)

Bonus Recommended films and videos to watch before traveling to India:

GEEO travelers can register with SIMA Academy for free using a unique access code that we provide after our programs end. Feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the access code early. For this program, we recommend watching India’s Forbidden Love, Dignity With Flowers, and A New Path. SIMA Academy utilizes the storytelling power of award-winning global short documentaries to nurture globally competent and socially active learners worldwide.

Other films and videos:

• Gandhi (1983)
• RRR (2022)
• Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
• Lagaan (2001)
• Rang De Basanti (2006)
• Life of Pi (2012)
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
• Lion (2016)
• The Namesake (2006)

GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!