12 Best India & South Asia Books
India & South Asia is a popular category for many book lovers. Our team at Speechify has curated a list of the top India & South Asia audiobooks everyone must read.
See the top 12 India & South Asia audiobooks below.
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Indian Sun
- By: Oliver Craske
- Narrator: Sohm Kapila
- Length: 22 hours 4 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: April 07, 2020
- Language: English
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4.41(60 ratings)
4.41(60 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0026.98 USDThe definitive biography of Ravi Shankar, one of the most influential musicians and composers of the twentieth century, told with the cooperation of his estate, family, and friendsFor over eight decades, Ravi Shankar was India’s greatestThe definitive biography of Ravi Shankar, one of the most influential musicians and composers of the twentieth century, told with the cooperation of his estate, family, and friendsFor over eight decades, Ravi Shankar was India’s greatest cultural ambassador. He was a groundbreaking performer and composer of Indian classical music, who brought the music and rich culture of India to the world’s leading concert halls and festivals, charting the map for those who followed in his footsteps. Renowned for playing Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and the Concert for Bangladesh-and for teaching George Harrison of The Beatles how to play the sitar-Shankar reshaped the musical landscape of the 1960s across pop, jazz, and classical music, and composed unforgettable scores for movies like Pather Panchali and Gandhi. In Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar, writer Oliver Craske presents readers with the first full portrait of this legendary figure, revealing the personal and professional story of a musician who influenced-and continues to influence-countless artists. Craske paints a vivid picture of a captivating, restless workaholic-from his lonely and traumatic childhood in Varanasi to his youthful stardom in his brother’s dance troupe, from his intensive study of the sitar to his revival of India’s national music scene. Shankar’s musical influence spread across both genres and generations, and he developed close friendships with John Coltrane, Philip Glass, Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, and Benjamin Britten, among many others. For ninety-two years, Shankar lived an endlessly colorful and creative life, a life defined by musical, emotional, and spiritual quests-and his legacy lives on. Benefiting from unprecedented access to Shankar’s archives, and drawing on new interviews with over 130 subjects-including his second wife and both of his daughters, Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar- Indian Sun gives readers unparalleled insight into a man who transformed modern music as we know it today.
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To Love and Be Loved
- By: Jim Towey
- Narrator: Jim Towey
- Length: 7 hours 5 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2022
- Language: English
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4.36(92 ratings)
4.36(92 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDFrom a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a “powerful” (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is “rich in reflection on contemporaryFrom a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a “powerful” (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is “rich in reflection on contemporary sanctity” (George Weigel).
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Mother Teresa was one of the most admired women of the 20th century, and her memory continues to inspire charitable work around the world. She believed the greatest need of a human being is to love and be loved. In 1948, she founded the Missionaries of Charity to work directly with the very poorest of Calcutta. From the efforts of one woman entering the slums of Entally, the Missionaries of Charity grew into an organization operating soup kitchens, health clinics, hospices, and shelters in 139 countries, at no cost to any government or to those who served. In 2016, she became Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Author Jim Towey had been a high-flying Congressional staffer and lawyer in the 1980s until a brief meeting with Mother Teresa illuminated the emptiness of his life. He began volunteering at one of her soup kitchens and using his legal skills and political connections to help the Missionaries of Charity. When Mother Teresa suggested he take up shifts at her AIDS hospice, Towey realized he was all in. Soon, he gave up his job and possessions and became a full-time volunteer for Mother Teresa. He traveled with her frequently, arranged her meetings with politicians, and handled many of her legal affairs.
To Love and Be Loved is an “inspiring and joyful” (Kirkus Reviews) firsthand account of Mother Teresa’s last years, and the first book ever to detail her dealings with worldly matters. We see her gracefully navigate the opportunities and challenges to leadership, the perils of celebrity, and the humiliations and triumphs of aging. We also catch her indulging in chocolate ice cream, making jokes about mini-skirts, and telling the President of the United States he’s wrong. Above all, we see her extraordinary devotion to God and to the very poorest of His children. Mother Teresa taught Towey to be more prayerful, less selfish, more humble, less worldly, move in love with God, and less in love with himself. Her lessons are here for all to share. -
The World Beneath Their Feet
- By: Scott Ellsworth
- Narrator: Scott Ellsworth
- Length: 13 hours 33 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: February 18, 2020
- Language: English
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4.26(469 ratings)
4.26(469 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0025.98 USDWinner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Best History/BiographyA saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement — all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war — that became... Read moreWinner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Best History/Biography
A saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement — all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war — that became one of the most compelling international dramas of the 20th century.
As tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was already raging across the Himalayas. Teams of mountaineers from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the United States were all competing to be the first to climb the world’s highest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2. Unlike climbers today, they had few photographs or maps, no properly working oxygen systems, and they wore leather boots and cotton parkas. Amazingly, and against all odds, they soon went farther and higher than anyone could have imagined.
And as they did, their story caught the world’s attention. The climbers were mobbed at train stations, and were featured in movies and plays. James Hilton created the mythical land of Shangri-La in Lost Horizon, while an English eccentric named Maurice Wilson set out for Tibet in order to climb Mount Everest alone. And in the darkened corridors of the Third Reich, officials soon discovered the propaganda value of planting a Nazi flag on top of the world’s highest mountains
Set in London, New York, Germany, and in India, China, and Tibet, The World Beneath Their Feet is a story not only of climbing and mountain climbers, but also of passion and ambition, courage and folly, tradition and innovation, tragedy and triumph. Scott Ellsworth tells a rollicking, real-life adventure story that moves seamlessly from the streets of Manhattan to the footlights of the West End, deadly avalanches on Nanga Parbat, rioting in the Kashmir, and the wild mountain dreams of a New Zealand beekeeper named Edmund Hillary and a young Sherpa runaway called Tenzing Norgay.
Climbing the Himalayas was the Greatest Generation’s moonshot-one that was clouded by the onset of war and then, incredibly, fully accomplished. A gritty, fascinating history that promises to enrapture fans of Hampton Sides, Erik Larson, Jon Krakauer, and Laura Hillenbrand, The World Beneath Their Feet brings this forgotten story back to life.
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The Patient Assassin
- By: Anita Anand
- Narrator: Anita Anand
- Length: 10 hours 48 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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4.21(777 ratings)
4.21(777 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDThe “compelling [and] vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) true story of a man who claimed to be a survivor of a 1919 British massacre in India, his elaborate twenty-year plan for revenge, and the mix of truth and legend that made himThe “compelling [and] vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) true story of a man who claimed to be a survivor of a 1919 British massacre in India, his elaborate twenty-year plan for revenge, and the mix of truth and legend that made him a hero to hundreds of millions.
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When Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, ordered Brigadier General Reginald Dyer to Amritsar, he wanted Dyer to bring the troublesome city to heel. Sir Michael had become increasingly alarmed at the effect Gandhi was having on his province, as well as recent demonstrations, strikes, and shows of Hindu-Muslim unity. All these things, to Sir Michael, were a precursor to a second Indian revolt. What happened next shocked the world. An unauthorized gathering in the Jallianwallah Bagh in Amritsar in April 1919 became the focal point for Sir Michael’s law enforcers. Dyer marched his soldiers into the walled public park, blocking the only exit. Then, without issuing any order to disperse, he instructed his men to open fire, turning their guns on the crowd, which numbered in the thousands and included women and children. The soldiers continued firing for ten minutes, stopping only when they ran out of ammunition.
According to legend, nineteen-year-old Sikh orphan Udham Singh was injured in the attack, and remained surrounded by the dead and dying until he was able to move the next morning. Then, he supposedly picked up a handful of blood-soaked earth, smeared it across his forehead, and vowed to kill the men responsible.
The truth, as the author has discovered, is more complex–but no less dramatic. Award-winning journalist Anita Anand traced Singh’s journey through Africa, the United States, and across Europe until, in March 1940, the young man finally arrived in front of O’Dwyer himself in a London hall ready to shoot him down. The Patient Assassin “mixes Tom Ripley’s con-man-for-all-seasons versatility with Edmond Dantes’s persistence” (The Wall Street Journal) and reveals the incredible but true story behind a legend that still endures today. -
Gandhi & Churchill
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrator: Arthur Herman
- Length: 29 hours 25 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: September 26, 2008
- Language: English
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4.11(1064 ratings)
4.11(1064 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0034.99 USDIn this fast-paced epic, best-selling historian and master storyteller Arthur Herman spotlights two giants of the 20th century. Gandhi & Churchill shows how their 40- year rivalry revolutionized India and the British Empire, paving the way forIn this fast-paced epic, best-selling historian and master storyteller Arthur Herman spotlights two giants of the 20th century. Gandhi & Churchill shows how their 40- year rivalry revolutionized India and the British Empire, paving the way for a new era. Gandhi championed India’s independence, Churchill the British Empire.
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Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue
- By: Paul Bowles
- Narrator: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 7 hours 22 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: September 13, 2022
- Language: English
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4.05(497 ratings)
4.05(497 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0021.99 USDAn engaging collection of travel essays by the author of The Sheltering Sky Their Heads are Green, Their Hands are Blue deals largely with places in the world that few Westerners have ever heard of, much less seen–places as yet unencumbered byAn engaging collection of travel essays by the author of The Sheltering Sky
Their Heads are Green, Their Hands are Blue deals largely with places in the world that few Westerners have ever heard of, much less seen–places as yet unencumbered by the trappings, luxuries, and corruptions of modern civilization. Bowles is a sympathetic and discerning observer of these alien cultures, and his eyes and ears are especially alert both to what is bizarre and what is wise in the civilizations in which he settles.
Above all, Bowles is a superb and observant traveler–a born wanderer who finds pleasure in the inaccessible and who cheerfully endures the concomitant hardships with resourcefulness, insight, and humor.
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Karachi Vice
- By: Samira Shackle
- Narrator: Amina Zia
- Length: 9 hours 37 minutes
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Publish date: August 10, 2021
- Language: English
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4.03(239 ratings)
4.03(239 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDKarachi. Pakistan’s largest city is a sprawling metropolis of twenty million people, twice the size of New York City. It is a place of political turbulence in which those who have power wield it with brutal and partisan force. It takes anKarachi. Pakistan’s largest city is a sprawling metropolis of twenty million people, twice the size of New York City. It is a place of political turbulence in which those who have power wield it with brutal and partisan force. It takes an insider to know where is safe, whom to trust, and what makes Karachi tick. In this powerful debut, Samira Shackle explores the city of her mother’s birth in the company of a handful of Karachiites. Among them is Safdar, the ambulance driver who knows the city’s streets and shortcuts intimately and will stop at nothing to help his fellow citizens. There is Parveen, the activist whose outspoken views on injustice repeatedly lead her towards danger. And there is Zille, the hardened journalist whose commitment to getting the best scoops puts him at increasing risk. Their individual experiences unfold and converge as Shackle tells the bigger story of Karachi over the past decade as it endures a terrifying crime wave: a period in which the Taliban arrive in Pakistan, adding to its residents’ daily perils and pushing the city into international spotlight.Writing with intimate local knowledge and a global perspective, Shackle paints a vivid portrait of one of the most complex and compelling cities in the world, a city where the borders blur between politicians and gangsters and between lawful and unlawful and dangerous new forces of violent extremism are pitted against old networks of power.
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India – Culture Smart!
- By: Becky Stephen
- Narrator: Peter Noble
- Length: 4 hours 46 minutes
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Publish date: March 22, 2016
- Language: English
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3.84(99 ratings)
3.84(99 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDIndia is in transition. Since the publication of Culture Smart’s first guide to India in 2003, it has been transformed from a developing, third-world country into the world’s fastest growing economy. This completely new and up-to-dateIndia is in transition. Since the publication of Culture Smart’s first guide to India in 2003, it has been transformed from a developing, third-world country into the world’s fastest growing economy. This completely new and up-to-date volume by American author Becky Stephen is unrivalled. It highlights the many subtle and not so subtle changes that are taking place in Indian society, describes and explains those areas of life where traditional attitudes and practices continue to prevail, and offers original insights, practical tips, and vital human information to guide you through the pitfalls and delights of this complex, vibrant, and increasingly important country.
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The Heart is a Shifting Sea
- By: Elizabeth Flock
- Narrator: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 12 hours 46 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: February 06, 2018
- Language: English
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3.82(712 ratings)
3.82(712 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.004.99 USDIn the vein of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, an intimate, deeply reported and revelatory examination of love, marriage, and the state of modern India–as witnessed through the lives of three very different couples in today’s Mumbai. InIn the vein of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, an intimate, deeply reported and revelatory examination of love, marriage, and the state of modern India–as witnessed through the lives of three very different couples in today’s Mumbai.
In twenty-first-century India, tradition is colliding with Western culture, a clash that touches the lives of everyday Indians from the wealthiest to the poorest. While ethnicity, class, and religion are influencing the nation’s development, so too are pop culture and technology–an uneasy fusion whose impact is most evident in the institution of marriage.
The Heart Is a Shifting Sea introduces three couples whose relationships illuminate these sweeping cultural shifts in dramatic ways: Veer and Maya, a forward-thinking professional couple whose union is tested by Maya’s desire for independence; Shahzad and Sabeena, whose desperation for a child becomes entwined with the changing face of Islam; and Ashok and Parvati, whose arranged marriage, made possible by an online matchmaker, blossoms into true love. Though these three middle-class couples are at different stages in their lives and come from diverse religious backgrounds, their stories build on one another to present a layered, nuanced, and fascinating mosaic of the universal challenges, possibilities, and promise of matrimony in its present state.
Elizabeth Flock has observed the evolving state of India from inside Mumbai, its largest metropolis. She spent close to a decade getting to know these couples–listening to their stories and living in their homes, where she was privy to countless moments of marital joy, inevitable frustration, dramatic upheaval, and whispered confessions and secrets. The result is a phenomenal feat of reportage that is both an enthralling portrait of a nation in the midst of transition and an unforgettable look at the universal mysteries of love and marriage that connect us all.
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The Future is Asian
- By: Parag Khanna
- Narrator: Nezar Alderazi
- Length: 14 hours 21 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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3.75(873 ratings)
3.75(873 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USD“Foreign policy whiz kid” (The New York Times Book Review) Parag Khanna reveals “a dazzling distillation of the history of the world from an Asian perspective…thorough and clear, offering abundant food for thought”“Foreign policy whiz kid” (The New York Times Book Review) Parag Khanna reveals “a dazzling distillation of the history of the world from an Asian perspective…thorough and clear, offering abundant food for thought” (Kirkus Reviews).
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The “Asian Century” is even bigger than you think. Far greater than just China, the new Asian system taking shape is a multi-civilizational order spanning Saudi Arabia to Japan, Russia to Australia, Turkey to Indonesia that together represent 40 percent of global GDP. Asia is rapidly returning to the centuries-old patterns of commerce, conflict, and cultural exchange that thrived long before European colonialism and American dominance. Asians will determine their own future–and as they collectively assert their interests around the world, they will determine ours as well.
In “an authoritative book that may well become a standard” (Financial Times), Parag Khanna explains how Asia’s complexity has led to common misdiagnoses: Western thinking on Asia conflates the entire region with China, predicts imminent World War III around every corner, and regularly forecasts debt-driven collapse for the region’s major economies. But in reality, the region is experiencing a confident new wave of growth led by younger societies from India to the Philippines, nationalist leaders have put aside territorial disputes in favor of integration, and today’s infrastructure investments are the platform for the next generation of digital innovation.
If the nineteenth century featured the Europeanization of the world, and the twentieth century its Americanization, then the twenty-first century is the time of Asianization. From investment portfolios and trade wars to Hollywood movies and university admissions, no aspect of life is immune from Asianization. “The Future Is Asian offers a valuable and thoroughly researched analysis of one course that the region may take” (The Wall Street Journal). -
The Milk Lady of Bangalore
- By: Shoba Narayan
- Narrator: Shoba Narayan
- Length: 8 hours 5 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: January 23, 2018
- Language: English
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3.64(1106 ratings)
3.64(1106 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDWhen Shoba Narayan, a writer and cookbook author who had lived for years in Manhattan, moves back to Bangalore with her family, she befriends the milk lady, from whom she buys fresh milk every day. These two women from very different backgroundsWhen Shoba Narayan, a writer and cookbook author who had lived for years in Manhattan, moves back to Bangalore with her family, she befriends the milk lady, from whom she buys fresh milk every day. These two women from very different backgrounds bond over not only cows, considered holy in India, but also family, food, and life. After Narayan agrees to buy her milk lady a new cow (she needs one and Narayan can afford it, so why not?), they set off looking for just the right cow. What was at first a simple economic transaction becomes something much more complicated, though never without a hint of slapstick. When Narayan starts dreaming of cows, a little Ayurvedic medicine is in order. (Cow urine tablets, anyone?) When Narayan offers her surprised neighbors fresh cow’s milk, we learn about the place of milk in Indian culture. When Narayan wants a cow to bless her house, the spiritual and historical role that cows play in India is explored. In this charming true story about two women and the animal they share, readers are treated to an insider’s of view of India. The Milk Lady of Bangalore is also a window into our universal connection to food and its sources, the intricacies of female friendship, and our relationship to all animals.
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Onam in a Nightie
- By: Anjana Menon
- Narrator: Mary Joseph
- Length: 6 hours 23 minutes
- Publisher: HarperCollins India
- Publish date: April 27, 2022
- Language: English
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3.55(148 ratings)
3.55(148 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0015.99 USDIn India’s tropical paradise, stands a town wrapped around a giant roundabout, where a canny caretaker with a French connection holds sway. Vying for his attention are two competing neighbours. Appu holds lessons for the living but Maya caresIn India’s tropical paradise, stands a town wrapped around a giant roundabout, where a canny caretaker with a French connection holds sway. Vying for his attention are two competing neighbours. Appu holds lessons for the living but Maya cares only for the dead. And a gastronome dog plays ball girl to tennis-loving nuns.
At the centre is an imposing temple so ancient that no one knows exactly when it was built. Here, even a tiny railway station has set its own rules for acceptance and belonging. On the other side of the tracks, a baker runs errands for total strangers in the middle of a pandemic.
Malgudi Days meets reality in the search for joy and belonging in a book that is alternatively heartwarming and hilarious. Anjana Menon takes you to a place that you wish stays that way forever, in these true stories of hope and resilience from a midway Kerala town.
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Cliff Weitzman
Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.
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