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21 of Your Favorite Books About Indian Americans

María Cristina García lives in New York with her favorite spouse, her favorite toddler, her favorite cat, and her second-favorite cat. When not ranking members of her household, she's catching up on Supergirl, strumming her mandolin, or trying to beat the clock on her library loans. Twitter: @MeowyCristina Blog: MeowyCristina.com

This Riot Recommendation for favorite books about Indian Americans is sponsored by Flatiron Books and If You See Me Don’t Say Hi by Neel Patel.

Cover of IF YOU SEE ME DON'T SAY HI by Neel PatelA Vanity Fair Ultimate Fiction Pick for summer and a bookseller favorite, If You See Me Don’t Say Hi is a modern story collection that Behold the Dreamers author Imbolo Mbue calls “a joy to read, reminiscent of Jhumpa Lahiri and David Ebershoff.”

 


Everyone over here at Book Riot has been head-over-heels for Dimple meeting Rishi, no take-backs. But the Indian American experience is a varied one that is so much bigger than a single book or author, and we always want to read widely. To that end, we asked you to tell us your favorite books about Indian Americans. And before we knew it, we had an amazing list of great suggestions! Covering graphic novels to YA to short stories, here’s just a smattering of what Riot readers recommend you get on your TBR ASAP.

Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

Family Life by Awhile Sharma

The Unexpected Son by Shobhan Bantwal

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal

Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani

The Hindi-Bindi Club: A Novel by Monica Pradhan

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

The Unknown Errors of Our Lives: Stories by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

A Good Indian Wife by Anne Cherian

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani

My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma

Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal