Fans pick 100 books like A Braided River

During my many years in the Emirates, I explored the flora, vegetation, and geomorphology of the coastal, mountainous, and sandy deserts and experienced their incredible beauty, which was particularly stunning during Winter sunsets.

I came to understand why the ancient Arabs loved and cared for their land, and I fell in love with it, too. This book, edited by my friends the late Peter Hellyer and the late Simon Aspinall, provides a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated documentation of the richness and diversity of the Emirates' natural ecosystems, habitats, and flora and fauna.

During my many years working for UNESCO in Arabia, Africa, East Asia, and South Asia, as well as during my early years in Europe, I had the great privilege of not only traveling to many countries and experiencing the true beauty of natural landscapes, seascapes, and coastal areas, but also meeting people of different nationalities, ethnicities, and religions, and I came to appreciate many of their cultural traditions and customs.

UNESCO has three types of designated protected areas, including UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Global Geoparks. My hometown in northern Germany is located in the Terra Vita Geopark, which celebrates the 'life story of the Earth.' This book provides an excellent overview of the UNESCO Global Geoparks of the world.

I have been actively involved in the scientific research, conservation, restoration, and development of mangrove ecosystems since 1989. Mangroves are an important part of the natural systems of our plant world and are of enormous importance to wildlife and humans both ecologically and for a whole range of socio-economic reasons. Mangroves are world champions in carbon sequestration. Mangroves can grow in salt water, and 97% of the water on Earth is salty.

This ATLAS provides comprehensive information on the importance and biogeography of mangroves, although an updated and web-based new version is urgently needed. At the moment, this is the best ATLAS we have, and I highly recommend it as a 'must have' for anyone serious about science-based professional conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems.

Although much of the world's desert ecosystems are poor in plant species and have very low vegetation cover and density, it should not be forgotten that even the flora in desert ecosystems provides a variety of services and benefits to both humans and animals.

Renée Richer and her collaborators have put together a wonderful and highly informative account of the flora of Qatar, which I believe is an inspiration to contemporary conservationists, botanists, and vegetation ecologists. It belongs in the collection of both professional and amateur nature lovers.

I am moved by how, in spite of his sadness and grief at the loss of his surrounding natural environment and the animals that lived there, Jadav decides to do something about it. He shows how, by taking one small step at a time, each of us has the ability to make a tremendous impact on improving our natural world. It gives me great hope that young readers will be inspired to care for our common home and restore our troubled planet, one plant at a time.

Days and Nights in Calcutta is a fascinating dual view of the same time and place by a husband and wife, both highly esteemed writers. The couple has returned to her family home in the famously complex and crowded Indian city and this is the account-in-two-voices of their year there. His feels full of wonder and surprise; it has a sunlit quality. Hers feels full of intensity and concern; it is tightly wrought. The book shows me not just India, a place I love to see and feel, but the importance of everyone’s story and view.

Gigi Pandian has gone on to write several series I adore, including the Secret Staircase and Accidental Alchemist mysteries, but her first series about history professor Jaya Jones remains my favorite.

A bejeweled and mysterious artifact sends her globe-trotting, and I, for one, enjoyed the ride every step of the way. Jaya is smart and confident, and I would want to hang out with her and her friends any day of the week—especially that roguish possible art thief she encounters. 

The Indian Locomotive Series of four books by Hugh Hughes is a must-have for all rail fans, learners, academics, and researchers. Even if you are not a serious historian and would just want to know more about locomotives in India, this is the key book. Hugh C. Hughes was a teacher by profession, who was a prominent statistician and railway historian of the Indian Railways. He has documented and listed every possible locomotive from the by-gone era that ever worked on rail lines here and has managed to acquire some very rare pictures of those locomotives. I personally recommend the book because it adds to value because the old images of stations and locations along with those old workhorse engines are today really valuable to get a context of how the old station was historically as it is seldom that such photographs are taken by the official machinery of the… show more.

Few know that thousands of villagers from India were shipped to various colonies as indentured laborers after slavery ended in Britain’s territories.

Lured by promises of rich earnings they could send home, they replaced slaves and worked in similar conditions of hardship. In South Africa’s Colony of Natal, Indian indentured laborers did backbreaking work on sugar plantations, and their stories have seldom been told. In particular, no one has revealed the hidden stories of women plantation workers. In this heartbreaking yet lyrical novel, Joanne Joseph (tracing her own grandmother’s history) breaks the mold with her story of Shanti, who runs away from an arranged marriage and finds herself apparently powerless in a foreign land. How she indeed exercises her will, forges friendships, and finds love and peace makes for a riveting story.

I’m interested in the various children’s tales from other countries, and I thought that this classic Indian collection of stories about an imaginary city to be just charming. It captures the richness of everyday life, of daily interactions across all sorts of people.

With such a wide cast of characters, from an astrologer to a postman to a snake charmer, there’s something for everyone to either relate to or marvel at. My favorite stories are the kinds that find meaning in the smallest pockets of life, and this collection is all about that.