Lockdown TBR: Books. Series. Movies.

While online streaming is fun, we vouch that reading a book before you see the film/series is always worth it!

Even if you’ve seen the movie/show, reading the book revisits those wondrous moments in a whole new way.

With the lockdown extended, now is the time to be a read-it-all. Scroll through the list and add these to your social distancing TBR.

1. Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan

Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best. Download the eBook.

The book behind the series Dilli Wali Thakur Girls

2. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA at the leading edge of the feminist and civil rights movement, whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Download the eBook.

The book that inspired the film Hidden Figures

3. Black Tornado by Sandeep Unnithan 

Black Tornado, as the operation was called by the NSG, is the story of men called into action in the desperate hours following the most sensational terrorist attack the country has ever seen. Download the eBook.

Now a Zee5 original series, State of Siege 26/11

4. Looking for Alaska by John Green

BEFORE. Miles Halter’s whole life has been one big non-event until he starts at anything-but-boring Culver Creek Boarding School and meets Alaska Young. Gorgeous, clever, funny and utterly fascinating she pulls Miles into her world, launches him into a new life, and steals his heart. But when tragedy strikes, and Miles comes face-to-face with death he discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.

AFTER: Nothing will ever be the same. Download the eBook.

Now a major TV series

5. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

The Chronicles of Narnia” is a series of seven fantasy novels by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children’s literature and is the author’s best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. Download the eBook.

Movie franchise:  The Chronicles of Narnia

6. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien

All three parts of the epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers & The Return of the King – available as one download, featuring the definitive edition of the text, hyperlinked footnotes and page references, and 3 maps including a detailed map of Middle-earth.  Download the eBook.

Movie franchise:  The Lord Of The Rings

7. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. Download the eBook.

Movie franchise:  The Hobbit

8. Marley & Me by John Grogan

Marley & Me is John Grogan’s funny, unforgettable tribute to this wonderful, wildly neurotic Lab and the meaning he brought to their lives. Download the eBook.

The book that inspired the 2008 film Marley and Me.

9. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This heart-warming and inspirational tale follows Enzo, a loyal family dog, tells the story of his human family, how they nearly fell apart, and what he did to bring them back together. Download the eBook.

A major motion picture

10. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Spanning three decades and crossing continents, Jhumpa Lahiri’s much-anticipated first novel is a triumph of humane story-telling. Elegant, subtle and moving, ‘The Namesake’ is for everyone who loved the clarity, sympathy and grace of Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning debut story collection, ‘Interpreter of Maladies’. Download the eBook

The book that inspired the 2006 film The Namesake.

11. Made in China by Parinda Joshi 

Darkly comical, Made in China is a soul-stirring and thrilling entrepreneurial journey of a man willing to do anything he can to make it big. Download the eBook.

Now a major motion picture

12. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

An immersive entertainment experience unlike any other, A Song of Ice and Fire has earned George R. R. Martin—dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine—international acclaim and millions of loyal readers.

Download the eBook

The book that inspired the popular TV Series The Game of Thrones

13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Download the eBook

The book that inspired the 2015 TV Series Wolf Hall.

14. P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

P.S. I Love You is an uplifting debut book of the author, Cecilia Ahern. It is a sweet and simple love tale that revolves around childhood sweethearts, Holly and Gerry. They always knew that they are soul mates and are destined to be together. Download the eBook

The book that inspired the popular 2007 film P.S. I Love You.

15. Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash

Starry-eyed planners and elite visionaries, cynical leaders and violent politicians of the street, land sharks and underworld dons jostle with ordinary citizens and poor immigrants as the city copes with the dashed dreams of postcolonial urban life and lurches into the seductions of globalization. Shedding light on the city’s past and present, Mumbai Fables offers an unparalleled look at this extraordinary metropolis. Download the eBook

The book that inspired the 2015 Bollywood film Bombay Velvet.

16. Yours Truly (a short story from the book Love Stories #1to14, by Annie Zaidi

Annie Zaidi’s stories are at once warm and distant, violent and gentle – and, above all, untroubled by cynicism. This is a look at love, straight in the eye, to understand the alluring nature of the beast. Download the eBook

One of the short stories from Love Stories inspired the 2018 film Yours Truly

17. Selection Day by Aravind Adiga 

A page-turner of a novel set in the world of cricket in Mumbai Fourteen-year-old Manjunath Kumar knows that he is good at cricket – even if he’s not as good as his elder brother Radha. He knows that he fears and resents his cricket-obsessed father. But there are many things about himself and the world that he doesn’t know.  Download the eBook.

Now a Netflix Original series

18. Sully by Capt. Chesley Sullenberger

Now a major motion picture from Clint Eastwood, starring Tom Hanks—the inspirational autobiography by one of the most captivating American heroes of our time, Capt. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger—the pilot who miraculously landed a crippled US Airways Flight 1549 in New York’s Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. Download the eBook.

Now a major motion picture

19. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.  Download the eBook.

Movie:  Murder on the Orient Express

20. The Divergent Series

Tris is warned of being a ‘divergent’, meaning that she is capable of having independent thoughts and is a danger to the dystopian society which believes in conformity of human being in factions and with no real independence. Soon, Tris learns about the devious plan of faction leader to wipe out the divergents and decides to leave the group with Tobias ‘Four’ Eaton, another divergent to find her true calling. Download the eBook.

The book that inspired the popular 2014 movie franchise