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Catagory: Literature & Fiction

THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN

‘This book is a complete delight, not only a fairytale for adults that transports you on a magical journey of childlike wonder, but also a parable that helps you lead a better life’ – JAMES NORTON

‘Magically hopeful. This story will speak to your soul and your monkey mind and bring them back into harmony. Beautiful and uplifting, charming and soul-nurturing, this is another glorious triumph from the beloved Matt Haig’ – DONNA ASHWORTH

‘If you enjoyed The Midnight Library, you’ll love this. The Midnight Train is exquisite storytelling and utterly brilliant. One of the most beautiful stories you’ll ever experience’ – JOANNA CANNON

When your life flashes before your eyes, what will matter most?

The Trial

What if you were arrested—and never told why?

On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K., an ordinary bank clerk, is abruptly arrested by two
unidentified agents. But there is no crime, no evidence, no explanation—and he must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. What follows is a haunting descent into a world of invisible courts, faceless officials, and a sprawling bureaucracy that seems to operate on nothing but its own absurd logic.

Franz Kafka’s The Trial is a masterful, unsettling exploration of guilt, power, and existential dread.
As Josef K. desperately seeks answers and clarity, he finds himself increasingly entangled in a nightmarish legal system—where truth is elusive, punishment is inevitable, and resistance feels futile.

“Logic may indeed be unshakeable, but it cannot withstand a man who is determined to live.”

Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial tells the terrifying tale of Josef K., who must undergo trial for an unnamed crime. Thrust into a bewildering legal labyrinth, he forges a battle with an irrational bureaucracy, one that seemingly follows no rhyme or reason. One man’s search for justice leads to a chilling exploration of the absurdity of existence and totalitarianism, one that leads him down into an unending downward spiral as he tries to gain control of his fate. A landmark of 20th century literature, The Trial remains a haunting reflection on the fragility of individual freedom in a system without reason.

“It is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessary.”

It may come as a surprise to the unacquainted reader that Kafka never intended to publish The Trial—in fact, in his will, he instructed his lifelong friend and literary executor, Max Brod, to burn all his manuscripts in the event of his death. Brod chose to ignore these instructions and publish most of the work he left behind. Thanks to his decision, three of Kafka’s novels—The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927) reached readers worldwide.

THE BEST OF FREDRIK BACKMAN 3 BOOKS BOXSET: Anxious People, Beartown, and Us Against You | From the Author of A Man Called Ove, International Bestselling Fiction

‘From the internationally bestselling author of A Man Called Ove—discover stories that capture the complexity of human emotions, relationships, and community.

Step into the deeply moving and unforgettable world of Fredrik Backman with this essential 3-book collection. Known for his unique blend of humour, empathy, and emotional depth.

Backman’s storytelling explores love, loss, friendship, and the invisible struggles that shape our lives.

Perfect for readers of contemporary and literary fiction, this collection brings together three of his most powerful and thought-provoking novels—each one offering a profound look into what it means to be human.

Books included in this box set:
• Anxious People – A brilliantly crafted novel about a failed bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation, weaving together the lives of strangers in a story filled with humor, compassion, and unexpected connections.
• Beartown – A gripping and emotional story set in a small hockey town, exploring themes of ambition, community, loyalty, and the consequences of difficult choices.
• Us Against You – The powerful sequel to Beartown, continuing the story of a divided town as it faces conflict, resilience, and the struggle to hold on to identity and hope.

Why You’ll Love This Collection:
• Emotional, heartwarming, and quietly powerful storytelling
• Found family, small-town drama and messy, real characters
• A perfect mix of humor, warmth, and heartbreak
• Stories about love, loss, community, and second chances
• Thought-provoking yet deeply comforting reads
• Perfect for book clubs and binge reading

From one of the most loved voices in modern fiction This compelling collection showcases Fredrik Backman at his finest—delivering stories that are heartfelt, insightful, and profoundly human, reminding us of the connections that bind us all.

Lallan Sweets: National Bestseller, now with an Exciting New Chapter, Postcard, and Curated Playlist!

Can food lead Tara Taneja to love?

Tara Taneja lives in the small town of Siyaka; she runs a Mathematics Tuition Centre and works at her grandfather’s sweets shop, Lallan Sweets.

Nikku Sabharwal, her long lost best friend and crush, returns to Siyaka after many years. Sparks fly between them, as an adventure awaits.
The laddoos at Lallan Sweets are made from a secret magic ingredient. Lalaji, Tara’s grandfather, retires and decides that Lallan Sweets will not be inherited, but must be earned. So he devises a quest for his three grandchildren, Tara, Rohit and Mohit to find the magic ingredient. Whoever discovers it first will run the shop.
Nikku joins Tara in her pursuit to outsmart her cousins. The quest takes them from Mathura to Ludhiana, and together they battle old Family secrets, family legacies and unexpected dangers. Will the journey bring them together or lead to a bittersweet end?
Lallan Sweets is a heartwarming tale about love, family, food and the little things that matter in life.

Like Being Alive Twice

Is there a moment, so pliant, that we can nudge it towards any future we desire?
Sometimes I believe that there is such a moment. In a lifetime, once.

In an unnamed nation that’s about to rupture, Priyamvada (Poppy), a Hindu and Tariq, a Muslim are in love. In a few hours, Tariq intends to propose; Poppy intends to say yes. Both assume that they’ll fend off political blowback. For, surely, their privilege will protect them.
But will it? Will Poppy and Tariq sustain a love so wholesome, so cossetted, that it remains impervious to a dystopian state? Or will the two be rent apart by chance and circumstance? What will their lives look like as they plunge into a brave new future, together or apart?
Written in alternating chapters, Like Being Alive Twice trails fact and possibility—the tale as-it-was and the tale as-it-could-have-been-if-only—arranging and rearranging, tweaking and nudging; hoping to find a lasting peace in one or the other story; hoping, above all else, that such peace will prevail over murderous times.
Politically urgent, stylistically intrepid, and relentless in its commitment to scrutinizing love, loss and the language of privilege, Like Being Alive Twice tells of the frantic pursuit of life piled upon life, even as a bloodied world closes in.

The Penguin Masters: The Treasury of Ruskin Bond

The Treasury of Ruskin Bond is more than a collection—it is a gentle homecoming. Bringing together some of his most beloved writings, from childhood memories and Rusty’s adventures to intimate personal reflections, this volume captures the warmth, innocence, and quiet magic that define Ruskin Bond’s world.

Set in the misty hills and filled with moments of wonder, these stories invite you to pause, breathe, and feel again—the rustle of leaves, the comfort of old friendships, the ache of nostalgia, and the joy of simple living.

Perfect for readers of all ages, this timeless anthology is a soothing escape from the noise of modern life—a reminder that beauty often lies in the smallest, most fleeting moments.

Once Elephants Lived Here

The eleven stories cover a wide variety of themes, but all have in common the stylistic experimentalism which came to blossom fully in Tomb of Sand. There is an iconoclasm to Geetanjali Shree’s writing, especially beginning with this collection. Readers will soon learn that nothing is sacred to the author: narrative and genre conventions are summarily pushed off their pedestals and in their place we find…what? Entirely new ways of conceiving and presenting storytelling unfurl before us as we come to question our own rigid preconceptions of the short story genre. In one story, a woman spends all day compulsively walking in circles around her housing complex. There is no introduction, no explanation, no denouement. In another, a woman goes on a writer’s retreat, and in a pseudo-sci-fi turn of events, falls passionately in love with the sky. The other participants in the retreat are robots. In a third, “Butterflies” (included here), a narrator staying in a cottage in Kerala is overwhelmed with the grief over past events, but is surprised out of her self-indulgence by a mysterious group of young women who are either nurses or diabetes patients; she’s never sure which. Plots break, sentences shatter, grammar careens, new words are formed, and new narrative structures are erected and felled. Once Elephants Lived Here reveals to us the pathbreaking experiments that led to Geetanjali Shree’s magnum opus Tomb of Sand.

Uprising

On a desolate, sinking island, a group of children witness their mothers living lives of cruelty and servitude.

Bought and sold by Amma, the sadistic madam who was once herself sold into slavery, the women have learned to accept their fate. Yet their children weave fantastic tales of escape, imagining that someday they will leave the island and enjoy a life of freedom.

When Kusum Khan, a young, educated woman from the city, is forcibly brought to the island, she too is subjected to Amma’s violent induction. Yet Kusum refuses to yield, and soon the collective complacency of her fellow prisoners turns into ferocity and defiance. Together, they begin a rebellion that will upend their island, their world and the very order of things. An earth-shattering drama of resistance and female power, Uprising gives voice to the silenced through the story of a revolution no one saw coming.

Wedding on the Maharaja Express

Vir has spent his life quietly loving Vani. Now, against all odds, he’s about to marry her on the opulent Maharaja Express—a moving palace for their week-long nuptials as they travel across India. But Vani doesn’t love him yet, so Vir makes a deal: if he can win her heart before the train reaches its final stop, the wedding goes ahead. If not, he walks away.
As the Maharaja Express keeps moving, the dreamy destination wedding soon becomes a runaway train for family drama. Exes show up uninvited. Blackmail, ego clashes over regressive traditions and betrayals disrupt the celebrations.
Then, after one explosive night, a guest is found dead.
With the train derailed and no one allowed to leave, every passenger becomes a suspect. On the Maharaja Express, love is a gamble, and someone is willing to kill to win.

The Girl in Chains

Kill the target. Kill the evidence. Kill yourself.
A killer who had never fired a gun in her life—until she took a perfect headshot. A puppet who didn’t know she had strings. A detective chasing ghosts through her grief.
At a packed rally in Delhi, a young woman calmly raises a pistol and executes a cabinet minister. Then, without hesitation, she turns the gun on herself. The media screams terrorism. The public whispers suicide. But CBI officer Simone Singh sees something colder. A setup.
While nursing her dying mother and fending off shadows from her past, Simone is hurled into the most personal case of her life. The assassin left behind no motive, no trail—just a single whispered name: Daayan.
Worse, Simone’s own partner, Inspector Lucas, is hiding a secret that could destroy everything they’ve built.
As the body count rises and Delhi spirals into chaos, Simone must uncover a conspiracy woven through power and silence. But in a game where everyone is a pawn, exposing the truth might be the very thing that finally breaks her.
Twisted, taut, and emotionally explosive, The Girl in Chains is a heart-stopping race against the truth that was never meant to survive.

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