March is looking excellent for all the South Asian books releasing this month. There seems to be something for everyone, from fun romance to murder mystery. Rajani LaRocca’s follow up to the Newbery Honor Book, Red, White, and Whole is exciting as it brings twin sisters and music and prose and poetry together. Balli Kaur Jaswal, whose much-loved Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows was a Reese’s Book Club Pick is now bringing a murder mystery that dives into the Singaporean class hierarchy. Alisha Rai with her YA debut and Alka Joshi with her last instalment of the Jaipur trilogy have added to the excitement. And of course, Karuna Riazi’s A Bit of Earth is finally here —a middle-grade contemporary retelling she talked about in this interview with us.
Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute by Sayantani DasGupta
A witty, insightful Sense and Sensibility retelling that brings Eila and Rahul together at a summer camp where campers are being scouted for the hit Bridgerton-like TV show. Buy now!
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswala
The wildly entertaining, sharply observed story of three women who work in the homes of Singapore’s elite and band together to solve a murder mystery involving one of their own. Buy now!
A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi
A middle-grade reimagining of the classic The Secret Garden and a coming-of-age story about friendship and family where a young girl finds herself shipped to Long Island after losing her activist parents. Buy now!
Our Best Intentions by Vibhuti Jain
A debut about an immigrant family that gets caught in the middle of a criminal investigation, and a suspenseful drama about a father and daughter re-examining their familial bonds. Buy now!
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese
Drawing on folklore, fairy tale, and magical realism, this is a collection of genre-blending stories of transformation and belonging that centre women of color and explore queerness, family, and community. Buy now!
While You Were Dreaming by Alisha Rai
A young adult debut where a teen girl, when cosplaying for an event, goes viral for saving her crush and in desperation to remain anonymous finds herself in a love triangle and fake dating scenario. Buy now!
Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca
Told in verse, this middle-grade fiction is about identical twin sisters with a complicated relationship who make a bet to switch places at summer camp to see who gets to decide where they both would attend high school. Buy now!
The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi
The final chapter in this New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past. Buy now!
The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
A collection of interconnected short stories with recurring characters that are bold and satirical, featuring a city run along run along ‘meritocratic’ lines, the injustice it creates, and the revolution that will destroy it. Buy now!
Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra
In 1920s Bangalore, an amateur sleuth uncovers a murder during the blood moon eclipse and together with the Detectives Club —a mixed bag of street urchins, nosy neighbours, an ex-prostitute, and a policeman’s wife— hunts for clues. Buy now!
Fanna for Books 