A Fine Balance is one of my all-time favorite books. It's considered by scholars of India to be the most accurate novel out there as well as just being excellent. It's incredibly well written and even though it's long I couldn't put it down.
A Fine Balance is honestly one of the best books I have ever read. If you liked The Kite Runner, you will really like it -- probably better, even. I don't believe in "favorite books" but this one is easily on my top 5 of all time.
Under the Banner of Heaven is really good too. I found it interesting, especially because some of my ancestors were Mormons, and it's a hot issue in our state. It definitely has a slant, but I found it really well researched.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
The Known World is a very good book. Its unsettling, though. It deals with slavery and former slaves who owned land and had slaves. But I highly recommend it because it sheds light on a very difficult subject.
Under the Banner of Heaven is an incredibly interesting and thought-provoking book, plus if you don't know much about Mormonism (?), it's pretty educational about its history. That said, I'd feel pretty awkward discussing it very deeply with a group of people I didn't know very well (i.e. a book club in which i'm trying to make friends). Religion's just a pretty provocative and touchy subject, ya know?