At the Court of the Fish-Eyed Goddess: Travels In the Indian Subcontinent by William Dalrymple

The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom
by Paulo Coelho

Here Paulo Coelho details his journey across Spain along the legendary road of San Tiago, which pilgrims have travelled since Middle Ages. On this contemporary quest, he encounters a Chaucerian variety of mysterious guides and devilish opponents and learns to understand the nature of truth through the simplicity of life. The Pilgrimage holds an important place in Paulo Coelho's literary canon. His first book, it not only paved the way for his phenomenal novel The Alchemist , but it also fully expresses his humanist philosophy and the depth of his unique search for meaning.

Life of Pi
by Yann Martel

Pi Patel,a God-loving boy and the son of a zookeeper has a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism,but also Christianity and Islam.When Pi is sixteen,his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to North America abroad a Japanese cargo ship.Alas,the ship sinks-and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat,his only companions a hyena,an orangutan,a wounded zebra,and a four fifty pound Bengal tiger.Soon the Tiger has dispatched all but Pi.Can Pi and the Tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear,knowledge,and cunning keep him alive until they do?

Foundation (Foundation Series #1)
by Isaac Asimov

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.

But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun--or fight them and be destroyed.