The God of Small Things* - Arundhati Roy

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-0060977493-1: I read this book about 8 years ago, and decided to read it again for the Stanford On-line Book Group. It's the story of twins growing up in India - their family relations and a tragedy involving their cousin and mother. While I enjoyed the basic plot of this story, I found the writing difficult to get through. While beautiful at times, it mostly seemed to be trying too hard. I've been reading a lot of Indian authors lately, and the basic themes seem to carry through many of the books. For other books set in India/about Indian families, I recommend A Fine Balance and Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry, as well as The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (which I was probably the last person in the world to read when I finally picked it up last month).

(* - listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die)