The Crew


Bali Rai - 2003
    They’re tough. They’re street-smart. They’re the Crew and they live in what they call the Ghetto -- the housing around the city centre where everyone is broke and it’s important to stick together. No one bothers you when you’re part of a gang except, sometimes the older gangs, who can be dangerous.

The Struggle for Pakistan


Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi - 1965
    Even today Pakistani writers find it necessary to explain the raison d'etre of their country.In the book Qureshi is trying to fill gaps, clear confusion, and give historical sanction to the concept of Two-nation theory and the hardships faced by Muslims in their struggle for Pakistan.Qureshi’s conclusions on Pakistan movement are: “Pakistan came into existence as the result of the successful struggle of the Muslims of the Sub-continent against two imperialisms, British, and Hindu” and that “the Pakistanis did not receive Pakistan on a silver platter.

The Party Worker


Omar Shahid Hamid - 2017
    In 2011, following an attack on his offices by the Pakistani Taliban, he took a five-year sabbatical to write books and worked as a political risk consultant. He has been widely quoted and regularly featured in major news outlets like The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Le Monde, DW, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNN, BBC and NPR. His first novel, The Prisoner (2013), was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 and is now being adapted for a feature film. His second novel is The Spinner’s Tale (2015). In 2016, Omar returned to active duty as a Counter Terrorism Officer.

The Invisible Hand


Ayad Akhtar - 2015
     In remote Pakistan, Nick Bright awaits his fate. A successful financial trader, Nick is kidnapped by an Islamic militant group, but with no one negotiating his release, he agrees to an unusual plan. He will earn his own ransom by helping his captors manipulate and master the world commodities and currency markets. "[A] tense, provocative thriller about the unholy nexus of international terrorism and big bucks...."-Seattle Times "Ahktar again turns hypersensitive subjects into thought-provoking and thoughtful drama"-Newsday "The prime theme is pulsing and alive: when human lives become just one more commodity to be traded, blood eventually flows in the streets"-Financial Times "Whip-smart and twisty"-Time Out New York "The Invisible Hand offers genuine insight into the future of the West" (Village Voice).

Not Easily Washed Away: Memoirs of a Muslim's Daughter


Anon Beauty - 2010
    Because it is in first person, the reader directly sees the psychological impact of the abuse and comes to understand how the abuser manipulates the victim into cooperating in it. We see the psychological costs of being abused—denial, depression, mental splitting, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, alcohol abuse, hopelessness, shame, fear of harm to her family—but gradually we also experience Laila's struggle. Set in the context of Muslim society where the young female victim knows her word will not be believed in preference to that of her "good" Muslim father, the story could have happened anywhere. Yes, the details are shocking, but they are not prurient, as the negative reviews have suggested. They are sickening and saddening but they are real. The details serve to underline the horrible things that abusers do to kids. I learned much about how the relationship between abuser and victim works and why it is so hard for the victim to break away and recover. This story is all the more moving because it is true. It took great courage for Laila to expose her life in this way, even if she does use a pseudonym. Her opening explanation for why she wrote the book reveals her hope that at least one abused individual will read it and live a healthy, happy life after the horrific experiences of such a childhood.Synopsis: Not Easily Washed Away is the true story of a young girl who was born to a Muslim family in Pakistan. She suffered through sexual, mental and physical abuse for fifteen years, which was perpetrated by her father Abdulla. Laila decides to take advantage of her father’s incestuous addiction by having him acquire a visa for her to the United States, where she feels as if she can rid herself of a putrid past. The book is written from a psychological perspective in first person, as Laila shares her painful past with the reader, sparing no details of her ordeal as a child, teenager and young adult. After she realizes her father’s diabolical plan is to keep her in Pakistan for himself, Laila decides to take fate into her own hands. Her new attitude helps her to turn the tables on her father, now living in America, and manipulate him into marrying an American woman to get Laila’s visa to the United States.The United States is not the instantaneous answer to Laila's plight. She arrived in Seattle, Washington, in 2004 to start a new life away from her father, but ends up being unable to stop the incestuous relationship with him and later on, with her stepmother. Things get even worse for Laila, as she is now twenty years old, depressed, and worried that her family’s fate back in Pakistan might be jeopardized if she leaves home. In the Spring of 2007 Laila’s life changes when her younger sister arrived from Pakistan and when she meets an interesting, Christian, Jamaican man at school. The young man confronts Laila about the abuse, and when she realizes she has feelings for him, she tells him everything. The young man tries to convince Laila that she can become mentally stronger and free herself of her abusive father and stepmother by running away with him.

Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story


Sebastian Rotella - 2011
    The trail of two key figures, an accused Pakistani mastermind and his American operative, traces the rise of a complex, international threat.

Pakistan: A Modern History


Ian Talbot - 1999
    There is a need at the time of Pakistan's golden jubilee for it to be taken seriously in its own right as a country of 130 million people. It is in reality a complex plural society which although greatly shaped by the colonial inheritance and circumstances of its birth is also experiencing rapid change. The author's approach breaks down stereotypes and assists in answering the vexed question of why democracy has succeeded in India, while Pakistan has been subject to long periods of authoritarianism during its five decades of existence.

The Pathans, 550 B. C. A. D. 1957


Olaf Caroe - 1984
    It includes an epilogue written, just before the author's death, in the light of recent events in Afghanistan.

End of the Past


Nadeem Farooq Paracha - 2016
    He chronologically maps how Pakistan's spiritual soul has been trampled upon in its quest to gain acceptance as an 'ideological state'.'End of the Past' is written not so much as a nostalgic memoir as an analysis in the form of a narrative and a means of explaining the enigma that is Pakistan.Paracha looks at Pakistan's political, sporting and cultural pasts, hoping that future generations will learn from them and chart a brand new beginning for a country that he loves passionately. He pleads for a decisive end of the past so that a new and less tumultuous future can be envisioned and built.

Loh e Ayyam / لوح ایام


Mukhtar Masood - 1996
    Mukhtar Masood was in Tehran as the Secretary-General of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD)

Waiting for Allah: Pakistan's Struggle for Democracy


Christina Lamb - 1991
    As a result she won The Young Journalist of the Year Award. This is a descriptive analysis of what she sees as the tragedy of Pakistan as it moves towards the 21st century - a woeful catalogue of vested interests, corruption, an overpowering military and an unconfident and enfeebled new democracy. She looks at treatment of women, urban life, patronage and government, troubled relationship with India, Afghanistan and power of tribes and drug lords, the great game of espionage on the new frontier, Benazir Bhutto and her failure to impose change and the imminent breakdown of democracy.

Moazzam Ali / معظم علی


Naseem Hijazi - 1982
    The lead character, Moazzam Ali joins the fight against the British with the army of Siraj ud-Daula. The story goes around as the character moves from one place in India to another in search of the lost glory and freedom.

India vs Pakistan: Why Can't We Just Be Friends?


Husain Haqqani - 2016
    What stops India and Pakistan from being friends? In this provocative, deeply analysed book, full of riveting revelations and anecdotes, Husain Haqqani, adviser to four Pakistani prime ministers, looks at the key pressure points in the relationship and argues that Pakistan has a pathological obsession with India, which lies at the heart of the problems between the two countries.

Nadaar Log / نادار لوگ


Abdullah Hussein - 1996
    The story of this novel takes place during 1897 to 1974. This is the story of a generation that has no urge to protect and fight for its rights, people who have accepted everything as fate and have left themselves to the flow of time. The story really gets a takeoff after 1947 when Pakistan gets independence and the people who fought for certain ideals are pushed to wall by those who happen to be in corridors of power. The novel describes those years of indifference, difficulties and turbulence which first germinate the seeds of undemocratic governments and then it leads to secession of the country in 1971. The novel suggests that this was the period where if truth was upheld the history and the geography of Pakistan would have been different but since people kept silence which tantamount to a sin, so they have to reap the wages of this in shape of disintegrating the federation and losing their brothers. Nadar Loog is the story of a people who had great ideals but were found wanting in action when it mattered to stand and assert. This is the story about poverty of action and deeds that leads a nation and people to a state of flux.

Revolt


Qaisra Shahraz
    Evocative, family drama and love story, rich with contemporary issues, humour, tragedy and conflict. Think Pakistani Jane Austen!