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Friday book list # 7: Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey

Books mentioned in Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey.

Non-fiction:
The Books of Knowledge. (Encyclopedias)
'Short Account of the Life and Works of Jai Jeewan Lal Bahadur, Late Honorary Magistrate, Delhi,with Extracts from his Diary Relating to the Time of Mutiny, 1857' (family history, not clear whether it was printed or a private book)

1066 and All That (full title: 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates, by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman).
'The Biography of Emperor Akbar' by Abul Fazl (real book but I couldn't find the official title)
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
Our Viceregal Life in India by Lady Dufferin 

Folk tales, fairy tales and religious texts:
Bhagwat-Gita
Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Ramayana (the Tulsidas version, properly called the Ramcharitmanas)

Fiction:
Godan by Munshi Premchand

Plays:
Hamlet (by William Shakespeare) 
The Importance of Being Earnest (by Oscar Wilde)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin. No author mentioned.


Robin Hood and His Merry Men


Poetry:
Madhushala (The Tavern/The House of Wine) by Harivansh Rai Bachchan

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