At 2 pm on a Sunday afternoon, 10 people converge in a living room at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. They are of different ages and have different professions, ranging from 19-year-old Syed Shahabuddin, an engineering student, to the host Yamini Ayyagiri, 46, who works as an IT consultant. The members of this book club have all read Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and the big debate of the day is the character of the patriarchal protagonist, Okonkwo.

No longer does Oprah Winfrey’s recommendation have a monopoly on book clubs, as business leaders like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and even former US President Barack Obama share their reading lists on online discussions. Many of these lists include “must read” books that go beyond business books to include classics and science fiction which are packed with leadership lessons.