Bhai Tika falls on Wednesday 11 November this year. By mid-morning the seven colours will be on every brother's forehead and the makhamali mala round his neck, and somewhere in the room a small pile of wrapped presents will be waiting for its moment.

We think one of those should be a book. These are the six we would wrap this year, each one chosen with a particular sibling in mind.

1. Taste of Nepal

For the sibling who lives abroad.

Most families have one now. They join Bhai Tika on a video call from six time zones away and get their tika properly the next time they fly home. For them we would choose Jyoti Pathak's Taste of Nepal, a generous and patient cookbook that goes far beyond daal-bhat into pickles and sweets and the spices that make a kitchen smell like home. The recipes were written for cooks working outside Nepal, so nothing in it asks for an ingredient they cannot find.

2. The Palace of Illusions

For the sister who grew up on the epics.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel hands the Mahabharata to Draupadi and lets her tell it in her own voice. What stays with readers is how lonely her childhood was, and how the one person who understood her was her brother Dhrishtadyumna. It is a novel about a sister and a brother at its heart. We cannot think of a better book to give on this particular morning.

3. The Kite Runner

For the brother who insists he does not read novels.

Every bookseller has a list of books that convert people who say they never read fiction, and The Kite Runner sits near the top of ours. Khaled Hosseini writes about two boys in 1970s Kabul who grow up almost as brothers, and about a single winter afternoon that neither of them ever quite leaves behind. Give it to him on Wednesday and expect him to text you about it by the weekend.

4. Atomic Habits

For the one starting their first job.

Atomic Habits has been at the top of our bestseller list for longer than we can remember. James Clear's idea is that small daily changes add up to something large over years. That is a useful thing to believe at twenty-two with a first salary in hand. Expect some eye-rolling when they unwrap it, and expect to hear it quoted back to you by next Dashain.

5. Too Good to Be True

For the sister who reads romance on her phone at midnight.

Prajakta Koli's novel follows Avani, who works in a bookstore and lives half her life inside romance novels. Then a man walks in who seems to have stepped straight out of one. It is warm and funny and very easy to love. We have a soft spot for any novel that puts a bookshop at the centre of things.

6. I Don't Love You Anymore

For the teenager who keeps a notebook.

Rithvik Singh's slim collection of poems is about loving people who do not love you back. Readers in their teens and twenties buy it for each other, and it is the sort of book that ends up full of pencil marks. If your younger sibling writes things down in a notebook they never show anyone, this is the one.

If you want more ideas, our list of what Nepal is reading in 2026 is a good place to keep looking.

Questions about Bhai Tika gifts

What is a good Bhai Tika gift for a sister?

Something she would not think to buy for herself. A new novel by an author she already loves is the safe choice. A book from outside her usual shelf is the one she will remember, especially if you tell her why you chose it.

What book should I give a brother who does not read much?

A short and gripping novel. Readers who think they do not like books usually just have not met the right one yet, and a story that moves quickly is the best way in.

What is a meaningful gift for a sibling who lives abroad?

Something that brings home a little closer. A Nepali cookbook or a novel set in Nepal will mean more to them than a book they could pick up anywhere.