Looking for very “readable” tellings of classic Hindu myths, not any that take a scholarly approach. I know next to nothing about Hindu religious literature so anything goes.
Thanks in advance!
Uh. Most of them are distressingly lecture-iffic, but I’ll see what I can find. I did like the Mahabharat TV serial, but when I mentioned it here, people were like “That horrid thing? With those horrible graphics?” So I just slinked away.
Try the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. For approachable and short versions, check out R.K. Narayan’s efforts: Ramayan, Mahabharat.
I could email you this pamphlet on Krishna Consciousness . . .
Well, there’s this Penguin edition. I have it:
This one, by Veronica Ions is easier going, and has lots of photos of Indian artwork illustrating the myths:
The C. Rajagopalachari translations of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are, in my opinion, definitive. Very accessible, and not didactic. Written in obviously Indian English, though, so the prose may ring false to American ears.
I’d say go for some of the Penguin stuff CalMeacham links too. It’s mostly readable and not overly scholarly. The translations are usually sound. I’d recommend text from the Epics (Ramayana is the easier one to grasp) or some Puranic stuff. If you want myths and stories stay away from Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmanas, etc. for now.
For other classic Indian tales and fables you could try Pancatantra and the Hitopadesa.
I’ll recommend these as well. 100 million%. They’re written simply, without ponderous moralisations, as all R K Narayan stories are. If you don’t want a scholarly approach, LOOK NO FURTHER. I can bold it for you if you need more emphasis. 
If you want the ‘classic’ comic book version that most of us Indian kids grew up with, there’s the Amar Chitra Katha collections. Don’t blame me, though, if the writing is shite. I lapped it up as a kid but a recent reread left me wide-eyed at the awful prose. Still, they’re comic books and easypeasy reads.
I read the Ramayana (Penguin abridged version) and I thought it was generally pretty wild.
Guts, blood and implied bukkake sex creation myths galore. I’m also surprised that southern India has any mountain tops remaining, seeing as they get used as throwing weapons every other page or so. Don’t get me wrong, I greatly enjoyed the read, but the last part of the book is seriously Michael Bay =)
Personally I have enjoyed C Rajagopalachari’s translations especially his Mahabharata (which anyway is much more interesting than the Ramayana IMO). I haven’t read Narayan’s translations but he is a fine novelist so they are probably good.
And the Amar Chitra Katha comics are huge fun if you keep your expectations low. They cover a lot of stories from the Puranas for which good translations are hard to find.
Thanks again all, I’m keeping a list of all of the suggestions and I’ll be starting with those R.K. Narayan ones.