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Women Talking: A Novel by Miriam Toews

April 1, 2019

women talking

In the Mennonite community of Molotschna eight women gather in a barn to talk. Their meeting is a secret, made possible only because the men have gone into the city to bail out eight men who have been accused of a heinous crime: that of drugging and raping over 100 of the community’s women and girls repeatedly over a two-year span.  It will take two days for the men to return ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Bloomsbury, book clubs, cultural, literary, religion, social issues, women

A People’s History of Heaven

March 18, 2019

history

It’s funny, being a girl. That thing that’s supposed to push you down, defeat you, shove you back, back, and further back still? Turn it the right way, and it’ll push you forward instead. A People’s History of Heaven was one of my winter picks. It’s set in a 30-year-old slum called Heaven in Bangalore, India and centers around the lives of five young girls: Banu, Padma, Joy, ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Algonquin Books, book clubs, coming-of-age, contemporary life, cultural, friendship, India

Death is Hard Work

February 15, 2019

death

Bolbol’s father has just died in Damascus. Before he did, he made one final request of his son—he wants to be buried in the family’s plot in his hometown. It’s two hours away and without thinking Bolbol agrees. It’s only as he’s contacting his sister, Fatima, and his brother, Hussein, that the enormity of his promise hits him. This is Syria, a country being destroyed by its ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, family, Farrar Straus Giroux, literary, Middle East

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

February 6, 2019

unmarriageable

Unmarriageable is one of the winter books I was most looking forward to reading in January. Author Soniah Kamal takes Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice and updates it to fit into Pakistan in the year 2000. Every detail is the same, but with an Eastern flair. The Bennetts are the Binats, Darcy is Darsee, and Wickham is Wickaam. Other than name changes Kamal shapes her ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Ballantine, chick lit, cultural, debut, Pakistan, retellings

Talk to Me by John Kenney

January 14, 2019

talk

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the rich, entitled white man’s club, but what happens when the man is the face of American network news? A man watched and admired for over twenty years? Who, on his 59th birthday has a really bad day and is videoed screaming at a young woman off-screen, calling her a Russian whore? It’s certainly not good or excusable, but how far do we go ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, cultural, literary, New York City, Putnam

My Sister, the Serial Killer

January 11, 2019

sister

  Older sisters often look out for their younger siblings, but in the case of Korede it’s a bit extreme. Her younger sister Ayoola is the beautiful, sexy, creative one in the family, with her own clothing line and more suitors than she knows what to do with. Korede is a nurse at a major hospital—all responsibility and taking care of every problem. Except that Ayoola’s ... Read More...

13 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, debut, Doubleday, family, literary

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