Does My Head Look Big In This? – Randa Abdel-Fattah Monday, Aug 17 2009 

5 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 7:08 am

16 year old Amal is like any other girl in Australia. She hangs out with her friends, she crushes on boys and she does what every other normal teenager does. But Amal chooses this year to wear the head scarf, the piece of cloth that instantly makes a woman recognisable as a muslim.

Amal battles prejudices both from outside and from within, racism and some horrific events. But she also makes some surprising friendships and learns the limits of the male/female relationship when she finds that words and actions need to match or someone will get hurt.

I didn’t think I could get into this book, because its been a while since I’ve read a Young Adult book, but after the first few pages I was totally hooked.

Amal is easy to get to know, likeable and funny. She also uses a lot of Australian slang, which might be difficult to understand, but I grew up watching Australian soaps, so words like Daggy make sense to me. But don’t let this put you off.

This book is funny, light hearted with a serious message and touches on some difficult issues that rarely get addressed in this kind of fiction – forced marriage, culture vs religion, national identity, racism etc.

It seems heavy stuff, but within the context of the book its well handled.

A fascinating read for all ages.

5 out of 5 stars.

Does My Head Look Big in This?

 

The Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri Saturday, Jul 25 2009 

5 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 4:44 pm

The Interpreter of Maladies is a series of 9 short stories which deal with different aspects of life as an Indian, both in America and in India.

A Temporary Matter deals with a couple who have lost a child and are on the last edges of their marriage, when a power cut gives them some time to assess their relationship and be honest with each other. I found this story touching, and the ending gut wrenching.

When Mr Pirzada Comes to Dine deals with the sense of being exiled, through the eyes of a child who talks about Mr Pirzada who comes to dine with their family.

Interpreter of Maladies deals with a tour guide who works part time as a translator who is guiding an American Indian family around India.

A real Durwain deals with a woman who complains about all she lost in the partition between India and Pakistan as she guards an apartment building.

Sexy shows a woman having an affair with a married man.

Mrs. Sen’s is about a babysitter looking after a young boy.

This Blessed House is about a newly married couple and the house they purchase.

The treatment of Bibi Haldar is about a young woman with a mystery illness.

The third and final continent is about a man coming to America.

All of the stories are richly written, well described and make you think.

In some of them, they’re gut wrenching but because of the shortness of the narrative and the subject matter dealt with, really make you think.

All in all, 5 out of 5 stars.

Interpreter of Maladies

My friend Kris over at Bookheart has review both Interpreter of Maladies, and Lahiri’s other short story collection, Unaccustomed Earth. Check out her review here.

 

Very Valentine – Adriana Trigiani Monday, Jun 15 2009 

3 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 12:00 pm

Valentine Roncalli is a shoemaker working and living in Greenwich Village in New York. She lives with her grandmother, Grams who’s 80 years old and still going strong. But the family business, is under threat when Valentine finds out their financial situation is not as rosy as she expected.

Suddenly Valentine must face up to being financially ruined and homeless! Along the way, Valentine finds love and discovers more about herself and her grandmother on a trip to Italy which leads her to change her perspective on lots of important things.

I love Adriana Trigiani books, you all know how I feel about the Big Stone Gap series. This book is set in modern day New York, and it even has a cheeky reference to Lucia, Lucia one of Trigiani’s other books which is being made into a movie.

This book didn’t have that same magic for me. Yes it had the warmth of her earlier efforts, but I couldn’t identify with Valentine. She was a flake to me and buried her head in the sand. But I did love Grams who makes this such a fun book to read. And also loved Valentine’s family who are crazy and funny and who provide a good backdrop to the story.

Overall, not too impressed with this book.

3 out of 5 stars.

Very Valentine

 

The 19th Wife – David Ebershoff Tuesday, Apr 21 2009 

4 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 2:34 pm

The 19th Wife follows two parallel stories about Plural Wives within the Mormon faith. One story is set in the present, Jordon Scott’s mother BeckyLynn has been accused of murdering her husband. The evidence points to her as the one who could have done it.

The second story is from the origins of the Mormon faith and is told through Ann Eliza Young’s memoir, The 19th Wife. Ann Eliza was Brigham Young, a founder of the Mormon faith’s 19th wife and it details her marriage and bitter divorce.

Jordon’s mother asks him to solve the mysery of who actually killed his father. She asks him to believe that she didn’t kill him. And strangely, he does and does all in his power to help his mother.

The story is told through Jordon’s point of view, through Ann Eliza’s memoir, through Brigham Young’s diary, through newspaper accounts and various other documentation to give it an authentic feel as well as impart information that cannot be told in the story.

I like this book. Its long, and it took me over a week to finish it, but its an interesting account into the idea of Plural Marriage from the early Mormon faith as well as to present day. The present day story is also interesting and keeps you on your toes, and the murderer when finally revealed is not one you’d expect which gives the reader a thoroughly satisfying ending.

But the book is not without its flaws. Like I said, its long. Like really long. I think it could have cut a lot of the historical documents and other plot devices, but I did enjoy reading Ann Eliza’s account of life in the 1800s. What I didn’t enjoy was the long winded plot which I just wanted to end half-way through because I just wanted the murderer revealed so I could read another book!

But if you’re willing to go at a leisurely pace and are interested in Polygamy and its origins within the Mormon faith, this is a good book to read.

4 stars out of 5.

The 19th Wife

 

How to Kill Your Husband (and Other Handy Household Hints) – Kathy Lette Friday, Apr 3 2009 

3 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 10:28 am

I was intrigued by the title of this book, which made me pick it up. At first I thought it was a How to book (HAHA!) but its actually a fiction novel.

Cassandra O Caroll is a downtrodden Australian living in England with her vet husband and 2 children. She’s also a teacher at a Primary school trying to go for the Deputy Head position, but because of her chronic lateness doesn’t seem likely to. She’s shocked to the core, when her best friend, Jasmine Jardin renowned chef is accused of murdering her husband Dr David Studlands on a family holiday.

Jaz’s lawyer, Quincy asks Cassie to write down how it was possible that this accusation could be made, so Cassie starts on a memoir of lies, deceit, husbands and more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at.

But boy I was bored, and frustrated! Cassie is such a spineless twit, its a wonder she can stand up straight. I couldn’t relate to her at all, as she kept letting people walk all over her. Its only near the end she grows a spine, and the mystery of Jaz’s philandering husband is solved in an unlikely twist.

Jaz and their other best friend, Hannah who’s a Jewish art dealer and is married to Pascal, are the only saving grace of this novel. They’re middle class women who have somehow managed to get tangled up in nefarious schemes because of a plot twist in the novel (not really a twist, I could see it a mile away).

OK book, engaging characters if you don’t count the narrator.

3 out of 5 stars.

How to Kill Your Husband (and Other Handy Household Hints)

 

The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennet Friday, Nov 28 2008 

5 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 5:48 am

This is the charming tale of The Queen, who discovers a mobile library on her walks with the Corgis (The Royal Dogs), and to be polite borrows a book. From there a whole new world of literature is opened to Her Majesty! The Queen reads voraciously and diversely, neglecting her duties, to the annoyance of her Private Secretary, Her husband and her staff. She goes off script to talk about the books she’s read and the ideas she discovered, making once safe questions like how far people had come from, a thing of the past.

I loved the characterisation of the Queen, I have no idea how much based on fact it is, having never had the pleasure to have met Her Majesty, but its a very gentle read. Its also a very slim, novella type of novel that had me hooked and I finished it in a few hours.

I love the fact the Queen reads indiscriminately, and was laughing along with some of the situations that happened due to the Queen’s new hobby.

5 out of 5 stars!

The Uncommon Reader

 

Home to Big Stone Gap – Adriana Trigiani Thursday, Nov 27 2008 

4 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 6:41 am

The last in the Big Stone gap series, this book follows on a week after the events of Milk Glass Moon. Ave Maria has to adjust to an empty house, when she sees what she thinks is a glimpse of her dead son, Joe. Iva Lou Wade Makin is hiding a huge secret that almost destroys her relationship with Ave Maria and rocks her to the core. Jack Mac is having health problems, so much so that Ave Maria is truly afraid. Theodore Tipton makes a cameo as well as several beloved characters.

And there’s a surprise wedding in store for an unlikely character!

This book was OK, not as warm and fun as the first one, and I agree with some reviewers in that it seemed very rushed and not up to parr. Ave Maria has sort of mellowed with age, but not much. Still found her very annoying, and I think Jack Mac has the patience of a saint for putting up with her!

Although, with this conclusion we have lost some friends, it also gives a satisfying end to the series and hope for Ave Maria’s redemption in her twilight years. She’ll still make mistakes and judge people, but she’s a lot more compassionate than when we first met her, which is why despite my annoyance at her, I love Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney.

4 out of 5 stars.

Home to Big Stone Gap

 

Milk Glass Moon – Adriana Trigiani Sunday, Nov 16 2008 

3 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 12:37 pm

We return to Big Stone Gap in the third of the Big Stone Gap series.

Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney must now deal with her only daughter growing up, her feelings for her husband Jack, her feelings for Peter who she met in Italy in the last book and a death of one of our beloved characters.

I enjoyed the book although I still don’t like Ave Maria. I was very sad about the death and I liked the idea of Ave Maria dealing with some of the ghosts of her past, including some of the issues that were raised in the last book.

3 out of 5 stars.

Milk Glass Moon

 

Breaking Dawn – Stephanie Meyer Wednesday, Nov 12 2008 

5 stars and books and fiction , Humaira 11:04 am

Bella gets married to Edward in this final saga of the Twilight series. And with the marriage comes complications, mainly between her and Jacob as Jacob cannot accept that Bella over him. I won’t give away the rest of the book, but it’s probably the best one in the series.

What I liked was Bella actually grew a spine in this book and became the kind of character that was worthy of Edward. Edward is amazing as usual and Jacob becomes much more mature in this book.

I loved the other characters as well, Alice, Rosalee (Who surprises everyone in this book), Jasper, Emmett, Esme and especially Carlisle.

They all make this book work. I literally couldn’t put it down and finished this monstrous book in 2 days. Not since Deathly Hallows have I been this excited about a book!

Well worth slogging through the Twilight series just for the end, and this book especially. Meyer becomes much more confident as a writer and gives her characters some interesting twists and turns. Although, I wish she’d cut a lot of this book and gotten on with it as it sometimes dragged a little.

Overall, 5 out of 5!

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)

 

Eclipse – Stephanie Meyer Friday, Oct 31 2008 

4 stars and books and fiction , , Humaira 7:49 pm

This is the third in the Twilight series.

Edward and Bella are back together, but this means that Bella can no longer be friends with Jacob. Bella tries her hardest to get Jacob back to being friends with her, but he’s too angry with Edward’s return and Bella’s decision to become a vampire after graduation.

There is also the threat of someone who is making new born vampires in Seattle which are killing lots of people. Edward and his family try to keep Bella safe, but evidently it comes down to a fight. Edward and Jacob must now work together to stop the newborn vampires and keep Bella safe.

Bella is less annoying in this book, but not by much. Edward is amazing as usual and you kind of see into his head a little more now their relationship is more established. He really cares for Bella, even asking her to marry him before he’ll change her into a vampire, which she refuses to do. I found this incredibly sweet and though I understood Bella’s reasons for refusing him, think she’s nuts.

Another strand is the differences between Edward and Jacob. Even Bella herself acknowledges, that Jacob can give her a much more normal life, but her heart is with Edward. Jacob is deeply in love with Bella and can’t let go. To the point I wanted to smack him as well for not realising sooner how much Bella loves Edward which is why she can’t let him go.

We also see a little of the Volturi, but not the the scale that we saw them in the last book. They took their sweet time getting there and though I was scared for Bella should they come, I was also glad that they hadn’t forgotten her promise from the last book.

In all, I enjoyed this MUCH more than New Moon and Meyer is growing into her role as the keeper of Edward and Bella’s story.

4 out of 5 stars.

 

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