I seem to be focused on small things lately. Maybe in getting old, I have realized that big things are rare. I’ve learned one truly valuable lesson growing up (I want to believe we keep growing): You can fashion a good life out of small things. You do so by making big things of small ones. It’s not that hard—it’s what humans do to feel … Continue reading God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Reading The Real Jane Austen, A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne, I understood more clearly why Austen novels appeal to me. And, more than ever, I’ve come to appreciate these novels for their artistry. Not just as a reader—but maybe more importantly—as a writer. Once again, this book proves “God is in the detail.” But for details to serve fiction well, they must … Continue reading The Real Jane Austen, A Life in Small Things: A Review
This book comes closer to home than the other two I’ve read by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Literally. It’s set in Berkeley. At some point in the story, Rakhi, the daughter of the Queen of Dreams, might have lived next to me on the Oakland Hills. If she had been real of course. Rakhi is real enough to me because she is a modern woman coping … Continue reading Queen of Dreams: Divakaruni, again
I read art books. Not often. Sometimes I just need a break from made-up stories. My interest in artsy pursuits dates from childhood. I got into drawing growing up with three brothers who refused to play with me. Today, I have pretensions to being a painter of sorts. Anyway, I read this book—all 500-some intimidating, fascinating pages of it. It teased me into expecting that, … Continue reading Thierry de Duve: Kant After Duchamp
In affluent Western countries, those that aren’t “us,” the “Others,” are minority, often disadvantaged groups. In France, the Other usually comes from North Africa (the Maghreb). Like Fatma, a Berber girl, in Tahar Ben Jelloun’s With Downcast Eyes. Fatma, like the male narrator in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, moves from her home. In this case, it’s from the hills of Morocco to France where her father … Continue reading Cultural Duality: With Downcast Eyes
The Palace of Illusions A woman with five princely warrior husbands–how cool is that? I didn’t read this book; I listened to it. I borrowed it from the local library while recovering from a vitrectomy (an eye operation). The two-week tedious down time—I literally had to keep my gaze on my feet—became so much more bearable. The dramatic reader was a delight and I appreciated … Continue reading Two Novels With Indian Roots by C.B. Divakaruni
This is my honest review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger! which I have been requested to read. Ejourney explores themes of living in two cultures. The multicultural experience is usually not treated by novelists. In her series of three novels, Between Two Worlds, EJ shows off her style of literary romance, not of the more typical romances where lovely damsels tingle and swoon continuously for broad … Continue reading Reviewing Welcome, Reluctant Stranger! A White Male’s POV
Welcome, Reluctant Stranger! (Between Two Worlds Book 3), by E. Journey, is a touching story about a woman who must confront her family’s past. Leilani Torres, a psychologist, helps people heal. But can she heal herself? When she was only nine, Leilani, her mother, and two siblings flee their Pacific country, Costa Mora. Her father was supposed to follow them to the United States, but … Continue reading Welcome Reluctant Stranger: 5 stars—Self-Publishing Review
Come times when you need to toot your own horn. Why not? Sometimes no one else can do it better. Like when you’re getting all these good reviews (for Welcome Reluctant Stranger) and you feel you must share all that heady stuff. The best part is these comments come from readers like you and me. Oh, professional reviewers have their place, but to touch anyone … Continue reading Sweet Words for Welcome, Reluctant Stranger!
How many ways can you get to know a culture different from that in which you grew up? One delectable way described in this review is through cuisines, which I’ve amplified in another post. Marlena DeBlasi takes a different tack in her memoir, That Summer in Sicily. While she does sumptuously describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures in earlier chapters, she seduces you into experiencing … Continue reading Loving A Prince And That Summer in Sicily
Who expects to be entertained reading a cookbook? Hungry, perhaps and eager to try out recipes from it. But, in fact, some cookbooks do more than give you recipes and possibly some background story behind them, so they’re not only informative, they’re entertaining. One such book is Japanese Farm Food. I know little about Japanese farms and indigenous Japanese culture except for what I’ve seen … Continue reading Nancy Singleton-Hachisu’s Japanese Farm Food
All The Light We Cannot See is a modern day existentialist novel. A book in the tradition of Dostoevsky, although that may not be obvious right away. The title alludes in different ways to the juvenile main protagonists of the novel, Marie Laure and Werner. For Marie Laure, the allusion is more literal. She is blind, from a congenital vision disorder. Nurtured by a loving … Continue reading Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See
************ Welcome, Reluctant Stranger” spans across many genres, though it does so impressively, without losing the sense of the plot and characters. GoodbooksToday.com Reviews E. Journey enwraps the audience in passionate dialog and riveting descriptions throughout Welcome, Reluctant Stranger. Readers of action, adventure, crime novels, political dramas, and certainly fans of love stories will want to pick up this book. Given the nature of the … Continue reading Goodbooks Today Review: Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
The third book in my series Between Two Worlds (tentatively titled Welcome, Reluctant Stranger) focuses on a young woman who, as a child, had to flee a small country in the Pacific. She brings her history to a new place (California) where she must now fit in. I will answer a question that hasn’t yet been asked, but which might occur to anyone who knows … Continue reading The Reluctant Other
************ Journey has woven a beautiful narrative filled with complex relationships and interactions between women – aunts, mothers, and daughters.” – GoodbooksToday.com Reviews Evy Journey has woven an intricate, heart-wrenching coming-of-age story about family and love with HELLO, AGNIESZKA! The sequel to HELLO, MY LOVE!, this novel continues the story of a family who is shaken by the eldest son’s suicide attempt. In order to … Continue reading GoodbooksToday.com Review of Hello, Agnieszka !
About three months ago, I got a copy of The Wedding Group by Elizabeth Taylor. No, not that Elizabeth Taylor. The other Elizabeth Taylor. These are a couple of published reactions when articles are written about that other Elizabeth, a British writer in the mid-1900s. Unfortunately, that shared name may be one big reason so many people have not heard of her. I, for instance, … Continue reading Meet Elizabeth Taylor, the British Writer
Views from Three Readers: After her son tried to commit suicide, Agnieszka was left with no choice but to reveal a well-kept secret to her kids in order to help them understand their brother’s actions. Starting from when she was eight, she told her family her life story, with the hope that this would make them understand her journey and the choices she made along … Continue reading Hello, Agnieszka! A Five-Star Readers’ Favorite
I picked up this book mostly for the way it’s written, with vivid language and a jaunty almost staccato cadence that could leave you breathless just skimming through it. This writer has a way with words. And as I read, I thought—this must be the new way of writing. The way I write would be stodgy compared to it because I’m of the old school. … Continue reading Butting Heads With A Different Writing Style
The best thing, so far, about the Virtual Book Blog Tour for Hello, My Love is getting book reviews. I find the feedback quite useful. I’m changing the cover and have made a bit of revision in one chapter based on these reviews. I had earlier relied on subtext to indicate motivation but subtext probably works only on careful reading, and reading for entertainment … Continue reading Book Reviews for Hello, My Love! on Book Blog Tour
************ “The unexpected surprises and emotional encounters of this novel keeps the reader enthralled until the very last page.”—GoodbooksToday.com Reviews There are few stories that capture the raw emotions of a true and powerful love. The desire and yearning to be with that special person your heart has chosen can be all-consuming and unrelenting. “Hello, My Love!” portrays just that. You can just feel the … Continue reading Praise for Hello, My Love! from Goodbooks Today.com
Escape Into Reality 