The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the latest novel by Kiran Desai. Desai is one of my favorite authors and this latest epic novel doesn’t disappoint. Sonia, cold and lonely, studying far from her home in India at college in Vermont finds herself pulled into a relationship with an older artist who at first captivates her but then slowly begins to drive her into an even deeper isolation and depression. Sunny is struggling with corruption within his family in…
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane is a sweet little novel about just what it says, Rules for Visiting complete with rules from Emily Post. May, a botanist who is often more comfortable with plants than people, finds herself longing to connect with old friends as a way to force herself out of isolation, and she wants to make sure she is a good guest. Filled with charm and wit, this is one woman’s journey back to herself after…
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak follows cousins Armanoush, a young Armenian American living in San Francisco, trying to understand her family history and Asya, a nineteen-year-old Turkish woman living in an all-female household in Istanbul because all the men in her family are cursed and die young. This novel is filled with history and humor; there is a longing to understand one’s past and how it relates to the present, one’s identity, family and culture. It forces us…
Sarah Canary is the first novel by Karen Joy Fowler author of The Jane Austin Book Club. A completely original novel by an utterly unique writer. From a Chinese labor camp in Washington state in the late 1800’s to an insane asylum, to a series of adventures down the coast to San Francisco, two unlikely characters travel together through one misadventure after another, although it’s unclear who is leading who. They travel through the wild west of frontier days, when…
Retablos, Stories from a Life Along the Border by Octavio Solis is a book of autobiographical short stories. Solis is a playwright living in Ashland, Or where I am about to see his play Quixote Nuevo for the fourth time as part of the 90th season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His writing is so honest and simple and direct, evoking memories of his childhood lived along the Texas/Mexico border. Sometimes I was longing for a more complete picture of…
Parasol Against the Axe is the latest book by Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird. Oyeyemi is without a doubt a brilliant and original writer, a voice like no other. However, I liked this book even less than the last one. I keep wanting to love her novels, but I just don’t. This book is set in Prague, a sort of love story to the city. Within this book there is another book central to the story that each…
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo is a novel set in the Dominican Republic and New York City. It reads like a love song to Dominican women and their special gifts. Flor, who has always been able to predict when someone was going to die, wants a living wake to celebrate her life and bring her family together. Each of the women in her family have unique gifts of their own and Acevedo brings them to life here. Although this is…
Dream Count is the long awaited new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who before reading this book I would have said was one of my favorite writers. This is actually a hard post for me to write. Her writing skill is on full display here, some passages so beautifully written they stop you in your tracks. However, this is by far my least favorite book I have read from her. The novel is broken into four sections, each highlighting one…
Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Ahmed is set in Obama era San Francisco during the last weeks of Seema’s pregnancy, narrated by her unborn son. Growing up in a Muslim Indian family in Chennai, her father disowned her when he found out she was a lesbian. Now many years later, living in San Francisco with her girlfriend, she is reunited with her mother who is dying of cancer and her sister who has become a very strict Muslim and doesn’t approve…
Orbital by Samantha Harvey is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a long time. It follows one day in the life of six astronauts and cosmonauts on the international space station. Harvey gives us small snapshots of their lives both in space and back on Earth. It is almost impossible to believe she has never been to space herself as she writes so eloquently about it. This book is what everyone needs to read right now. It…