I thought it’d be fun to give some mini-book suggestions based on what I have been reading as of late. So, the books I’d like to recommend to you guys are;
Homefire by Kamila Shamsie
This novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2017 and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018. I have heard about this book quite a lot over the last year and that was how I thought to give it a go, and it has really surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed it a lot and there is quite a lot I want to talk about in regard to this book. It’s about three British siblings of Pakistani origin: the older sister, Isma and her two younger twin siblings, Aneeka and Parvaiz. I think, in the broadest terms; this book is about these characters trying to negotiate the conflicts between family obligations and their religion in the 21st century, specifically focusing on the issues of terrorism and attitudes towards that in Britain in this present day. The older sibling, Isma, has just moved to the U.S. to study and the book opens with her experiences being detained in the immigration control in the airport and being subjected to ridiculous questions about her allegiance to the UK. On the other hand, her younger brother, Parvaiz, has recently moved to Syria after being supposedly radicalized and is falling in his father’s footsteps, who became a jihadist and was murdered when they were all very young. Another character who is important in this book is Eamonn, another British Pakistani man whose father has just become the first Pakistani Home Secretary of the UK. Everything in this book felt very topical as it deals with big issues like terrorism and Islamophobia, but it does so sensitively. Overall, what I think the book tackles well is the way the government and the public treat the families of those who become radicalized. I think it's really a calling for a lot more compassion when it comes to the family members and how they are treated because they cannot be held accountable in any way for the actions of another, even if they are related.
One plus One by Jojo Moyes
This novel follows four different perspectives. We have Jess, who is a single mom, and her kids are Tanzie and Nicky. Tanzie is an 8-year-old girl, and she is hilarious and a genius in mathematics. I love her character so much that she will probably win my favourite female character in books that I have read in the month of January. Meanwhile, Nicky studies in a high school, and he has had a lot of trouble recently with kids in his neighbourhood bullying him because he is “different” from everyone else. The fourth perspective in the novel would be Ed who is a self-starter. He owns his own software business with his best friend, Ronan. Everything seemed to go really well for him until one day, a girl that he had a major crush on during college days walked back into his life and just completely turned things around for him in the worst way possible. What I really appreciate about how Jojo Moyes wrote this novel is that it is very character-driven, and her characters were fantastic. You cannot help but fall in love with each character in Jojo Moyes' novels. I also liked how there was no instalove in this story, it was a gradual progression from being strangers to not being too sure about the other person, and starting to build friendship and eventually falling for each other.
Leaving before the rains come by Alexandra Fuller
Back in 2002, Alexandra Fuller wrote a terrific memoir called Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight which was the story of growing up in Africa with her English parents, who were deeply troubled and complex people. The story of growing up there is an amazing book that I would highly recommend to you. Leaving before the rains come is the sequel, but you do not necessarily have to read the first one. Anyway, this is about her later years when she meets an American in Africa, marries him and ends up moving back to live in the American Midwest, where life is vastly different from what it was in Africa. Over time, her marriage begins to fall apart. This book is truly a wonderful piece of writing by Alexandra Fuller, which I would recommend to anyone.
Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I have so many things I want to say about this book that I honestly do not know where to start. I feel that the characters in this book are definitely the best that John Green has written. The main character of this story, Hazel Grace, is a 16-year-old girl who is battling cancer. While attending a cancer support group, she ran into a guy named Augustus Waters, who also dealt with cancer in the past. And the two of them hit it off. I think what the author is trying to show in this story is that there is more to you than there is cancer. Cancer may be a part of you, but it is not you. While there are many twists and turns in this novel, I think one thing that remains constant is Augustus’ will to establish a legacy, which is considered heavily by Hazel. Well, undeniably, we all have this epic fear that we will be forgotten and not remembered after we die. After reading this book, I can honestly say that it’s the littlest thing in life that matters the most. The Fault in Our Stars is so amazing that I can recommend this to anyone.
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
This book is a struggle fiction during the period when the Japanese invaded some Asian countries. This book is set in Korea with the main character by the name of Hana who is a diver and a fisherwoman. As her whole family comes from a whole long line of fisherwomen, she has an occupation of going down and diving for fish as part of their income. One day, when Hana was diving for fish, she realized that there were Japanese soldiers pursuing her younger sister. Hana goes to rescue her and hides her, but during the process, Hana gets captured by the Japanese soldiers. She was then sold into this life of a comfort woman. In other words, Hana was unfortunately put into a situation where she was human trafficked and being forced into being a prostitute for various Japanese soldiers. It’s told in this very gritty sad reality of what happened to all these women during this time period. Many of them had passed away from disease, unexpected pregnancies, and so sadly, many of the women who endure this type of hardship end up not surviving. Unfortunately, Hana also happens to be one of those women who is forced into this kind of life, which is in contrast with her younger sister, who became an older woman in 2011 and she is reflecting on the relationship that she had with her sister. The story jumps back and forth between the two time periods and basically what happens with their sibling relationship. Overall, this book is a story about redemption, forgiveness, endurance and bravery, which is written in such a beautiful language that you will just fall in love with the characters while reading.
So there we go, a run down of some of my latest reads. Happy reading!
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