This book seems to confront me, forcing me to question my own life, career, relationships, and goals. I am always a firm believer that good novels make us ask questions about ourselves. It isn’t just about escaping, but instead escaping within ourselves and discovering something new. Continue reading
Tag Archives: American literature
“All Fours” by Miranda July: A Celebration of Cringe
There is nothing more alluring than the daydream of disappearing from your life completely and being in a place and space where you feel like you have control over your identity and life again. The nameless protagonist of Miranda July’s latest novel, All Fours, organises a road trip to New York from L.A. She tells … Continue reading
Book Review of Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Rodham”: When Fiction and Fact Meet in a Novel
It was a difficult read for me for many reasons. Firstly, I could not help but despair and wonder if a female president of the United States of America can only exist in fiction. Continue reading
Me Too Novels: “Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry” Review
The Me Too movement, founded by Tarana Burke, which was a grass roots movement that addressed sexual assault and rape culture, has also found its way into contemporary novels and films. The 2019 Hollywood film, Bombshell is one such example, and there seem to be more on the way. Mary Higgins Clark’s novel, Kiss the … Continue reading
Book review of “My Dark Vanessa”: Nabokov’s “Lolita” re-imagined
My Dark Vanessa feels very much like a modern take on Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. But with a twist. Kate Elizabeth Russell writes this harrowing tale of manipulation, grooming, and assault from the perspective of a teen girl, Vanessa, being seduced by an older male. Russell has done an amazing job at telling Vanessa’s story. I … Continue reading
“Pigs In Heaven”: A review of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel
I am a major Barbara Kingsolver fan. I first came to her literature in high school when my English class had to read Poisonwood Bible, which is one of my favourite books when it comes to the plot as well as the characterisation and narrative techniques. When I found Pigs In Heaven, which I feel … Continue reading
“Pride & Prejudice & Passports”: a review of Corrie Garrett’s immigrant retelling of Jane Austen’s classic
I’ve read some modern re-tellings of classics that have just fallen flat. Sometimes classics are named classics because they are indeed just that: stories that transcend time. They shape our culture and understanding of the past. They also help us shape our future and in particular the way authors and readers write and engage with … Continue reading
Review: J.D. Horn’s “The Final Days of Magic”
NOTE: This novel was was accessed through Netgalley and 47 NORTH for review purposes. The Final Days of Magic is the third book in J.D. Horn’s series “Witches of New Orleans”. It mixes Western Christian notions of witchcraft with a Voodoo/Creole that feels very specific to New Orleans culture. This is the final novel in … Continue reading
“The Little Friend” by Donna Tartt: storyteller of a generation
I first found Donna Tartt’s writing through her 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Goldfinch. I was completely blown away by her storytelling and character building that I went out and purchased her other two novels The Little Friend and The Secret History. I have not been let down by her writing and feel myself … Continue reading
Being Muslim in America: a review of Ayser Salman’s memoir “The Wrong End of the Table”
Ayser Salman’s memoir The Wrong End of the Table is a story of awkward childhood-teen antics and trying to figure out who you are when you have so many different cultures pulling you in different directions. Salman arrives in the U.S. with her family after they leave fascist Iraq in the 1980s. Figuring out who … Continue reading
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