"Now twenty-two, I still burned with rage, grief and confusion at the arduous path of my past." I finished reading Call Me Zebra a week ago but it took some time for the whirling emotions it spurred to sink and settle, for me to pick them up, analyse them and lay them on the screen. … Continue reading Call Me Zebra, by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Category: Book reviews, in English
A Place for Us, by Fatima Farheen Mirza
This novel was everywhere on Instagram, so I got it out of curiosity and after a few weeks waiting on my shelf, I finally picked it up. Time to share my thoughts! Here is the blurb as found on Penguin UK website, my review follows. A Place for Us catches an Indian Muslim family as they … Continue reading A Place for Us, by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Twelve Nights, by Andrew Zurcher
This novel was warmly recommended to me by a fellow 'bookstagrammer'. And then the author was very kind to send me a finished copy! And I am very happy he did, because Twelve Nights turned out to be a unique read. So here is the blurb from Penguin Uk website, my review follows. Kay's father … Continue reading Twelve Nights, by Andrew Zurcher
The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
I had heard such rave reviews about this novel by the Nobel Prize winner, that I had to try it myself. Here is the blurb, my review follows. "Here is Kazuo Ishiguro’s profoundly compelling portrait of Stevens, the perfect butler, and of his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. Stevens, at the end … Continue reading The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
This made for a very special read. First because I had not read anything centring around Chinese Americans before. But it is definitely the writing and the characters that made this book unique. Here is the blurb, my review follows. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, meet weekly to play mahjong … Continue reading The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
A Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge
Opening a new Hardinge is like coming home. Not that the different worlds she conjures up in each novel look much alike - quite the contrary, her glorious, seemingly boundless imagination allows her to weave unique, striking universes each time. But reading her always means basking in lush prose and bonding with fierce brave heroines. … Continue reading A Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge
The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge
Faith has a thirst for science and secrets that the rigid confines of her class cannot supress. And so it is that she discovers her disgraced father’s journals, filled with the scribbled notes and theories of a man driven close to madness. Tales of a strange tree which, when told a lie, will uncover a … Continue reading The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Hello dear readers! Time to share my thoughts about my latest read! This was kind of an impulse buy. Heard about it on Instagram (probably) and was intrigued by the plot and impressed by the praise, so I just preordered it and kind of forgot about it. When it appeared on my doorstep I was … Continue reading The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, by Imogen Hermes Gowar
A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge
Ok guys, let's talk about one of my absolute favourite reads from this year. I first heard of Hardinge earlier this year, when Pan MacMillan announced on Instagram that they would publish new editions of "Frances Hardinge's best loved stories", and displayed photos of the gorgeous paperback covers. Reading that I thought: "Who the heck … Continue reading A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
CNA is one of the authors I was most eager to discover this year. She is a prominent figure of today's Nigeria vibrant literary scene, praised as one of the most talented of her generation. When I had to chose which of her works to read first, the themes of love and belonging explored by … Continue reading Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie