I wanted to like the much talked about "Luster" by Raven Leilani much more. Afterall, the first sentence is "The first time we have sex, we are both fully clothed, at our desks during working hours, bathed in blue computer light." Like hot damn girl, where we going from here??? But as I delved more and more into the narrative, the narrator's internal interrogation becomes almost too much, even more me. Watching a slow unravel that is so familiar to any millenial living in the hustle and bustle of a big city, "Luster" is not by any means lackluster.

Favorite Quote
" God is not for women. He is for the fruit. He makes you want and he makes you wicked, and while you sleep, he plants a seed in your womb that will be born just to die."

I wanted to read this book mainly because the reviews seemed so diverse in their array of opinions but so cloistered in that they mainly came from Caucasian American women. Similarly, the author is a white Caucasian woman. Honestly, as a South Asian Muslim, I have some qualms about the sourcing of this novel. Could they not have an Afghani woman report on the story of Kamala Jan and her incredible ingenuity and bravery under the Taliban regime? And is the family really so applauding of the United Nations and the United States in particular even now as conditions in Afghanistan continue to slowly improve in some parts but not in all? And could it be troubling that we are always fed these narratives about "extraordinary Muslim women under Taliban regime" instead of focusing on the real violence and terror imposed by both the Taliban and American forces in Afghanistan?

These were some of my thoughts while going through this book. Otherwise, it was written well, but still you can tell it was from a Westernized perspective and not from Kamala Jan's. It's little things like phrasing, but it is what it is.

Thanks to Knopf DoubleDay and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 25 2020

Waltzing in and out of present and past day Iran, Nazanine Hozar's "Aria" paints a mesmerizing portrait of what it means to claim womanhood for both a country and for the main protagonist. With a deft hand, Hozar's "Aria" is still piecing together her complicated family narrative amid a shifting political landscape. What follows is a soft, delicate and meandering narrative that truly does honesty to its protagonist's age and place in history. I enjoyed the author's slowed pace and gentle narrative style, even when describing quite brutal events.

Thank you to FSG and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available Aug 25th 2020

Spanning the globe over, Hector Tobar's "The Last Great Road Bum" is a monumental adventure through time, space and even the fourth wall. Writing a novel in a novel, Tobar offer's us the perspective of an unnamed Salvadoran author writing about the explorer extraordinaire Joe Sanderson, a "native son" of Urbana, Illinois. It is clever, similar to Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, in the way Tobar pulls in and engages his audience in meta conversations. I enjoyed both the author's ponderings and Sanderson's offbeat character. Similar to Isabel Allende's novels spans over time and space, we see Sanderson circle the globe multiple times in his ever-continuing search for identity and community. Entertaining yet sobering, Tobar's "The Last Great Road Bum" has a little something to offer everyone.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available Aug 25th 2020

Reading Lorenzo Carcaterra's "Payback" is akin to settling in your couch in New Jersey with a fresh bowl of chips and a small soda, a 'Law and Order" marathon on USA and the Sunday evening sun streaming in through your curtains. It's likeable, relaxing thriller that will melt your concerns away as you become enthralled in the fast paced world of Tank Rizzo. A year after his brother was mysteriously killed, Rizzo is set on finding the culprit, alongside his foolhardy young nephew Chris. With a colorful cast of characters, shady side-deals and enough cop slang to last you a fortnight, "Payback" is certainly a read!

Reminiscent of earlier Spanish gothic stories like Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind series, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic draws on a rich tradition of romantic horror. The narrative style is slow and insidious, drawing the reader into its tortured soul. The snappy protagonist, Noemi Taboada, acts well as a juxtaposition to the other characters. Overall, an entertaining, ambitious novel!

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 25th 2020

Mind blowing and psychologically taut, Dima Wannous's "The Frightened Ones" is a provocative glance into the mind of a Syrian refugee. When Suleima receives an advanced copy of her past lover's novel, she is at once struck by the similarity between herself and the novel's protagonist. As the novel develops, the reader is drawn more and more to question the line between reality and memory, fiction and truth. The novel with the novel structure is used to deepen Suleima's constant tension and fear as she tries to keep her two worlds apart. I really enjoyed reading this innovative novel, especially the samples of Naseem's novel.

Thanks to John Hunt Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available!

From gentle amusement to bewilderment, Chris McMillan's The London Dream explores what continues to draw so many wide eyed college graduates to the gloomy city streets. Tracing the precarious lives of "creatives" like museum workers, actors, writers and influencers through interviews, McMillan shows how London creates a "cool capitalism" that relies on a sea of talented, unemployed, and thirsty workers, Even more so, McMillan shows the policies and structures that allows cool capitalism to flourish and predate on those vulnerable dreamers. Most interestingly, he pulls the layers back on modern London to show the always hungry worker at the bottom rung, ready to do whatever it takes to make it up another ladder while those at the top watch on with bemusement. A chilling and eye opening read!

Thanks to Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available!

Clearheaded and precise, David Karashima's Who We're Reading When We're Reading Murakami presents an often underdiscussed topic in translated international fiction. Hardly anyone who reads literary fiction can claim to not know the name Murakami or be immediately absorbed into his world of Japanese magical realism. However, Murakami, or rather the English translation of Murakami, is not who we think he is. By delving into the world of translators, publishers and editors, Karashima takes the reader into a behind the scenes journey of literary fiction, one that we as readers rarely have the chance to enter. It is fascinating to consider, for example, how the order of the novels published makes an impact on an author's ability to break into the American market, how certain words and characters might be dramatically changed by the slight of the translator's hand and the unknowing, long lasting impact it can have. Karashima makes the journey both accessible and entertaining, at times even drawing on a little bit of Murakami's magic himself.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available.

In the midst of political unrest after the 2009 Iranian election, Sarah sets out to marry Ali. Little does she know the series of events that will unfurl from that catastrophic night. Dramatic and humanizing, Ehsaneh Sadr's A Door Between Us is a balancing act between the constant threat of political work in the Middle East and the humdrum of every day life in a bustling urban town. With an ever expanding cast of characters, the tales soon become intermingled and difficult to keep track of. And yet, the juxtaposition of the two creates some of the stronger moments in the book for me as a reader. In a way, it's like drinking a long hot cup of chai during a lazy afternoon with your closest sisters and aunts. There's a central plot somewhere but it's the underlying threads that draw more pleasure and attention. At times, the conversations get a little bit too meandering even for me, and perhaps the book could have done with some more editing especially in the beginning. Nonetheless, it does pique and maintain interest fairly well and by the end you find yourself rooting for a happy ending.