Middle class British-Indian-Muslim junior-doctor Yasmin Ghorami (with conservative parents and a college drop-out brother) is engaged to doctor Joe SaMiddle class British-Indian-Muslim junior-doctor Yasmin Ghorami (with conservative parents and a college drop-out brother) is engaged to doctor Joe Sangster, sole child of an outwardly loving, but intrusive, feminist icon and intellectual 'Harry' Harriet. As the two families get closer together long-held secrets, lies, truths and self realisations come to boil that could change every member of both families for ever. Another wondrous Ali read, one that in which not only the journey is entertaining, emotional, profound and a work of modern art but the sum of the whole is just as worthy of adulation. A book, a read, that will have you laugh-crying throughout. [image] A deep (as credited in the acknowledgements) research of doctoring in the UK, sees Ali bring to life the trials of a (British Muslim woman) junior-doctor working in a geriatric ward. One of the patients in the ward was probably my favourite supporting character, a 96 year-old five times married Russian Jewish woman :) And this is what I find with the best non-Western descendent writers like Ali, they are often better at not only capturing the nuances of people from multiple Western, Eastern, African, mixed etc. backgrounds, they also manage to artfully overlay their characters with the effects and impact of their experiences and lives; maybe it's just easier to conceptualise 'others', when you yourself grew up as an 'other'. [image] Two more things I need to share, I like that this is a story with a main cast that inludes five British Muslims but their religion isn't the biggest character in the story (yay!); and most of all, I love what I saw as the core theme of the dangers of deciding people are who we personally see them, as, opposed to whom they actually are. This momentous read is as good as, if not better than Brick Lane; a Four Star, 9 out of 12 read. [image] 2023 read...more
Narrated mostly from 19 year old Tish's view, this contextually (written in the 1970s) stunning work tells the story of love in an arena of severe andNarrated mostly from 19 year old Tish's view, this contextually (written in the 1970s) stunning work tells the story of love in an arena of severe and overt social and racial injustice for Afro Americans in an urban America. Tish's sculptor lifelong friend and now boyfriend Fonny is brashly wrongly accused of a dark crime, and Tish and the families seek to do all they possibly can against the immovable force of corrupt racist individuals and institutions. As the blurb states the story of the rollercoaster of emotions and actions of the main couple, as well as some of the family's evokes a sense of the blues! [image] My first ever Baldwin read! I think I always avoided his work as I got the sense it was all misery drama, but I have cheated myself from a most glorious talent. Within a few pages I was completely embedded in the lives and world of Tish and Fonny; I now see how Baldwin's multi-layered and multifaceted renditions of the African-American condition are nothing but sublime, if this is an indication of the level of his work. The pain and trauma of Fonny's experience in the criminal (in)justice system is stark and brutal, but in Baldwin's words also staggering and courageous. A masterclass in writing, characterisation and story telling. A hard Four star, 9 out of 12. [image] 2023 read...more
Chinese cop Inspector Jian is a Chinese cop who has survived, indeed prospered and been empowered in Communist/capitalist corrupt China, but when his Chinese cop Inspector Jian is a Chinese cop who has survived, indeed prospered and been empowered in Communist/capitalist corrupt China, but when his daughter goes missing in rural England who uses all his contacts to get over to the UK and investigate her disappearance despite all the bad traffic that gets in his way vehicular, criminal and the law! Ding Ming wannabe migrant worked is smuggled into the UK with his wife, but finds that rural England is not a land paved with god, but a land where if you're trafficked to is paved with animal faeces, criminals and UK law. Two desperate Chinese become unwitting allies when it appears they have a common foe. [image] I'm often sceptical of Asian/African stories written by someone that appears to have a White European name but Simon Lewis really nails this strangers in a strange land tale capturing the different viewpoints and realities of a number of Chinese people in the UK both immigrants and first and second generation British born; the story overall is not that bad either; with a lot of insight into the 'industry' behind people trafficking and complete lack of rights people trafficked have. Most of all I loved the tough uncompromising Chinese cop and his attitude to the supposed limitations put on to what he can and can't do in the UK. An 8 out of 12, Four Star read. [image] 2023 read...more
Written in the first-person, this book started off as a captivating epic tale of a Sudanese boy's life, from Southern Sudan village life to genocide; Written in the first-person, this book started off as a captivating epic tale of a Sudanese boy's life, from Southern Sudan village life to genocide; from many hundred mile walks with others mostly boys, escaping for their lives; through to refugee status, through to resettlement in the US... with this very book's proceeds going to help people like him; a story told, by looking back as the narrator himself is robbed in his own home and tied up! Some of the Lost Boys of Sudan [image] However what started of as a compelling and painful look at what was happening in Sudan became an almost monotonous read which yet again on rereading was a bit of a struggle to get to the end of. It almost feels like the escape from Genocide is the story that I wanted to really dig deep into, and having a whole second story about life in a refugee camp although illuminating, took away a lot of the momentous first half of this book? Still very much a must read for people that want to know a little more about Southern Sudan and refugee camp life. 7 out of 12 [image] 2022 read; 2009 read...more
At 18, Nazneen is taken from her Bangladeshi village life, via an arranged marriage to a man in his 40s who is just about eking out a living in a poorAt 18, Nazneen is taken from her Bangladeshi village life, via an arranged marriage to a man in his 40s who is just about eking out a living in a poor part of East London (UK) in his small flat. Anecdotally, this is the fate that many Bengali (and other Muslim) girls know awaits, so she knuckles down to it. Now with two daughters, and her older husband with big ideas but limited prospects, and Nazneen herself a stay-at-home seamstress, life takes an unexpected and extremely dangerous turn when she meets the radical (for change) young Karim. [image] To the background of the East London 'white flight', the 'coming of the Bengalis', racism and the once again changing face of the Brick Lane area of London, Monica Ali drops a mesmerising debut novel with her almost poetic dissection of the life of a woman from a conservative patriarchal world seemingly taking the sensuality and recklessness of an affair to reappraise her identity. With race, Islam and even the Bengali diaspora playing second fiddle to her experience and the wonderful supporting cast from the almost lovable husband with a genuine heart of gold under his brusque exterior, to the pseudo gangster outfit led by an aging theatrical Bengali matriarch! [image] I found this most definitely one of those books where the sum of the whole made me gasp in awe on completion of it! Another joy was the overall plotting, where like many lives, for every predictable outcome there are just as many unpredictable events. Above all I found it a ground breaking testament to the lives of first generation immigrants who have to not only try and integrate into their new climate, but also balance that integration with the demands of their own culture. The final golden touch was having Nazneen's sister back in Bangladesh relate the trials and tribulations of her own life as a contrast. 9 out of 12. The most startling thing is, I just don't understand why it took me so long to get round to reading this gem! [image] 2022 read...more
An Essex woman and almost 40, mixed race Monica has three kids with her almost perfect White husband; his one significant failing is his inability to An Essex woman and almost 40, mixed race Monica has three kids with her almost perfect White husband; his one significant failing is his inability to defend or even perceive her mistreatment by his racist family. Her youngest is now five and she's began to really start thinking about her next steps in life, but as the BREXIT vote looms her now enabled husband's racist family are getting worse, when along comes someone who does seem to actually listen to her, as well as turn her on... another man! [image] So many reasons I love this book with a Black mixed race protagonist, first of all despite having racism as a core theme that's not really what this book is primarily about, for me it was primarily about the age old issue of men (not) being in their woman's corner when it comes to 'their family'; it's also about how many people of colour have to 'manage' the people around them on a daily basis; it tells the TRUTH (I was there) how BREXIT enabled/revealed overt racist behaviour; it's also brilliantly about alcoholism/addiction; and yet manages to take a look at mixed relationships, socially empowered male sexual predators, inter family relationships and carnal lust! What ultimately breathed life into this read is having Monica be such a flawed = real character. Fab read! 9.5 out of 12. [image] 2022 read...more
In a small village in remote Afghanistan in the 1950s a family makes a sacrifice that echoes across the mountains from Kabul, through to Paris, LondonIn a small village in remote Afghanistan in the 1950s a family makes a sacrifice that echoes across the mountains from Kabul, through to Paris, London, Greece and Northern California over the next seven decades, this is the story of those echoes. And, just wow, what stories! Centred around the remote village and a house in Kabul, Hossseini tells the personal stories in first person of an eclectic cast made of the village family members and their descendants, the Kabul house owners, the later residents and other people whose live were impacted by the echo of that original sacrifice. A pot pourri of characters that uncover the past and then the ensuing decades. And. This. Book. Is. Genius. [image] The weird thing was that after reading The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns I had no other choice but to expect genius from this book, so ha very high expectations; the startling thing was that after reading the heart rending first chapter set in the village from a child's viewpoint I was already completely sold! Hosseini says that his characters write themselves and reading this wondrous saga underlines his feelings! [image] What could have easily been a work looking at the changes in Afghanistan over a century is anything but; this is an amazingly detailed and authentic feeling characters' (plural) study of family, sacrifice, self awareness, survival and most of all identity as soon through the eyes of people connected by the ripple effect, the echoes of a momentous sacrifice made in Kabul in 1957. This. Book. Is. Genius. 10 out of 12. [image] 2022 read...more
2020 review: Blond Marilyn is married to American-Chinese James Lee, living in small-town Ohio, with their three children, oldest Nathan, almost sixte2020 review: Blond Marilyn is married to American-Chinese James Lee, living in small-town Ohio, with their three children, oldest Nathan, almost sixteen Lydia, and the youngest Hannah - I say three children, because they didn't know Lydia was dead yet! [image] The book captures from the parents first meeting, to the months after Lydia's passing, by moving from each member of the family (including Lydia) as they recollect their connected pasts, the days leading up to Lydia's death and then what follows. It's less a sad story, as a story about family, family secrets and denials, mixed race families living in White spaces and above all, dreams, ambition and what we want from our children, and why. [image] Celeste Ng's debut book (Amazon's Best Book 2014!) is an understated pile-driver of a read that isn't afraid to ask really uncomfortable questions about the processing of the death of a family member, racial intolerance, child rearing, and the impact of adult behaviours on children. Ng nails the individual characters and voices of the family well, and in under 300 pages lays each and everyone of them bare and transparent to the reader. An exceptional debut. 9 out of 12. Another one of those books, that I can't wait to read again!...more
A wonderful read that starts off like it is a Black woman romantic comedy set in a White (London, UK) world, and turns out to be a lot more. Queenie iA wonderful read that starts off like it is a Black woman romantic comedy set in a White (London, UK) world, and turns out to be a lot more. Queenie is sort of not doing good, estranged from her mum, struggling to focus at work and with her partner whom she lives with, things are just not going right for her, but she does have a small number of (female) friends, that she can rely on. And she's anything but a stereotype, she's mostly Anglicised, dates White men, is a bit awkward and is also a catastrophist! [image] The cooling off of her relationship sets her down a spiral that may change her life forever. This is more than a refreshing, transparent and highly entertaining look at a particular Black Woman's life, loves and struggles, it's a look at the multiple layers of modern Black society; it's an almost unsettling look at how similar to the mainstream Black lives really are, whether first generation Jamaicans through to third generation Gen Zs - unsettling because you realise that across a lot of media it's the differences that are focused on! [image] And with more than half the main cast being Black, what Carty-Williams also nails is how the Black Lives Matter movement resonates throughout the 2nd and 3rd generations, how it is not all and everything, but its reach is deep and resonant. But let's be honest, this book is wonderful because it takes a Black female-centric story, which is not necessarily a wholly positive one, but one that feels real, and makes it darkly comedic, suspenseful, informative, life-affirming, and above all, Goddamn entertaining. I read somewhere that this is the Black Bridget Jones... nah blood, this is so much more. 9.5 out of 12 [image] 2020 read...more
The Killer / Fritzi arcs set around Palomor are now nowhere as good as the revitalised older Locas and new generation Tonta & Gomez stories by Jaime HThe Killer / Fritzi arcs set around Palomor are now nowhere as good as the revitalised older Locas and new generation Tonta & Gomez stories by Jaime Hernandez. Maggie and Hopey on a road trip to visit a sick friend, which allows Ray to have a little adventure; and of course there's also Tonta and family! 8 out of 12. [image]...more
The Palomar magic and even magic realism of these serials seems to be fading. Palomar focuses more on Dora/Killer (who's investigating her family histThe Palomar magic and even magic realism of these serials seems to be fading. Palomar focuses more on Dora/Killer (who's investigating her family history) and less on the old faves, of quite a few have now passed on. In some meta fiction mind blowing it turns out that Fritz played Maria in a real-life adaptation of "Love and Rockets, Vol. 12: Poison River"! It is Jaime Hernandez's post-Locas' stories of Tonta, Gretchen, Violent, Ish. etc, whose stories are getting better again! 8 out of 12 [image]...more
Half the book is taken up the best story in this collection, 'Proof That The Devil Loves You', see 'Beto take Killer, sad girl and Pipo back to PalomaHalf the book is taken up the best story in this collection, 'Proof That The Devil Loves You', see 'Beto take Killer, sad girl and Pipo back to Palomar which is as weird (magical real?) as ever. As well as other Palomar shorts by 'Beto, Jaime focuses on Vivian (Frogmouth) and her sister Tonta. This universe just keeps on expanding! 8 out of 12 Four Stars. Here's the amazing Latino creative team. [image] 2017 and 2016 read...more
Featuring the final three parts of Jaime Hernández's 'The Love Bunglers' the on and off relationship of Maggie and Ray, and some more revealing and woFeaturing the final three parts of Jaime Hernández's 'The Love Bunglers' the on and off relationship of Maggie and Ray, and some more revealing and wonderfully plotted Maggie backstory, including the cause of the animosity between her and Blanca is finally shown! and 'Beto's King Vampire and a Killer, sad girl continuation story. Surely one of the greatest ongoing series ever written? 9 out of 12. [image]...more
Gilberto Hernández kicks off with a Fritz driven top class 14 pages of dialogue. Jaime brings the series back to the Locas cast. Ray's still pursuing Gilberto Hernández kicks off with a Fritz driven top class 14 pages of dialogue. Jaime brings the series back to the Locas cast. Ray's still pursuing Maggie and their story is in the first two parts of 'The Love Bunglers'. Killer's back angling for a film career which no one is taking seriously in 'Killer Sad Girl Star'. And wow wow wow, Jaime give us ne'er seen before more Maggie backstory which gets all the stars from me. The series is back to its best again. 9 out of 12. [image]...more
More superhero mash-up from Jaime Hernández, and Gilbert Hernández lays down his epic 'Hypnotwist', which to be honest, with its lack of words, I founMore superhero mash-up from Jaime Hernández, and Gilbert Hernández lays down his epic 'Hypnotwist', which to be honest, with its lack of words, I found thought provoking, but felt it left an unclear narrative. Introducing 'Killer', a sad girl, a possible descendent of Luba? 6 out of 12. [image]...more
Ditching the socio-political allegories of previous collections Gilbert focuses on the ageing Luba's extended family in the United States, especially Ditching the socio-political allegories of previous collections Gilbert focuses on the ageing Luba's extended family in the United States, especially her two sisters and her wondrous niece Venus. This is a collection of yet more superb craftsmanship, super magical realism, 'feck, superb realism. 10 ou tof 12, Five Star read. [image]...more
An older and wiser Maggie visits the Hoppers after years away. Jamie debuts a new fascinating character Vivian the 'Frogmouth'. An older and little biAn older and wiser Maggie visits the Hoppers after years away. Jamie debuts a new fascinating character Vivian the 'Frogmouth'. An older and little bit wiser Hopey tries to grow up.. I think! Ray's life's flat, until Frogmouth explodes into his life. More superb storytelling by Jaime! 9 out of 12. [image]...more
Back to Jamie Hernandez's Locas, continuing from his last volume Perla La Loca with some Penny Century in the pro-wrestling world before catching up wBack to Jamie Hernandez's Locas, continuing from his last volume Perla La Loca with some Penny Century in the pro-wrestling world before catching up with Hopey, Maggie and co. interspersed with Penny Century short stories. Jaime's work, just gets better! One of our key characters gets married, another is divorced. We get more on Costigan (him with the unexplained horns in his head!). We find out what Ray's doing. And Maggie & Hopey, can it be eternal love? Superb series. Superb art. Superb Love and Rockets! 9 out of 12. [image]...more
Collecting 'Poison River' the Luba life story leading up to her time in Palomar, words escape for the creativity, it all just feels so real, like I liCollecting 'Poison River' the Luba life story leading up to her time in Palomar, words escape for the creativity, it all just feels so real, like I lived this life. This is then followed by short stories around 'Love & Rockets X', which captures the world that Maricela and Riri find when they moved to the United the States. 8 out of 12 [image]...more
Somehow this series got even better, especially with the master class storytelling of the 105 pager - Human Diastrophism, the only full graphic novel Somehow this series got even better, especially with the master class storytelling of the 105 pager - Human Diastrophism, the only full graphic novel length "Palomar" story ever created by Gilbert Hernández. The story is one of the best stories I have ever read, the presence of a serial killer amongst them impacts on Palomar in many ways. heart ending and deep and so real! The Magical Realist tales of Palomar and the utterly mesmerising Luba are some of the best comic book story and artwork ever produced in my opinion! Not satisfied with that exceptional work the following stories focused around Luba and her descendants and her past are at times just as miraculous! 10 out of 12 overall, although Human Diastrophism got an 11 out of 12 from me. [image]...more
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