23, 24, 25
Yay! I found 50books_poc last month and a shelf in my local library devoted completely to Indian lit. Naturally, I had to put the two together.
I don't know how I feel about my first two picks from that shelf though. They were fun, but I'm not sure what the point was? Maybe the point(s) went over my head, but I also got the feeling like these books were just published to take advantage of a growing market for English language Indian literature. Or I'm just paranoid. It would explain why the backflap summaries don't really align with the books' contents.
23/50 Family Planning by Karan Mahajan
This was a pleasant slice of the lives of Rakesh Ahuja, a government minister of India, and his son, Anuj. The book begins with Anuj asking his father why he has so many siblings (there's twelve of them with another on the way) and goes on its merry way. I appreciate that Rakesh, Anuj and to a lesser extent, Sangita (Rakesh's wife), felt like real people-- by which I mean idiosyncratic and a little illogical.
24/50 Almost Single by Advaita Kala
This book is being sold as "Bridget Jones in a sari" which possibly is a little too literal. The beginning of the book (annoyance at first sight included) felt like it had thrown in the Indian background just so it could market itself as different, or something. Everything else felt familiar: the obsession with fashion, the girlfriends, the hijinks, and the clumsiness. I would've enjoyed it more as a slice of the life of a 30-something-Indian-want-to-be-a-bride than the romantic comedy the backflap was trying to sell me. I thought the romance was rather lazy (but not overdramatized, which is also a plus).
25/50 Airhead by Meg Cabot
[Not Indian lit but anyway...]I was in a reading Meg Cabot mood, which happens to me every now and then. This book isn't all that different from her other books. I do however want to read the next one because I've heard it's actually better, and also because I was marvelling at the ending. Someone seems to have finally allowed Cabot to spread the story over three books instead of trying to end it with some kind of life-altering lesson (that she would forget by the next book) learned by the girl! The plot is far-fetched (normal New York teen's brain is transplanted into the body of a supermodel) but might actually lead somewhere interesting.
( Rest of the Reading List)
I don't know how I feel about my first two picks from that shelf though. They were fun, but I'm not sure what the point was? Maybe the point(s) went over my head, but I also got the feeling like these books were just published to take advantage of a growing market for English language Indian literature. Or I'm just paranoid. It would explain why the backflap summaries don't really align with the books' contents.
23/50 Family Planning by Karan Mahajan
This was a pleasant slice of the lives of Rakesh Ahuja, a government minister of India, and his son, Anuj. The book begins with Anuj asking his father why he has so many siblings (there's twelve of them with another on the way) and goes on its merry way. I appreciate that Rakesh, Anuj and to a lesser extent, Sangita (Rakesh's wife), felt like real people-- by which I mean idiosyncratic and a little illogical.
24/50 Almost Single by Advaita Kala
This book is being sold as "Bridget Jones in a sari" which possibly is a little too literal. The beginning of the book (annoyance at first sight included) felt like it had thrown in the Indian background just so it could market itself as different, or something. Everything else felt familiar: the obsession with fashion, the girlfriends, the hijinks, and the clumsiness. I would've enjoyed it more as a slice of the life of a 30-something-Indian-want-to-be-a-bride than the romantic comedy the backflap was trying to sell me. I thought the romance was rather lazy (but not overdramatized, which is also a plus).
25/50 Airhead by Meg Cabot
[Not Indian lit but anyway...]I was in a reading Meg Cabot mood, which happens to me every now and then. This book isn't all that different from her other books. I do however want to read the next one because I've heard it's actually better, and also because I was marvelling at the ending. Someone seems to have finally allowed Cabot to spread the story over three books instead of trying to end it with some kind of life-altering lesson (that she would forget by the next book) learned by the girl! The plot is far-fetched (normal New York teen's brain is transplanted into the body of a supermodel) but might actually lead somewhere interesting.
( Rest of the Reading List)