Book Review: The Dowry Bride

The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

Publisher: Kensington Books

Category: Lit

Challenges: What’s in a Name, SAAC

Synopsis: Megha is a young woman in India who finds out that her mother-in-law wants her killed as her father has failed to pay the dowry that was promised.

My Thoughts: The story was very compelling and brought to light a very important topic, unfortunately, I felt that the book was both predictable and at times badly written. The dialogue was clunky at times (and I am the queen of clunky dialogue), for example:

“I trust you completely, Kiran, but Amma is a vindictive woman. I’ve lived with her for the past year. When she wants something, nobody can stop her. She’s like a rock hurtling down a steep mountain.” (105)

At this point it has already been established that Amma is a very nasty person but Bantwal seems to be bent on hammering it home. She also doesn’t seem to trust that her readers can understand, or don’t need to understand certain things, such as when she enumerates the foods that Kiran and Megha eat:

Kiran watched with amused contentment Megha eat the rich mkhani chicken curry, alu matar or potatoes with peas, the hot, puff bread called naan, and the rice pulau and salad. (114)

To me passages like this feel very wordy and unnecessary and really took away from my enjoyment of the book. I had similar problems with The Forbidden Daughter last year and I am beginning to think that this authors writing style just doesn’t work for me. I really wish it did though, because I love stories she tells.

I did enjoy the basic story and actually read the whole book in an afternoon. I wanted so much for Megha to be okay, she was a very likeable character. Her desires were completely disregarded by those around her and yet she tried so hard to please them. I did find it a tad unnecessary that she needed a man to save her. I wish she could have been a bit more independent, at the same time I understand that in the culture where the book is set it might not have been possible for her to have more independence.

The issue of dowries and dowry brides that Bantwal brings up is a very important one with regards to women’s rights. Bantwal shows how the young brides are put to the mercy of her husbands family and how badly these families can treat the brides if the dowry is not paid in a timely manner, or if the girls fail to produce a child. Although there are laws against dowries these laws are ignored and disregarded and the girls are put in a very vulnerable position.

Overall the stylistic choices the author makes mean that I will probably not be reading any more of her books, even though I thought the story fantastic and the themes important.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: A Hat Full of Sky

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: HarperCollins e-book

Category: YA Fantasy

Challenges: What’s in a Name

Synopsis: An ancient creature enters Tiffany’s mind and causes her to desire power.

My Thoughts: This book continues to follow Tiffany Aching.

Tiffany has now moved in with Miss Level to continue her training as a witch. At Miss Level Tiffany also meets a coven of younger witches. The creature that invades Tiffany’s mind feeds the desire one often sees in teenagers, a desire for power. The creature causes Tiffany to act in a way that is very out of character for her, but I think was realistic for a teenager trying to find themselves.

The introduction of the coven also allows Pratchett to explore the relationships amongst younger girls. The book shows that these relationships can be filled with jealousy and meanness but also that the girls can be fiercely loyal to each other and that even those who at first might not seem to be ones friends turn out to be the best friends.

I really enjoyed the book but to be honest it was over a month since I read it and I am having trouble articulating and remembering what I loved about it apart from those things that I always love about Pratchett’s books: his humour and his insights into that which makes us human. I also have to say that the Nac Mac Feegles are quickly becoming my favourite characters. They are hilarious but also caring.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Ett UFO gör entré (A UFO makes an entrance)

Ett UFO gör entré (A UFO makes an entrance) by Jonas Gardell

Publisher: Norstedts

Category: Lit

Challenges: Nordic Challenge, What's in a Name, GLBT Challenge

Synopsis: Juha is growing up in a suburb to Stockholm at the end of the 1970s and at the start of the 1980s. He is on the cusp of being cool. He manages to keep this up by stealing liquor from his parents and giving to his friends. Juha is determined to never again be a nothing.

My Thoughts: I didn’t end up finishing this book. Not because it wasn’t good (it is definitely a good book), but because it was to painful.

Juha whom we first met in En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) is now a teenager and still as desperate to fit in. This means that he steals and lies and ignores his friend Jenny. Juha’s insecurities and fears are made so incredibly real in this book that they made me physically sick and brought me close to tears and ultimately that isn’t really what I want from a book right now.

I am also a bit of a prude at times and Juha’s teenage boy fascination with sex got to me. I think in a way because he was disrespectful to himself as much as to the people he so desperately wanted to have sex with.

I think this is a very realistic portrayal of growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s in Sweden (I can’t say for sure since I don’t remember much of the ‘80s and wasn’t around in the 70s ). But that makes the book that much harder to read. I can so easily picture Juha and his desire to be popular. To be someone. I can see Jenny’s self-loathing and want to tell her that she is worth something. That she is amazing. I want to thump their parents for being so self-involved and selfish that they don’t see how much their children are hurting.

In the end Gardell is an amazing writer but I just couldn’t handle this book right now. I spend far to much of my time with hormone crazy teenage boys* to read about one.

This is undoubtedly a book that is good to read WITH teenagers. It will lead to some very interesting and important discussions, but right now I can’t handle it.

*At one of the schools I teach at I have almost only boys who are slightly older than Juha is in this book. Whenever I read about what is going on in Juha’s head I see one of “my” boys admitting that he feels like shit. It hits a bit close to home right now.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: One Was A Soldier

One Was A Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery & Suspense, What’s in a Name

Synopsis: Five veterans meet in a therapy group in the small town of Millers Kill. All of them have wounds from the war, some visible, others less so. When one of them dies the others refuse to leave their fallen comrade behind and set out to find out the circumstances around the death. In the process the individuals begin to heal. The seventh book about Episcopal Priest Clare and her Police Chief Russ looks at some of the darker sides of war, both for those who have fought and for those who are left at home.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. Spencer-Fleming has once again managed to mix the social issues with characters that feel supremely real. The town of Millers Kill, NY feels real. The characters are presented warts and all.

As with most of the books in the series this book doesn’t have a straight chronology. The book starts in September with the first meeting of a therapy group for veterans. We are then taken back to June with the return of two of the members of the group, first Eric McCrae and then Clare’s return. We get to see both those physically damaged by war and those whose wounds are psychological. Although I know very little about the affects of war I felt that the portrayal of the characters wounds was very well done.

Personally I have always found Clare’s drinking to be a bit of a problem. To me she has been using it as a crutch even before she went to Iraq. I might be slightly oversensitive here as we have alcoholism in the family (my uncle celebrated 30 years sober this week!) and so the phrase “I need a drink because…” always sets off alarm bells in my head. Ever since the scene in I Shall Not Want where Clare and Russ meet at the liquor store I’ve had an uneasy feeling in my gut. I thought the book handled Clare’s own dawning realisation about how she was “Not fine at all”. Really well, but I do wish that Russ had pushed a bit more, especially since he has his own experience.

I’ve said it before, but I am going to point it out again, one of the things I like about these books is the fact that I can relate to the reality of Millers Kill. I currently live in a small town, so small that we in fact don’t even have our own police force. Although, here in Sweden we have very few people go into the military (we are at peace dontcha know*) but I could still relate to the need to get out. To leave the small town, that causes so many of the towns inhabitants to join up. I loved the fact that Spencer-Fleming highlighted the fact that these types of towns send a disproportionate amount of their inhabitants to the military. And that, we perhaps don’t recognize this enough.

In connection with the issues surrounding the reasons why so many people from towns like Millers Kill signing up to the armed forces comes the issues regarding the poor and the working poor and I really liked the way the book touches on these issues. This is especially evident in the scene at the soup kitchen where Spencer-Fleming, through Clare, enumerates the types of people who eat at the soup kitchen. Here it is very clear that it is not just the homeless but also the working poor who are in desperate need of services like this one.

As much as I love a good mystery for me that was really secondary to the characters in this book. The mystery didn’t actually engage me that much, I was much more interested in how it affected the different characters and their relationships. The mystery allows pretty much all the veterans to face their own problems in a way that I loved. Both through the fact that they confront each other (as in the case with Tally and Clare, and with Will and Clare, both who in some ways confront Clare about her drinking) and because it gives them something to focus on (as with Eric). There were also certain aspects of the solution that I found incredibly satisfying, especially in regards to the death, I won’t say more so I don’t spoil but…

Another aspect that I really appreciated was the humour in the book. It isn’t in your face but rather sneaks up on you here and there. I especially loved this passage:

Sarah pointed to Fergusson. “You are not Daphne from Scooby-Doo. We are not going to get into a purple van and ride around town looking  for a spooky old house.” (…) Will looked at her slyly. “What are you going to do, Sarah?” She shook her head. “I guess I’m going to put on an orange turtleneck and drive the van".”

I am guessing I am not the only reader who finds Clare’s insistence on getting into police business to mirror the Scooby gangs .

There were some things at the end of the book not related to Russ and Clare that made me want to hit someone with a two-by-four (or as someone pointed out in the discussion at Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Readers Space a “clue-by-four” which I thought was hilarious).  This desire to hurt someone also makes me really want to read the next book. Soon.

One more thing. I have a confession. For the first time in years I a suffering from a very bad case of character crush. I don’t think I’ve had one as bad as this since my crush on Gilbert Blyth when I was a teenager. So I thought I would put it out there that I would totally nail Kevin Flynn if I could. Just saying .

In conclusion I want to say that I think everyone should read this series, and if you are you should also check out the free e-book Letters to a Soldier as well as the Readers Space for extra material. All the books in the series would make excellent books for book group as they deal with so much more than the straight up mystery that one often gets from other books in the genre. I have managed to recommend the series several time already this week .

*I find the Swedish insistence on our neutrality to be a sham considering we are in both Afghanistan and Libya, as well as having taken part in IFORs work in former Yugoslavia.

Previous books in the series:

In the Bleak Midwinter

A Fountain Filled With Blood

Out of the Deep I Cry

To Darkness and To Death

All Mortal Flesh

I Shall Not Want

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Challenge Sign-Up Post: What’s in a Name 4

Here's How It Works
Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories (my initial choices are in italics after the category):

A book with a number in the title: One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: ?

A book with a size in the title: ?

A book with travel or movement in the title: Ett ufo gör entree by Jonas Gardell

A book with evil in the title: Djävulens stjärna by Jo Nesbo

A book with a life stage in the title: The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

As you can see I have books chosen for 4 of the 6 categories. I have a few alternatives for the others as well but I haven’t decided. I also might choose other books for the categories as well

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS and Weekly Geeks: Challenges

I’m going to start this Sunday Salon post (as I have before) with an apology. I haven’t been around much lately. I haven’t been reading or thinking about book other than my thesis books. I am once again deeply buried in thesis land and it isn’t pretty. Add to that the holiday season and job hunting (since I graduate in January) and I have been super busy. I have an interview for a job that would be great on Tuesday and I have been offered a job that is good but not perfect so I will definitely be working in the spring. The thesis is finally back on a track of sorts, so I am hoping to get my reading back on track in the next week or so (this week is going to be super busy).

I have slowly started planning my reading for the next year though and thus also the challenges I plan on taking part in. That makes this weeks Weekly Geeks topic perfect since it asks for our challenges for next year and why we do them!

First off there is my own challenge:

Nordic Challenge 2011 where you read authors from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

Then there are, in no particular order:

What’s in a Name 4 This challenge looks like fun both because you can choose any genre, you just need to try and fit in the books

Shakespeare Reading Challenge I’m (almost) an English teacher but to be honest I’ve not read that much Shakespeare. I do own the complete works of Shakespeare so I have really no excuse. I have decided to aim for quite a low level and only read 4 plays, but you know, baby steps (most of the Shakespeare plays I have read I’ve read more than once).

GLBT Challenge 2011 I did this challenge this year and I want to continue with it as I’ve enjoyed it. This challenge doesn’t have any levels instead we set our own. I haven’t quite decided what my levels are going to be.

South Asian Author Challenge Again this is a repeat challenge for me but one that I enjoyed and one where I already know most of the books I want to read.

Mystery and Suspense Challenge This one was a no brainer for me, I read a lot of mystery books so this one fits perfectly with my current reading patterns.

All of these challenges allow you to use a book for more than one challenge and that is important to me. I have some books who fit into 3 or 4 challenges.

I will also (as I’ve said before) be taking part in the Year of Feminist Classics. I don’t know if I will be reading all the books but my aim is to read a fair chunk of them.

I take part in challenges because they challenge me to read books I would otherwise not consider, and this goes for challenges which genres I normally read as well. Plus I love making lists . I’ve also joined some challenges that shine a light on issues that I find important such as the GLBT Challenge and the Year of Feminist Classics. These challenges, with their focus allow me to consider aspects of the books that I might otherwise not have thought about.

I am also pretty sure I’ve signed up for a couple of Read A-Longs (Carin are we still doing that?) Plus I am reading War and Peace at a pace of a chapter a day.

Look out for my lists for my reading challenges over the next few days as well as my round-up posts for completed challenges this year!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.