The World We Found

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta all college friends and young activists. They soon find out that youth can betray and blindside you and life pushes through and begins to happen. Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta remained in Bombay while Armaiti decides to leave for America. Over the years marriages take place, children are born, and the distance between them begins to grow. When Armaiti is diagnosed with terminal cancer they all are summoned for a reunion. This request conjures up different emotions in them all. For Laleh it is old guilt she has disguised for years. The feelings Kavita has hid shamefully for years resurface. For Nishta it is the beginning of a new life.

Each of these women have a unique life story that holds our attention throughout the narrative. Even though Armaiti's illness is grave Umrigar never allows the reader to get "in their feelings" because she always bring to light the joy of the friendships. The author deals with the social ills of the culture but Umrigar does an amazing job of portraying the heart of a wife dealing with a devoted Muslim husband in Nishta. Nishta's story was the highlight of the novel for me. It was as if she was buried alive in a marriage to her college sweetheart who had turned into a different man over the years. The World We Found shows that real friendships can heal and redeem.

I must admit that I did not really start enjoying The World We Found until I was about halfway in. I still don't understand why the author divided the book into two parts the time frame did not change at all. Overall, I loved the balance of the book and how real these women were. Umrigar developed female characters that any woman can relate to no matter what country they live in.

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{Blog Tour} Night Sky

Night Sky web site:http://www.night-sky-book.com

Night Sky Summary

After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.

As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums - she's way more than distraction. Jameson's falling for her fast.

But Sky’s need for honesty somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl to keep him distracted from the disaster of his senior year.

My Review:

Jameson meets Sky on what he thinks is the worse night of his life. Sarah his best friend and who he has been secretly in love with for the past three years has started dating Eric, one of the most popular guys at school. Sky is beautiful, in college, and mysterious. Sky only makes one request of Jameson, that he always be honest with her. Sky is holding on to a secret that almost destroys their relationship. 

Jameson is an independent yet very responsible teenager. He lives in Vegas and his parents are casino workers that work late shifts. Instead of getting tangled up with various vices he swims to relax and release stress. His heart is torn between "puppy love" with Sarah and a more mature relationship with Sky all while trying to deal with the sudden separation of his parents. Sky, being from a Native American tribe in Alaska, took Jameson's world by storm with her honesty and troublesome past. When Sky has to return to home for a clan meeting, Jameson's world begins to crumble. 

Night Sky is a beautiful love story composed of real life situations. I am so happy that Perry did not make Jameson and Sky so girl and guy "next door" type. I would have to say that Night Sky is a well balanced novel and the writing is sound, not sappy. 

Highly Recommended. 

Jolene Perry's Bio:

Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of The Next Door Boys and the upcoming Knee 

Deep.

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eBook
ISBN: 9780983741862
ISBN: 9781466052338
Pages: 247
Release: March 1, 2012

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Little Girls: A Short Story Novella

Little Girls: A Short Story Novella by Elton Loud
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I discovered “novellas” last year and I find them to be just the “snack” I need between books.  I saw Little Girls: A Short Story Novella on my friend Literary Marie’s blog and decided to add it to my Kindle.  Once I pulled it out of the cloud, I soon found out Little Girls was a big girl book.

Little Girls was a series of six very different short stories yet the author managed to connect them all.  There was no “feel good” story in the group. Each story deals with real issues and circumstances that most writers are not brave enough to tackle.  The initial story is about a partner in a same sex relationship reflecting during the funeral of a lost lover. “I Will Miss You While You Are Gone” is the story that shocked me the most and the one that left me on edge for more. “I Will Miss You…” is about a prostitute that is being held hostage by her pimp but her release came at a high price.  Loud also briefly introduces readers to a porn addicted “church going” man and allows us to eavesdrop on the miscellaneous conversations of a few prostitutes. In another story, Loud writes the history of a neighborhood and the genealogy of a family concisely and with exquisite details that I can only describe as amazing.  Admittedly these stories are gritty, a little raw, and very melancholy but written in such a way that you know the end of each has to be epic.  They were.  All of them.

If I had to describe Loud’s writing style in one word it would be, solid. The crafting of these stories was remarkable. Honestly, some of the topics made me cringe but I simply swallowed hard took a deep breath and kept reading.


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