Indian American Archives - Page 8 of 14

Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Grandma and the Great Gourd: A Bengali Folktale by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, illustrated by Susy Pilgrim Waters + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

05 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

When I recently caught up with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, she was in one of her rare lull periods at home in Houston, Texas, having finished almost three solid months of book touring for her latest novel, Oleander Girl. Like her latest protagonist, Korobi Roy, a...

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

09 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

Reading four novels, each set in a major Indian city, one after another over a single week or so, has made the stories feel as if they might overlap, dovetail, conflate, creating quite the enriching literary experience. In the midst of A Fine Balance, I...

I Am an Executioner: Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran

20 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Short Stories

To put a word so violent as Executioner next to a muzak-soundtrack-inducing subtitle like Love Stories, on a cover sporting a cutesy, heart-shaped tiger's tail is exactly the sort of unsettling experience you can expect from Rajesh Parameswaran's uniquely original debut story collection. Animals take control of their narratives...

The City of Devi by Manil Suri + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

04 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Let's go back about seven years. So a writer walks into a bar. It's dark, but thankfully not smoky. The majority of the people there are more bookish (including Booker-ish!) than biker brutish. The writer finds a drink, and is standing slightly off the side with...

The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule by Kashmira Sheth, illustrated by Carl Pearce

22 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian American

Ishan Mehra has CDS ...

Aerogrammes and Other Stories by Tania James

25 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian American, Short Stories, South Asian American

Thankfully, 'sophomore slump' is not part of Tania James’ vocabulary. In fact, her second book is even better than her 2009 debut novel Atlas of Unknowns. And as rare as consistency can be in collections, James manages to sustain an unwavering level of resonating quality throughout each of the...

Gods without Men by Hari Kunzru

21 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British Asian, Fiction, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

Most of the time, I love stories that require fitting together seemingly disjointed pieces; my brain feels delightfully tickled with the challenge. And, of Hari Kunzru's novels – Gods being his fourth and latest – I much appreciated both The Impressionist and Transmission [no, I've not yet read My...

The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai

13 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Short Stories, South Asian, South Asian American

How silly of me for waiting so long to read this, the venerable Anita Desai's latest, when I've had the galley for almost a year (it pubbed last December). Instead, I've slogged through too many disappointing, tedious, nightmare-inducing titles when I could have been celebrating...

Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie

01 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

I've been working through numerous 'should-have-read-earlier'-titles lately, and Salman Rushdie's books always loom large as objects of fascination. After four attempts to read his The Enchantress of Florence (twice on the page, twice stuck in the ears narrated by Firdous Bamji whose recordings can make me choose a book...

The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani

27 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Indian American, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian American

"Life's pretty good," Sonia thinks to herself. Her whole class is making biryani together as part of their study of India: "Getting to know the food," says her favorite teacher, "...

Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani

14 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Ah, this day of mislaid Hallmark hearts ...

Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary by Keshni Kashyap, illustrated by Mari Araki

19 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Indian American, Japanese American, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

"Dear Mr. Jean Paul Sartre, I know that you are dead and old and also a philosopher. So, on an obvious level, you and I do not have a lot in common." Thus begins 15-year-old Tina's class project for her English Honors elective on existential...

Stir It Up by Ramin Ganeshram

17 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Caribbean American, Fiction, Indian American, Young Adult Readers

Food writer Ramin Ganeshram shares her Indo-Caribbean culinary prowess in her debut title for younger readers about eighth-grader Anjali Krishnan who really knows how to stir things up ...

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

03 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Indian American, Repost, South Asian American

Here's a moment of literary serendipity: on the morning my Bookslut interview with Luis Alberto Urrea went up, I happened to be finishing the galley of Thrity Umrigar’s latest novel, The World We Found. Amazingly, here's what appears in the penultimate paragraph on the very...

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh

23 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

When Firdous Bamji – a veteran narrator – reads Amitav Ghosh’s haunting novel in his 'normal' voice, he's hardly memorable. But as soon as he 'becomes' the searching Piya, the sophisticated Kanai ("'[s]ay it to rhyme with Hawaii'"), the contemplative Nirmal, the grounded Nilima, and the many, many...

The Submission by Amy Waldman

07 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, South Asian American

This is one of those spectacular titles that the less you know about it, the better your read. The amazing levels of meaning contained in the title alone makes it worth your utmost attention. Of course, if you haven't been hiding under a rock (like me),...

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

13 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Indian American, Nonethnic-specific, South Asian American

Just after finishing Divisadero, I immediately found myself missing Hope Davis' voice – she who so lullingly narrated Michael Ondaatje's dream-like bifurcated drama. So what a comforting surprise to click on Ann Patchett's Wonder and find Davis' voice gently streaming out of my headset! Serendipity indeed! As the...

I Am Different! Can You Find Me? by Manjula Padmanabhan

19 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Indian American, Nonfiction, South Asian American

Leave it to the Global Fund for Children (and the always innovative small press Charlesbridge) to offer a colorful new book that uses a clever game of hide-and-seek to celebrate our differences, while sharing our universal sameness. And, of course, novelist/playwright/cartoonist Manjula Padmanabhan also deserves...

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

23 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Fiction, Indian African, Indian American, South Asian American

Truth: if not for Sunil Malhotra, I would never have finished Abraham Verghese's bestselling first novel, Cutting for Stone. Immediately opened upon receipt more than two years ago, for some reason, my bookmark never moved beyond the first few chapters ...

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji by F. Zia, illustrated by Ken Min

13 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian American

For young Aneel, having his grandparents come live with him is like having built-in playmates, not to mention "...

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